• To provide schools with assistance for transportation costs associated with field trips to arts organizations that are listed in the Arts Miles Directory. 

• To increase student access to high quality arts education programming and experiences. 

Any teacher at a Kentucky public or private school that supports preschool through grade 12.  

This grant program enables Kentucky teachers and schools to provide their students with high-quality arts experiences by funding transportation to programs of organizations in the Arts Miles Directory. Schools may apply for a grant based on the roundtrip mileage from their building to the facility and driver’s pay for up to two buses per field trip.

Note: The Arts Miles Grant is a reimbursement program. Approved awards will not be paid until the field trip has been completed and the final report has been submitted.

Funds may only be used to travel to an arts organization listed in the Arts Miles Directory. It is recommended that you discuss your visit with the organization before submitting your application to confirm the availability and terms of the trip. 

Funds are distributed on a reimbursement basis using the following formulae:  

• Roundtrip mileage from school to facility x $2 x number of buses = mileage amount. (e.g., 200 miles roundtrip x $2 x 2 buses = $800) 

• Driver hourly rate x hours worked during the field trip = Driver pay (e.g., $25/hour x 6 hours = $150.00) 

• Driver pay x number of drivers = Total driver pay (e.g., $150 x 2 = $300) 

• Mileage amount + Total driver pay = total reimbursement amount (e.g., 800 + 300 = $1100)

Maximum application rates 

• Schools traveling up to 50 miles round trip may apply for up to $500. 

• Schools traveling 51 to 100 miles round trip may apply for up to $700. 

• Schools traveling 101 to 200 miles round trip may apply for up to $1100. 

• Schools traveling 201 to 300 miles round trip may apply for up to $1600. 

• Field trip destination must be chosen from the Arts Miles Directory. 

• No more than two Arts Miles Program Grant applications will be accepted from one school per fiscal year. 

• There may be only one field trip per application. 

• There may be no more than two buses per field trip. 

• There may be only one field trip per group of students per year. Multiple grades may go together. 

• Home schools and home school associations are ineligible. 

Your application will be reviewed using the following performance expectations. You may wish to refer to the Arts Miles Grant Scoring Rubric to better understand how your narrative will be evaluated. 

1. Planning and Implementation (50 points) 

• Preparation for the field trip 

• Planned field trip programming 

• Student engagement during the field trip 

• Teacher engagement during the field trip 

• Field trip ties to the Kentucky Academic Standards for the Visual and Performing Arts (check out these standards at a glance). 

2. Measuring Impact (30 points)

• Clear and measurable student learning outcomes (What do you want students to be able to do after the field trip?) 

• Assessment of student learning outcomes  

• Strategies for continued learning after the field trip
   

3. Accessibility and Fairness for All (20 points)

• Field trip programming designed to foster a culture of belonging (i.e., provides all students with opportunities to have an arts experience that might otherwise be inaccessible to them due to socioeconomic challenges, geography, etc., and cultivates a fair learning environment where all students and adults feel respected, valued, and affirmed in their interests, skills, social identities, heritage, values, and backgrounds). 

• Instructional strategies and resources to engage students with disabilities 

Obtain approval: Arrange for your administrators (e.g., district superintendent and principal) to approve the proposal and sign your application. Be sure to check your district policy before applying.

Select and contact a field trip destination: All host organizations must be selected from the arts council’s Arts Miles Directory.

Plan your field trip: Teachers and host organizations work in partnership to develop and finalize the field trip plan, including scheduling, logistics, programmed activities, etc.

Complete the application: Applications for this program are made through the online grant system. Before beginning the application, carefully read all instructions included in this document. Detailed application instructions are provided below. The application must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time by the 15th of each month. Following the deadline, each application will be reviewed by the program director and a panel of the Kentucky Arts Council staff, who may contact the applicant if clarification is needed.  

Before beginning the application, you must have an “organization” profile in the GO Smart online grant management system. If you do not already have one, you will need to create a profile, including a username and password at GO Smart.

Store your username and password in a safe place to ensure that you can access your account later. You can use this profile to apply for programs year after year and update it as needed. If your school already has a GO Smart organization profile, do not create a new one.

Contact the Kentucky Arts Council grant manager at [email protected] if you have difficulty accessing your existing profile. In your profile and all other references, “legal name” refers to the legal name of the school.

The information below is available through the school or district finance officer. 

• IRS tax-exempt determination letter: The letter can be obtained from your finance officer. It indicates the tax-exempt status of your school or organization as a nonprofit or public entity. A sample letter is available from the arts council staff upon request. This letter should also include your school’s federal identification number (FEIN). 

• 501(c)3 incorporation date: Note, this date may be on your IRS tax exempt determination letter.   

• Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN): Note: the FEIN number may be on the IRS tax exempt determination letter.  

• Unique Entity Number (UEI) 

• Kentucky Vendor number 

• • Kentucky Department of Finance requires that all individuals and organizations being paid by the state have a Kentucky Vendor Number. Register online at https://vss.ky.gov or https://finance.ky.gov/eProcurement/Pages/default.aspx.  

• • Be sure to enter the address where you would like to receive your check.
• • Kentucky Vendor Number registration instructions.  

• • Kentucky vendor numbers are usually issued the same day.  

• • Enter your code in the designated space on the application.  

• • The Kentucky vendor registration system is a part of the Kentucky Department of Finance. If you need assistance searching or applying for a Kentucky vendor code, contact Finance’s customer service center at 502-564-9641 or [email protected].

This is an electronic form through a service called DocuSign. Please request that your district technology department safelist this domain so that these important emails arrive in your inbox and not in your spam folder.  You can click to sign the document directly in your web browser and do not need to download or print anything. You will be prompted to enter the email addresses of your school administrator (i.e., principal) and district administrator (superintendent or equivalent administrator). After you sign and click “Finish,” the form will automatically send itself to the next signatory.  

Submitting the signature page does not automatically submit your application – you must return to the application and click “Submit.”   

Step 1: Grant Review  

All applications will be reviewed and scored according to the program performance expectations.  

Step 2: Grant Agreement  

If your application is approved, the arts council will send a notification of approval via the teacher’s email address provided in the application. A Grant Agreement Form (GAF) for the total amount funded will be sent to the authorized district administrator named in the application. The GAF must be signed and returned within 15 days.
 
Grant agreements cannot be altered without prior approval from the program director. If field trip dates must be rescheduled or canceled for any reason, notify the program director immediately. Failure to do so may jeopardize future funding. Grants are for the period and activities specified in the approved application. Funds must be spent or committed for activities taking place within the period stated.   

Grantee Expectations 

Legislative, Mayoral, and County Judge Executive Letters
Applicants approved for Arts Miles Grants are required to send a letter to each of their state legislators (Sample) and forward copies to the arts council. Additionally, please send a letter to the mayor of your county seat and your county judge executive. 

Acknowledgement 

Grantees must clearly acknowledge support from the Kentucky Arts Council in their promotional material including publications, websites, social media, etc. Such acknowledgement should clearly indicate that funds were provided for artistic excellence and merit. Additional acknowledgment requirements may be provided later. 

Grant recipients may download the Kentucky Arts Council logo. 

The acknowledgment line for the Arts Miles Program Grant is: 

“The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports this educational field trip with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.”

All Arts Miles grantees must submit a final report within 15 days of the field trip. The person submitting the final report will be asked to verify the date the field trip occurred, roundtrip mileage, the number of buses used, school bus driver pay, and number of drivers. If the total driver pay, the number of buses, or the number of roundtrip miles is less than the number specified on the application, the grant amount will be reduced accordingly. For example, if your approved grant amount was $600 based on anticipated use of two buses driving 100 miles round trip totaling $400 and two drivers for 4 hours each totaling $200, but the use of only one bus and one driver were needed then the grant amount would be reduced to $300.

Reimbursement checks will be processed and mailed within 30 working days upon receipt of the final report and the GAF.

Failure to submit the required final report for any grant will render your school ineligible for application to any arts council program until an acceptable final report is received.  

The arts council staff will offer the following support to ensure that performance expectations and goals are met: 

• Assistance in developing a field trip plan.  

• Consultation regarding applicant eligibility.  

• Technical assistance with submitting the application or final report.  

• Assistance locating or implementing accessibility resources.  

All Kentucky Arts Council grants are contingent upon budgetary action by the Kentucky General Assembly and upon annual receipt of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).