Dream big South Florida – it’s almost time to send in your best ideas for the South Florida arts!

On Tuesday, Feb 21. the application period for the next round of the Knight Arts Challenge Miami will officially open. The challenge, now in its fifth year, is a community-wide contest to find the best ideas for the arts. It was created as a way to bring the South Florida community together through cultural opportunities.

We want you to inspire the community’s growing local arts scene. To submit a proposal, there are just three simple rules:

1. The idea must be about the arts.
2. The project must take place in or benefit South Florida.
3. You must find other funding to match the Knight Foundation grant.

Applications will be accepted until March 19, 2012 at KnightArts.org.

A live web chat on March 7 and town hall meeting on March 14 are scheduled for interested applicants. If you have questions about the challenge, be sure to follow @KnightArts on Twitter and use the hashtag #AskKnightArts. Last year, 31 ideas – many of them from small cultural groups – were selected as winners of the 2011 Knight Arts Challenge Miami and received $2.9 million in funding.

Looking to see what other kinds of projects we’ve funded in previous years? On KnightArts.org, you can browse previous challenge winners.

Miami is one of the two cities where Knight offers this challenge. Earlier this year, Knight announced the 2012 Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia finalists. Its winners will be announced in April.