Coastal Stories Program
Coastal Stories Program supports communities in sharing historically excluded perspectives through public storytelling about California’s coast, as part of broader resilience, adaptation, or access projects.
Funder: California State Coastal Conservancy
Due Dates: Rolling (Conservancy pre-applications)
Funding Amounts: No set minimum or maximum in the former dedicated program; most grants were anticipated to be up to $175,000
Summary: Supports community-driven storytelling about historically excluded perspectives on California’s coast and publicly accessible lands as part of broader resilience or access projects.
Key Information: Coastal Stories–aligned work must be integrated into a broader climate resilience, sea level rise adaptation, or public access effort.
Description
The California State Coastal Conservancy supports storytelling installations and materials that bring historically excluded communities’ perspectives into the interpretation of California’s coast and publicly accessible lands. Projects can research, develop, and present stories through signage, murals, monuments, art installations, and other interpretive materials. The program aims to foster belonging outdoors, engage communities in sharing their own perspectives, correct one-sided histories, and make educational content more inclusive.
Coastal Stories operated as a dedicated grant program from 2022 through 2024. The Conservancy continues to welcome aligned projects, but they must now form part of a broader climate resilience, sea level rise adaptation, or public access effort. Community-driven storytelling can be particularly useful between conceptual design and construction, when it can sustain local involvement.
