Mid Atlantic Presenter Initiatives

Eligibility and Schedule

In addition to the eligibility requirements listed below, organizations may only apply for one of the following opportunities for the 2026-2027 cycle:  

• Mid Atlantic Presenter Initiatives
• Central Appalachia Living Traditions (CALT) 
• Folk & Traditional Arts Community Projects 

Reach out to the Program Director for these programs to discuss your questions about which program is the best fit for your project in this cycle.  

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Mid Atlantic Presenter Initiatives grant award, presenters* must: 

• be based in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Native nations that share this geography; 
• be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or be a unit of state or local government or Federally recognized Indian tribal government; 
  • Units of government must provide a document on official letterhead to confirm your status as a government entity.  
  • Fiscal sponsorship is not allowed for this program. 
  • Applicants must have a confirmed SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI) number by the application deadline. 
• have an annual operating budget at or under $3,000,000.00 USD** as listed on the organization’s most recent Form 990; 
• demonstrate organizational administrative capacity*** to complete all required project components; 
• be in good standing with Mid Atlantic Arts at the time of application, with no overdue or outstanding required reports and/or grant documents. 

*For this program, Mid Atlantic Arts defines “presenter” as an organization that financially compensates an artist/company that is a separate entity from the presenter for performance(s) and engagement activities in the presenter’s community. Producing organizations that solely create artistic work or assemble artists to perform as ensembles for performances are not eligible to apply. 

**Organizations that have applied to Mid Atlantic Arts’ ArtsCONNECT program in the past three program cycles (FY24, FY25, FY26) may apply to the MAPI program in the 2026-2027 cycle, even if their budget is over $3,000,000.00. 

***Presenters do not need to have a history of engaging professional touring artists as an ongoing and/or significant part of their organization’s activity to receive MAPI support; organizations without a history of presenting touring artists will be asked to describe their administrative plan for engaging the artist/company within their existing staff structure and among other organizational priorities. 

Schedule

• Wednesday, January 7, 2026: MAPI Application Opens
• Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 2:00-3:30pm ET: MAPI Informational Webinar (Register at this link) 
• Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 2:00-3:00pm ET: MAPI Office Hours – Spanish language interpretation available. Drop in any time during this window with questions about your application. Link to be posted ahead of the event. 
• Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 11:00am-12:00pm ET: MAPI Office Hours II. Drop in any time during this window with questions about your application. Link to be posted ahead of the event.
• Thursday, April 30, 2026: MAPI Application Deadline
• September 1, 2026- December 31, 2027: Project period for MAPI-funded projects