Local Programming

BACCES is excited to support local programming and training through micro grants for BIPOC acrobats within their immediate communities.

What are Local Programming Awards?

BACCES offers local programming micro grants of $500/acrobat to spend on partner acrobatic pursuits in your local community. Supported activities can range from personal training sessions, space rental to run a class, or ancillary support needs like childcare and bodywork for acrobats while they’re training.

Priority is given to BIPOC applications, but non-BIPOC folks are welcome to apply if you have an offering that directly benefits the BIPOC acro community.

Funding permitting, these awards are offered once per year — stay on the lookout for our application season.

Our 2025 application is now closed. Stay tuned on social media to see the cool projects and local engagement our recipients achieved, and keep an eye out for next year’s application!

This mini grant provided integral seed funding for a BIPOC-led acrobatics program that offered space for community members to decompress, connect, and express their creativity through movement. It allowed us to put forth a model for a program that prioritizes cultural representation, collective care, and creative expression—one that we hope to expand into a sustained, year-round offering. The impact of this program has revealed both a clear community need and a powerful opportunity for long-term investment in accessible acrobatic arts programming.

Most importantly, it reminded us that healing, joy, and collective growth are possible when we create spaces rooted in care and representation, providing a much-needed antidote to isolation and the often unspoken pressures BIPOC participants face in predominantly white movement spaces. 

This grant went beyond supporting a couple classes—it helped us lay the groundwork to create a more inclusive, expansive space in acrobatics—where our communities can not only participate, but lead, thrive, and reimagine what these spaces can be.

What these grants can do…

Testimonial from Award Winner: Cascadia Connect

Past Local Programming Award Winners

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Local Programming FAQs

  • Our micro grants are <$500, limited to one per application cycle per applicant/initiative. Funds are targeted for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) beneficiaries; white applicants may still apply for programming that specifically benefits BIPOC participants in partner acrobatics and adjacent disciplines. Funds are non-transferable and are not to be used for travel expenses, festival attendance, or festival-adjacent trainings (e.g., 1-day intensives added on to a festival). Currently funding can ONLY be applied for programs and applicants in North America and the UK.

    For festival-related support, please see our separate partner festival ticket application.

  • Propose your idea to us!

    Have class spots you can offer BIPOC but need some financial support to make that feasible? Want to cost-share on being able to offer bodywork to BIPOC acrobats? Would massage or physio help you train for that upcoming performance?  Do you need child-care so that you can attend local acro classes?

    Let us know what you'd like to do!

    • Applications will be open for ~2-4 weeks.

    • Funding must be used for programs within the designated time period

    • A paid BIPOC committee created the criteria for award eligibility;  all submissions will first be reviewed for eligibility

    • Any edits to submissions need to happen by the deadline supplied on the application form

    • BACCES plans to notify recipients of awards via the email supplied on the application form

    • Awards will be determined approximately 2 weeks after application submission

    • Award recipients will receive and sign an agreement form before receiving their micro-grant

    • Awardees must submit a post-project review form within 2 weeks after their programming concludes. This review will detail the use of funds, project impact, and additional details for accountability purposes. Awardees who fail to submit this form in the specified timeline will not be eligible for future awards.

    • Applications will be reviewed for eligibility and alignment with BACCES' goals of fostering BIPOC participation and inclusive spaces in partner acrobatics

    • Submissions that pass this initial review will be selected for funding by random lottery

    • Selection is not based on merit or financial need

    • Awards are limited to 1 per application cycle per applicant/initiative (e.g., do not submit two applications for one project if a partnership is involved). Please also note that these awards are taxable, and that award totals will be <$500 USD.

  • Our 2025 application is open until May 25! Successful applicants will use the funding for programming between July 1 - Dec 31, 2025.