YOUTH/FAMILY GUIDELINES
Updated January 24, 2023
OPPORTUNITY
The Creative Pinellas Arts Summer Camp Grant was created to make it possible for young people in Pinellas County (ages 5 – 18) to have great arts and cultural experiences by attending a session of an arts summer camp at a camp provider in Pinellas County.
GETTING A GRANT is easy. If you are approved for this program you will be eligible to get a grant to attend one arts-focused summer camp session (including drawing, painting, pottery, photography, and other visual arts, theatre, dance, music, filmmaking, creative writing, and digital arts) at a qualified Pinellas County organization or program – as long as funds are available.
HERE ARE THE STEPS:
- Beginning March 1, 2023, apply online at creativepinellas.org/gotosummercamp.
- Meet the eligibility requirements.
- Pick an approved arts summer camp and the session that you want to attend.
- Complete the application and submit.
- Creative Pinellas will review your application and let you know if you are approved for a grant.
- Once you hear from us, complete the summer camp registration with the approved camp.
- Have a great summer camp experience!
Qualified organizations in Pinellas County include nonprofit arts organizations, nonprofit community organizations, and city or county programs open to the public who offer summer camp arts programming. This includes going to camp at arts centers, community centers, city programs and more.
Being awarded a grant does not guarantee there is space available in a given camp session. Once awarded, you must register with the camp provider for the approved session you want to attend.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Pinellas County residents between the ages of 5 – 18 are eligible for an Arts Summer Camp Grant if the answer is “Yes” to at least one of the items on this list.
- Receive a free or reduced-cost school lunch.
- Attend a school that is either “transitional” or “transformational” according to the Pinellas County Board of Education.
- Go to a Title 1 school (check here: https://www.pcsb.org/Page/10735).
- Live in a foster or group home.
- In the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
- Receive a financial hardship tuition or scholarship.
- Live in in East Tarpon Springs, North Greenwood, Highpoint, Lealman Corridor, or South St. Petersburg.
HOW TO APPLY
To receive a Summer Camp grant, you (or if you are under 14, your parent or guardian) will need to submit an online application. Creative Pinellas will look at applications in the order we receive them, so it is a good idea to apply early, as funds are limited.
Campers and or parents can also email us at summercamp@creativepinellas.org, with any questions or to schedule a phone call if needed.
PREPARE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
- The name of the organization providing the camp (For example: Largo Parks and Recreation, or the Morean Arts Center).
- The name or description of the camp session you want to go to.
- The dates of the actual camp session you want to attend.
- How much does the camp session costs.
- The name and contact information for the camper.
- The name and contact information for the Parent/Guardian.
- Proof that you live in Pinellas County (e.g., driver’s license, voter ID card, utility bill etc.).
Lots of camps are already approved for this program and are in our system. If the camp you want to go to is not there, you can submit a request for another camp as long as it is offered by a nonprofit arts organization, nonprofit community organization, or city or county program open to the public that offers summer camp arts programming.
We will contact you and let you know if that summer camp is eligible for this program. This eligibility check depends on the suggested camp communicating with Creative Pinellas. Please note this may cause a delay with the award and camp registration.
WHEN TO APPLY
- The application opens March 1, 2023.
- Applications will be accepted on a rolling/first come – first served basis until funds are no longer available.
- Young people (or their parents or guardians) can apply any time during the 2023 grant period. We encourage you to apply as early as possible as camps fill up quickly.
- You can apply for the full cost of one single summer camp session.
- You can only get one grant for one single session each summer.
- A session is a single program where generally the same campers attend without new campers joining during that period of time.
- Typically, a session is one week. For some camps, like theatre camps, a session is sometimes longer.
- Sessions are not the entire summer.
- Sessions are not overnight.
- Grants must be used for qualified arts camps in Pinellas County between the end of school, May 25, 2023, and August 11, 2023 which means the grant must be used by the time the school year starts in the fall of 2023.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Once you turn in your application, Creative Pinellas will review your application in the order it is received.
If you are eligible:
- Creative Pinellas will email you to let you know if your application is approved or not, or if we need more information within five to seven working days.
- We will also email the summer camp that you have a grant from us.
- We will tell them to contact you to register for camp.
- If you haven’t heard from the camp after about a week, you should call them.
THE SMALL PRINT
Creative Pinellas has limited grant funds for eligible nonprofit arts organizations, and for eligible nonprofit community organizations, and city or county programs open to the public who offer summer camp arts programming.
Summer camps fill up quickly, so even though you have a Creative Pinellas grant available, that does not guarantee a space in the program.
The grant is for you to go to the camp session that you chose in the application. Your choice cannot be changed unless the camp is full, and you have to choose a new session or new camp.
- If you find out that you have received a Summer Camp grant from Creative Pinellas, it is very important that you talk to the people at the summer camp and make sure to register with that camp within 3-5 business days if possible. If there is some confusion when you register give us a call. We will help you out!
- Creative Pinellas will pay the cost you indicated in your application directly to the camp provider.
- If the camp or camp session that you chose is full, you and the camp provider may agree on a different and available session for the same cost. Or we can suggest some other options. You will be asked to update your application with the new camp information.
- While the approved camps that are in our system have a reputation for excellent programming, Creative Pinellas is not responsible for the health, safety or wellbeing of the campers who receive our grants, or the quality of the camp experience.
WHAT IS OUR FUNDING POLICY?
To receive this grant offered by Creative Pinellas:
- Each applicant must meet the eligibility requirements outlined above.
- The summer camp session must be available, and the participating camp must follow our Camp Provider Guidelines.
- Each applicant must successfully register with the participating camp program.
The purpose of these funds is to make camp more accessible to all. For this reason, any camp that is already receiving funds from their municipal government and/or Pinellas County and/or agencies funded by Pinellas County, is expected to use the Summer Camp Grant funds to expand the program and add more campers (not to replace any scholarship program they already have.)
Creative Pinellas will fund eligible nonprofit arts organizations, and eligible nonprofit community organizations, and city or county programs open to the public who offer summer camp arts programming, in an amount to be determined based on available funding and the number of Pinellas youth participating in the camp’s programs.
Because participation in summer camps is driven by the applicant choice and funding availability, it is possible that some eligible organizations may not receive funding or may only receive limited funds.
If there are unused funds toward the end of the registration period, Creative Pinellas reserves the right to distribute additional funds to participating organizations.
This grant funding can only be used for registration fees for summer camp sessions as per these guidelines.
Creative Pinellas reserves the right to cancel or change the program for any reason and at any time.
Please contact us at summercamp@creativepinellas.org if you have any questions. Thank you and we look forward to having a great arts summer together!
As the County’s Local Arts Agency, Creative Pinellas and the programs we deliver are funded by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, Visit St Petersburg / Clearwater, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and by sales of the State of the Arts specialty license plate in Pinellas County.
