CAC IAF Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The California Arts Council’s policies and practices prioritize racial equity and have a broad geographic reach into communities of all sizes and needs, and this includes providing critical services to artists and to the community at large. The CAC is committed to funding opportunities that support all of California’s creative ecosystem. Offering fellowship support to artists responds to the CAC’s Strategic Framework by directly supporting individuals who embody aesthetics, a key value of the CAC, recognizing all art forms and artistic traditions that enable full and meaningful creative expression.

Through a network of regionally-based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program will continue to recognize, uplift, and celebrate the excellence of California artists practicing any art form. In doing so, the CAC will showcase the centrality of artists’ leadership in guiding the evolution of our traditional and contemporary cultures.

The California Arts Council (CAC) has divided the state into four regions for administration of this fellowship program in order to help ensure that artists in every county in the state are engaged and represented in the awards process and application opportunity. These FAQs and the related Grant Program Guidelines are for the Central California Region Individual Artists Fellowship Program. Please see the CAC Individual Artist Fellowship website for program information in other parts of the state.

To help make this program more accessible, the Central California Region has been divided into 3 micro-regions (see list below). The application and review process for each micro-region will be facilitated separately, through designated Lead Agencies. This is designed to give applicants access to more hands-on support from staff familiar with their counties and assures that awards are more equitably distributed across Central California. 

Micro-Region 1 - Lead Agency Santa Barbara Office of Arts and Culture
Kern, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obsipo

Micro Region 2 - Lead Agency Fresno Arts Council
Fresno, Inyo, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare

Micro Region 3 - Lead Agency San Benito County Arts Council
Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

Your residency is determined by your home mailing address at the time you apply (P.O. boxes are accepted). You will apply in the micro-region according to the county in your mailing address.

You must live at least 6-months out of the year in the county from which you are applying and provide a mailing address in the central California county from which you are applying.

No, 2021 CAC IAF Fellows may not apply.

There are three fellowship levels. Read the descriptions carefully and decide for yourself which is most appropriate to your career stage. Your decision should be guided by these descriptions, not by the award amount. Your artist resume should reflect your career stage through your record of exhibitions or performances. Applications will be reviewed by fellowship level.

• CAC Emerging Artist Fellows - $5,000
  Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice. Individuals at this career stage may have had a few public showings of their work, but do not yet have ongoing resources or support. 
  
  
• CAC Established Artist Fellows - $10,000
  Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice. Individuals in this tier can give multiple examples of artistic and/or cultural works that have made significant social impact. 
  
  
• CAC Legacy Artist Fellows - $50,000
  Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact. Artists in this tier may be able to point to Emerging and Established Artists that they have mentored or influenced.

You will contact the Lead agency for your micro-region

• Micro-Region 1 - Lead Agency Santa Barbara Office of Arts and Culture
  Kern, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo
  Contact: Hannah Rubalcava, Grants and Contracts Manager, hannah@sbac.ca.gov, 805-568-3990
  
  
• Micro Region 2 - Lead Agency Fresno Arts Council
  Fresno, Inyo, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare
  Contact: Eric Martinez, Program Coordinator, eric@fresnoartscouncil.org, 559-237-9734
  
  
• Micro Region 3 - Lead Agency San Benito County Arts Council
  Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
  Contact: Heidi Jumper, Director of Marketing & Outreach heidi@sanbenitoarts.org
  
  
• Legacy Artist applicants from all 17 counties, contact SVCREATES for support.
  Contact: Alyssa Erickson, Program Manager, alyssae@svcreates.org

CAC IAF Program Guidelines are available in Spanish here. However, applications must be submitted in English. If you need application support in a language other than English, please contact the Lead Agency for your county at the contacts above.

All applicants will receive notification of their award status by email in early August 2023. The Lead Agency with whom you applied will send the notification. Award recipients will be required to submit a W9 form with either a Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in order to receive payment. All payments will be made by SVCREATES.