New applicants in this category are required to contact NYSCA staff before applying.

The arts are intrinsically educational and basic to every student’s education. Along with certified art teachers, cultural organizations play a vital role in engaging students in rich artistic experiences. Arts Education funds cultural organizations that work in partnership with schools to focus on the exploration of art and the artistic process. Every proposed project must focus on the development and implementation of sequential, skills-based study that incorporates one or more art forms.

The priority of the K-12 In-School Programs category is to support collaborative projects that directly serve students. Cultural organizations are required to apply with an educational partner such as an individual school, a group of schools, a district, or a BOCES. Arts Education funds a maximum of 50% of the project’s total cash expenses. Request budgets should include details on costs for participating teaching artists’ and/or artists-in-residence fees, and for project evaluation and documentation.

The Council supports a range of projects providing in-depth experiences for students in the process of creating and/or understanding art. Proposed activities should be conceived, planned, and implemented by arts professionals and educators working together to utilize the resources of both the cultural organization and the school. The arts process may or may not culminate in an event or finished product such as an exhibit, performance, or a presentation of a work-in-progress. Projects may be formulated in order to enhance learning in the arts or non-arts disciplines, but the arts must be central to the learning experience. The project may be directed toward development of affective, cognitive or aesthetic objectives. Please refer to the Common Core (www.corestandards.org) and New York State Arts Standards (www.piz.nysed.gov/ciai/arts/arts/and/home.html) for guidance.

Funding in this category may support further development of, and long-term commitment to, ongoing partnerships between an identified school and a cultural partner. These projects may serve at least one class in the school(s) or be school-wide. Projects must involve a minimum of 10 artist contact sessions. Double periods constitute two contact sessions and are highly encouraged where feasible. Project activities must occur during the regular or extended school day, but not as part of a recreational after-school program. Applicants are welcome to apply in this category for related programs occurring in one or more schools.

Arts Education will not fund partnerships that replace, or appear to replace, the role of certified arts teachers in schools.

Please Note: This category supports the planning and/or implementation of school-based programs.

Arts Education Priorities

Emphasis should be placed on the quality and authenticity of the creative process through which students learn in and about the arts. The project should reflect a collaborative relationship between the arts organization and the school and between the participating artists and school-based teachers. All participants named in the proposal should be committed to contributing to the attainment of the established goals and objectives of both the school and the cultural partner.

NYSCA expects that arts organizations and partner schools will incorporate sufficient planning prior to and within the time frame of the project. Applications must include written documentation of the planning process that addresses the clearly articulated goals and learning objectives of each project partner.

All participating artists must be guaranteed a fee, which applicants are required to indicate in the project budget. In addition, grant funds may be used for art materials, documentation of the project, transportation of art materials or instruments necessary for the project, and a percentage of the applicant organization’s administrative staff time.

Short-term activities such as attendance at single performances or one-time visits to cultural institutions with pre- and post-visit activities are eligible for support as part of an overall project request. These types of activities need to be embedded in a suitable context that ensures a tangible impact on the students’ learning experience. Such components will be evaluated on how well they foster the development of a strong foundation for the overall project. Short-term exposure activities will not be funded as the sole element of the project.

Note: Extracurricular activities that take place after the school day, in the summer, or during non-school hours should refer to the guidelines for the Arts Education Community-Based Learning category.

Application Instructions

The online application form includes the questions below. Applicants are also required to submit: online Organizational Budget for the current fiscal year, Project Budget (please use the Budget Notes section to detail income and expense items), Cultural Data Project Report, and support materials.

Please note that the request amount should not exceed 50% of the total Project Budget. It is recommended that applicants in this category focus their project budgets on support of teaching artists’ fees and a reasonable percentage of administrative costs (no more than 15%), which may include project director and consultant fees and cost of materials.

New applicants are required to contact NYSCA staff before the deadline.

Applications in this category go directly to panel and are not subject to staff review.

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Project Description
Describe the proposed project. Please include the following:

• School(s) served, with a brief description of the school community and context for the project. Include the number of schools to be served.
• Grade(s) served. Include the number of students in each grade as well as the total number of students to be served.
• Arts discipline(s) to be taught.
• Goals of the project.
• How this project relates to the applicant organization’s mission.
• If this project has been supported previously in this category, please indicate how it has evolved and developed.

2. Planning Process and Work Plan
Describe the process by which the project plan was developed. Who participated from the school and who participated from the arts organization? How often did the planners meet? Add additional pertinent details if needed/necessary.

Provide a work plan that clearly outlines the content of this project and how this project will be managed and by whom. Outline the following information:

• Describe the activities the students will engage in, including attendance at professional performances or exhibitions.
• List the point persons for this project and their responsibilities.
• Indicate how artists and teachers are involved in the project and please be sure to include a brief bio for each participant with the support materials. List representative artists and teachers involved in the project.
• Include the number of artist contact sessions and key activities of the proposed sessions.

3. Evaluation and Assessment
Describe plans for evaluating the project, including how the progress toward stated goals will be measured. Describe how the impact of this project will be assessed as it relates to artistic accomplishments and educational gains of the participants. State if an evaluation report will be generated and how it will be utilized.

4. Arts Instruction
Describe how this project will enhance or complement sequential arts instruction and other arts programs (including those provided by other cultural partners) at the school(s). List other cultural partners that are currently providing arts programming in the school(s) and what projects they are involved in at the school.

5. Documentation of Previous planning and piloting (Optional)
If submitting documentation of previous planning and piloting, please describe what events are being submitted for panel review, who is involved, and how this relates to the current request.

Managerial/Fiscal

6. Partnership
If applicable, describe the applicant organization's past relationship with the school(s). How will the evaluation of this partnership’s previous and current planning efforts bring changes and improvements to the implementation of this project?

7. Finances
Describe plans for meeting the expenses of this project. Identify the sources of the funding and the dollar amount of the school match. Please utilize the Budget Notes section of the Project Budget to explain the following information pertaining to the project’s income and expenses:

• Contributed Income - detail sources, and whether funds are confirmed or pending.
• Artistic Personnel – specify daily or hourly rates and prorated salary of relevant staff.
• Administrative Personnel – indicate prorated salary or fees for this project (This should not include school personnel).
• Remaining Operating Expenses – itemize the principal expenses.

Service to the Public/Outreach

8. Community Involvement
Describe how support for this project will be built among parents and community members. How will they be involved in the process?

9. Challenges
What challenges are anticipated in launching and maintaining the proposed project? Describe how this project will help the school address issues or challenges it is currently facing.

Support Materials

10. Support Materials
Please list all of the support materials being submitted. These materials are critical to the application’s assessment.

Support Materials

1. A written letter of commitment from the school partner(s) to the arts organization that demonstrates the schools’ support of the project (monetarily and otherwise) and outlines anticipated roles and responsibilities for each partner involved. The principal should sign this letter of agreement and it should appear on school(s) letterhead.
2. Video documentation of past workshops and samples of student work. Please select and label a three-minute work sample documenting the teaching or resident artist/s interacting with students, as well as samples of student work. Note what phase of the project the sample represents (e.g., “fifth week of ten week session,” “culminating event,” etc.)
3. A sample unit or lesson plan.
4. Brief bios of the participating artists and teachers on a single page.
5. We encourage submission of audio or visual materials which provide evidence of the artistic quality of the work of participating artists. Panel will spend up to three (3) minutes viewing these materials.

Electronic Materials Guidelines for Submission of Support Materials

Instructions for FY13 Support Materials
The Council is now requiring electronic submission of all Support Materials, including forms, documents and work samples.

There are Exemptions to this requirement. Please see Exemptions to Electronic Support Materials below.

Remember to review Program Specific Requirements for all Support Materials indicated in each Program’s guidelines.

Support Materials can only be submitted electronically while the Council’s online Registration and Application period is open.

Requirements for Electronic Submission of Support Materials
Electronic Support Materials must be submitted online to http://nysca.slideroom.com. Remember to review Program Specific Requirements indicated in each Program’s guidelines prior to uploading. All Support Materials including forms and documents for all Program categories including General Support, Project Support, Regrants and Partnerships, can be uploaded as images, video, audio and/or PDF.

If the Support Material is in the form of a URL(s), please create a separate text document titled URL Support Materials, a description of the work sample/content and the URL (link) embedded in the text document. Include this document when uploading all your Support Materials online to http://nysca.slideroom.com.

For Time-Based Media (video and audio) the following is a general guideline to help applicants prepare content for electronic submission:

Images: 5MB maximum (jpg, png, tif file formats)
Videos: 60MB maximum (mov, mp4, wmv, flv file formats)
Audio: 30MB maximum (mp3 file format)
PDF: 10MB maximum (pdf file format)

60MB per Video clips is approximately 6 minutes
30MB per Audio clip is approximately 10 minutes
10MB per PDF is adequate for up to 10 pages of graphical content. Most text only documents are less than ½ MB.

IMPORTANT: When uploading all time-based materials (audio and video), the maximum length allowed is no more than six minutes per sound and/or video clip.

The maximum number of electronic items allowed (uploads) is no more than twenty-five (25) per proposal. For example: One PDF equals one item, one JPG equals one item and one media clip equals one item.

INSTRUCTIONS for uploading and Technical Assistance during the electronic materials submission process are available by emailing your question to support@slideroom.com Monday through Saturday, between 9am and 9pm, Central Standard Time.

Ensuring the Playback Quality of Your Hard Copy Support Materials

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the availability, quality, compatibility, and playback stability of all Support Materials which are exempt from the electronic materials submission requirement

Applicants are encouraged to test and verify that their Support Materials are playable prior to submission.

All Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following hardware:

• Windows XP PC
• 1.6 GHz processor
• 256 mb RAM

In addition, all Hard Copy Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following software:

• For Time-based Work (Film, Moving Images, Music and Soundwork): VideoLAN VLC Media Player (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Still Images: Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 OR XnView multimedia viewer (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Electronic Print Materials: Microsoft Word 2003 OR Adobe Acrobat Reader (most current version)