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DC arts commission approves $3.47 million in FY26 large capital grant recommendations
Summary
The District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities voted March 23 to accept staff recommendations for three FY26 large capital project grants totaling $3,474,390, funding top-ranked applicants and subtracting prior small-cap awards from the large-cap offers.
The District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities voted March 23 to accept staff recommendations for three FY26 large capital project grants totaling $3,474,390.
Commissioner Gretchen Wharton moved to accept the grants committee and staff recommendations as presented by Sherry Feldman, the commission's grant manager. The motion passed; two commissioners abstained and two commissioners were not present for the vote.
Sherry Feldman told commissioners the LCP (large capital projects) line received 23 applications, 22 of which were eligible, and that the evaluation used an eight-member panel that completed individual reviews followed by two days of group deliberations. She said the awards must follow D.C. Code 39-205.04, which constrains grant sizes and requires the commission to subtract FY26 small-cap awards from any large-cap offers.
Using the statutory limits and council-directed funding for FY26, Feldman said CAH staff recommended funding the top three ranked organizations at 94% of their requested amounts. Under that formula, factoring in each recipient's FY26 small-cap award, the three recommended large-cap offers would total $3,474,390.
Terrell Johnson, senior grants officer, and Feldman described the paneling process, which included bias training, confidential numeric scoring and anonymized qualitative feedback. Feldman said all applicants will be notified within two weeks and debriefing meetings will be available for applicants to review anonymized panel comments.
Commissioner Wharton introduced the motion at the commission meeting and called the roll for the vote. Those recorded on the roll call as approving included Commissioner Sims, Commissioner Butler, Commissioner Warden, Commissioner Kim, Commissioner Mankiti and Commissioner O'Neill. Commissioners Mastersberry and Brienza were recorded as abstaining. Two commissioners who previously indicated they could not attend were not present.
The commission did not announce awardees on the call; staff will notify recipients and post official award notices in accordance with CAH procedures.
Next steps outlined by staff include notifying applicants, offering debriefings, and moving forward with award paperwork and compliance checks before funds are released.
