ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — ArtsAVL, the arts council for the Asheville area, has announced 49 recipients of its 2025-26 Grassroots Arts Program grants. The GAP awards assist local nonprofit arts organizations with program and operational support throughout the year.
This year, GAP recipients represent all kind of arts, from theatre, dance and music to literature, festivals and fiber arts. Depending on the size of the organizations, award amounts range from $2,500-7,500.
Filling the GAP
The GAP program has been in place for over 45 years, supported by funding from the North Carolina Arts Council, Buncombe County and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The grants ensure that even small arts organizations are given the support they need to continue their work for the community. GAP awards may be used for program expenses like artist fees, marketing and equipment rental, or for operating costs like salaries, supplies and rent.
“These are small but powerful grants,” Katie Cornell, executive director of ArtsAVL, said in a press release. “Thanks to local, state, and federal funding, the Grassroots Arts Program helps sustain the arts nonprofits that make Buncombe County such a special place to live. Even as our community continues to recover from Hurricane Helene, these organizations are offering the creativity, learning, and connection that help our community thrive. Investments like these also help revitalize our local economy, and we invite others to join us in supporting the incredible organizations contributing to our community’s renewal.”
GAP recipients
The following organizations are this year’s GAP awardees:
- American Myth Center
- Arts 2 People
- Asheville Art Museum
- Asheville City Schools Foundation
- Asheville Community Theatre
- Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre
- Asheville Fringe Society
- Asheville Independent Arts and Music, Inc.
- Asheville Mardi Gras, Inc.
- Asheville Music School
- Asheville Musical Theatre, Inc.
- Asheville Puppetry Alliance/Street Creature Puppets
- Asheville Symphony Society, Inc.
- Attic Salt Theatre Company
- Black Mountain Center for the Arts
- Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
- Blue Ridge Orchestra
- Bob Moog Foundation/Moogseum
- Center for Craft
- Colaborativa La Milpa
- Connect Beyond Festival
- Delta House Life Development of Asheville, Inc.
- Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective
- Friends of Community Radio/Asheville FM
- Glitter Sisters, Inc.
- Hood Huggers Foundation
- LEAF Global Arts
- Local Cloth, Inc.
- Montford Moppets
- Montford Park Players
- MusicWorks
- North Carolina Glass Center
- North Carolina Stage Company
- Open Hearts Art Center
- Pan Harmonia
- Punch Bucket Lit
- RADA Foundation
- Southern Highland Craft Guild
- Stewart/Owen Dance
- Sublime Theatre & Press, Inc.
- Swannanoa Valley Art League (SVAL)
- Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, Inc.
- Umoja Health Wellness and Justice Collective
- Weaverville Art Safari
- Wilma Dykeman Legacy
- Womansong of Asheville, Inc.
- Wortham Center for the Performing Arts
- YMI Cultural Center
One of the organizations is Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective, which plans to use its GAP grant to support the 4th annual 369 Monologue and Short Play Festival, according to the release.
“Different Strokes! is proud to be the recipient of the 2026 Grassroots Arts Program award,” said Stephanie Hickling Beckman, Different Strokes! managing artistic director, in the press release. “This funding contributes meaningfully to the Asheville arts community by introducing a substantial and diverse body of new dramatic work— 45 plays and monologues over three years.”
Another recipient organization is the Asheville Music School, which will spend its grant on financial need scholarships for students.
“With music and arts programs being cut in our public schools, we feel that our school is more and more important every year,” said Ryan Reardon, AMS executive director, in the release. “ArtsAVL helps us continue the work that we do.”
For more information about ArtsAVL grant programs, visit www.artsavl.org/grants.