All grantees are subject to risk assessments and monitoring requirements, as outlined in the District’s Citywide Grants Manual and Sourcebook (which is primarily managed by the Office of the City Administrator’s The Internal Services Team). CAH has established standards for grantees to ensure compliance with risk assessment monitoring, and those standards are discussed in greater detail in the applicants’ grant agreements with CAH.
The Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH), a District of Columbia government independent agency, encourages the development of programs that promote progress in the arts and humanities under D.C. Official Code § 39-204. As the official arts agency for the District, CAH is supported by local government funds and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Grantees must own and/or be able to transfer property rights.
CAH selects arts, humanities, subject matter experts, and/or other professionals independent of CAH, such as project partners, to serve as Selection Panelists for each grant program. The role of a panelist is to review and score an eligible application's content based on the established grant program review criteria.
The panel may determine the qualifications of each application by using the criteria below and reviewing the résumé/s, work samples, request details, and support materials of each artist (or of each team member, if an Artist Team).
Artistic Merit – 30%
The following application documents are mandatory for all submissions:
As an agency of the Government of the District of Columbia, CAH ensures that its grantmaking funds are expended in a fiscally responsible manner. CAH grant-related “allowable costs” are those costs that the District Government (through its subordinate agency, CAH) has determined, in its sole discretion, to be valid expenditures.
Examples of “Allowable Costs”:
More information regarding CAH’s grant programs, and clarification about related accessibility requirements, work sample submissions, and grant-making processes can be found in CAH’s Guide to Grants. Specific questions about the FY27 Fresh Paint: CAH Mural Program application may be referred to Deirdre Darden, Public Art Coordinator at [email protected].
| Date | Activity & Deliverables |
| Monday, October 26, 2026 | FY27 Fresh Paint: CAH Mural Program RFA launched |
| Monday, December 7, 2026 | Application submission deadline |
| December 2026 | Selection Panel convenes |
| February 2027 |
Stage One:
Stage Two:
CAH conducts free workshops for prospective applicants on how to submit a grant application. Workshop dates, times and locations listed on CAH’s website are subject to change.. Participants are strongly encouraged to RSVP. More information about the dates and times of these workshops may be found at www.dcarts.dc.gov under Grant Writing Assistance, or by calling CAH at 202-724-5613.