No Tears Suite Cultural Workshops- CHSC | NPS NOIP20AC00427

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS NOIP20AC00427

The No Tears Suite Cultural Workshops - CHSC grant opportunity (NPS NOIP20AC00427) is a National Park Service discretionary funding competition offered through a cooperative agreement to support a public-facing arts and humanities project centered on civil rights history. The core idea is to use the "No Tears Suite" as a vehicle for telling the story of the Little Rock Nine and expanding public awareness of Central High National Historic Site (CHSC), while also building meaningful connections to New Orleans Jazz National Historic Site through a parallel set of programs in New Orleans. The project is designed to blend performance, education, and facilitated conversation so that audiences experience the history not only as a museum narrative, but also as living cultural memory expressed through music and dialogue.

The proposed work focuses on delivering a coordinated series of events in two cities during fall 2020: Little Rock, Arkansas and New Orleans, Louisiana. In each city, the program calls for one live performance of No Tears Suite, along with one workshop/masterclass and one public panel discussion, for a total of two performances, two workshops, and two panel discussions across the full project. The National Park Service and partners plan to use Oxford American's national media reach to promote the events and extend their impact beyond the in-person audience, with a target of roughly 500 attendees per city across the combined activities. The longer-term goal is not just attendance at the events themselves, but increased awareness that leads to more visits to both Central High National Historic Site and New Orleans Jazz National Historic Site, helped along by ongoing publicity and coverage after the events conclude.

Education and youth engagement are a central piece of the design, particularly through music students and university partners. Each workshop is framed as a masterclass on using music and creative expression to tell civil rights stories, with an expectation of reaching at least 50 jazz students per class in each city. The opportunity specifically mentions engagement with Dillard University and Southern University students in New Orleans, and partnership connections in Little Rock including Philander Smith College's Social Justice Department and the Arkansas Peace and Justice organization. In total, the performances and educational components are expected to reach approximately 600 to 800 participants, while also generating broader national and international attention for Little Rock's musical history and cultural identity through amplified media coverage.

The panel discussions are intended to be free and open to the public, and they are structured to deepen understanding of present-day civil rights issues by using the Central High desegregation crisis as the historical framework. These panels are to be conducted in conjunction with civil rights and humanities scholars and are meant to function as dialogue programs, not just lectures, tying historic events to contemporary questions in a way that is accessible to general audiences while still grounded in scholarship.

The work plan is organized into three main tasks with a defined timeline. Task 1 covers planning and program development between May 1, 2020 and September 1, 2020, during which the recipient, park staff, and musicians collaborate on workshop formats, program needs, and overall execution; the NPS also assists in securing venues in Little Rock and New Orleans and supports coordination with local artists and activists to shape the dialogue portions of the project. Task 2 is the delivery phase, with the Little Rock performance and related programs scheduled for September 24-25, 2020 to align with the 63rd anniversary of the Central High School desegregation crisis, followed by the New Orleans performance and associated programs in November 2020. Task 3 requires narrative reporting on outcomes, documenting results and impacts, with the project concluding by March 31, 2021.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is offered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and is categorized under arts, education, humanities, community development, and regional development (CFDA 15.954). Eligibility is limited to nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). The opportunity was created March 30, 2020, with an original application deadline of April 9, 2020. Funding is structured as a single expected award with a ceiling of $26,900, indicating a small, targeted project meant to leverage partnerships, venues, and media distribution rather than function as a large production grant.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the arts (see cultural affairs in cfda), community development, education, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), regional development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "No Tears Suite Cultural Workshops- CHSC" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.954.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 30, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 09, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $26,900.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for NPS NOIP20AC00427

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: