Our flagship program, Artists in Schools, places professional teaching artists in Wake County K-12 schools for curriculum-based performances, workshops, and residencies for over 130,000 students each year. These programs help students learn to problem-solve, work together, and seek creative means toward common goals.

Highlights of the 2025-26 Artists in Schools

United Arts worked with 264 artists/companies/ensembles/groups and served 150 schools.

Through these schools, United Arts was able to help contract:

• 292 performances
• 109 workshop residencies
• 31 week-long writer residencies

Artists in Schools Grant Info

Artists in Schools grants are intended to help schools hire professional teaching artists to offer curriculum-based arts instruction for students in a K-12 setting and take place during the school day.

Grant applications are accepted each fall. Notification of awarded amounts and the contracting process immediately follow. Grant awards do not cover the total cost of an artist fee, therefore schools also contribute funding to support the artist(s) working with their students.

School Eligibility
To be eligible for grant funding, schools must:

• be public, charter, or nonprofit private school located in Wake County
• appoint a volunteer known as a Cultural Arts Representative. Read the Cultural Arts Rep Job Description
• attend one training session
• attend the Artists in School Expo
• select program(s) from our Artists in Schools Directory
• schedule programs that take place during the school day
• pay the portion of the artist fee(s) that the grant funds do not cover

Funding
The maximum grant award per school for the current year can not exceed $1,800 and is contingent on the availability of funds. Eligible schools may apply for a maximum of four (4) grants, including:

• two performance grants with different artists (up to $400 for each)
• one workshop/residency grant (up to $500)
• one week-long writer residency grant (up to $500)

Participation Fee
Due to funding provided on the district level, the participation fee is waived for all Wake County Public School
System schools for the 2026-27 year.

Private and charter schools will provide a $100 non-refundable fee to participate in the program. This fee does
not affect the amount of grant funding received or the payment due to artists. Schools in their first year of
operation may request to have this fee waived.

About Contracting Artists
Contracts will be collected online. The process requires Cultural Arts Representatives to use a contract template to provide all relevant details and collect all necessary signatures (electronic or otherwise). Once complete, a contracts may then be forwarded as a PDF to [email protected]. After United Arts receives, reviews, and signs the contract, a fully executed contract will be forwarded to both the artist and the school. Please note: Contracts are not legally binding unless they include a signature from a United Arts staff member.

School Matching Funds
The portion of the artist’s fee that is not covered by a grant is due from the school to United Arts and is called “School Matching Payment.” Using the unique invoice number that will be emailed after the contract is submitted, payments should be made to “United Arts” for each contract separately. Payments may be made one of three ways:

• Paper Check
• Electronic with debit or HCS transfer
• Electronic with credit card (include a 2% service charge)

Deadlines
The deadline date for submitting contracts varies based on the program start date. For 2026-27 the following deadlines apply:

If the event falls in December or earlier, the deadline is 2 weeks to the day before the start date of the program/performance.
For example, a performance planned on Thursday, November 19, 2026 would have a contract due date of Thursday, November 5, 2026.

If the event takes place after December 2025, the deadline will be the published deadline for December.
For example, a performance scheduled on Tuesday, June 8, 2027 would have a contract deadline of Thursday, December 17, 2026.

Fully Funded Program Contracts
Occasionally a school may decide to book and fully pay for a program that does not involve grant funding. In the case of a fully school funded event, Cultural Arts Representatives may use United Arts contracts and systems to administer the program.

To learn more about the Artists in Schools grants contact Julia Mastropaolo at [email protected] or (919) 839-1498, ext. 210.