OUR TOWN: Applicant Resources
Webinars
Our Town FY25 Grant Guidelines Session
Thursday, June 13, 2024, 2:00pm ET
Register
Applicant Q&A
Register for informal virtual “office hours” sessions with Our Town staff to answer questions about applying for an Our Town grant. The August 8 session is for applicants who already submitted Part 1 of the application (prior to the August 1 deadline) and are preparing Part 2 of the Our Town application.
Sessions: June 25 | July 10 | July 23 | August 8
Our Town-Specific Resources
The Our Town Creative Placemaking Resources page provides the definition of creative placemaking in the Our Town grant program and a list of past publications and resources.
For more about the strengthening communities objective and the Our Town Theory of Change, see Our Town: A Framework for Understanding and Measuring the National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Placemaking Program.
Examples of past Our Town projects that address health or well-being; transportation or infrastructure; or climate-related challenges within a community
Tools
Our First-Time Applicant Guide for Organizations covers the basics of registering for Login.gov, SAM.gov, and grants.gov and provides some links to helpful resources for new applicants
The Online Tutorial: Using the Grant Application Form (GAF) provides a step-by-step visual guide to entering information into the applicant portal.
If your project includes program evaluation and/or research activities that involve directly collecting information from program participants, the NEA may conduct a review of your project to ensure that it complies with our general guidance regarding the responsible conduct of research. Review our “Responsible Conduct of Program Evaluation and Research” in the Our Town Grant Program Details to learn more.
Federal Civil Rights and Your Grant Application
In this webinar, you will learn about federal civil rights compliance requirements when applying for a NEA grant and find guidance on how to accurately communicate your project description and plan.
Accessibility
Projects funded by the NEA must be accessible to people with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities may be audiences, visitors, artists, performers, teaching artists, students, staff, and volunteers.
The Accessibility Requirements for Applicants and Grantees webinar gives a detailed overview, and provides information about the application’s Assurance of Compliance, post-award accessibility questionnaire, and 504 Self Evaluation requirements. It also provides tips for ensuring access to your programs and facilities.
The Accessibility Checklist is a user-friendly tool to assist you in making your organization and project inclusive and available to everyone. The checklist includes links to a wide variety of accessibility resources.
The Accessibility Questions for Recommended Applicants form is required for all recommended grantees. You may preview the form to see what kinds of information you will need to provide if you are recommended for a grant.
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) & National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Projects supported by the NEA are subject to review under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). These federal laws ensure environmental impacts and impacts to historic or archaeological sites are known before federal agencies award funding under a grant. You can learn about what kinds of projects may need additional review to ensure compliance with NHPA and NEPA regulations, as well as how our internal review process works in this webinar.
If awarded a grant, the& NHPA/NEPA Questionnaire is the form you will need to complete for the NEA to conduct the review of a project with potential impacts to historic resources or the environment.