Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC) wants to award grants this season.

NCAC will distribute up to $1,250 in one or more project grants to an individual artist residing in Newtown and up to $1,250 in one or more project grants to a Newtown-based group, club, or arts organization that enriches the cultural life of the community, for a total of $2,500 in grants.

The arts do not need to be the main mission of the group or organization.

The commission will also continue a grant opportunity for individual Newtown artists. The same application is used for organization grants and individual grants.

To download an application to be submitted online, visit forms.gle/vySmb3mfQusfJMzt9.

To download a hard copy of the application, to be submitted via mail or delivered to the Office of the First Selectman, Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, visit forms.gle/vySmb3mfQusfJMzt9.

Conditions of the grant must be accomplished within one year of the grant being awarded.

Deadline for submission of grant applications is May 18, 2026. NCAC will announce the grant awardees by e-mail, on its website, and via press release on or before May 25.

The funds for the grants come from the proceeds of the 2025 Newtown Arts Festival, a project of the Cultural Commission. This year’s Arts Festival is set for September 18-20, 2026, on the grounds of Fairfield Hills.

Past winners of the organization grants have included Flagpole Photographers, Town Players of Newtown, Everwonder Children’s Museum, Three Potters, Friends of Newtown Seniors, Ben’s Lighthouse, and Friends of the Newtown Community Center.

Individual grants have been won by Virginia Zimmerman, the artist who created the Welcome to Newtown mural on the railroad bridge support; photographer George Duncan, who traced the creation of the Newtown Fruit Trail at Fairfield Hills; and Lindsay Fiore, who created the mural near Newtown Park & Bark.