Arts Capital Atlanta will soon distribute more than $1 million to Metro Atlanta arts organizations in an effort to strengthen the region’s creative ecosystem.
It’s the first year Arts Capital Atlanta will give out unrestricted funds to arts organizations – the Metro Atlanta nonprofit brings together organizations, funders and partners to research, raise and distribute funds.
The funding applications will open on Oct. 1, 2026 for eligible arts organizations. The groups will need to be a nonprofit or operate under an eligible fiscal sponsor, have operated continuously for at least three years, have a primary arts-focused mission, provide public-facing arts programming in metro Atlanta, provide necessary documentation and meet the operating budget requirements.
Arts Capital Atlanta estimates at least 200 nonprofits may be eligible to participate across several disciplines, locations and organizational sizes. So far, the nonprofit doesn’t have a set number of recipients – the group won’t know until the application process is complete. In a press release, the organization said applicants should expect awards in the “range of several thousand dollars.”
“The goal is to invest broadly in the nonprofit arts ecosystem, not identify a handful of winners,” Arts Capital Atlanta Board Chair Elizabeth Labbe-Webb said. “Arts Capital Atlanta is building the collective voice and knowledge we need to advocate for greater investment in the arts.”
It’s a response to significant funding issues in the region. Georgia ranks dead last in per-capita state funding for the arts. According to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, it allocates just 14 cents per person. It’s not much better in the 11-county metro region – funding averages about $1.96 per capita in Metro Atlanta. Nationally, the average is about $5.44 per person.
Arts Capital ATL said it creates an estimated $18 million gap in public arts investment, in an area where half of the arts organizations operate on annual budgets under $150,000. The inaugural funding is a “starting point” for the nonprofit’s funding efforts.
The over $1 million pooled fund comes from philanthropic support including the Zeist Foundation, Imlay Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and other partners.
To ensure arts organizations would be eligible regardless of staff size or capacity, Arts Capital ATL let other arts organizations design the fund. Participating groups helped determine eligibility, shaped the application process, evaluated distribution and will retain decision-making authority over how resources “reach the ecosystem.”
“This is a fund built by the arts community, for the arts community,” Labbe-Webb, who is also the Executive Director of Core Dance and Arts Capital, said.
Applications will be open Oct. 1-29, 2026. Full eligibility requirements and application materials are available online at www.ArtsCapitalAtlanta.org.
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