The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) has opened the application cycle for the 2014 grants and leadership programs, which has been in operation since 2005. NALAC to date has distributed more than $1.4 million in 328 different grants in the US, Mexico and Central America.

Applications are now being accepted for three grant programs, NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA), Transnational Cultural Remittances (TCR) and Diverse Arts Spaces (DAS) and two leadership programs, NALAC Leadership Institute (NLI) and Advocacy Leadership Institute (ALI).

"Now in its ninth cycle, the NALAC Fund for the Arts is NALAC's flagship grant program that supports the creation and presentation of important and innovative artistic works in every discipline and region of the country," announced the organization in a recent press release. "NALAC Fund for the Arts provides a variety of grants to support US-based Latino artists and arts organizations in the development, creation, presentation and sustainability of artistic excellence, as well as the opportunity to participate in activities that contribute to professional and organizational growth. NFA remains the only national funding source solely dedicated to supporting Latino artists/ensembles and Latino arts and cultural organizations."

There have been some significant changes in the structure of the program for the upcoming cycle.

"The most notable change in the NFA grant program expands funding eligibility to large Latino arts organizations with operating budgets over $1 million dollars," the group announced earlier this month. "This program expansion will allow NALAC to provide critical funding to some of our largest pioneering Latino institutions that continue to innovate, educate, present the highest quality artistic talent and serve their communities in meaningful ways. With this new direction, NALAC hopes to solidify existing collaborations and strengthen national networks and services for the Latino arts field."

NALAC also announced that they have increased the number of "Master Artist Grants," and added fixed award amounts in each grant category.

"The NFA for Latino Artist and Ensembles will provide up to fourteen awards at $5,000 each for Project Grants and up to three awards at $15,000 each for Master Artist Grants," NALAC said on their Web site, adding that, "the NFA for Latino Arts Organizations will provide up to eight awards at $5,000 for small organizations and up to four awards at $10,000 each for mid to large organizations."

The organization also added that they have streamlined their application process to make it easier to access the program.

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