FSBN Grant Program

Interested applicants are highly encouraged to complete Part 1 - Eligibility Application no later than March 17, to ensure ample time to receive eligibility verification. Each eligible applicant will receive an email notification with a link to Part 2 - Qualifications Application.

Your Qualifications Application must be submitted no later than 5PM, Wednesday, March 22.

If you have any questions about your application, please email Felicia W Shaw, Executive Director of San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition at: sandiegoracc@gmail.com

To learn more about the Far South/Border North program, click here.

To check out the FSBN grant guidelines, click here.

Learn more about other upcoming information sessions by clicking here.

Local Artists and Creatives invited to apply for FSBN Grant Opportunity

           IMPERIAL- Imperial County artists and cultural professionals are encouraged to apply for a funding opportunity that will provide individuals approximately $33,333 in state grant funding, to develop and implement media, outreach, and engagement campaigns that increase public awareness on specific regional issues.

            The Far South/Border North: Artists and Cultural Practitioners in Community (FSBN) is a grant funding program developed by the city of San Diego in collaboration with Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties, the San Diego Foundation, and the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition. FSBN is designed to provide artists and cultural practitioners opportunities to develop and implement media, outreach, and engagement campaigns that address one or more of the program’s goals, according to the grant’s guidelines.

            FSBN goals is to increase public awareness on specific issues including public health, which can focus on preventing the spread of COVID-19 and associated diseases or health disparities. Additionally other issues can address water and energy conservation, climate mitigation, and emergency preparedness, relief, and recovery. Similarly, awareness on civic engagement, including election participation is also welcomed, along with issues related to social justice and community engagement, according to the guidelines.

            “FSBN is a job creation and infrastructure development opportunity to increase how artists and cultural practitioners engage in public work and highlight the importance of intersectionality in tackling pressing regional challenges,” states the grant guidelines.

           Funding for FSBN is part of the $60 million in California Creative Corps grants awarded to 14 statewide administering organizations by the California Arts Council. The City of San Diego, through the Commission for Arts and Culture, received funding of $4.75 million to administer a program for the Far South Regional Service Area, which includes the geographical boundaries of San Diego and Imperial counties, according to the guidelines.

           It is anticipated that approximately 60 artists will be awarded funding, including a well-balanced number of artists selected from the Imperial County, explained Felicia W Shaw, Executive Director of San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition during an information session held inside the Imperial Valley Food Bank's Community Rooms on Thursday, March 9th.

           All interested applicants must be 18-years-old or older and a resident of Imperial County or San Diego County to apply. Additionally, the applicant’s artistic/cultural practices must align with the definition of an “artists and cultural practitioners”  as described in the guidelines as being, “an individual generally recognized by critics and peers as a professional practitioner of the visual, performing, media, or language arts, or a combination thereof, based on that professional practitioner's body of work, educational background, experience, past commissions, exhibition/performance record, publications, and production of artworks.”

           A diverse panel of community volunteers will review and score applications using a scoring rubric made available within the grant application.

           Those awarded the grant will each receive direct funding, mentorship, and opportunities to contribute to public awareness campaigns. Direct funding of approximately $33,333 includes $25,000 for artist/cultural practitioner fees and $8,333 for project costs (materials, supplies, rentals, artist/vendor fees, etc.).

           The Imperial Valley Food Bank was proud to facilitate the first Imperial County based information session in collaboration with the FSBN program and the Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation. All individuals interested in this unique funding opportunity are highly encouraged to submit their eligibility application no later than March 17th to ensure ample time to receive eligibility verification and access to second portion of the application, which must be submitted no later than 5pm on Wednesday, March 22nd.

           If you have any questions about your application, please email Felicia W Shaw, Executive Director of San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition at: sandiegoracc@gmail.com

Artists and cultural practitioners are distinct in their capacity to tackle our greatest challenges in provocative and experimental ways, often stimulating dialogue with and about new contexts, and using ideation and creative forms of investigation and communication. Artists and cultural practitioners are an essential conduit through which people can engage with public health, energy and water conservation, climate mitigation, civic engagement, and social justice.

Far South/Border North supports artists and cultural practitioners to work in service of the health and well-being of communities in San Diego and Imperial counties. Through Far South/Border North, artists and cultural practitioners connect with one another and the community, offering an important platform for guiding campaigns to cultivate awareness, social cohesion, and connectivity, particularly in the region's most impacted communities, contributing to health equity.