Apply now for the 2025 Intercultural Microgrant Program
Our third-annual cycle is now accepting applications for cross-sector proposals from all Kentuckians!
About the Program
The Kentucky Intercultural Microgrant Program is a seed grant to support two or more individuals or organizations collaborating across distance, difference, or sector on projects that celebrate and connect Kentucky's people and places.
Launched with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Fund for the Arts, the Josh May Memorial Fund, Earth Tools, and individual donors, the Microgrant Program will support a series of seed grants (awards from $250-2000) to support short-term projects that foster dialogue, connection, or collaboration among Kentuckians from disparate backgrounds, identities, or experiences. Projects that involve diverse partners and invite the public to participate are preferred.
Applications close Wednesday, September 10 at 11:59pm Central.
About the Application Process
RUX applications are reviewed and scored by a panel of cross-sector professionals throughout Kentucky.
Timeline:
Wednesday, August 13 - Application opens
Friday, August 22, 12 PM ET/11 AM CT - Project Info & Support Webinar - Register here!
Wednesday, August 27, 6 PM ET/5 PM CT - Project Info & Support Webinar - Register here!
Wednesday, September 10, 12:59 AM ET / 11:59 PM CT - Application closes
Friday, September 19 - Award notification
Thursday, September 25 - Award announcement & kickoff events
Tuesday, October 7 - First check-in meeting with awardees: Selection committee members and staff will be assigned awardees to meet & support with planning, concept development, and implementation of their project.
Monday, November 10, 2025 - Second check-in meeting
December 31, 2025 - Creative Project Due
January 31, 2026 - Project Evaluation Due
Application Guidelines
Awards will range from $250-2000. Several matching opportunities will be available from partners in the network.
The primary applicant must be an alumni or member of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX), while the supporting applicants can be alumni, members-at-large, or former/current RUX partners, committee members, or facilities from a RUX host community. To become a member of the RUX Membership Program, visit kyrux.org/membership
Grants must include a partnership between two individuals, two organizations, or an individual and an organization. Organizations do not need to be nonprofit, but can be.
Projects must take place in Kentucky.
We encourage applicants to leverage this seed funding to entice further partnerships and/or matching funds, but do not require a cash match.
Primary and secondary applicants will be required to complete an evaluation and develop a creative product (photo essay, blog post, video, podcast, etc.) by December 31, 2025.
If you need help finding alumni, organizations, or host committee members that might be a good fit for your project, email us at kentuckyrux@gmail.com.
Sector-Based Opportunities
Josh May Memorial Fund Microgrant
In loving memory of RUX Co-founder Josh May, we will award up to $2,000 in grants to projects that create, document, or present a musical collaboration that bridges rural and urban Kentucky.
Kentucky Foundation for Women Microgrants
The Kentucky Foundation for Women (KFW) promotes positive social change by supporting varied feminist expression in the arts. Depending on the proposed budgets of the selected teams, Kentucky Foundation for Women will grant 5-10 teams up to $1,000 per team to support small projects that use arts, culture, or creativity to bridge geographic, racial, and economic divides in Kentucky or reduce political polarization. These projects will be led by women.
Civic Health Microgrants
RUX collaborates with institutional, elected, and grantmaking partners to invest in building stronger civic infrastructure in communities across Kentucky. We define civic infrastructure as “the places, policies, programs, and practices that undergird strong communities and foster civic engagement, which allows people to connect, work together, solve problems, and participate in their community’s planning for the future.”
In this year's civic health category, we are proud to partner with the Kentucky Arts Council to invest $5,000 in projects that enhance the capacity of communities to solve problems. This fund can support teams of two or more artists, culture bearers, or arts organizations to design these community problem solving interventions. Grants will range between $500-$1,000, and budgets should prioritize paying artists and culture bearers for their contributions. RUX and our affiliated partner network will match the Kentucky Arts Council’s contribution by providing technical assistance, peer learning opportunities, and robust project documentation and evaluation.
Artist led projects that generate Economic Impact in Eastern Kentucky
RUX believes that artists are key to creative problem solving, and will directly invest at least $5,000 in projects that engage Eastern Kentucky artists with individuals or organizations from the Kentucky RUX Network to collaborate across distance, difference, or sector on projects that celebrate and connect Kentucky's people and places and promote economic impact.
Kentucky Waterways Alliance Microgrants
The Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA) is a member-supported nonprofit organization working to protect, restore and celebrate Kentucky's waterways since 1993. We will invest $5,000 in projects that clean up, improve access to, or offer education about Kentucky’s waterways.
Agriculture, Food Systems, and Resiliency Microgrant
RUX believes that the vitality of our communities depends on access to fresh, healthy food and thriving natural environments. In partnership with EarthTools and an anonymous donor, we will invest $2,000 in projects that bolster environmental or agricultural ecosystems and support resiliency across the state of Kentucky through support to teams of Kentucky naturalists, farmers, food workers, or organizations working to promote sustainable ecosystems and/or food systems in our Commonwealth.
Applications open Tuesday, August 12, and close Wednesday, September 10 at 11:59pm Central. Learn more and apply at kyrux.org/microgrants
We are accepting proposals from individuals, organizations, and funding partners to entice microgrant projects in your geographic area or area of interest by expanding micro grant funding or providing a project match. To partner, email us at kentuckyrux@gmail.com.
