Parks and Rec board will select grant recipients
The City of Lawrence is accepting applications for grant funding for events that put this town on the map and spotlight the people who live here.
The Unmistakable Events Grant Program is funded through the transient guest tax, a special 8% sales tax that applies to hotel stays.
The city has $150,000 to divide into grants ranging from $500 to $15,000.
“Funding is intended to help support events that provide measurable community and economic benefits, strengthen Lawrence’s identity and appeal as a destination, attract new events and enhance existing ones, and generate additional transient guest and sales tax revenue,” according to the city’s website about the grants.
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Find more information about the program at this link. Applications will go through the Submittable portal, and that can be found at this link.
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Applications are due by 11 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.
Grant applications have been reviewed by an ad hoc committee for the past couple of years since the city disbanded the Transient Guest Tax Grant Program Advisory Board in 2024. Starting this year, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will oversee the process and make recommendations for grant recipients and amounts.
Porter Arneill, assistant director of culture for the city, suggested in September that the Parks and Rec board serve as the grant review body. Lawrence city commissioners unanimously approved the change without discussion as part of their consent agenda on Oct. 6.
The Cultural Arts Commission oversees the annual community arts grant program, Arneill said. He said having the Parks and Rec board responsible for the event grant selection process would create a consistent and transparent advisory board structure for the city’s grant programs. Both boards include seven volunteers who are appointed by the city commission.
The Parks and Rec board will review applications from Nov. 2 through 8, and they’ll discuss their scores and recommendations during their next meeting, set for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9. The agenda will be posted at this link.
Those recommendations will go to the Lawrence City Commission for final approval on Tuesday, Dec. 1, according to a timeline provided to the commission.
See lists of previous years’ grant recipients at this link. Arneill also hosted a presentation and Q&A about the grant process, available on YouTube at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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