(Note: go to our grants section if you're looking to apply for a grant.)

This section of our website highlights independent Council initiatives within Vermont communities as well as our partnerships with local organizations through our community grants programs.

Communities across Vermont are discovering how investing in the arts returns dividends in the form of economic vitality, civic participation and just plain enjoyment. The Council serves as a catalyst for people, activities and projects that increase the visibility of the arts and leverage funding and other types of support from diverse sources.

Community grants support the presentation of the arts in venues from sidewalks to symphony halls and from churches to coffee houses. With initiatives like the 2006 Palettes of Vermont project (pictured above), over 37,000 Vermonters of all ages and abilities created and celebrated together through a common community arts project.

What these diverse events have in common is bringing people together – sometimes for the first and only time but often again and again to share interests, talk about ideas and experience a feeling of connection to each other and the place where they live.