The State of Florida has issued the second and final round of cultural and museum grants for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Four Southwest Florida arts organizations received financial support – South Florida State College in Highlands County, the Military Heritage Museum in Punta Gorda and the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society and Shell Museum and Educational Foundation on Sanibel Island.
No organizations in Sarasota, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry or Collier counties shared in this round of grants.
In the first round in June, only 17 Southwest Florida arts organizations received grants.
For the year, Florida paid out a total of $20 million in cultural and museum grants, which is less than half of the $51.9 million the Florida Council on Arts and Culture recommended to fund the 563 arts organizations that received a score of 95 or more on their grant applications.
While the Legislature had also approved an additional $3.1 million in Culture Builds Florida grants, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed this allocation when he signed the state’s $117 billion budget in late June.
MORE INFORMATION:
Following is a breakdown by county of grant allocations made to Southwest Florida arts organizations for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Charlotte County
No grants were awarded to Charlotte county arts organizations in the first round of allocations. The Military Heritage Museum received a grant of $115,000 in round two. That amount represents Charlotte County’s share of the $20 million awarded statewide.
Collier County
Collier County’s share of the $20 million is $573,820, awarded to five organizations in June: Artis—Naples, Marco Island Center for the Arts, Gulfshore Playhouse, Naples Concert Band, and The Naples Players. “That recognition is well earned, and that funding benefits not only their organizations but our community as a whole through the local economic activity those awards generate,” according to United Arts Collier, the county’s state-designated Local Arts Agency.
The nine Collier organizations passed over in the first round will receive no state operating support this year, leaving $1,042,300 in requests unmet. They include:
- Conservancy of Southwest Florida
- Golisano Children's Museum of Naples
- Naples Art District
- Naples Art Institute
- Naples Botanical Garden
- Opera Naples
- SWFL Holocaust Museum
- United Arts Collier
All 14 Collier applicants completed the same rigorous review and scored well. United Arts Collier scored 99 out of 100, the highest of any Collier applicant and 13th among 563 statewide, but a strong score wasn't enough this year. Not one local arts agency in the state was funded on either list, regardless of score.
“What that means is straightforward,” United Arts Collier said in its monthly digital newsletter. “The programming, exhibitions, performances, classrooms, and free community events some of our local organizations deliver all year are now resting on local support. Ours, and yours. So, please consider supporting the UAC Members and Partners who applied and received nothing.”
DeSoto, Glades and Hendry Counties
No DeSoto, Glades or Hendry County arts organization received a Florida cultural and museum grant for fiscal year 2026-2027.
Highlands County
Highlands arts organizations received grants totaling $125,700. The Highlands Art League received $35,700 in round one and South Florida State College was awarded $90,000 in round two.
Lee County
Lee County arts organizations received $900,000 of the $20 million in culture and museum grants the state awarded this year. In addition to “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society and Shell Museum and Educational Foundation, Barrier Island Group for the Arts (BIG Arts), Bonita Springs Center for the Arts, Florida Arts (the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center) and Florida Repertory Theatre received grants in the first round of allocations in June. Each of these six arts organizations received a $150,000 grant.
Among the Lee arts organizations shut out this grant cycle are the Alliance for the Arts (Lee County’s state-designated Local Arts Agency), Gulf Coast Symphony, Gulfshore Opera and the Laboratory Theater of Florida.
Sarasota County
Sarasota’s share of the $20 million in cultural grants awarded this year totaled $1,030,000.
Eight Sarasota arts organizations received round one cultural and museum grants:
- Asolo Theatre, Inc. — Sarasota — $150,000
- EnsembleNEWSRQ — Sarasota — $40,000
- Florida Studio Theatre, Inc. — Sarasota — $150,000
- Ringling Museum – Sarasota - $150,000
- Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Inc. — Sarasota — $150,000
- Sarasota Pops Orchestra, Inc — Sarasota — $90,000
- The Hermitage Artist Retreat, Inc. — Sarasota — $150,000
- The Venice Symphony, Inc. — Sarasota — $150,000
However, 19 organizations that were recommended for grants by the Florida Council will receive no state funding during FY 2026-27. This group includes Embracing Our Differences, Sarasota Opera, Sarasota Orchestra, Sarasota Players, Selby Botanical Gardens, Venice Theatre and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. Each qualified through the application process for $150,0000.
The big picture
The Florida Legislature recently approved a $114.5 billion budget for 2026-2027.
The budget included $65.9 million in arts and culture funding.
The arts funding total is divided into two categories or buckets.
Bucket 1: Cultural Facilities Programs
The first is for Cultural Facilities Programs. It designates $38.3 million for projects that build or renovate museums, theaters and other cultural spaces.
This is an increase over last year. While that sounds good at first blush, it came at the expense of cultural and museum grants awarded to arts organizations. This represents a structural shift that empowers lawmakers to direct money into pet capital and arts infrastructure projects at the expense of operational funding for qualifying nonprofit arts organizations. These projects are known as “sprinkles” and give lawmakers the latitude to favor donors and political supporters.
Two local venues received part of that allocation. Venice Theatre received $250,00 toward turning its temporary Raymond Center theater into a long-planned education facility and the Opera Naples Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Arts Center being built in Naples has been allocated $1.1 million.
Among other projects included in this category are $9.5 million for a new library in Hardee County ($9.5 million), the Village of Indiantown Seminole Inn and Seminole Tribe Museum ($8 million), the Hillsborough County African American Arts and Cultural Center ($5 million), the Elie Wiesel Exhibition and Learning Center at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg ($2.5 million), a Florida Orchestra facility project ($500,000), the Panhandle Heritage Village in Blountstown ($225,000) and enhancements to the Tampa Firefighters Museum ($160,000).
Bucket 2: General Program Grants
The second category or bucket consisted of $20 million for general program grants (also known as cultural and museum grants).
“That $20 million investment reflects the hard work of arts advocates from across the state, including United Arts Collier, and the legislators who championed it,” Elysia Dawn, CEO of Naples-based United Arts Collier, wrote in June. United Arts Collier has had to eliminate programs in recent years that once provided free arts education for 1,000 children each year, art therapy for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and art therapy for veterans.
“We thank them for their continued support of Florida's arts and culture sector,” Dawn added. “At the same time, the reduction from the $51.9 million recommended for cultural and museum grants to a fraction of that amount is meaningful and will be felt across communities statewide.”
Jennifer Jones is the executive director of the Florida Cultural Alliance, which lobbies for arts organizations. Given that Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed all art funding in 2024 and only approved $39 million last year, she thinks the $65.9 million amount for 2026 is a win.
“It’s been a good year for art advocacy, with the decisionmakers hearing their constituency,” she said.
However, many arts organizations are troubled by the grant of ad hoc power to the Secretary of State to determine the ultimate amount and identity of grant recipients. For example, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota had a ranking of 97.5, Embracing Our Differences had a ranking of 96 and the Sarasota Film Festival was ranked at 95.5. None were on Secretary Byrd’s list even though their scores were equal to or higher than the 95.5 received by The Pops Orchestra.
Just as troubling is the amount allocated for Bucket 2 arts organizations.
The $20 million in culture and museum grants that Florida has paid out this year represents just 0.0174 percent of its $114.5 billion budget. That’s the equivalent of $1.75 out of every $10,000 spent. If $114.5 billion represents a full 24-hour day, $20 million is equal to about 15 seconds.
The $20 million in culture and museum grants also pales in comparison to the state tax revenues generated by arts organizations annually which, according to a 2022 survey conducted by the Americans for the Arts, exceed $175 million a year. It’s also a fraction of the more than $5.7 billion the nonprofit art sector contributes annually to Florida’s economy.
Dawn said numbers only tell part of the story.
“Looking at mental health, even physical health, we're seeing all of the data coming out around the many benefits of the arts on our health,” Dawn noted. “That's something that should matter to all of us and something that the state should support.”
Then there’s impact on children.
“Arts help contribute to successful graduation rates, in fact at the rate of five times higher than students who don't receive arts education,” Dawn said. “They score higher on their SATs. They are four times more likely to get a secondary degree.”
Improv groups train corporate leaders.
The Naples Players does tabletop training exercises with Collier SWAT teams and NHC hospital staff.
Other theater groups sponsor playwrighting competitions and take shows into area schools.
But to get by on less without cutting staff, arts organizations have had to cut or curtail educational and community outreach programs, including art therapy for Alzheimer’s patients and veterans.
“Sometimes people think of the arts, and they think of something that is stale or something that is not for them, but there are so many different kinds of ways that we can engage with and benefit from the arts," Dawn said.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
