Founded in 1967, the North Carolina Arts Council promotes "arts for all citizens," aiming to develop and support the arts for North Carolinians and their communities across all 100 counties. By delivering resources for arts development in a fair, transparent, and accountable manner, the council, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and advised by a 24-member citizen board appointed by the Governor, furthers arts development statewide.
The Arts in Education Artist Residency Grants aim to support schools and school districts by providing funding to bring artists directly into classrooms, either in person or virtually, for residencies. These residencies are intended for the fall semester of 2023 or spring semester of 2024. The program focuses on offering students standards-based, long-term artist residencies (lasting at least 5 days) to imbue them with in-depth knowledge and skills in the arts. The design of each residency is a collaborative effort between educators and artists, tailored to the specific needs of the school while actively engaging students in participatory arts learning. Each artist is required to work with the same group of students for a minimum of five days, though these days do not need to be consecutive.