Shakespeare in American Communities: Apprenticeships (2027–2028). Arts Midwest administers this National Endowment for the Arts-funded, applicant-facing grant competition supporting paid apprenticeships developing early-career theater administrators and technicians in nonprofit theater companies undertaking community-based cross-sector work. 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 organization with at least two years of providing community-based, cross-sector theater activities, a UEI, and required federal eligibility compliance. Only one Shakespeare program-track application may be submitted. 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: Hire and fairly compensate an apprentice for at least six months between August 1, 2027 and July 31, 2028, in an eligible technical or administrative theater role. Theater technicians, set designers, assistant directors, operations, human resources, marketing and communications qualify. Actors, writers and fundraising/development staff do not. The apprentice’s programming need not specifically be Shakespeare-related; participate in required grantee convenings.
Allowed and restricted expenses: Funds may support an existing or newly created apprenticeship. The theater should replace an apprentice who leaves before reaching the six-month minimum. Projects may include eligible artistic/production fees, project staff salaries and promotional costs. 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.