Culture Blocks for Creative Individuals in North Carolina

Culture Blocks for Creative Individuals is an Arts & Science Council funding opportunity supported by Mecklenburg County. Culture Blocks advances the Arts & Science Council's mission to remove barriers to access and connect communities across Mecklenburg County with free arts, science, and history experiences. The program is administered by the Arts & Science Council in partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Libraries and Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation. It directs resources toward cultural experiences shaped by residents and offered close to where they live, particularly in historically underserved neighborhoods with limited opportunities to access arts, science, and history programming. Culture Blocks supports a broad range of community-based cultural programming. Examples identified by the program include visual arts workshops and experiences, dance, theater, writing, photography, culinary arts, music classes, film screenings, concerts, festivals, and multicultural events. Programming is delivered through public libraries, recreation centers, parks, and other community spaces. The program serves neighborhoods in Charlotte as well as the towns of Cornelius, Huntersville, Davidson, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Pineville. Proposed programming for this funding cycle must take place between January 1 and June 30, 2027. Creative individuals may request funding through this Culture Blocks opportunity. The total funding request may not exceed $20,000. Awards may be partially funded depending on available resources and the program's objective of supporting a variety of programming across the community. The source does not state a minimum award amount, total program funding amount, number of awards, or a required matching or cost-share contribution. Culture Blocks has implemented a one-application-per-cycle policy intended to support a more equitable review process and fair distribution of funding, and applicants are encouraged to submit their strongest proposal for the cycle. Funding decisions consider access across partner facilities, diversity of age groups and program types, alignment with Block population size, and the significant role of local creatives and nonprofits in providing programs near where residents live. These considerations indicate that applicants should develop proposals responsive to community access, local delivery, program diversity, and the populations served by Culture Blocks. The source does not provide a separate scoring rubric or numerical weighting for these considerations. Applications opened Monday, July 13, 2026, and must be submitted by Monday, August 17, 2026, at noon Eastern Time. All applicants are required to apply through the online Blackbaud application system. Resources identified for applicants include an Application Questions Creative Individuals Template and the Official CB Creative Individuals Budget Template. Staff accept draft applications and budgets by email for review between May 12 and August 7 at 5 pm. Applicants may reserve only one feedback meeting time slot. Information sessions were scheduled for May 11, July 16, July 29, August 3, and August 6, with both virtual and in-person options. These information sessions and draft reviews are support opportunities rather than stated pre-application gating requirements. Applicants are expected to receive an approval or decline notification in early October. Applicants who are declined have four weeks from the date of their email notification to request feedback. Approved programming must occur from January 1 through June 30, 2027. Questions about Culture Blocks may be directed to cultureblocks@artsandscience.org, while questions concerning a Blackbaud account may be directed to grants@artsandscience.org. No individual program officer name or telephone number is provided in the supplied source. The source refers to application cycles but does not explicitly establish an annual, biennial, quarterly, or other recurring schedule, so recurrence is not assumed.

Submit draft applications for review by August 1 and schedule only one 15-minute feedback session between July 14 and August 6.