Spokane Arts Grant Awards (SAGA) funds multiple programs and projects three times every year through a competitive application process. Grant winners carry out arts related activities in the Spokane area during the twelve months following their award date. Awards can be for any amount up to $10,000.
SAGA defines the term “arts” by observing our community’s creative activity. We live in a region populated by many cultures, talented in varied crafts and trades, and curious about learning and engaging in technique, expression, and artistic community. SAGA has funded blacksmithing and glassblowing, cultural art forms such as canoe making, performance, exhibition, education, therapy, and individual artistic development. We have also funded arts-based businesses and new collaborations.
SAGA stands on the principle that creatives should be paid for the work they do and we educate both the broader community and the artistic sector that creative work has value.
2021 was SAGA’s fifth year serving the Spokane region. At the end of its fifth year, SAGA had funded 129 proposals providing a total of more than one half-million dollars to local artists, organizations, and businesses. Below we provide a complete list of each of our awardees since our first year of funding in 2017.
View just the most recent year’s winners here.
A two-day festival will bring the community together, inspire, uplift/ showcase the BIPOC peoples of Spokane in music and the arts and a film score residency exploring Colville stories will be hosted by Panoramic Dreams.
Spokane Aerial Performance Arts will purchase 10 sets of stilts and begin a permanent stilt walking program for young performers.
With SAGA support, the Manito Park Art Festival will ensure that emerging artists are given the opportunity to share their work with Spokane without significant financial barriers.
With SAGA support, local artist Tami Hennessey will execute an intricate multimedia art exhibit exploring her experience with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).
Art Salvage is working towards taking steps to grow the organization in order to meet community demand for more creative reuse services, with the goal of expanding to a larger brick and mortar store location.
Chase Ogden returns to his roots on the Spokane River to make a film highlighting the need to protect the water for future generations.
After dealing with the setbacks of Covid-19, the Chinese Association Board has made a decision to “go big” for the Lunar New Year in 2023.
Bright Comet Theatre will stage their first production, Lord of the Flies. Featuring an entirely femme presenting cast, and involving a multitude of diverse and queer artists.
SAGA funding will provide pay for the four poets’ performances and expose a new
audience to our local poets’ work.
SAGA is providing project funding for intensive, month long professional script development workshops for Spokane playwrights.
In a new project titled “Little Libraries, Big Stories,” Spark Central will collaborate with local artists to create and auction three unique little free libraries, stocked with books from local authors and youth, in part generated from a Spark Central workshop designed to ignite young West Central residents’ imaginations and strengthen their writing skills.
For Kids