• Art Bank 40th Anniversary and FY27 RFA
• Finders Keepers Opening reception
• Highlighting Culture & Community Workshop Workshops
• Public Art as Public Policy: The Art Bank Collection at 40 Panel
• Strategic Planning Update
• Grants
• Ice Breakers: Creative Networking and Deaf History Month Celebration
• Commission Meetings
• Grantee Happenings
• Opportunities
• Resources
• Update Your Profile

Art Bank 40th Anniversary and FY27 RFA

This year marks an exciting milestone for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Art Bank: its 40th anniversary!

Since 1986, the Art Bank has grown into one of the District’s most significant public art resources, showcasing the creative voices of local artists and placing their work throughout government buildings across Washington, DC. The Art Bank Collection stands as a national model for how cities can champion the visual arts at a civic level while directly investing in artists through the purchase of their work. Over four decades, the collection has documented the evolving social, cultural, and artistic landscape of the District—capturing the diversity, history, and vibrancy that define the city.

Beyond acquisition, the program serves as a critical entry point into CAH’s broader grant ecosystem for both emerging and established artists. It also functions as a valuable resource for educators, researchers, students, and the public, fostering learning and enhancing cultural literacy across the District.

Community organizations, arts leaders, and stakeholders are encouraged to share this opportunity widely to ensure that artists—especially those who may not regularly engage with government arts funding—are aware of and able to benefit from this program.

As part of this anniversary year, we are preparing for the next acquisition cycle. The Request for Applications (RFA) for the FY 2027 Art Bank application will be released on April 13.

Finders Keepers Opening Reception

You’re invited to join us as we debut a collection of works that transform everyday materials into thoughtful and unexpected art.

Fifteen local artists turn found objects — both manufactured and natural — into art in the new exhibition Finders Keepers. Finders Keepers is funded by a 2026 Art Exhibition Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and is curated by Ira Tattelman and Kanchan Balsé.

We hope you’ll join us for the opening reception on Thursday, April 2, 2026, from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Eye Street Gallery.

Highlighting Culture & Community Workshops

Conversations by Josh Holland

Join us for one of our virtual trainings by Grace Allen, Special Advisor with chat support from CAH grant managers.

Attendees will learn tips to better ensure their application highlights areas such as cultural impact, universal access, community engagement, and their unique contribution to the amplification of the arts and humanities across all 8 wards of the District.

As we mark this milestone year, we’re also taking a closer look at the Art Bank’s history and impact. At this year’s DC History Conference, the panel Public Art as Public Policy: The Art Bank Collection at 40 will examine how the collection has shaped Washington, DC’s cultural identity since its founding. The 2026 DC History Conference takes place Friday, May 1 to Saturday, May 2.

Administrators, artists, and curators will discuss the Art Bank as a living archive of local creativity, a vital record of DC’s Black art history, and a defining presence in civic spaces from the Wilson Building to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.

This anniversary offers an important moment to reflect on how public art connects to cultural equity, preservation, and civic life across the District.

Strategic Planning Update

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities extends its sincere thanks to everyone who participated in our recent community surveys. We are proud to have received more than 400 responses from community members, arts professionals, applicants, grantees, partners, and stakeholders representing every D.C. ward, as well as Maryland and Virginia. This strong participation reflects the breadth and diversity of CAH’s impact across regions, age groups, and racial and ethnic communities. Your insights are invaluable in shaping the future of arts and humanities in the District.

As we move into the next phase of the strategic planning process, we are excited to share upcoming opportunities for continued public engagement. In early June, we will invite you to review and provide feedback to refine the draft Strategic Plan. 

We encourage you to stay tuned for updates and additional details via the strategic planning website.

Grants

General Operating Support

Will be released at 4 pm today, Wednesday, April 1

The General Operating Support Grant Program (GOS) offers general operating support to non-profit arts, humanities, and arts education organizations whose primary mission focus is in one or more arts or humanities disciplines. The mission, as submitted on the organization’s most-recent IRS Form 990, should include the word(s) arts, humanities, and/or arts or humanities discipline.

GOS applicants must demonstrate the ways in which their ongoing programming aligns with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) goal to encourage diverse artistic expressions and learning opportunities, so that all District of Columbia residents and visitors may experience the rich culture of the city.

GOS applications are reviewed in three (3) categories. Applicants have the opportunity to choose a category when they initiate an online application:

• Generalists
• Service Organizations
• Capacity Building
• Multi-year

Submission Deadline is Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at 5 pm.

Coming Soon

• East Arts (EA) | Monday, April 13
• Projects, Events, and Festivals (PEF), for Individuals and Orgs | Monday, April 13

Submittable Notifications

As part of our ongoing transition from Jungle Lasers to our new Submittable platform, some applicants and grantees may receive multiple automated account‑setup emails from Submittable in the coming weeks.

This can happen for organizations or individuals with multiple historic applications or grants in our system. If you receive several notifications, don’t worry, you only need to act on one of them and can delete the rest.

Please email us with any questions or issues about this.

Join the Commission on the Arts and Humanities and ODR's Division of DDHH as we celebrate Deaf History Month with a creative mixer

The Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the DC's Office of Disability Rights, Division of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing are teaming up for the month of April to celebrate Deaf History Month and host our monthly Ice Breakers Creative Networking Series at Crooked Run Fermentation in Union Market on Tuesday April 21st from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

Our next Full Commission regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 ET on Monday, April 20. Members of the public are invited to observe the meeting live online on CAH’s YouTube channel.

Members of the public may request three minutes to speak during the public comment period held at this meeting. Requests must be submitted by no later than Noon ET on Thursday, April 16. Written comments may also be submitted by no later than Noon ET on Thursday, April 16, as an alternative or in addition to spoken comments. Public comments, both spoken and written, will be included in the public record of the meeting.

This meeting is governed by the Open Meetings Act. Please address any questions or complaints arising under this meeting to the Office of Open Government at opengovoffice@dc.gov.

Wronged Women: Hell Hath No Fury

In Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz said "Trust your anger. It is a demand for love." For women who are socialized to be forever accommodating, how can anger be a liberatory force?

In this poetry workshop, led by Xochi Quetzali Cartland, participants will be invited to engage with female figures such as Eve, Lot's Wife, Selena Quintanilla, Yolanda Saldívar, and Harley Quinn, giving these infamous women the dignity of context. 

Xochi Quetzali Cartland is a queer Chicana poet and seamstress who was the 2025 Latinx in Publishing poetry mentee, and has been supported with fellowships from National Arts Strategies and Brooklyn Poets.

Artivists for Health

Social Art and Culture present Artivists for Health: Diabetes in Color with Verbal Gymnastics on April 25th at Whitman-Walker Max Robinson Center from 11 am - 1 pm. Ward 5, 7, and 8 community members will share stories about "the impact Type 2 and pre-diabetes has on their daily lives", as Verbal Gymnastics' actors and musicians will then Playback these stories, honoring the experiences of those living with diabetes. 

DC Theater Arts Survey

DC Theatre Arts has launched a short reader survey to help guide their upcoming website redesign. Your input will help inform their decision‑making and ensure the new site reflects the needs of the community. As a thank‑you, three survey participants will be selected to receive a $50 TodayTix gift card.

In 2026, NBCUniversal Local Impact Grants will award $2.5 million to nonprofit organizations in 11 NBC and Telemundo-owned television station markets. The grant program will provide unrestricted funds to eligible nonprofits with total expenses between $100,000 and $1,000,000.

 Applications will be accepted from March 24 – April 24, 2026.

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District honors artists from Maryland, Washington, D.C. & Virginia.

Eight finalists will be selected for consideration for Trawick Prize. The exhibition of finalists will be held at Gallery B from Sept. 3 – 27, 2026, and the opening reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 4th from 6-8pm.


Deadline for application: April 24, 2026.

National Museum of African Art Curator Opening

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art is seeking a head curator to lead its curatorial department. This role offers an exciting opportunity to join a museum on the National Mall dedicated to fostering dialogue across cultures and showcasing the beauty and complexity of African art.

The head curator will guide the development and implementation of the museum’s collections strategy and collaborate closely with the acquisitions committee to strengthen and expand the quality of the collections in support of the museum’s mission, among other key responsibilities.

Applications close May 5, 2026.

Gallery Request for Proposals 2027

The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture requests exhibition proposals from individuals, groups of artists, and curators for Glen Echo Park’s Popcorn Gallery, Stone Tower Gallery, and Park View Gallery for the calendar year 2027.

Proposals are due by June 5, 2026.

If you are between the age of 11 and 18, this is your chance to turn your ideas into impact. Whether through art, writing, film, music, poetry, or multimedia, your work can help spark conversations about the future of our blue planet.

The Contest deadline is June 8, 2026.

Resources

In the Artist Lab course Representing Your Work: Grant Writing & Promoting Your Practice, participants will learn how to write artist bios, artist statements, CVs, and project proposals in order to help artists build the fundamental frameworks for their careers.

This course, presented for free by the Creative Capital Artist Lab, consists of ten modules, which are asynchronous, meaning that all content is written and/or prerecorded, and that you can move through each module at your own pace.

Candid’s live and on-demand trainings, webinars, and other resources are designed to improve your fundraising, overall sustainability, grantmaking, and transparency.

Check out just some of these free trainings they're providing the month of [Month] which are generally from 2 to 3:30 pm ET on weekdays:

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