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Disciplines Eligible for ZAP Funding

All Tier I & Tier II ZAP recipients must come from one of the following eligible disciplines

Historical Preservation, Service & Education

Festivals with a primary focus of curated arts and cultural disciplines and activities. This does not include state, local, or community fairs, or farmers markets.

Performances for Children/Students, Classroom or After-School Instruction, Teacher and Artist Training, Service/Information, and Referrals

Botany is defined as the study and research, and fostering the appreciation, of plant life including gardens, flowers, ornamental shrubs, trees, and horticulture. The ZAP statute specifically requires that botanical organizations do all three of the following activities:

  • Horticultural Display
  • Botanical Research
  • Community Education

Ballet, Dance Service Organization, Dance Training, Historical/Traditional, Interdisciplinary, Jazz, World (ethnic), Modern, Tap

Folk arts are defined as the homegrown traditional artistic activities of groups that share the same ethnic heritage, language, occupation, religion or geographic area. They are also community and/or family-based arts that have endured through several generations that carry with them a sense of community aesthetic and demonstrate the highest degree of artistic excellence. Folk Arts include:

  • Crafts
  • Stories/Oral History
  • Traditional Performing Arts

Humanities are defined as promoting, and public education of, the branches of learning or study embraced by philosophy, literature, languages and art criticism, but excluding theology, natural and social sciences. Humanities includes:

  • Lecture Series
  • Symposium/Conference

An artistic hybrid, combining two or more disciplines within a single artwork or performance piece.

Literary Service Organization, Press, Prose, Poetry or Nonfiction. Magazines and Newspapers are ineligible.

A municipal designated agency or non-profit corporation responsible for supporting local arts and culture activities including presenting, grant making, exhibitions and other programs associated with artists and arts organizations in a community.

Animation, Digital Media, Graphic Design, Independent Film and/or Multidisciplinary (within media arts). Video, Radio and TV Broadcast and Cable are ineligible.

Organizations whose activities encompass two or more distinct disciplines (e.g. music and visual arts)

Blues, Classical, Contemporary/New Music, Historical/Traditional, Jazz, Opera, World Music or Other. Please note if your organization is choral, orchestral or other form of music.

Natural History is defined as the study and research, and fostering the appreciation, of the material universe, including various types of plant and animal life, dinosaurs and other fossil life, rare gems, minerals and meteorites, human evolution, human cultures and the origin of life. This also includes exhibitions related to human beings, the earth and its environment, but excludes aeronautics, space exploration, and science and technology. Natural History organizations should be primarily focused on public programs, as opposed to academic research.

Organizations that curate programs and arrange public performances to help expand public appreciation of diverse art forms and reflect the community’s interests. Presenting Organizations typically assume all or part of the financial risk of the performances and handle some or all of the production, marketing, box office, venue and house management tasks associated with the performances. Presenting Organizations also sometimes commission new work, supporting artists to develop and perform this work. Farmers markets; local, regional, or state fairs; and other community celebrations are not presenting organizations under the ZAP program.

Classical/Revival, Contemporary/New Work, Musical Theater

Ceramics, Digital, Gallery/Exhibition Space, Mixed Media, Museum, Painting/Drawing, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture/Three-Dimensional

History is broadly defined as the study of the past, designed to record or explain past events. This includes the following kinds of organizations and activities:

  • Heritage Preservation
  • Historical Museums
  • Historical Research
  • Historical Site
  • Living History Programs