For Kids
Spokane Arts’ “Arts Incubator” program provides support and resources to fledgling nonprofit arts and culture organizations.
Spokane Arts knows how much work and dedication it takes to build something from the ground up. As part of our mission to supports arts and culture in the region, we created the Arts Incubator program in 2014 so that groups or organizations doing great work in arts & culture could have someone behind them, providing stability, support, and resources.
The Arts Incubator program provides fiscal sponsorship to groups or organizations who don’t yet have their own 501c3 status. It allows a group or nonprofit to seek grants & tax-deductible donations to support their work, in turn allowing them to build capacity, grow stronger and ensure their work is sustainable.
Applicant FAQs
What is fiscal sponsorship?
Fiscal sponsorship is a formal arrangement in which a 501(c)(3) public charity sponsors a project that may lack exempt status. The ability to seek grants and solicit tax-deductible donations under your sponsor’s exempt status can be a major incentive for those considering making a donation to your project. Spokane Arts offers fiscal sponsorship opportunities to projects that further our mission AND/OR support one or more of our goals. Spokane Arts does charge a small administrative fee for managing your organization’s finances during the period of fiscal sponsorship; depending on the project, fees run 7-12% of the project budget.
Where can I learn more about the process?
Interested groups can contact us via email to find out more. You can set up a meeting to describe your project and find out if the Arts Incubator program is right for you, request an application, and ask any questions you might have.
Where can I find an application?
Email us to start the application process.
Current Arts Incubator Programs
Story Theatre Spokane
Story Theatre Spokane helps youth become more resilient and productive citizens of our community through engagement with the theater arts. Story Theatre Spokane will present performances, to be shared with the general public, that are derived from the real-life experiences of youth in our community. These productions will be timely in order to wake up our community as to the effects of trauma on the young people and the community as a whole. We expect to participate in Spokane’s on-going community-wide efforts of juvenile justice reform, working to reduce the school to prison pipeline and racial disparities, breaking the cycle of family violence and trauma, and reducing juvenile recidivism rates.
Story Theatre Spokane’s vision is to partner with the SAC Day School, the Juvenile Detention Services Day Reporting School. The students at SAC, an ESD101 alternative school, are either on probation or home monitoring. Together with the SAC staff English teacher and their trauma counselor, along with a group of 2-3 artistic teachers that STS will hire, we will develop the program curriculum, test the outcomes, and produce a pilot production. We will also partner with the police in the Youth Police Initiatives.
Arts Incubator Program Alums
Pivot: Live Storytelling Series
Every great story has a pivot. It may be the moment the stakes are raised, when you can’t wait to hear what comes next. It could be the instant a story elevates from good to great, or the nexus at which a story reveals what it’s truly about. It could be the way a great story can make you laugh so hard you can’t breathe, and in the next moment, break your heart.
Humans love stories for how they make us think and feel: they surprise and delight us, remind us of our common humanity, hold up a mirror to our foibles, and expand our ways of thinking. We all have different lived experiences, but stories connect us. They draw us in and whisper: I recognize you. We’re not so different.
Pivot is the brainchild of a group of community members, joined by a common desire to build a live storytelling series in Spokane. By day, they are teachers, advocates, artists, lawyers, administrators, doctors, organizers, and much more. Throughout each year, they volunteer their time and talents to produce, promote, and host live Pivot events in Spokane.
Pivot SpokaneSpokane Theater Arts Council (STAC)
STAC’s goal is to challenge and collaborate. STAC works to develop and foster more diversity in theater arts, both onstage and in the audience, in order to embrace and celebrate the uniqueness of all cultures. STAC’s role is to provide resources, support, and encouragement to both local theaters and local actors. They aim to foster a theater community where more stories are told from a wider range of perspectives, more actors of color participate and feel supported, and more community members attend shows at local theaters to see productions from a wide range of perspectives & lenses.
Visit STACs FacebookOne Heart Native Film Festival
The mission of One Heart Native Arts & Film Festival is to share and showcase innovative, compelling, and empowering stories from Native perspectives through film, art, and music, celebrating the diversity and vitality of contemporary Native culture in our community today.
Millwood Print Works
Now known as the Spokane Print & Publishing Center! Thom Caraway, Bethany Taylor, and Derek Landers partnered with other local artists to transform a previously empty space into a thriving art center, where artisans and the community come for a unique experience, to see print artists in action, and to make excellent art.
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