In 2024, CultureWorks awarded 22 regional organizations and artists with grants, including the Latin Ballet of Virginia.
Richmond nonprofit and arts promoter CultureWorks’ new grant application process is speaking to the organization’s mission of collaboration, accessibility and increased capacity as never before. By simplifying the initial paperwork required and adding a live and public forum where applicants pitch their projects, the nonprofit hopes to encourage requests and foster connections within the arts community.
“The level of information [an applicant] had to provide would have been appropriate for a grant of hundreds of thousands of dollars, not the few thousand dollars CW is able to offer,” says Mary Burruss, CultureWorks’ advancement and program specialist. “The previous application ate up time and resources, and time is valuable.”
CultureWorks’ 2025 grant cycle will begin next month when a letter of intent — with a mix of checkbox and short-answer questions — goes live on the organization’s website. Applicants have until Feb. 28 to submit. Within a month from the deadline, semifinalists will be invited to complete more detailed paperwork. That pool will be further winnowed to finalists, who will advance to the presentation. There, each finalist will have two minutes to make their pitch before the panel of grant reviewers, followed by a three-minute Q&A.
Burruss says the audience for the final presentations will be open to potential funders, nonprofit organizations, artists, family and friends — and anyone who cares about local arts. “That way, everyone who applied for a grant can get something out of the process,” she says. “There will be space to network with people who are funding similar projects as well as other artists who may be interested in collaboration. Even if [an organization or artist] isn’t getting a grant, it’s an opportunity to connect or just see what proposals are successful.”
Another 2024 grant recipient was the Barefoot Puppet Theater.
In 2024, CultureWorks awarded more than $131,000 in grants to 12 regional organizations and 10 artists; in 2023, grants totaled roughly $110,000. “The amount of money we have to give out depends on the grant money we receive from our funders,” Burruss says, noting that most funds come from corporate partners. Every other year, CultureWorks can apply for funding from the National Endowment for the Arts; 2024 was an NEA granting year.
CultureWorks gives grants in two divisions: organizations and individual practicing artists. Each division has a Building Capabilities category, which supports tangible improvements such as lighting, computer software and structural needs, and a Cultural Equity category, providing programming from, about or for historically underserved populations.
In 2024, one local gallery received funding to acquire a new software program for communication as well as staff training on the new system. Another 2024 grant went to Jackson Ward native and artist Sir James L. Thornhill for the creation of a mural at George W. Carver Elementary School to celebrate Engine Co. No. 9, home to the city’s first professional Black firefighters.
“This is a BIPOC artist working with students from a primarily BIPOC school to share African American history of Richmond,” Burruss says.
Burruss, who joined CultureWorks in March 2024, sees her role as one of support, not gatekeeping.
“CW recently partnered with Art 180 to offer a grant-writing class for artists,” Burruss says, adding that potential grant applicants are welcome to make an appointment for a 30-minute conversation about CultureWorks’ process.
“My door is open,” she says. “I don’t decide who is awarded grant money, so it is my goal to help everyone turn in the best application possible.”
