Museum Grants for African American History and Culture | AAHC FY17

Opportunity Information: Apply for AAHC FY17

The Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC) program is a discretionary federal grant opportunity administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under CFDA 45.309. Its purpose is to strengthen African American museums by funding projects that improve day-to-day museum operations, enhance the care and stewardship of collections, and build stronger professional management practices. In practical terms, the program is aimed at helping eligible institutions become more sustainable and effective in preserving and presenting African American life, art, history, and culture for public benefit.

Eligibility is structured around three required conditions. First, an applicant must be either a unit of state or local government or a private nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code. Second, the applicant must be based in an eligible U.S. jurisdiction, which includes all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as U.S. territories and affiliated areas specifically listed in the notice: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely Associated States (the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau). Third, the applicant must fit into one of several qualifying organizational categories tied directly to African American museum work.

The primary eligible category is a museum whose mission is centered on African American life, art, history, and/or culture, including major historical periods and movements such as slavery, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, and broader aspects of the African American diaspora. To qualify as a museum under this program, the institution is expected to operate on a permanent basis for educational or aesthetic purposes, employ a professional staff, own or use tangible objects (animate or inanimate), care for those objects, and regularly exhibit them to the general public through facilities it owns or operates. The program also allows an agency (public or private nonprofit) that is responsible for operating an eligible museum to apply on that museum's behalf. In addition, museum service organizations or associations can apply if their primary mission is to support museums focused on African American life, art, history, and/or culture. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), as defined in federal law and relevant executive guidance, are also eligible applicants. Native American tribal organizations may apply as well, as long as they meet the same overarching eligibility requirements described in the notice.

For this specific funding cycle (AAHC FY17), the opportunity listed an application deadline of December 1, 2016. The maximum award amount was $150,000, and IMLS anticipated making roughly 14 awards. The funding activity category is Arts and Humanities, and the grant instrument type is a standard grant. Applicants are encouraged to consult the full Notice of Funding Opportunity for finer points and definitions, especially where eligibility depends on mission language, governance and operating responsibility, and how the museum meets the program's expectations around staffing, collections stewardship, and public exhibition.

• The Institute of Museum and Library Services in the arts, humanities sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Museum Grants for African American History and Culture" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.309.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-09-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-12-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 14 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for AAHC FY17

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