Austin opens FY27 arts grants with more than $23 million available for cultural programs

Austin has opened applications for four fiscal year 2027 arts, music and heritage funding programs, with more than $23 million available across the cycle.

The City of Austin’s Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment office opened the programs July 7. Applications for Elevate, Thrive, the Austin Live Music Fund and the Heritage Preservation Grant are due by 6:59 p.m. on Aug. 18, 2026.

The funding cycle is aimed at supporting public-facing cultural activity and the organizations, artists and projects that make up Austin’s arts, music and heritage ecosystem. The city describes the four programs as investments in arts programming, local music, preservation work and culturally rooted activities.

Four programs serve different parts of the cultural sector

Elevate will make $11 million available in FY27. The program supports public artistic experiences produced by arts nonprofits, artists, musicians and arts groups, including artists, arts organizations and creative businesses creating culturally vibrant public experiences.

Thrive is intended for local arts nonprofits that are rooted in and reflective of Austin’s cultures. The Austin Live Music Fund supports the city’s music industry, while the Heritage Preservation Grant supports historic-preservation projects and heritage activities.

The city has not provided a final FY27 award count or individual award amounts in its funding-program summary. Applicants therefore should not assume that applying guarantees an award.

Prior-year funding provides context

The new application period follows a FY26 cycle in which the city reported supporting 288 arts organizations and creative projects with more than $12.84 million. Those figures describe the prior fiscal year and are not a forecast of how many FY27 applicants will be funded or how much any recipient may receive.

For residents, the funding cycle matters because it directs city support toward cultural programming and preservation work that can be presented in public and toward organizations and creative workers serving Austin’s cultural ecosystem. For prospective applicants, the immediate next step is the Aug. 18 deadline, which falls a little more than six weeks after the applications opened.

More information about program requirements and applications is available through the city’s Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment funding-program pages.