Shakespeare in American Communities: Juvenile Justice (2027–2028). Arts Midwest administers this National Endowment for the Arts-funded, applicant-facing grant competition supporting Shakespeare-related theater education for youth in juvenile justice settings through established theater-company partnerships. This is charitable financial assistance, not an ordinary government procurement contract.
Individual applicant grant: $15,000 to $50,000. Matching: NO matching contribution is required for the Juvenile Justice track. These are individual award amounts, not a combined program pool; no total track allocation is substituted for the applicant request.
Application deadlines: Phase 1 eligibility review is due January 26, 2027 at 12:00 noon Central Time. Phase 2 full proposal is due February 9, 2027 at 12:00 noon Central Time after Phase 1 eligibility review. Project period: August 1, 2027 through July 31, 2028. The PDF’s deadline table controls the exact year and time.
Applicant eligibility: A U.S. 501(c)(3) professional theater company with at least two years of partnering with juvenile justice entities to provide theater education, and applicable UEI/federal compliance. Applicants must be located in the United States, its territories, or Native Nations and communities sharing this geography; hold a UEI, maintain good standing with Arts Midwest, and comply with federal requirements. Each organization may apply to only one of the three Shakespeare in American Communities programs in a funding year.
Program requirements: Develop frequent, substantive theater workshops/discussions/residencies addressing Shakespeare’s writing; partner with at least one detention, correctional, court-appointed, treatment, group-home or juvenile educational facility; engage at least two qualified teaching artists/staff with experience working in justice settings; participate in grantee convenings.
Allowed and restricted expenses: Participating youth are those in the justice system, including young people age 17 or younger. Eligible expenses include artistic fees, production, touring, staff and printing. The project must include repeated meaningful contact, not simply a single theater performance. Federal restrictions prohibit food, alcohol, refreshments, fellowships or cash prizes, capital equipment, duplicate federal-funded project costs, and unrelated entertainment or fundraisers. All costs must comply with applicable 2 CFR 200 rules.
Application requirements: Register and apply through Arts Midwest SmartSimple; Phase 1 requests organizational identity and fiscal information, UEI, project summary and request, relevant financial audits, and required attestations. Approved applicants submit Phase 2 narrative, project statistics, budget and detailed plans. Read the current official track-specific application guidelines and official track page before applying. Reviewed October 29, 2026.