South Carolina Arts Commission details 4Ks Arts Integration grant: up to $2,000 per site, deadline Feb. 18

South Carolina Arts Commission staff outlined eligibility, allowable uses and application steps for the 4Ks Arts Integration Grant during an online coaching call. The program is aimed at CERDEP (Childhood Early Reading and Development Education Program) and SC First Steps 4Ks sites and combines student arts-integrated experiences with professional learning for 4Ks classroom teachers.

"The purpose is to give students, specifically 4Ks students, arts integrated experiences," said Kimberly Washburn Mott, arts learning director for the South Carolina Arts Commission, describing the grant's dual goal of supporting students and teacher professional learning. The Commission said projects must link arts-integrated activities to kindergarten-readiness outcomes.

Applicants may request up to $2,000 per provider site. Kimberly Washburn Mott explained that providers located in designated "opportunity counties"—counties that have received fewer than three Arts Commission grants in the last three years—receive priority points and are not required to provide a financial match. For applicants outside those counties the grant requires a 1:3 match, meaning the applicant must provide roughly $0.33 for every $1 awarded; the staff gave an example that a full $2,000 award would come with a $667 applicant match for a $2,667 project budget.

The Commission listed allowable expenses including consumable supplies (paper, crayons), nonconsumable materials (for example, classroom drums), and arts-based professional learning. Field trips or performances are eligible only when coupled with follow-up professional learning that helps teachers connect the experience to classroom instruction. Artist-in-residence work must involve a teaching artist working alongside the classroom teacher so the teacher gains strategies to sustain arts-integrated practice.

Krista Grama of the grants team said applications are accepted in monthly batches and evaluated by external panelists using a published rubric. "On the first Monday of each month, these go to panelists to be evaluated," she said. The Commission described the program as a rolling intake with a final submission window that closes Feb. 18; applicants are advised to request funds at least five weeks before they need them.

Awards are reimbursement-based: grantees pay expenses up front and submit documentation to be reimbursed. The application requires verification of CERDEP/First Steps status, school or organization legal name, FEIN and UEI, and an authorized official (principal or center director) as the signer of legal documents. Budget support documents—quotes, emails, or screenshots verifying cost estimates—must be uploaded; generic lists or unsupported Excel line items will not be accepted.

Staff recommended applicants use the published evaluation rubric as a self-assessment before submitting, be specific in budget descriptions, and coordinate with school finance offices or center directors for upfront funding and UEI/FEIN information. For teaching-artist hires, the Commission advised using its verified teaching-artist directory and offered individualized assistance to narrow choices.

The Commission said it will share the video and resources presented on the call with registrants and post materials on its website within the grant guidelines. For application support, applicants may contact the grants team at grantsarts@sc.gov.