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CINCINNATI (July 9, 2026) — The ArtsWave Board of Trustees approved $8,971,278 in Sustaining Impact grants to 46 local arts organizations on Friday, launching a new three-year funding cycle for FY2027-2029. The grants are funded by the recently concluded 2026 ArtsWave Community Campaign, and mark the first Sustaining Impact Grant cycle heading into ArtsWave's 100th anniversary in 2027.
Sustaining Impact grants are ArtsWave's largest and most consistent form of support, providing multi-year operating funding that helps arts and cultural organizations maintain financial stability, leading to more consistent community impact. The program anchors ArtsWave's grantmaking and represents the majority of its annual grant distributions.
“For 100 years, our region has come together to support its arts,” said Alecia Kintner, ArtsWave President & CEO. “What we raise through our campaign each year goes right back into the community. These 46 organizations, and the people they reach, are what that investment looks like in practice. Every gift becomes support that keeps our region vibrant and connected.”
ArtsWave invites organizations to apply for Sustaining Impact funding based on their meeting a set of criteria, including a primary mission dedicated to arts and cultural programming, nonprofit status of at least five or ten years depending on budget size, a history of ArtsWave funding and sound financial health, among other requirements.
A total of 58 volunteer community members, drawn from business, civic and arts leadership across the region, reviewed and scored applications. A formula that relates the score to percentages of operating budget, adjusted for available dollars, determines how much funding each organization receives, with proof of community impact weighted the highest.
“Our community volunteer review process is central to how ArtsWave operates,” said Debbie Hayes, ArtsWave Board Chair and President & CEO of The Christ Hospital Health Network. “Fifty-eight community members devoted a significant amount of time evaluating these applications based on the established criteria in a fully transparent process. Those thoughtful recommendations are what the Board acted on. That kind of community ownership and investment is what has carried us thus far and what will carry us successfully into our second century of impact.”
The FY2027-2029 cohort includes Q-Kidz Dance, a first-time recipient, and Wave Pool, which returns to the program after a two-year absence.
FY2027 Sustaining Impact Grant Awards (alphabetical)
1001 Colors (ArtWorks) — $185,000
American Legacy Theatre — $15,000
ArtsConnect — $18,000
Behringer-Crawford Museum — $30,250
Bi-Okoto Drum & Dance Theatre — $37,950
Cincinnati Art Museum — $1,285,000
Cincinnati Ballet — $810,000
Cincinnati Boychoir — $45,000
Cincinnati Landmark Productions — $104,600
Cincinnati Opera — $683,850
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park — $1,060,000
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company — $206,200
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra — $2,300,000
Cincinnati Youth Choir — $44,500
Cindependent Film Festival with LADD — $21,500
Clifton Cultural Arts Center — $36,800
Contemporary Arts Center — $285,600
Elementz Hip Hop Cultural Art Center — $45,000
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati — $154,400
Fitton Center for Creative Arts — $86,250
Kennedy Heights Arts Center — $45,300
Kentucky Symphony Orchestra — $40,050
Know Theatre of Cincinnati — $41,000
Learning Through Art, Inc. — $46,000
Linton Chamber Music — $23,800
May Festival — $230,228
MUSE Cincinnati's Women's Choir — $7,500
Mutual Dance Theatre and Arts Center — $41,000
My Nose Turns Red Youth Circus — $14,000
Oxford Community Arts Center — $25,500
Pones — $11,000
Price Hill Will — $70,000
Professional Artistic Research Projects — $32,100
Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park — $56,000
Q-Kidz Dance — $10,000
Queen City Opera — $10,000
Queen City Performing Arts Organization — $10,000
Summermusik (CCO) — $45,000
Taft Museum of Art — $295,000
The Carnegie — $84,000
The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati — $250,000
The Well/A Mindful Moment — $13,000
Visionaries and Voices — $48,400
Wave Pool — $20,000
Wyoming Fine Arts Center — $37,500
Young Professionals Choral Collective — $10,000
Total: $8,971,278
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