Unique Entity Identifier

The federal government recently changed its requirements for businesses and organizations receiving federal funds in the form of grants. It no longer uses the DUNS (Data Universal Number System) and has shifted to a new system known as the UEI (Unique Entity Identifier).

As of April 2022, recipients of grants using federal funds (including WW5!) are required to have a UEI, which replaces the DUNS Number. You can apply for the grant without the UEI, but you will not be able to accept your grant money until you have a UEI. It may take several weeks to get a UEI after registration, so start applying now!

Click here for more info, to look up your UEI, or to apply for a new UEI. 

Working WA Grant: Round 5 update

The Department of Commerce, working with ArtsWA, will award $45 million to businesses and organizations in the arts, heritage, and science sectors this summer. This includes those that operate live entertainment venues. Commerce will direct an additional $5 million to organizations with budgets over $5 million to cover COVID-related expenses. Learn more at commercegrants.com and click here to sign up for email updates.

Originally, the Department of Commerce had planned for this application to open at the end of June and to release a large FAQ document along with it. However, the Department has been experiencing difficulties that have taken more time to solve than expected.

But that's great news! This just means more time to spread the word to communities and more time for businesses and artists to prepare their application materials. We are hoping the portal will open sometime after the 4th of July holiday and will keep you posted!

Once the portal opening date is announced, we will offer one final virtual Cultural Futures session to review eligibility and answer questions. 

Click here to sign up for the last virtual Cultural Futures presentation!

Outreach to BIPOC, Rural, and other Under-Resourced Communities

Throughout the pandemic, a significant amount of federal funding was directed to our state but not all cultural organizations, businesses, and artists reaped the benefits. Inspire WA is a steadfast advocate for the equitable investment of the Working Washington 5 grant program funding to ensure all communities receive support. 

How can you help?  Inspire WA will be holding a serious of virtual events (with some in-person) about the grant program for marginalized populations. If you run an organization serving BIPOC or other under-resourced community and want to help amplify the funding program, please let us know. We're creating a calendar of events and you can sign up now to be a co-host or request an event in your community. Or, perhaps, there's someone in your network that you think we should be talking to. Let's all work together to get the word out. 

For more information, please email advocacy@inspirewashington,org.  

Inspire WA in Residency

Sponsored by the Department of Commerce, Inspire Washington will be visiting six regions across the state in August and September. These four-day residencies will be focused on building back the cultural economy and finding creative ways to spur recovery. We will be conducting community town halls to follow up on the feedback we received from communities during the Cultural Futures tour and share the first draft of our legislative agenda. We will also be meeting with lawmakers, cultural leaders, and allies in the cultural tourism industry. The six locations include NW Washington, the Peninsula, SW Washington, Yakima Valley, Okanogan County, and SE Washington.

Everyone is invited. More info to come soon!

About Festival & Events Grant

Washington Festival and Events Association, in partnership with ArtsWA and the Washington State Department of Commerce, is now offering a Festival and Events Grant Program. It will award $3.5 million in grants. Awards range from $5,000 to $35,000. The program supports festivals and events that have been held for five or more years in communities of less than 100,000 residents. Learn more and apply at arts.wa.gov/wfea, and click here to sign up for email updates.

Deadline to apply is July 1st! 

Off-Session Advocacy

We need your voice! The off-session time is the perfect opportunity to make meaningful connections with your lawmakers. By establishing these relationships during the quieter summer months, your lawmaker will have a greater understanding of the importance of your work and be far more likely to support you when drafting the budget in January. 

Sign Up Now!

WA Art Education Assoc. Survey

This is the fourth qualitative survey conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine the impact on arts education access, inclusion, instruction, and staffing in the basic education arts subjects that include: dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts. This survey will be open from June 1, 2022, through June 30, 2022, in an attempt to gather responses from all circles of influence in education regarding the status of arts education now--nationally and internationally. The Washington Art Education Association (WAEA) is again the host state arts education organization for the distribution and gathering of this data.

Click here to fill out the survey!