Martin Guitar Foundation awards $565,000 in 2026 grants
January 19, 2026
NAZARETH, PA – The Martin Guitar Foundation has awarded $565,000 in grants for 2026 to 98 nonprofit organizations, supporting communities in Nazareth, the greater Lehigh Valley and acoustic music organizations nationwide.
The grants support the foundation’s focus areas, including performance, participation and education in acoustic steel-string guitar music; preservation of America’s acoustic guitar heritage; arts education programs emphasizing acoustic guitar; educational institutions in the Lehigh Valley; promotion of arts and culture, primarily in the Lehigh Valley; community activity in the Nazareth region; assistance for the poor, hungry, sick and homeless in the Lehigh Valley; and environmental action related to guitar-making materials and processes.
Grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 were awarded to local, regional and national programs.
Lehigh Valley and regional grant recipients
Abriendo Mentes; Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley; Allentown Rescue Mission; Allentown Symphony Association; The Arc of Lehigh & Northampton Counties; ArtsQuest; Bach Choir of Bethlehem; The Baum School of Art; Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering Inc.; Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley Inc.; Bloom for Women Inc.; Boys and Girls Club of Allentown; Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center; Casey Doolin Foundation; Cay Galgon Life House; Cedar Crest College; Center for Humanistic Change Inc.; Civic Theatre of Allentown; Community Bike Works; Community Action Development Corp. Bethlehem; Community Music School; Community Services for Children; Da Vinci Science Center; Family Promise of the Lehigh Valley; Friends of Fleetwood Parks; The Folk Project; Fox Chase Cancer Center; Godfrey Daniels; Greater Easton Development Partnership; Hellertown Historical Society; Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley; Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites; Ice House Performing Arts Center; The Kindness Project; Lehigh Conference of Churches; Lehigh Gap Nature Center; Lehigh Valley Arts & Culture Alliance; Lehigh Charter Arts High School; Lehigh University Zoellner Arts Center; Lehigh Valley Public Telecommunications Corp. WLVT-TV Channel 39; Lehigh Valley Zoological Society; Lifepath Foundation; Manufacturers Resource Center; Meals on Wheels Greater Lehigh Valley; Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity; Miller-Keystone Blood Center; Minsi Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America; Monocacy Farms; Moravian Historical Society; Morris Museum; Muhlenberg College; Nazareth Area Food Bank; Nazareth Center for the Arts; Nazareth Downtown Association dba Nazareth Economic Development Commission; New Bethany; Northampton Community College Foundation; Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; Pennsylvania Youth Theatre; Philadelphia Folk Song Society; Philadelphia Outward Bound School; Project of Easton Inc.; Reading Musical Foundation; River Crossing YMCA; Rock to the Future; Special Olympics Pennsylvania; State Theatre Center for the Arts; Third Street Alliance for Women & Children; Touchstone Theatre; United Way of Greater Lehigh Valley; Valley Youth House; VIA of the Lehigh Valley; VNA of St. Luke’s Home Health/Hospice Inc.; Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley; WDIY 88.1; Wildlands Conservancy; WXPN.
National grant recipients
The foundation also awarded grants to national organizations with strong arts and acoustic guitar education programs, including: Abriendo Mentes (Texas); The Ashokan Center Inc. (New York); Birthplace of Country Music Inc. (Virginia); Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum (Kentucky); Country Music Foundation Inc. (Tennessee); Education Through Music (New York); Folk Alliance International (Missouri); Friends of American Song Archives Inc. (Oklahoma); Guitars in the Classroom (California); The Hello in There Foundation (Tennessee); Junior Appalachian Musicians Inc. (Virginia); Living in Traditions Inc. (New York); Museum of Making Music (California); Music for Life (Virginia); Musical Instrument Museum (Arizona); NAMM Foundation (California); Old Town School of Folk Music (Illinois); Owensboro Community & Technical College Foundation (Kentucky); Tabernacle Production Inc. (New Jersey); Woodsongs (Kentucky).
The Martin Guitar Foundation will celebrate its 30th anniversary of giving in 2026. Since its founding, the foundation has awarded more than $6.1 million to more than 200 organizations.
Proposals for 2027 grants will be accepted from June 1 through Aug. 31, 2026. More information is available at www.martinguitar.com/martin-foundation.html.
Media contact:
Kim Plyler
ABOUT C. F. MARTIN & CO.®
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