The deadline has arrived. Today is the last day for non-profit arts organizations to apply for funds from Norman's Hotel Tax Grants.
The Hotel Tax Grant program takes funds from the 25-percent Norman Hotel Guest Room Tax and distributes the money to area artistic organizations and individuals.
The money from the tax is split between the Norman Arts Council, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Visitors Bureau, said Christina Newendorp, executive director of the Norman Arts and Humanities Council.
"The program helps bring revenue into the city's coffers," Newendorp said.
To receive money from the Hotel Tax Fund, an organization must be classified as not-for-profit and be based in Norman. About 20 to 30 programs apply for aid each year, Newendorp said.
One such program is the Firehouse Art Center. The art gallery applies for funds to provide exhibits, guest artist workshops and other activities, said Linda Sexton, marketing director at the Firehouse.
"We try to enrich lives in Norman," Sexton said.
The Firehouse has applied for the grant for several years. The process includes writing up a grant form and describing where and for what the money will be used and the estimated audience.
"The first several times we applied it felt intensive," Sexton said of the application process.
Along with the Firehouse, several other programs with OU ties apply for Hotel Tax Grant monies. OU is actually represented as two organizations, as the campus and as the OU Foundation, Newendorp said. Since each organization can submit a maximum of four projects, its dual classification allows the university to submit requests for eight different projects.
"There's a lot of OU-based and also Norman-based organizations, so it makes for a nice balance," Newendorp said.
Norman is the only city in Oklahoma with a program that distributes the money from a hotel tourist tax to the artistic and cultural community, she said. Other communities with similar programs include San Antonio, Texas and San Francisco, Calif.
"Norman is the envy of all other arts communities for having local and municipal support," Newendorp said.
The Hotel fund was created in 1982, and the Arts Council has administered more than $800,000 to Norman's artistic organizations, said the programs Web site.
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