Grants FAQs

New Mexico Arts funds nonprofits and government organizations for arts activities in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, media arts, multidisciplinary arts (involving more than one artistic discipline), and interdisciplinary arts (relating two or more artistic disciplines). We support programs that foster arts education, arts economic development; and traditional folk arts in New Mexico. New Mexico’s anti-donation clause means that New Mexico Arts enters into grant agreements with eligible organizations to perform specified arts activities within the contract term; payments are on a reimbursement basis.

No. We do offer grants for individual master artists through our Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program. The Art in Public Places program offers visual artists the opportunity to apply for public art commissions and direct purchase initiatives.

New Mexico Arts receives approximately 50% of its funding from the State of New Mexico and about 50% from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Please call us at (505) 827-6490 or (800) 879-4278 (instate) to discuss your program with the program coordinator for your funding category.

A grantee that receives funding from New Mexico Arts should have a public presentation component during the grant period, such as exhibitions, publications, screening, lectures, or performances. All public presentations must be open and accessible to the general public. See the General Funding Restrictions in the guidelines to ensure that New Mexico Arts funding can be used for the intended project.   

Review the New Mexico Arts guidelines for funding categories and eligibility criteria.

• Budget-based Creative Support categories include Arts Projects; Community Arts; and Major Cultural Organizations; are based on the applicant’s last completed fiscal year income.
• Organization- or institution-specific categories include Colleges, Universities, and Government Entities; Local Arts Councils; and Service Organizations.
• Project-based categories include Arts Learning in Schools and in Community, Arts in Social Service, and Traditional Folk Arts Projects.

All applicants (except Folk Arts Apprenticeships) must include a 50% match by the applicant organization, at least half of which must be cash. For example, if an organization requests $10,000 from New Mexico Arts, the organization must provide a $5,000 match. At least $2,500 must be in cash. The remaining $2,500 can be in-kind goods and services.

The online application goes live, and the Funding Guidelines are posted on the New Mexico Arts website in early September.

All applications (Advance Review and Final) and additional required application materials are submitted online by 11:59 PM on the published deadline date.

An Advance Review is offered by NMA prior to the final deadline to help applicants improve their applications and check for mistakes that might cause ineligibility. The Advance Review deadline is in October. An Advance Review is required:

• for ALL new applicants
• if an applicant was declared ineligible or did not receive funding in the past year
• if an applicant has not applied in the past two years.

The Final Application deadline is in December. Applications must be submitted no later than 5PM MST on the published deadline. Late applications are not accepted.

See also: Lifecycle of a Grant Application

Staff review applications and required application materials to determine eligibility. Applications that do not meet stated eligibility requirements will not be reviewed by panels. Application review panels review and rate applications, each application is scored based on the published evaluation criteria for each funding category. Scores are posted on the NMA website after the panel review process.
Applicants must score 65 points or higher to be eligible for funding.

Successful applicants are awarded a percentage of the amount they have requested, based on the panel score and the total available funding. Applicants typically receive less than their requested amount as demand is greater than available funding. All requests are $10,000.

All New Mexico Arts funding is dispersed on a reimbursement basis. The Planning and Budget Committee of the Arts Commission reviews funding recommendations in May and forwards its recommendations to the full Arts Commission, which meets in June for final review and approval.

All funding notifications, grant agreements, and follow-ups and reporting is done through the online grants system, please notify New Mexico Arts of changes in Project Director.

Educate your legislators and the Governor about the importance of New Mexico Arts funding to your organization. An increase in the New Mexico Arts funding budget is the only way to increase organizational funding from New Mexico Arts.