How to Apply

Our 2026 grant cycle is open as of February 3.

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage (the Center) makes panel-adjudicated grants in support of the Philadelphia region’s cultural organizations and artists. We are dedicated to fostering a thriving cultural ecology and envision Greater Philadelphia as a widely recognized hub for dynamic, distinctive, and inclusive cultural experiences.

We invest in substantive work that showcases our region’s artistic vitality and enhances public life.

The projects we support grow directly out of mission and demonstrate excellence, care, and conceptual rigor. Funded projects reflect our grantees’ commitment to multiple perspectives, inclusive practices, and meaningful engagement with multicultural audiences.

We also engage in a robust exchange of ideas on evolving artistic and interpretive practices with a local, national, and international network of creators and cultural leaders. These exchanges provide inspiration for cultural practice in our region and beyond and help the Center and its constituents to build new relationships and audiences.

Organizations applying for funding must—

• Have minimum annual expenses of $150,000.
• Primarily serve public audiences. (The Center does not fund K–12 educational programming, curricula at any academic level, projects primarily rooted in education, or projects where the primary audiences are students and educators.)
• Have adequate, paid, professional, artistic/curatorial and managerial staff to realize the project.
• Have a minimum of two years of experience presenting professional public programs in the areas encompassed by the Creative Project program areas (i.e., arts and public history). (Fiscal sponsors must have a demonstrable record of arts and culture sponsorship. Fiscally sponsored organizations must offer year-round programming. The Center does not fund organizations that primarily present one-time annual programs, events, or festivals.)
• Provide three years of financial audits/reviews to determine financial eligibility for funding. (Fiscal sponsors must submit their own financial audits, as well as records to confirm the minimum annual expenses of the sponsee. Fiscal sponsors and their sponsees must have an established agreement in place at the time that the Letter of Intent to Apply (LOI) is submitted.)
• Not have an open grant in the project funding area from which they seek funding in the 2026 cycle.
• Not be managed by current employees of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Barnes Foundation; members of such employees’ households; or people closely related to such employees through blood, marriage, or domestic partnership.

*Applicants may choose between Creative Project grants and Evolving Futures grants but can only apply for one grant in the 2026 cycle.

• Have received a panel-adjudicated Creative Project grant from the Center between 2015–2025.
• Have board support and adequate paid, professional staff to realize the project.
• Provide three years of financial audits/reviews to determine financial eligibility for funding.
• Not be in a current (or have a planned) leadership transition.
• Not be managed by current employees of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Barnes Foundation; members of such employees’ households; or people closely related to such employees through blood, marriage, or domestic partnership. Recipients of 2025 planning grants are ineligible to apply for 2026 implementation grants.

*Applicants may choose between Creative Project grants and Evolving Futures grants but can only apply for one grant in the 2026 cycle.

• Research and Travel Grants to help prospective applicants develop and deepen their professional and programmatic capacities and support exploratory phases of projects that may lead to future Center funding. These grants range from $2,000–$4,000. 
• Technical Assistance Grants, to assist 2026 applicants with managing and completing the Center’s application process once they have been invited to apply. Grants of $500 to $1,500 are available beginning June 1, after organizations have been invited to submit a full application. Priority is given to applicants with operating budgets under $500k, those with no dedicated development staff, and to first-time applicants.

Our capacity building application guidelines are available here:

Applicants must—

• Be nominated, as described by the Fellowships application guidelines.
• Be residents of the five-county Philadelphia area (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia County).
• Be at least two years out of school or have equivalent career experience.
• Not be a full- or part-time student.
• Not be an employee of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Barnes Foundation, a member of an employee’s household, or closely related to an employee.
• Not be a previous Pew Fellowships in the Arts recipient.