FY27 Application Guidelines Available December 5 | | |
Guidelines for the Division's FY27 annual grants will be released on Friday, December 5, 2025. We encourage grantees to review the updated guidelines before beginning your application in smARTDE.
The deadline for applications will be Monday, March 2, 2026.
The Division will be accepting the following applications for the March 2 deadline:
Grants for Non-Profit Arts Organizations
General Operating Support
Arts Stablization Fund (Capital Improvements)
Education Resource
StartUp
Grants for Community Based Organizations
Project Support
Questions? Contact the program officer listed on each page for questions.
| | 2025 Delaware Arts Summit Recap | | The Delaware Division of the Arts welcomed more than 225 artists, cultural workers, educators, and community leaders to the 2025 Delaware Arts Summit at the Hotel Du Pont. Guided by the theme Agents of Change, the Summit explored how we can enable change within our work, our organizations, and our communities. Throughout the day, participants examined ways to identify when change is needed and how to move toward it—through new ideas, collaborative practices, and approaches that address challenges, recognize emerging opportunities, and strengthen the long-term sustainability of the arts in Delaware. | | Welcome to 2026 Poetry Out Loud Schools | | |
Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition that encourages high school students to learn about and appreciate poetry. The program provides students with the opportunity to explore and analyze poetry, develop public speaking skills, and build confidence in their ability to express themselves.
Have a question about Poetry Out Loud?
Contact Briana Henry at Briana.Henry@delaware.gov!
Welcome to this year's participating schools!
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Delaware Valley Classical School
Delcastle Tech High School
Paul M. Hodgson Vo-Tech School
MOT Charter High School
Mount Sophia Academy
Red Lion Christian Academy
Saint Mark's High School
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Sanford School
Smyrna High School
Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences
Sussex Central High School
Sussex Technical High School
Wilmington Friends School
| | Award Winners XXV Wrapping Up! | | |
Award Winners XXV is coming to a close, marking the final opportunity to experience the work of Delaware’s 2025 Individual Artist Fellows. Currently on view at the Rehoboth Art League through November 30, this culminating exhibition brings together outstanding artists from across the state whose creative excellence earned them top recognition from the Delaware Division of the Arts. Don’t miss your last chance to explore this dynamic group show before we turn the page and announce our 2026 class of Fellows.
Photo albums of each reception and a recording of the reception held at the Biggs Museum of American Art can be found below:
| | Biggs Museum of American Art | | Historic Odessa Foundation | | | Coming Soon: State Employee Art Exhibition | | |
Are you a State of Delaware employee? Don’t miss the chance to be recognized in Delaware for your creativity!
Enter your artwork in The Delaware State Employee Art Exhibition. Sponsored by The National Arts Program®, in support and cooperation with the State of Delaware and the Delaware Division of the Arts, the exhibit is judged by professional artists and visual art professionals. The Delaware State Employee Art Exhibition is designed to give artists at all skill levels a unique opportunity to exhibit their creative work and to compete for cash prizes.
| | Upcoming DDOA Grant Opportunities | | The Delaware Division of the Arts offers a variety of grant programs for individual artists; nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations chartered and based in Delaware; and schools and government entities that support arts activities. | | |
Arts Access - Supports small budget projects that include the presentation of performing, visual, literary, media, or folk arts in communities throughout the state. Organizations that receive General Operating Support are generally not eligible to apply. Rolling deadline – submit at least 6 weeks prior to the project start date.
Artist Opportunity - Grants provide up to $1,000 to support individual artists with unique professional and artistic development or presentation opportunities. Please note: there are new application components required for this application to verify identity and residency requirements. Next deadline: January 1.
Artist Residency - Grants for residencies with visual, literary, performing or media artists working with students in the classroom or in professional development workshops with teachers. Rolling deadline – submit at least 6 weeks prior to start of the scheduled residency.
TranspARTation - Grants that support transportation costs (up to $500) for schools to bring students to Delaware arts and cultural institutions and venues in order to attend arts performances, events, and exhibits. Rolling deadline – submit at least 6 weeks prior to the field trip date.
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NEA Big Read Applications Open
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Arts Midwest are now accepting applications for the 2026–27 cycle of the NEA Big Read, a national program that offers matching grants of up to $20,000 to support community-wide reading programs. This year’s NEA Big Read will center around the theme America250, honoring the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking America’s semiquincentennial.
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Creative Forces: NEA Military Arts Network Applications Open
How can your organization use the arts to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military-connected communities? Creative Forces Community Engagement grant applications are available to help military service members and veterans as well as their families and caregivers, through experiences of art or art making.
Cost sharing grants are available to nonprofit organizations and state/local/tribal government entities and range from $10,000 to $25,000 each. Applications are due January 15, 2026.
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Fund for Delaware Collaboration
The Longwood Foundation is announcing the Fund for Delaware Collaboration, which is designed to support Delaware’s nonprofit sector through sustained collaborations between two or more organizations. These collaborations can range from voluntary back-office consolidations to programmatic joint ventures, to mergers and acquisitions.
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Submit your upcoming events to DelawareScene.com
DelawareScene is a comprehensive, up-to-date website calendar featuring Delaware’s arts and cultural events and attractions in and around Delaware. Acquaint yourself with one of Delaware’s many artists, get carried away by the magic of a theater performance, frequent one of Delaware’s world-renowned museums, experience one of Delaware’s many unique festivals.
REMINDER: All grantees MUST list all events on DelawareScene.com as soon as they are announced.
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On the Mezzanine -
Kim Klabe
The Delaware Division of the Arts is pleased to present Urban Dwellers, a solo exhibition of recent mixed media works by Delaware artist Kim Klabe, on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from November 7–28, 2025.
In Urban Dwellers, Klabe presents a collection of expressive figures and creatures inspired by the people, animals, and energies that animate city environments. Seen through vibrant color, layered textures, and her distinct process of building forms from abstract foundations, the works celebrate the complexity, humor, and shared humanity of urban life. The exhibition features pieces created using rice paper on wood panels, acrylic paint, charcoal, and a variety of mark-making tools that introduce movement and dimensionality.
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Meet the Fellows
The prestigious Individual Artist Fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts recognize a variety of disciplines and outstanding quality of work. From writers to visual artists to musicians, these award-winning creatives have unique stories and talents.
To see the full listing of 2025's Individual Artist Fellows, visit https://arts.delaware.gov/iafrecipients/
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Don James
Visual Arts: Photography
“The architect creates a finished work but also provides the raw materials for my own photographic expression.”
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Tim Lynch
Literature: Poetry
“I draw inspiration from poets of marginalized identities who have had to find themselves in a culture that makes its own assumptions of them.”
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Maximillian Remmler
Media Arts: Video Film
“My films are grounded in our familiar world, but with a surreal element on top to allow observation of the ordinary through a new lens.”
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August Ryan
Literature: Fiction
“I'm writing for the teenager I was, and for those who have and will come after me.”
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First State Ballet Theatre
Up Front on Market
Wilmington
General Operating Support
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Rehoboth Concert Band
Duty, Honor, Country
Rehoboth Beach
General Operating Support
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The Children's
Theatre, Inc.
CLUE on Stage: High School Edition
Dover
General Operating Support
| | | | The Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278. | | | | |
