South Arts is now accepting applications for the second phase of its national jazz initiative called Jazz Road.

Jazz Road is a national program led by South Arts — a regional nonprofit arts organization — in partnership with the five other U.S. Regional Arts Organizations, including the Western States Arts Federation of which Colorado is a member.

The first phase of Jazz Road is the Jazz Road Tour grants. This was created to bring jazz music to rural, isolated and underserved parts of the country. It allows jazz artists the opportunity to request up to $15,000 to support a multi-city tour that connects new audiences across the country to jazz music.

The second phase is called Jazz Road Creative Residencies, which allows jazz musicians to apply for grants to develop their own personalized residency and further explore their artform.

Musicians may request $5,000-$40,000 for their project and no matching funds are required. Applicable projects must be one to three weeks in duration and occur between October 2021 and June 2022. Deadline to apply for Jazz Road Creative Residencies is July 1.

Jazz Road Creative Residencies grants will give jazz artists the financial bridge necessary to close the gap between their plans for creativity and securing the resources to make it happen, states a news release.

“We are so excited to expand our programs for jazz musicians across the United States,” said Sara Donnelly, program director with South Arts, in a news release. “With a Jazz Road Creative Residencies grant, artists will have the flexibility to design and propose their own project, which can be anything from dedicated time writing new work to immersive engagement in a community or completing a new recording. We are putting the direction and power directly in the hands of the artists.”

To learn more about Jazz Road or begin an application for the Jazz Road Creative Residencies, visit www.southarts.org or call 404-874-7244.