Dorian De Long Arts and Music Scholarship

Scholarship Sponsored by Dorian De Long Arts and Music Scholarship

Overview
The Dorian De Long Arts and Music Grant exists to uplift educators and their students by expanding access to meaningful arts experiences. Individual teachers may apply for awards between $1,000 and $3,000 to fund projects that bring visual art, music, or theater into PK–12 classrooms in ways that model the importance of arts education and encourage ongoing community investment.

Program Objectives
- Expand sustained, regional access to arts education for all students.
- Create chances for young people (ages 4–18, PK–12) to engage with practicing artists in an instructional setting, prioritizing those with limited or no access to consistent, high-quality arts programming.
- Increase public and institutional recognition of arts education’s benefits so that financial and curricular support grows statewide and access becomes more equitable.

Who May Apply
Applicants must be teaching at a Colorado-based nonprofit PK12 public school.

Permitted Uses of Grant Funds (must be spent in the classroom)
- Implementation of arts-based or arts-integrated instruction tied to the proposed project
- Materials and supplies directly supporting student learning
- Fees or stipends for guest artists
- Instructional resources used for student education

Prohibited Uses
- Routine operating costs for the school or organization
- Capital projects such as building construction or renovation
- Administrative salaries that are not directly connected to the funded project
- Equipment purchases that are not directly used for student instruction

Project Expectations and Design
Projects can draw from any visual, performing, literary, folk, traditional, or interdisciplinary arts discipline. Arts integration (linking an art form with another subject area) is encouraged. Strong proposals will:

- Allow sufficient time for meaningful learning and relationship-building (projects ideally run six weeks or longer).
- Be youth-centered: students’ identities and needs should guide the work; youth should have opportunities to shape the project as it develops.
- Address a documented need or gap in the school or surrounding community.
- Be highly accessible: participation must be free of charge and take place in a location that is easy for students to reach.
- Include plans to evaluate and communicate the project’s outcomes; evaluation findings will be shared.

Sample Project Ideas
- A student-led mural project that reflects and celebrates school culture.
- A visiting musician partnering with youth at a community center to co-create original songs.
- A cohort of students working with a theater teaching artist to write and stage a one-act play based on vignettes from their daily lives.

Clearly Ineligible Activities
- Programs that charge participants a fee
- Salaries or payments for PK–12 staff unrelated to the specific project work
- General operating expenses not tied to the proposed activity
- Capital improvement projects

2025 Application Timeline
- Grant application opens: September 1, 2025
- Application deadline: October 1, 2025
- Award notifications: January 1, 2026
- Project period: February 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026
- Final report deadline: within 30 days after project completion and no later than July 31, 2026

If you’d like, I can help draft an application narrative or budget that aligns with these requirements.