FORD SUPPORTING DIVERSE ART SPACES AND LINC SPACE FOR CHANGE

US/LINKS GUIDELINES: Creative Exchange Residencies

Application Deadline: June 2, 2013

Project Period: July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014

OVERVIEW

US/LINKS, a project of the National Performance Network (NPN) initiated by Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC),is funded by the Ford Foundation to increase knowledge and opportunities for the free flow of artists and ideas within the Supporting Diverse Arts Spaces (SDAS) cohort – including organizations that received support through LINC’s Space for Change program - and professional, U.S.-based visual or performing artists supported/commissioned by these organizations. TheUS/Links project will fund two opportunities: 1) Crossings Travel Grants and 2) Creative Exchange Residencies.

Please note: All applications must be submitted by an organization in Ford’s Supporting Diverse Art Spaces cohort (including Space for Change grantees), whether the application is on behalf of an organization or on behalf of an individual artist whose work it has supported or commissioned.

US/LINKS GOALS AND STRUCTURE

From July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014, NPN will fund a total of 10 to 14 Crossings Travel Grants and Creative Exchange Residencies.

Creative Exchange Residency grants:

This grant is for SDAS staff members and for individual visual and performing artists who have been presented or commissioned by these organizations to conduct a three-to-five week residency in any of the cohort organizations. The Creative Exchange supports a residency for one or two people and is flexible by design, allowing participating organizations, companies and individual artists to exercise their creativity in structuring projects.

Residencies can support, for example, intensive technique workshops and master classes, technical theater seminars, or arts management exchange. Residencies can also support the setting of a work by the residency artist at the host company or a group of local artists, and/or a project with a specific community in the host’s city, or a mentorship. Projects may also involve collaborations with other arts and community-based organizations that have parallel institutional purposes.

Grant components at a glance

  • 3 – 5 week creative, technical, or community engagement residencies for a maximum of two people
  • Maximum Award for one person is $4,500; Maximum Award for two persons is $9,000
  • Sample Exchanges:
  • SDAS residency SDAS
  • SDAS residency Artist or Performing Arts Company outside of the SDAS cohort
  • SDAS  residency Non-arts specific organization outside of the SDAS cohort
  • SDAS supported Artist or Performing Arts Company  residency Arts or non-arts organization outside of the SDAS cohort

APPLICATION PROCESS

Timeline

April 8, 2013 / Guidelines and applications available for download via NPN website
April 15 and May 10 / Informational call for interested participants
June 2, 2013, 12midnight EDT / Application deadline - materials must be received via post or email
Mid-June 2013 / Peer panel meets to make decision
June 24, 2013 / Awards announced via email
July 1, 2013 / Earliest date for projects to begin
July 15, 2013 / Earliest date for dispersal of Payment 1
June 30, 2014 / Latest date for projects to end
30 days after project ends / Final reports due, Payment 2 will be paid upon receipt of final report

Deadline

Applications and Support Materials must be submitted via Email or U.S. Mail and must be received by June 2, 2013, 12 midnight EDT.

Post:
RenataPetroni
235 East 26th Street - #4A
New York, NY 10010 / Email:

Eligibility

Support will benefit:

  • SDAS organization staff
  • Professional visual and performing artists who are U.S.-based and have been supported or commissioned by the applying organization in the last five years. Applications for individual artists must come from an organization in the SDAS cohort.
  • Creative Exchange residencies must occur between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. The time period must be clearly articulated in the application.
  • All applicants must be U.S. citizens or Resident Aliens.
  • All applicants must have a 501(c)3 determination letter.
  • A maximum of two people.

Funds will not support:

  • Applicants that cannot provide a three-year history of hosting residencies; or a three-year history of community engagement
  • Student artists and organizations’ interns
  • Artists traveling abroad to perform, exhibit, or tour
  • Non-U.S. based projects or organizations who cannot evidence 501(c)3 status
  • Applications for more than 2 participants
  • Applications submitted by individual artists or host organizations outside the SDAS cohort
  • Incomplete applications

FUNDING CRITERIA

Successful Creative Exchange Residencies proposals will demonstrate:

  • Logistical, administrative, financial and organizational capacity of the host organization (as based on past history of hosting extended residencies, press and marketing materials provided, etc.)
  • Appropriateness of the budget, timeframe and capacity to implement the proposed activity
  • Evidence that the skills and interests of the invited individual correspond with the intention of the project
  • Evidence of commitment and ability to use grant effectively to develop the proposed activity
  • Explanation and support of the quality and impact the project will have on the target community or organization
  • A clear articulation of project means and goals
  • The cultural, ethnic, geographic, and discipline diversity of the organization submitting the proposal

AWARD AMOUNTS

Creative Exchange grants are based on actual NPN weekly artistic fees, administrative allowance, and round-trip airfares. Grants will only support up to two people. Amaximum of $4,500 will be provided for a one person Creative Exchange; a maximum of $9,000 for two people.

Eligible Costs:

  • $700/person/week Artist Fee (maximum two people)
  • $500 Administrative fees (telephone, postage, manager fee, office costs)
  • Actual cost of round-trip airfare up to $1,000
  • Host organizations will pay for local costs such as per diems, housing, local transportation, and all costs connected to the residency (space rental, marketing, equipment, etc).

DISTRIBUTION OF AWARDS

NPN announces awards by email. Awardees will receive Letters of Agreement (LOAs) via email and are expected to complete, sign, and return them byemail to RenataPetroni, NPN Director of International Program. NPN will disburse 75% of the grant within 30 days of the receipt of signed LOAs, but not sooner than 120 days prior to residency start dates. The final 25% will be disbursed upon receipt of final report.

If a grant is approved, any change in plans must be requested in advance and approved in writing by RenataPetroni.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

A narrative and expense report outlining activities supported by the US/LINKS grant must be completed and sent to NPN within 30 days of completing approved activities. Forms can be downloaded from . Final payment will be issued by NPN upon receipt of the final report.

APPLICATION CHECK LIST

If you mail the application and required materials, please use plain white 8.5"x 11" paper, clip pages together – do not staple. Materials should be assembled in the order listed below.

  1. Complete and sign Official Application form - Download from NPN's website, section on Supporting Diverse Arts Spacesat npnweb.org.
  2. Include a letter of invitation from Host Organization
  3. Include the 501(c)3 Determination Letter of Applicant Organization
  4. Include recent work samples: Visual Artists should include a selection of no more than 10photos in jpeg format; Performing Artistsshould include a DVD with two excerpts of no more than five minutes of the most recent works. If a DVD of a full length work is included, please cue at the section the panelists should view.