Deadline May 23, 2013

The Challenge America Fast-Track program supports small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations. Grants are available for professional arts programming and for projects that emphasize the potential of the arts in community development.

For more information, please visit www.arts.gov

Seed grants of up to $1,000 will be awarded to social entrepreneurs for projects in the early stages of development, including those that promote compassion toward all life (people, planet, animals), environmental sustainability, justice in all its forms, community health and wellness, and social change-oriented arts and culture. Only applications for seed funding, as opposed to ongoing operational or program costs of a nonprofit organization, will be accepted.

To be eligible, applicants must be passionate, committed individuals with a social change vision that fits within one or more of the above-mentioned categories. Established nonprofit organizations with paid staff will not be considered.

See the Pollination Project Web site for eligibility and application guidelines.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Nonprofit organizations domiciled in Calcasieu Parish are eligible to apply for special projects and events occurring within the parish, and funds are dedicated for only marketing and promotional expenses. The grant is designed to increase an event’s visibility and attendance through marketing efforts and to bolster tourism to the area. Past recipients include the Cal-Cam Fair, DeQuincy Town Hall Museum, Children’s Theatre Company, Black Heritage Festival, Henning Cultural Center, and Iowa Rabbit Festival, among others.

Applicants may submit one application and may request up to $2,000 for a specific project. All projects must take place between June 15^th, 2013 and July 14^th, 2014. The Tourism Marketing Initiative grant is a competitive grant program and not all applicants are guaranteed to be funded. Applicants compete only with other nonprofit arts organizations in Calcasieu Parish, so decisions about funding are made locally.

Applications and guidelines can be downloaded at www.artsandhumanitiesswla.org. Grant assistance is provided by the Arts Council and can be requested before the grant deadline by calling (337) 439-2787 or emailing Arts Council grant administrator Amie Herbert at cdc@artsandhumanitiesswla.org.

Ruth Halvorsen Professional Development Grants: Annual scholarships of up to $2,500 will be awarded to qualified art educators whose proposals focus on understanding, implementation of, and issues related to the National Visual Arts Standards and/or which support the improvement of the teaching of art.

Mary McMullan Grants: Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded for projects that promote arts education as an integral part of the curriculum and establish and/or improve the instruction of art in public and private elementary and secondary schools as well as institutions of higher education in the United States.

NAEF Research Grants: Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to support research in arts education that advances knowledge in the field as well as the goals outlined in Creating a Visual Arts Research Agenda Toward the 21st Century (see NAEA Web site).

SHIP Grants: Grants of up to $500 will be awarded to arts educators seeking equipment and/or instructional resources needed to advance student learning related to the National Visual Arts Standards.

Teacher Incentive Grants: Scholarships of up to $2,500 will be awarded to individual art educators to attend training and education programs that promote the improvement of the teaching of art, including instructional process, curriculum, student learning, student assessment, classroom management, or other practices relating to instructional interaction and the achievement of student learning.

Grants are made only to NAEA members (including student and retired members), state/province associations, and recognized NAEA affiliates. Qualified applicants must have been active NAEA members for at least a year prior to the date of application.

See the National Art Education Foundation Web site for eligibility and application guidelines.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

EmcArts, in partnership with the American Alliance of Museums’ Center for the Future of Museums and the MetLife Foundation, is accepting applications for its Innovation Lab for Museums program, which helps museums design, research, and prototype innovative approaches to field-wide challenges in a laboratory-like setting.

Up to three museums will be selected to participate in the year-long program, during which EmcArts facilitators will work with teams of senior managers, board representatives, museum staff, artists and scientists, educators, and/or external stakeholders from within and beyond the cultural sector. The lab provides individual coaching, group facilitation, an intensive retreat and a variety of extended support systems tailored to the needs of each organization.

Priority will be given to projects that focus on areas of youth education which explore how museums can play a key role in the rapidly changing educational landscape, serve a more inclusive representation of American society, and provide participatory and social experiences that meet audience needs and interests.

Applicants must be nonprofit museums recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; have no fewer than the equivalent of ten full-time staff members (generally amounting to a minimum operating budget of around $1 million); and be able to demonstrate stable programmatic and executive leadership over the last twelve months and continuity in board leadership (subject to term limits). In addition, museums may not be engaged in a major competing institutional initiatives (e.g., a building move, capital campaign).

See the EmcArts Web site for eligibility and application guidelines.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Call for Applications

Grant amount: $5,000

The program seeks work that appeals to an informed general audience; demonstrates evidence of high standards in editing, design, and production; promises a reasonable shelf life; might not otherwise achieve top quality or even come into being; and “represents a contribution without which we would be the poorer.”

Individual grants range from $500 to approximately $15,000 and may be used to support writing, research, editing, design, indexing, photography, illustration, and/or printing and binding.

Applicants must be 501(c)(3) organizations. Trade publishers and public agencies may apply for grants in partnership with an eligible nonprofit sponsor.

See the Furthermore Web site for complete application guidelines and program information.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

The Open Society Foundations‘ Audience Engagement Grant program is designed to support photographers in taking an existing body of work on a social justice or human rights issue and devising an innovative and effective way of using that work as a tool for social change. The program seeks proposals for projects that will serve as interventions on pressing problems and provide concrete ways for photographers, organizations, and their target audiences to create a positive impact.

To be eligible, partnerships should include a photographer or curator/project organizer whose expertise is in the production or presentation of documentary photography, and an audience engagement partner(s) with expertise in a specific issue and existing connections to the target audience. Partnerships may also include a distribution partner with expertise in the dissemination or presentation method.

Projects should include an existing body of photographs that document a human rights or social justice issue (preference will be given to projects that address issues and geographical areas of concern to OSF); effective and innovative ideas for using photography to spark deeper engagement with a particular community on a social justice or human rights issue; well-designed dissemination strategies that are uniquely tailored to meet the needs and interests of a target audience; a detailed plan for engaging targeted audiences in concrete ways; and a clearly articulated theory of change that explains how the project will result in concrete solutions.

The program will provide between five to eight grants ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. Grant funds cannot be used to shoot new imagery.

Optional Letters of Intent may be submitted until April 3, 2013. Full applications are due June 18, 2013.

Visit the OSF Web site for complete program guidelines and application procedures.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

The foundation awards grants of up to $1,500 to Native artists to collaborate with artists from other tribes/nations outside their own region to share and learn skills; conduct research; and/or develop projects. Acceptable expenses include lodging, meals, ground and air travel, and other direct costs of the exchange.

To be considered, applicants must be Native American, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian and reside in the United States. Applications must be received by NEFA no later than two calendar months prior to the beginning date of the proposed exchange.

Eligibility and application guidelines are available at the NEFA Web site.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Click here to see the available grants.

If, as a craft artist, you have suffered loss, please contact us when able. If, as an arts organization representative, you know of craft artists in the disaster area, or plan to correspond with your artist constituents in the near future, please pass this information on. If there are organizations that directly work with artists in your community that you think we should know about, please send us their contact information.

CERF+’s programs include:

• Grants up to $2,500;
• No-interest loans up to $8,000;
• Booth fee waivers at craft shows;
• Discounts on materials and equipment from suppliers and manufacturers;
• Assistance with business development through referrals to consultants and other low or no-cost resources

For eligibility requirements and more detailed information, please click  here  or contact us at:

CERF+
PO Box 838
Montpelier, VT 05601
ph:  (802) 229-2306
fx:  (802) 223-6484
relief@craftemergency.org
www.craftemergency.org
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craft-Emergency-Relief-Fund/15436010657

We also want to remind you that CERF+’s  Studio Protector  website not only has  disaster planning  resources, but also  information and resources to help artists  and those helping them in the post-disaster cleanup effort. Here are links to the Cleanup and Salvage sections of the website.

http://www.studioprotector.org/OnlineGuide/Cleanup.aspx

http://www.studioprotector.org/OnlineGuide/Salvage/SalvageBasics.aspx

The  Studio Protector  also  has information on getting help from other relief providers and the arts  sector.  The online information is at:  http://www.studioprotector.org/OnlineGuide/DisasterRelief.aspx.

Grants are available for any arts-related endeavors, but are particularly aimed at schools and educational institutes that are active in the performing arts, including music, drama, and dance, as well as related areas such as acting, directing, writing, and producing.

Most grants will fall in the range of $500 to $5,000 but other amounts are available and there is no preset maximum amount. More information and a grant application form are available at www.neworleanstheatreassociation.com.