We advance and invest in a vibrant and cohesive arts community for the people of Frederick County and for our visitors. FAC fosters an environment where the arts may flourish through grants and scholarships, programs, arts advocacy, and links to resources.
The Frederick Arts Council Inc. centers its grantmaking on arts access in Frederick County, with 100% of its recent grants going to recipients in Maryland. In 2024, its largest listed award was $15,000 to Community Arts Inc in Smithsburg, followed by multiple $13,500 grants to Frederick-based arts organizations. That pattern shows a funder working through local institutions as well as individual artists and students, using grants and scholarships to support the county’s arts ecosystem. The council’s stated mission is to advance and invest in a vibrant and cohesive arts community for the people of Frederick County and visitors. Its funding reaches community arts programming, arts education, public art, festivals and public events, visual arts scholarships, and music scholarships. Recent recipients include the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center, Maryland Ensemble Theatre, the Weinberg Center for the Arts, and the Frederick Children's Chorus. Alongside organizational support, the council also backs artists directly through programs such as the Carl R. Butler Individual Artist Grant Awards and the FAC ARPA Individual Artist Grants. The result is a local funder that supports both the institutions that present arts and the people who create and study them.
Community arts programming is a visible priority. The council awarded $15,000 to Community Arts Inc in Smithsburg and $10,000 to the Frederick Book Arts Center, reflecting support for organizations that make arts activity available to local audiences. Arts education is another clear strand: its Arts in Education Grants help schools and educational entities in Frederick County bring artists, arts organizations, teaching artists, and field trips into the classroom. Individual artist support appears in both named programs and recent grants. The Carl R. Butler Individual Artist Grant Awards are designed to honor, support, and strengthen artists living and working in Frederick, and the FAC ARPA Individual Artist Grants add a recovery-oriented layer of support. Music also receives targeted attention through the Thelma Gross Music Scholarship and Music Scholarships, while the Frederick Children's Chorus and Academy for the Fine Arts show how the council connects youth arts participation with organizational funding.
$7K
$635K
$546K
$494K
Most grants fall between $10K and $14K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$14K
BRUCE ZAVOS
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The typical grant size is $10,000, with the 25th percentile also at $10,000 and the 75th percentile at $13,500. Recent awards cluster tightly around that range, with a smaller number of grants above it. The council’s giving is place-based and local: every listed recent recipient is in Maryland, and the grant programs are designed for Frederick County or Frederick City and County. The pattern also suggests repeated support for an arts network rather than one-off project funding alone. The current grant list includes organizations that operate across education, performance, visual arts, and music, alongside individual-artist and scholarship programs. The council is not a funder of individuals generally; it funds individuals through defined artist and scholarship programs.
All listed recent grants went to recipients in the United States, and all were in Maryland. Frederick appears most often, including Frederick-based awards to the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center, Maryland Ensemble Theatre, Weinberg Center for the Arts, Academy for the Fine Arts, Fcc Foundation Inc, Frederick Book Arts Center, Endangered Species Theatre Project, and Hood College. Outside the city, the recent list also includes Community Arts Inc in Smithsburg and the Frederick Children's Chorus in Woodsboro. The program descriptions reinforce that the council gives locally within Frederick County.
Its stated focus includes community arts programming, arts education, individual artist support, visual arts scholarships, music scholarships, public art, and festivals and public events. Recent grants also show support for theaters, visual arts centers, music education, and book arts organizations.
Yes. It has named individual-artist programs, including the FAC ARPA Individual Artist Grants and the Carl R. Butler Individual Artist Grant Awards. It also lists Individual Artist Grants as an active program and says those awards support artists living and working in Frederick.
The typical grant size is $10,000. The distribution is tightly grouped, with the 25th percentile at $10,000 and the 75th percentile at $13,500.
Its giving is local and concentrated in Maryland. The recipient distribution shows 100% of grants to recipients in the HQ state, and the active grant programs are framed for Frederick County and, in one case, Frederick City and County.
Yes. Thelma Gross Music Scholarship supports Frederick County Public Schools students who need financial aid for music education, and Music Scholarships are listed as an active program. The council also names visual arts scholarships in its overall funding priorities.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEINBERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS | FREDERICK, MD | $6,500 | 2025 | — |
| COMMUNITY ARTS INC | SMITHSBURG, MD | $15,000 | 2024 | — |
| WEINBERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS | FREDERICK, MD | $13,500 | 2024 | — |
| DELAPLAINE VISUAL ARTS CENTER | FREDERICK, MD | $13,500 | 2024 | — |
| MARYLAND ENSEMBLE THEATRE | FREDERICK, MD | $13,500 | 2024 | — |
| FREDERICK CHILDREN'S CHORUS | WOODSBORO, MD | $10,000 | 2024 | — |
| FREDERICK BOOK ARTS CENTER | FREDERICK, MD | $10,000 | 2024 | — |
| ACADEMY FOR THE FINE ARTS | FREDERICK, MD | $10,000 | 2024 | — |
| FCC FOUNDATION INC | FREDERICK, MD | $10,000 | 2024 | — |
| ENDANGERED SPECIES THEATRE PROJECT | FREDERICK, MD | $10,000 | 2024 | — |
| HOOD COLLEGE | FREDERICK, MD | $10,000 | 2024 | — |
WEINBERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS
$6,500COMMUNITY ARTS INC
$15,000WEINBERG CENTER FOR THE ARTS
$13,500DELAPLAINE VISUAL ARTS CENTER
$13,500MARYLAND ENSEMBLE THEATRE
$13,500FREDERICK CHILDREN'S CHORUS
$10,000FREDERICK BOOK ARTS CENTER
$10,000ACADEMY FOR THE FINE ARTS
FCC FOUNDATION INC
$10,000ENDANGERED SPECIES THEATRE PROJECT
$10,000HOOD COLLEGE
$10,000Current and upcoming funding from Frederick Arts Council that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Schools and other educational institutions in Frederick County are eligible. Schools may submit up to two grants each academic year.
Deadline: Rolling until annual budget is exhausted; applications strongly encouraged at least 30 days before the planned activity.
Who can apply: Must be either a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization or another nonprofit providing arts programming for the community. Applications are available for arts and non-arts organizations.
Deadline: FY27 deadline Sept 18th, 11:59p
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