Curiosity Pass: A Cultural Education Program (Mid-Cycle)

Create engaging arts, cultural, and science educational experiences for King County students! This grant funds cultural partners with youth-serving programs and activities that expand learning opportunities in our K-12 public schools. Whether in-school or off-site, these funds support young learners and their holistic growth.

IMPORTANT: applicants who plan to apply must save a draft application by Thursday, May 28 at 5:00 pm PST to allow 4Culture staff to complete an eligibility pre-screening for this grant. The application link will not be available to anyone to start an application after that date. Final applications must be submitted by Thursday, June 11 at 5:00 pm PST.

Due Dates

• Intent to Apply: May 28, 2026 5pm
• Final Application: Jun 11, 2026 5pm

New This Year

• Intent to Apply: May 28, 2026 5pm

Contact

• Bryan Wilson
• Phone: (206) 263-2655
• Email: bryan.wilson@4culture.org

Translations

• 中文 (Chinese)
• Русский (Russian)
• Soomaali (Somali)
• Español (Spanish)
• Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)

Apply

The deadline for this grant has passed for the current year. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when grants are open.

Steps to Apply

1. What Curiosity Pass Funds

Create engaging arts, cultural, and science educational experiences for King County K-12 public school students! Groups and Individual educators can use this grant for funding the creation of new cultural education programs, or the continuation or expansion of existing programs. Cultural education programs can include in-school activities (residencies, workshops, performances, lessons), before and after school programs, field trips, programs that take place in the summer and/or during school breaks, and professional development. Programs supported by Curiosity Pass center learning in the areas of arts, heritage, science, or historic preservation. See eligibility section for more details. By supporting school and community partnerships that align with and enhance formal classroom learning, the Curiosity Pass program works to advance the right to cultural access for public school students across King County’s 19 public school districts and tribal schools.

Core Criteria

We fund this grant through a competitive process. A panel of local artists, cultural practitioners, educators, and school staff reviews all eligible applications based on the following criteria:

• Public benefit: your project focuses on providing and improving access to arts, heritage, historic preservation, science, and technology educational experiences for K-12 public school students in King County. Your project makes clear efforts to prioritize program delivery for schools and students with less access to cultural education opportunities. Your project demonstrates support for the needs of the schools and school districts your students attend.
• Student learning connection: your project provides a learning experience that is culturally sustaining, student-centered, safe and supportive, enriching, and interactive. Your project provides clear learning outcomes aligned with and/or enhancing classroom learning through connections to WA State or local district learning standards for K-12 students. Curriculum connections could be through aligning your program to specific standards, or by sharing how your program adds to or enhances classroom learning. Project demonstrates ability to create unique heritage, science, historic preservation, or arts-centered engagements for youth and a commitment to continual program improvement.
• Qualifications: your work samples and experience demonstrate your ability to work with K-12 students and classes, and partner with public schools. Lead program staff can demonstrate at least 2 years of experience in youth education programs. Project demonstrates a commitment to student safety.
• Feasibility: your project budget and plan are realistic and achievable. The requested funding amount is appropriate for the project. If cultural education staff (including teaching artists or educators) are part of the project, the project demonstrates how cultural workers will be fairly compensated.
• Advancing equity:* 4Culture’s mission focuses on racial equity and envisions a county where culture is essential and accessible to all. Your project specifically benefits historically marginalized communities, especially those disproportionately impacted by systemic racism (e.g. serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, engaging BIPOC leadership, etc). The project leaders speak from their own experiences or collaborate with members of these communities through the planning and development of their project. The project team have ensured project leadership, decision-making and community input reflect community voices of BIPOC and/or historically marginalized partner communities in King County. This is not a requirement to receive funding.

Choice Criteria

Choice Criteria is an opportunity to select an important focus of your project. This is not a panel-scored criteria, but rather a place to frame your project for the panel. It also allows 4Culture to get a better picture of the applicant pool for this grant and the broader cultural education landscape. Funding allocation decisions are not based on choice criteria. You must select ONE of the following that best describes your project’s goal and impact:

• Create: your project focuses on creating a new cultural education program or experience for K-12 students that addresses a cultural access need for students in one or more of King County’s 19 public school districts and tribal schools. Examples:
  • Shoreline Poetry Garden created a new resource box program to bring their arts integration programming to more schools that couldn’t attend a field trip to their physical location. They used Curiosity Pass funds to support developing this curriculum, and securing the materials needed to create new resource boxes.
• Grow: your project builds upon your existing education programming to expand and/or improve cultural access for public school students in King County. Examples:
  • Pioneer Square History Museum grew their field trip and in-school residency programs to serve 25% more schools. They hired and trained new educators to deliver these programs. They also translated all their materials to be better accessible to multilingual students and families.
• Continue: your project continues an existing program or set of programs that support public school students to access cultural learning programs and demonstrates value in repeating this work. Examples:
  • The Octopus Outdoor Learning Network continued offering their signature beach investigation program and their summer sea camp in partnership with 20 schools across four school districts. Curiosity Pass funds supported salaries for program staff and allowed the organization to replace out-of-date instructional materials for students.

Public Benefit: Why It Matters

4Culture is a public agency supporting the cultural sector with revenue from Lodging Tax, 1% for Art, and Doors Open funding sources. Core to our work and defined in our Charter is a requirement that everything we fund serves the public interest, enriching communities throughout King County. We define Public Benefit as the opportunity for King County residents and visitors to access and engage in arts, science, and other cultural activities, events, communities of practice, historic and cultural spaces, and works of public art related to our program areas. It is also a service requirement for all recipients of funding from 4Culture. Public benefit makes it easier to experience culture. As you work through your application, tell us exactly how your fellow King County residents (public school students in this case) will be able to enjoy and learn from your programs. Here are some ways you can provide public benefit:

• Providing public school students with access to your creative work, project, or program for free or at a reduced rate.
• Providing educational programs and experiences at cultural organizations, schools, or other venues accessible to the public.
• Exploring ways to expand and broaden your work and activities for the education and entertainment of the public.
• Participating in collaborative relationships with other cultural organizations, individuals, and groups to extend the reach and impact of a project or program for the benefit of public schools and students.
• Organizational or individual capacity-building projects or activities that provide meaningful public benefits not otherwise achievable.
• For cultural organizations: providing, through technological and other means, services or programs in locations other than an organization’s own facilities.

Equity Investments

To combat inequities in our grantmaking, 4Culture engages in the practice of making Equity Investments. This practice involves looking at several indicators of structural inequity and applying that knowledge to our peer review panel process. These indicators include but are not limited to geographic location of applicants, operating budget, communities engaged with, and audiences served, and project focus. By prioritizing these factors in our grantmaking decisions and panel review process, we anticipate funds will be distributed to communities that have historically been excluded from cultural funding. Each of our grant programs utilizes an Equity Investment system tailored to the specific needs of its applicants. This organization-wide change—and what we learn about its impact—is an important step towards more equitable funding at 4Culture and throughout the King County cultural sector. This grant’s Equity Investment is additional funding added to all selected projects that meet one or more of the following requirements:

• You are based outside of the City of Seattle.
• You are located in one of Seattle’s Communities of Opportunity.
• OR your application scores highly on the Advancing Equity criteria.

Please contact Bryan Wilson at bryan.wilson@4culture.org if you have any questions.

2. Are You and Your Project Eligible?

You

Apply as a Cultural Organization/Partner if you represent a group, a grassroots or non-profit organization, municipality, Tribal government, or business that plans to offer cultural education programming for King County K-12 public school students in the 2026-2027 year, and you meet all of the following requirements:

• Groups must be based in King County with an educational program mission dedicated to arts, heritage, historic preservation, or science & technology.
• Please see our discipline eligibility page to see if your work aligns with one of our core funding disciplines of arts, science & technology, historic preservation, or heritage (https://www.4culture.org/discipline-eligibility/)
• If selected for an award, you must provide an Employer Identification Number (LLC, S-Corp, General Partnership, nonprofit, etc.). Your EIN must be registered under the same group name as your 4Culture account. We cannot accept proprietorships under personal names or Social Security Numbers.
• Fiscally sponsored groups and nonprofits are eligible but not required.
• A cultural education group is led by two or more people working together under a group name. If your project is led by one person, even if you are working with a team, please apply as an Individual.
• Groups may only submit one application per year. Multiple applicants may not apply for the same project.
• The following are not eligible to apply:
  • 2025 Curiosity Pass grant recipients.
  • Curiosity Pass grant recipients with incomplete contracts.
  • 2026 Curiosity Pass selection panelists.
• If you are using a fiscal sponsor to apply for this grant, you must have prior approval by 4Culture staff. You will need to indicate if you are applying with a Fiscal Sponsor in your application, and 4Culture will review both you and your fiscal sponsor’s eligibility to receive funding. Please review our Fiscal Sponsorship page.
• Have a mission that includes a focus on one of our disciplines: Arts, Heritage, Historic Preservation, or Science & Technology.
• Program lead staff have 2 years minimum experience developing and providing youth education programs for K-12 students. This can include classroom teaching, field trips, tours, workshops, artist residencies, etc. Experience partnering with public schools, a plus but not required.
• Partnerships between multiple, eligible groups are eligible, but only one of the partnering groups will apply on behalf of the partnership.

Apply as an Individual teaching artist or cultural educator if you are the sole creator or are leading other teaching artists/cultural educators in the creation of your project and you plan to offer programming for King County K-12 public school students in 2026 and 2027. Individuals must also meet the following requirements:

• Individuals must be at least 18 years old and a resident of King County when you apply through completion of your project.
• If selected for an award, you must provide a Social Security Number to receive payment. No fiscal sponsors may be used.
• You may only submit one application per year. Multiple applicants may not apply for the same project.
• Have experience in arts, heritage, historic preservation, or science & technology.
• Have 2 years minimum experience developing and providing youth education programs for K-12 students. This can include classroom teaching, field trips, tours, workshops, artist residencies, etc. Experience partnering with public schools, a plus but not required.
• The following are not eligible to apply:
  • Individual Science & Technology projects are not currently eligible
  • 4Culture staff, Board, or Arts Advisory Committee members.
  • 2025 Curiosity Pass grant recipients.
  • Curiosity Pass grant recipients with incomplete contracts.
  • Individuals applying on behalf of a current Sustained Support or Launch recipient organization. If you are staff at one of these organizations, please let us know in your application (search current awardees here).
  • 2026 Curiosity Pass selection panelists.

Your Project

Your project can include the following arts, heritage, historic preservation, or science & technology educational experiences for K-12 public school students. This grant can fund the creation of new projects, or the continuation or expansion of existing projects.

• In-school activities: workshops, residencies, performances, lectures, programs or other experiences that occur on a school’s campus. This could also include things like resource boxes/kits, or curriculum for teachers to use in their classrooms.
• Before- and after-school activities: programs or activities that occur before or after the usual school day and are often held on a school’s campus or at a central location such as a community center or at a cultural organization’s venue.
• Summer and school break activities: experiences, programs, and activities that occur outside of the normal school year, usually during summer, winter, mid-winter, or spring breaks. These programs can occur on or off school grounds and may serve public school students from multiple King County school districts.
• Field trips: off-site experiences usually occurring during the school day to augment classroom instruction. They are typically hosted at the venue of the cultural organization.
• Professional development: support services for public school educators or cultural organization staff to successfully complete proposed education projects. Your project must serve public school students:
• At least 51% of your program participants must attend one of the 19 King County public school districts or tribal schools.
• Applicants will be asked to demonstrate connection to public school communities.
• If awarded, a Letter of Support will be required from partnering schools, districts, or school community partners at the time of contracting.

Examples of Eligible Expenses

• Education Program staff directly related to the project. These could include Program Coordinators, Managers, Directors, teaching artists, or cultural educators for example.
• Equipment/supplies: materials for direct use in your proposed cultural education program(s). Not general office supplies.
• Transportation subsidies for public school students and classes.
• Cost of student/school attendance
• Curriculum development: could include the cost of creating new curriculum, or curriculum resources like kits or boxes.
• Professional development: relevant capacity building for project personnel.
• Accessibility improvements to the program or program site.
• Interpretation or translation services
• Up to 15% of your project budget may include food and snacks for students. Ineligible: food and beverage for staff (paid or unpaid) or volunteers that are not part of the school partner served.

Timeline

• This is a 1-year funding program.
• Your project, or a phase of a larger project, must take place between September 1, 2026 and December 31, 2027.
• The Curiosity Pass 2026 application opens on April 22, 2026, and closes on June 11, 2026. Applicants must submit their intent to apply by starting their application and by saving a draft on or before May 28, 2026 at 5:00 pm PST to allow 4Culture staff to complete an eligibility pre-screening. The link to start an application will close after this date.
• Contracting is estimated to begin in September, 2026.

Awards

Awards are calculated based on a variety of factors including panel scores, project budget, and equity investments. We will be awarding small, medium, and large size projects within our available funds. Average award size in 2025 was between $12,000 and $56,000 per year. We will be allocating funds based on three project size tiers: small, medium, and large.

• Project budget size will be a consideration in the selection process – small projects will still be competitive!
• You may receive less than your full project budget. Please explain your plan if that happens in the Project Budget Notes section of your application.
• Individuals: individual teaching artists and cultural educators may submit a smaller project budget between $5,000 and $15,000.

This Grant Does Not Fund

• Programs where a more than 51% of participants do not attend King County public schools (examples not limited to: private schools, home schools)
• K-12 schools or school districts: funds cannot be directly paid to schools. Professional development for teachers/staff is eligible.
• Athletics, recreation, sport, or martial arts.
• Tuition and cost-of-living expenses for students in any degree program.
• Food and beverage for staff (paid or unpaid) or volunteers that are not part of the school partner being served. Food and snacks for students is an eligible expense.
• Purchase of non-program-related equipment.
• Religious worship, exercise, prayer, or instruction.
• Fundraising expenses.
• General operating support: funds can be used for program-specific operations. Otherwise consider applying for Sustained Support.
• Capital expenditures including construction or renovation–consider apply for Building for Equity.

3. Helping You Succeed

4Culture staff will do their best to answer questions or provide assistance for applicants. However, as the deadline approaches, it will become less and less likely that they will be able to respond to your queries (the number of applicants is expected to be between 250-300). The earlier you prepare your application, the more support 4Culture staff will be able to offer you.

Workshops + Office Hours

Workshops can make a major difference in how competitive your application is—each year, we find that the strongest applications come from people who have attended a workshop. Workshops provide opportunities for you to meet 4Culture staff, learn about the process, meet other applicants, and ask questions. Workshops will be held both in-person and virtually. At Office Hours sessions, we will be standing by on Zoom to answer any questions, provide feedback on your application, and help you succeed! There will be no formal presentation; simply join our open Zoom video calls. If you missed Office Hours, you can still call or email us anytime.

• Apr 29 12-1pm – Zoom – Workshop
• May 6 12-1pm – Zoom – Office Hours
• May 13 12-1pm – Gibson Hall, 105 Newport Way SW, Issaquah – Workshop
• May 20 12-1pm – Zoom – Office Hours
• May 27 12-1pm – Highline Heritage Museum, 819 SW 152nd St, Burien – Workshop
• Jun 3 12-1pm – Zoom – Workshop

Helpful Resources

Video

If you are unable to attend a workshop, you may view a recorded version instead.

Worksheet

Click to download: Individuals: PDF | Word Organizations: PDF | Word This worksheet includes the full application with helpful tips. Use this to work offline, draft your responses, and then copy-and-paste them into the online application.

Personal Feedback

We’re happy to offer feedback on a draft of your application! Please contact the Program Manager before May 28, 2026.

Contact

Bryan Wilson, Cultural Education Program Manager bryan.wilson@4culture.org 206-263-2655

Translation and Assistance

The guidelines, a detailed explanation of how to apply, and the application are in English. If this is a barrier that stops you from understanding the grant or applying due to limited English writing ability, visual impairment, or you would like to request assistance to create an application, please contact jackie.mixon@4culture.org, and we will make sure you get the support you need.