Durham Arts Council is piloting the Creative Space Grants as a new method for making the Durham Arts Council building available to arts nonprofits and individual artists based in Durham County NC. The need for more creative space in Durham has been emphasized through the Cultural Road Map City/County Planning Process. Guidelines or application questions may be adjusted as we learn from the experience of administering these grants. Creative Space Grants include Creative Hours Grants, Creative Showcase Grants and Creative Residency Grants.
Who May Apply?
- Arts and cultural nonprofits incorporated as a 501(c)(3) and based in Durham County, NC
- individual artists residing in Durham County, NC
- Arts Administrators organizing an event on behalf of an arts nonprofit 501c(3) based in Durham County, NC.
- If a project is bring produced by an unincorporated group of artists, one artist may apply on behalf of the group.
- All applicants must be at least 18 years old.
What Can I Request?
- This grant supports short term public facing arts and cultural activities—such as performances, showings and presentations. Short term is defined as 40 hours or less of room use. The request may include rehearsals and production meetings related to the public performance or event. Applicant can receive one Creative Showcase grant per year however the 40 hours can be used for more than one production.
What Can I Not Request?
- This grant does not support fund raising events. Learn more about renting the building for fund raising events here.
- This grant does not support commercial enterprises, except for ticketed performances or events. If you are interested in conducting classes and workshops you can submit a proposal to the DAC School here.
- Gallery exhibition in DAC gallery spaces. For exhibitions contact Artist Services for information about the annual call for exhibits: cscott@durhamarts.org
- For closed events—such as rehearsals and meetings—please apply through the Creative Hours Grant.
- For year-round use or events requiring more than 40 hours of space within a 12-month period, including office space, use the Creative Residency Grant.
What Does the Creative Showcase Grant Cover?
- The grant covers rental costs.
- A cleaning/maintenance fee is charged for each use. For most events this will be $25 + the number of people present per event.
- For activities taking place outside regular building hours, an hourly security fee will be added at $55/hour. Regular building hours are 9-9 Monday-Saturday, 1-6 Sunday.
- For activities taking place in the PSI Theatre, an hourly tech fee will be added at $60/hour.
Your grant will appear as a credit against the total cost of your request. When your grant is awarded, you will receive a contract and invoice that itemizes all fees and grant credits.
What Factors Are Considered When Evaluating a Grant Application?
- Applicant eligibility.
- Quality of the arts or arts experience and evidence of sustained commitment to arts programming or artistic practice.
- Appropriateness of the activity for the DAC building.
- How the project activates the DAC building.
- Innovative projects and projects outside of what the DAC traditionally presents and programs- adding new work to the arts ecosystem
More details about the entire grant process are available on the Durham Arts Council webpage for Creative Space Grants.
Durham Arts Council is piloting the Creative Space Grants as a new method for making the Durham Arts Council building available to arts nonprofits and individual artists based in Durham County NC. The need for more creative space in Durham has been emphasized through the Cultural Road Map City/County Planning Process. Guidelines or application questions may be adjusted as we learn from the experience of administering these grants. Creative Space Grants include Creative Hours Grants, Creative Showcase Grants and Creative Residency Grants.
Who May Apply?
- Arts nonprofits incorporated as a 501(c)(3) and based in Durham County, NC
- individual artists residing in Durham County, NC
- Arts Administrators organizing an event on behalf of an arts nonprofit 501c(3) based in Durham County, NC.
- If a project is bring produced by an unincorporated group of artists, one artist may apply on behalf of the group.
- All applicants must be at least 18 years old.
When is the Application Due?
Applicant can receive only one Creative Residency Grant per Fiscal Year. There are two opportunities to submit an application for FY26-27:
- April 15, 2026, for activities between July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
- October 15, 2026, for activities between January 1, 2027-June 30, 2027
What Can I Request?
- This grant cycle is for use of the DAC building between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027.
- This grant supports sustained use of the DAC building (over 40 hours within the fiscal year). The request may include rehearsals, practice sessions, meetings, presentations and office space.
- Individual artists may request up to 80 hours of building use.
What Can I Not Request?
- This grant does not support fund raising events. Find more information about renting the building here.
- This grant does not support commercial enterprises, except for ticketed performances. If you are interested in conducting a class or workshop you can submit your proposal to the DAC School here.
- Gallery exhibition in DAC gallery spaces. For exhibitions contact Artist Services for information about the annual call for exhibits: cscott@durhamarts.org
- Use of PSI Theatre. To request PSI Theatre use the Creative Showcase Grant.
What Does the Creative Residency Grant cover?
- The grant covers rental costs.
- A cleaning/maintenance fee is charged for each use. The fee for one event attended by one person ranges from $11-$26. The fee increases as people are added, for example one event attended by 10 people would be between $20-$35.
- For activities taking place outside regular building hours, an hourly security fee will be added at $55/hour. Regular building hours are 9 AM - 9 PM, Monday-Saturday and 1 - 6 PM, Sunday.
- There may be other fees depending on the event.
If your application is awarded, you will receive a contract and quote that itemizes all fees and grant credits. Your grant will appear as a credit against the total cost of your request.
What if the Dates Requested Change?
- You can apply for use of space even if you do not have specific dates or if there is the possibility that your specific dates change. If your application is awarded a number of hours to be scheduled in the future, there is no guarantee that the space, date and time you eventually request will be available. You may request a change once your schedule has been confirmed, but there is no guarantee that your new request will be available.
- A specific reservation is not confirmed until your contract and deposit have been received.
What Factors Are Considered When Evaluating a Grant Application?
- Applicant eligibility.
- Quality of the arts or arts experience and evidence of sustained commitment to arts programming or artistic practice.
- Appropriateness of the activity for the DAC building.
- How the activities help the DAC fulfill its mission of supporting the Durham arts sector and the public's access to public arts activities and performances. Considerations include:
- Maintain a relatively consistent level of daytime and nighttime activity to attract participants, audiences, and visitors.
- Contribute to the stability of facility operations, including taking care of the space and following building procedures to protect the building and all program participants and guests.
- Build a positive image of the facility through ongoing use.
- Innovative projects and projects outside of what the DAC traditionally presents and programs- adding new work to the arts ecosystem.
More details about grant process timeline are available on the Durham Arts Council webpage for Creative Residency Grants.
This page provides an overview of the performer application. To access the application, use the link at the bottom of the page to set up a free account.
APPLICATION DEADLINE - Monday, June 1st 2026
The 51st Annual CenterFest is the longest running outdoor juried arts festival in North Carolina. The festival boasts juried visual artists from near and far, great entertainment, lots of food and fun, and educational activities for kids. Located in Downtown Durham's vibrant city center district, CenterFest performers, artists and visitors will enjoy a setting filled with restaurants, shops and studios: a perfect space for an event that will bring 30,000+ visitors over the weekend. CenterFest 2026 will include several performance stages showcasing music, dance, street performers, and community groups. We are looking for a diverse array of performance groups and entertainers. The Durham Arts Council's goal is to showcase community artists, with a focus on performers who may not be represented in the wider arts sector. Performance artists and groups who identify as BIPOC are encouraged to apply.
Durham Arts Council will be using themes from America250 in festival programming. We are looking at performances which responds to the chosen themes. More information will be provided in the acceptance materials.
CenterFest is Sunshine Artist's #1 Fine Arts Festival in North Carolina and is ranked #22 nationally.
https://durhamarts.org/centerfest/
Centerfest dates and times: September 19 from 10am-6pm and September 20 from 11am-5pm
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
- Complete contact information
- Attach your technical needs sheet (upload file as word 'docx, doc' or pdf document, not exceeding 1MB)
- Provide description of your group
- Provide web link to online performance sample
- Upload press quality photo (png, gif, and jpeg files accepted, with file size not exceeding 1MB)
- Opportunities available for featured performers, well-loved bands, ensembles, singer/songwriters, dance groups, puppet shows, processions, juggling, music, marching bands and more.
BENEFITS, SCREENING, AND REGULATIONS BENEFITS :
If selected to perform, you will receive the following festival benefits:
- Posting on the CenterFest website.
- Exposure through various local marketing, such as streaming, radio, tv, and social media.
- Inclusion in publicity campaign and social media.
- Payment of up to $100 for your 20 - 50-minute performance. More established bands may be considered for higher performance fees.
- A designated area for performers to sell and distribute CD's and merchandise. Performers are responsible for managing their own sales.
SCREENING
All applicants will be screened by the Centerfest 2026 Management Team and entertainment committee. The screening process will take into account technical and scheduling needs, diversity in performances, and record of previous performances.
All 2026 Applicants will be notified in Submittable by Monday, July 20th, 2026, if they are selected or not selected.
*Once artists receive a contract, please review and sign by Monday, August 17th, 2026, at the latest. Failure to sign contract in timely manner may result in contract termination.*
REGULATIONS
- All performers and their crew must follow all rules and regulations for parking, load-in, load-out, and performance as outlined in the performer information packet and performer contract. Failure to follow the rules and/or follow directions from CenterFest staff onsite may result in being asked to leave the festival.
- Artists must perform work for which they were invited.
- Artists must provide technical specifications with the application.
- The DAC retains the right to use any festival documentation and photos to be used in future promotion of CenterFest without compensation to the artist.
- The DAC retains the right to use photos submitted by performer to be used in promotion of CenterFest 2026 without compensation to the artist.
- Stage performances will generally be 20 to 50 minutes.
- DAC provides professional quality sound systems, drum kits at main stages. No cymbals or amps provided.
- All staging areas will be outdoors and two will have coverings. No "green room" dressing room, or rugs will be provided.
- No application fee to apply.
- Load in areas, parking passes and information and festival map will be included in a formal contract between you and the DAC upon selection to perform.
- Rainout: CenterFest is a Rain or Shine event. Performers will be asked to proceed in the event of light rain when it is safe to do so. No compensation will be paid due to performers decision not to participate; performers will be paid in the event of rain if they are present and ready to perform.