Background

Through regionally based Administering Organizations, the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program uplifts and celebrates California artists across all disciplines and traditions, highlights their excellence, and acknowledges their leadership in shaping traditional and contemporary cultures. For this grant, excellence is defined by: 

• A unique artistic vision 

• A sustained commitment to creative practice 

• Engagement with, and impact on, the cultural ecosystem 

The California Arts Council (CAC) has selected Nevada County Arts & Culture to design and implement a fellowship program that supports individual artists and culture bearers across all disciplines. By providing unrestricted funding, the fellowship empowers artists at pivotal moments in their careers, enhancing their ability to contribute meaningfully to California’s diverse communities. Investing in individual artists and culture bearers through this program strengthens artistic expression, creative practice, and community collaboration statewide. 

Nevada County Arts & Culture (DBA “Upstate Individual Artists Fellowship”) has been selected as the Administering Organization for the Upstate Region, responsible for distributing $240,000 in grant funding across nineteen counties. Recognizing a larger scale need to harness rural voices in establishing a regional approach to collective policies and programming as a transformational tool, we will work with peer agencies across the Region to ensure equitable access to the Individual Artists Fellowship Program. 

OUR APPROACH

Our approach to our Guidelines and Application can be summarized through:

• Simplicity in our application format

• Sensitivity to local issues and local ways of defining and measuring those issues, including the lived experience of artists and culture bearers, and their communities

• An equitable distribution of funds that aligns us as equal partners with our grantees to ensure positive change for our most vulnerable communities in rural Upstate California

The Upstate Individual Artists Fellowship aligns with a vision that the lives of all Californians are enriched through a diverse spectrum of artists and culture bearers and arts and cultural experiences, and that the arts can be a key factor in addressing our challenges. The presence of the arts and creativity in daily life revitalizes communities and promotes civic engagement, encourages collective problem solving and builds bridges across cultures.

As Administering Organization for the Upstate Region / Region 1, the Upstate Individual Artists Fellowship will serve the following counties: Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba counties. You can view the Individual Artists Fellowship Regional Map here, and a list of Administering Organizations who serve other regions in California here.

The Individual Artists Fellowships program is a statewide initiative. If you do not reside in Upstate California / Region 1, but are a resident of California, please contact the Administering Organization of your region for more information:

• Region 2: Capital - Teatro Nagual Inc. —Alpine, El Dorado, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties

• Region 3: Bay Area - Kala Institute —Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties 

• Region 4: Central Valley & Eastern Sierra - Kern Dance Alliance —Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties 

• Region 5: Central Coast - Arts Council Santa Cruz County —Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura counties 

• Region 6: South – Los Angeles - Performance Practice LA —Los Angeles County 

• Region 7: Inland Empire & South Coast - Arts Orange County —Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties

• Region 8: Far South - The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture —Imperial and San Diego counties