Pennsylvania Creative Districts

What is a Creative District?

A Creative District is a walkable, geographically defined area by a municipality that is characterized by a high concentration of cultural facilities, creative businesses and entrepreneurs, artists, and culture bearers. Creative districts promote and benefit from a community’s unique assets, enhance residents’ quality of life, and attract visitors, talent, and investment.

The Creative Districts Program supports communities in transforming walkable, culturally vibrant areas into centers of economic growth, local identity, and inclusive revitalization. By investing in creative assets, the program fosters entrepreneurship and small business development, retains and attracts talent and visitors, advances a community’s development and revitalization goals, and strengthens long-term planning.

Program Features:

• Grant Funding: Access to support for activities including, but not limited to, activities that address key elements of the district such as district management, planning, promotion, programming, public art, community engagement, and creative organization or small business development, attraction, and retention.
• Statewide Promotion: Inclusion in official, branded marketing campaigns that boost visibility and tourism.
• Technical Assistance: Guidance and tools to help assist with mapping, planning, and implementation.
• Peer Learning and Networking Opportunities
• Recognition & Branding: Formal designation that elevates local identity and community pride.
• Support for Planning, Evaluation & Sustainability: Resources and support to develop a 5-year action plan, with encouragement for continued reflection, progress tracking, and adaptive planning over time.
• This is a reimbursement-based grant program, which means grantees must first incur and pay for eligible expenses, then submit an invoice/final report with required documentation, such as receipts, invoices, and proof of payment to receive funding.
• Grant awards may be subject to the National Endowment for the Arts’ (a federal agency) General Terms and Conditions-Appendix A:
  GTC-PARTNERSHIP-FY25-PLUS-6-25-25-FINAL.pdf.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for Creative District designation:

• Interested organizations must submit a completed Letter of Intent Form (LOI) via ESA by Monday, June 1, 2026, by 5PM, EST.
• Applicant organization must be a Pennsylvania-based 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6), or unit of local government. Nonprofit applicants must be registered as a Pennsylvania Nonprofit Corporation with the Pennsylvania Department of State Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations and be in compliance with all required annual report filings.
• If the District Coordinating Organization (DCO) is not a municipality or a local entity that serves as the community and economic development organization, the district must include at least one partner that fulfills this role. Eligible partners include a community development corporation; a municipal or county planning or community and economic development department; or a designated Main Street management organization, Business Improvement District (BID)/Downtown Improvement District (DID), Local Development District (LDD), or Redevelopment Authority, among others. This partnership must be documented through a Letter of Commitment submitted with the application, as outlined in the Letter of Commitment guidance provided with the Foundational Activities materials.
• Note: Fiscal agents or fiscal sponsors are not . The applying organization must be the selected District Coordinating Organization, the legal entity responsible for District management, grant administration, and reporting.

Funding Amount

• Anticipated grant amount up to $50,000 per year for 5 years.
• 1:1 match is required (up to 50% can be in-kind; at least 10% of the match must come from the local government).