To mark its centennial this year, the Rhode Island Foundation is offering $500,000 in grants to fund community-building activities in every city and town.

“We will celebrate each of Rhode Island’s 39 unique cities and towns by funding proposals that bring life to communities throughout the state,” said Jessica David, the foundation’s senior vice president of strategy and community investments.

The maximum grant is $15,000. Nonprofit community groups, municipal governments and public agencies such as libraries and schools are among the entities that are eligible to apply. The deadline is Feb. 12.

Potential uses include improvements to parks and other public spaces; the creative use of art in public spaces; and staging programming that invites people to experience community in public spaces. Proposals should be relevant to the community, have lasting impact and involve partners. Full details are posted on the foundation’s website at rifoundation.org.

“Community is at the heart of what we do. Community lives where people gather and a sense of belonging begins,” said Neil Steinberg, the foundation’s president and CEO. The Centennial Community Gifts program is just one in a series of activities planned during the yearlong celebration of the foundation’s first 100 years.

Founded on June 13, 1916, with a $10,000 gift from industrialist Jesse Metcalf, the foundation’s assets have grown to more than $800 million. Over the past five years, the foundation has awarded more than $144 million in grants.