Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools (2027–2028). Arts Midwest administers this National Endowment for the Arts-funded, applicant-facing grant competition supporting professional Shakespeare-related productions and meaningful theater education for middle-school and high-school students, including underserved school audiences. This is charitable financial assistance, not an ordinary government procurement contract.
Individual applicant grant: $15,000 to $50,000. Matching: one-to-one nonfederal matching contribution is required; total project costs must be at least twice the requested grant. 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 experience providing professional performances and associated educational programming to middle or high schools. Fiscal sponsorship is not accepted. 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: Produce a Shakespeare play/adaptation or other Shakespeare-derived staged work with compensated professional actors; provide interactive theater education facilitated by qualified artists; reach five or more underserved middle/high-school audiences; participate in required grantee convenings.
Allowed and restricted expenses: Study guides alone do not satisfy the interactive education requirement; virtual work must allow real-time student interaction; artist compensation must meet the prevailing minimum. Eligible expenses include professional artistic fees, set and costume production, touring, salaries, and marketing. 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.