SPARK! Arts Across Montana Cohort

Building Local Capacity for Arts Education Across Montana
Two communities. A collaborative journey. Locally rooted possibilities.


What could become possible if your community built an arts education ecosystem of its own?
SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning is seeking two Montana communities to participate in an inaugural two-year cohort designed to build local capacity for meaningful arts learning and experiences.

Participating communities will explore what a strong arts education ecosystem can look like through professional learning, immersive experiences, coaching, coalition-building, strategic planning, and ongoing partnership. Together we will build a locally driven plan that will become the foundation of this work. 

SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning works alongside communities to build the relationships, infrastructure, and leadership needed to ensure every child has equitable access to meaningful arts education.


// AS A COHORT COMMUNITY, YOU’LL HAVE ACCESS TO…
Professional Learning: Develop a deeper understanding of a healthy, comprehensive arts education ecosystem and the possibilities for your community.

Immersive Experiences: See the work in action through site visits and opportunities to connect with experienced Missoula educators and partners.

Coalition Building Support: Bring together school and community leaders who can help imagine, guide, and champion the work locally.

Strategic Planning: Move from possibilities to priorities through a locally driven strategic planning process.

Coaching + Technical Assistance: Work alongside SPARK! Arts as your community builds its relationships, infrastructure, and plan.

A Peer Cohort: Learn alongside other Montana communities navigating many of the same questions.


// WHAT WE’LL BUILD TOGETHER…
Every community's arts education ecosystem will look different. Rather than prescribing a single model, SPARK! Arts will help each participating community build three foundational pieces of local infrastructure:

Community Arts Education Leadership Coalition: A cross-sector group of school and community leaders who can help imagine, guide, and champion the work locally.

Locally Driven Comprehensive Plan: A shared vision and roadmap for expanding meaningful arts learning and experiences based on your community's assets, needs, and priorities.

Local Leaders: School and community based leaders equipped to help move the work forward.

These foundations create a starting point. What your community chooses to build from them will be locally determined.


// THE COHORT JOURNEY…
YEAR ONE: Learn • Experience • Build • Plan
Year One is designed to help communities understand what is possible before determining what they want to build.

Through professional learning, immersive experiences, coalition-building, and strategic planning, participating communities will explore their existing assets and opportunities, strengthen local relationships, identify priorities, and develop a locally driven plan for implementation.

YEAR TWO: Implement • Learn • Adapt
In Year Two, participating communities begin putting their locally developed plans into action.

SPARK! Arts continues alongside each community through professional development, coaching, mentorship, technical assistance, consultation, and opportunities for continued learning.

// WHAT EACH PARTNER BRINGS…
SPARK! Arts Brings:
Experience: More than a decade of learning from the Missoula arts learning ecosystem.
Learning + Tools: Professional development, resources, and opportunities to experience the work firsthand.
Guidance: Coaching, facilitation, strategic-planning support, and technical assistance, as well as access to Missoula’s educators, partners and teaching artists. 
Partnership: A commitment to learn alongside communities as a thought-partner, rather than prescribe a predetermined solution.

Communities Bring:
Curiosity: A willingness to learn, explore, and imagine.
People: School and community leaders ready to build relationships across sectors.
Participation: Time and commitment to professional learning, immersive experiences, coalition-building, and planning.
Candor: A willingness to share what is working, what isn't, and what support is needed.
Ownership: A commitment to shape and ultimately lead the work locally.

This is a partnership. SPARK! Arts brings the framework, experience, and support; communities bring the local knowledge, relationships, and leadership that make the work possible.


// WHO IS THIS COHORT FOR…
The SPARK! Arts Across Montana Cohort is designed for communities that:

  • Include a Montana public school district committed to participating in the work;

  • Have district-level leadership support;

  • Have at least one community-based organization interested in partnering in the work;

  • Are willing to build a cross-sector Community Arts Education Leadership Coalition;

  • Can commit time to professional learning, site visits, coalition-building, and strategic planning;

  • Are interested in expanding equitable access to meaningful arts learning and experiences; and

  • Are willing to approach the experience with curiosity, candor, and collaboration.

Strong applicants will demonstrate:

  • Genuine interest in expanding equitable access to arts learning and experiences;

  • District-level commitment to the work;

  • Interest and momentum among school and community partners;

  • Potential for meaningful cross-sector collaboration;

  • A willingness to learn, experiment, and build together;

  • Capacity to engage meaningfully in the two-year experience; and

  • An openness to developing a locally driven approach rather than arriving with a predetermined solution.

Please note: Potential matters. Readiness does not mean perfection. You do not need an established arts learning ecosystem to apply. We aren't looking for communities that already have everything figured out. We're looking for communities with the relationships, commitment, curiosity, and potential to build something meaningful together.


// INVESTMENT…
Grant funding makes the inaugural SPARK! Arts Montana Cohort available to the two selected communities without a program participation fee. Participation is considered an invaluable investment and will ultimately lead to your community’s success. 

Some travel costs to Missoula will be necessary. These may include: mileage, per diem, hotel, substitutes, etc. 

SPARK! Arts provides: professional development, coaching, facilitation of cohort, resources and research, technical assistance and hosting site visits to Missoula

Concluding Year Two of the cohort, and/or outside of SPARK! Arts committed responsibility to the cohort, additional formal support and tangible resources from SPARK! Arts may require fiduciary responsibility. 



// HOW TO APPLY…
SPARK! Arts will use a two-step process to select the two communities participating in the inaugural SPARK! Arts Across Montana Cohort. Please download this PDF to ensure you have all necessary application materials before submitting your application.

Please note: Because the online application cannot be saved and returned to later, we strongly encourage you to draft your responses in a separate document, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word, and copy and paste your completed responses into the online application when you are ready to submit. Additionally, be sure to have all of your supporting documents (letters of support and Superintendent Acknowledgement form) available for upload into the online application.

Step One: Application
Due October 14, 2026 at 11:59pm
Interested communities will submit an online application designed to help SPARK! understand your community, why this opportunity matters, what assets and momentum you can build from, and what you hope could become possible.

Your application will include:

  • Basic community and district information

  • Five short narrative responses

  • A minimum of three letters of support, including at least one from a community partner outside the school district

  • Information about your emerging community team

  • A signed Superintendent acknowledgment

  • Applicant acknowledgments

Step Two: Finalist Interviews
October 22 + 23, 2026
Selected communities will be invited to participate in a conversation with SPARK! to explore leadership, relationships, capacity, expectations, and mutual fit more deeply.

We ask finalist interview teams to include a lead applicant, district-level leader, school-based representative, and community partner(s).

The interview is not a test. It is an opportunity for SPARK! Arts and your community to determine whether this partnership is the right fit for both of us.

// HOW APPLICANTS WILL BE CONSIDERED…
SPARK! will review applications holistically. We are not looking for communities with the most established arts programs or the greatest number of existing resources.

We will consider:

  • Alignment with the purpose of the cohort

  • District-level commitment

  • Community interest and partnership

  • Potential for cross-sector collaboration

  • Evidence of momentum and willingness to engage

  • Opportunity to expand equitable access to meaningful arts learning and experiences

  • Capacity to participate meaningfully in the cohort

// IMPORTANT DATES…
September 22, 2026
Informational Webinar

October 14, 2026
Applications Due

October 22 + 23, 2026
Finalist Interviews

Early November 2026
Cohort Communities Announced

Mid-November 2026
Cohort Begins with site visit in Missoula


// FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS…
When does the cohort start? 
The cohort will begin mid-November 2026 with a site visit to Missoula. This will allow for participating cohort communities to experience Missoula’s arts education ecosystem. 

Does our community need an established arts learning ecosystem to apply?
No. Communities will enter the cohort from different starting points. The cohort is designed to help participants understand their assets, build relationships, explore possibilities, and determine a locally driven direction.

Do we need to know what we want to implement before applying?
No. Please don't feel like you need to arrive with the answer. Year One is intentionally designed around learning, experiencing, coalition-building, and planning before implementation begins. We have tools and will offer supports to help your community determine the implementation plan that best fits your needs. 

Who needs to be involved in our application?
Applications should demonstrate district-level support and meaningful interest from community partners. 

Does our superintendent need to be involved?
Yes. A signed Superintendent Acknowledgment is required as part of the application.

How many letters of support are required?
A minimum of three, including at least one from a community-based partner.

What will participation cost?
There is no program participation fee paid to SPARK! Arts, however, please see the section on Investment, as some expenses may incur.  

Will both selected communities build the same thing?
No. Communities will share a common learning and capacity-building process, but each community will identify its own priorities and develop a locally driven plan.

What happens after we apply?
SPARK! Arts will review applications after the October 14 deadline. Selected communities will be invited to finalist interviews October 22-23, 2026, with final cohort communities announced in early November.


// WEBINAR…
Interested in learning more? Join us for a live informational webinar on September 22, 2026 at 9am to learn about the cohort experience, application process, and what participation could look like for your community.
JOIN US ON ZOOM
Can't attend live? The webinar will be recorded and posted here following the event.



// NEED MORE INFORMATION?…
We know every community is different. If you are wondering whether the SPARK! Arts Across Montana Cohort might be a fit for yours, we would love to hear from you.

Shannon Rincker
Strategic Growth + Fund Development Coordinator
SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning
shannon@sparkartslearning.org