This category is exempt from the Council’s two-request limit.

PLEASE NOTE: To apply to the Facilities Program, you must select CAPITAL PROJECTS as your Program on the Registration Form in the online system.

Support is available for renovation, expansion, or restoration projects. Applicants requesting support for installation of elevators, wheelchair lifts, boilers, and HVAC systems should apply under this category. Support in this category is not available for equipment or for the construction of entirely new facilities.

As required by legislation, all applications in this category are first reviewed by engineers. Only those requests receiving a score of “4” or higher will be forwarded to panel.

The Council will award up to 50% of the costs of construction materials and labor. The maximum grant is $50,000; the minimum grant is $5,000; awards reflect the applicant’s full eligible request in this category. Organizations may not include other New York State funds in their project budgets. Project budgets may include in-kind goods and services.

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.

Applicants are encouraged to contact NYSCA staff before the deadline.

Application Narrative Questions

Facility Information

1. Site Control Documents
Identify the organization’s ownership or leasehold for the building which is part of this request. For Ownership: date of deed, liber number, description of facility owned. For Lease: Dates of current lease and description of facility leased. If the unexpired period of the lease is less than six years from the application deadline, the project is not eligible. If a renewal option, not requiring landlord approval, is part of the lease, please note. Other: please describe in detail. Please note: NYSCA may request a copy of the documentation for any requests recommended for support.

2. National/State Registry
If the facility which is part of this application is on the National or State Registry, please identify when it was approved and the registry number. If the facility is currently in the nomination stage, please indicate.

Artistic/Programmatic

3. Facility Use
Describe the arts and/or cultural program activities and services that take place in the facility that the organization plans to renovate/expand/restore.

4. Project Planning
Establish the need for the project by detailing how you determined that this project was the best means of addressing the problem.

5. Construction Work
Provide a detailed description of the work to be performed by the contractors. If this request is part of a larger capital project, describe the full construction project and how this request will fit in with and be coordinated and scheduled with the entire construction project.

6. Project Impact
Describe the impact of the completed project on the organization’s artistic operations.

7. Consultant's Qualifications
Briefly describe the architect or engineer's qualifications as they relate to the project for which support is requested. List some similar projects that s/he has recently completed.

Managerial/Fiscal

8. Project Management
Discuss who will manage the construction project, whether someone on the staff or a hired construction manager. Describe his or her relevant experience.

9. Finances
Describe how the organization will raise the funds necessary to complete the project and how the finished project will impact the organization’s financials. If this project is part of a larger construction project, describe the overall plan. Please include the organization’s fundraising goal. Identify any fundraising consultants used for either the planning or implementation stages of the campaign.

10. Long-range Capital Plans
Detail other facility-related projects planned for the next three to five years and how the board is involved with these projects. Discuss how these capital projects are supported by institutional plans.

11. Maintenance
Describe the ability of the organization to operate and maintain the facility after improvements are made, particularly as related to the business plan. Discuss how the overall operating budget will change after the project is complete.

12. Sustainability
Describe how this project will make the facility more environmentally and economically sustainable.

13. Certified Minority and Women-owned Contractors
Identify efforts made to obtain estimates from certified minority- and/or women-owned construction contractors.

Service to the Public

14. Constituency
Detail how this project will affect the audience and communities served by the organization, and why it is important to them.

15. Facility and Program Accessibility
Describe how this capital project furthers or enhances the accessibility of your facilities, programs, and activities for all.

Support Materials

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

Support Material

Site Control Documents
A copy of documents reflecting the organization's ownership (deed) or control of the property (lease) may be required before a project is recommended for support.

1. One set of full construction documents in biddable form (blueprints and specifications or project manuals). These materials should be prepared by licensed architects or engineers. Materials for larger projects should be as complete and detailed as possible. The construction documents are reviewed by panelists who are licensed architects and engineers. Capital Projects rarely supports projects with plans in a "design/build" format. (Hard copy or electronic submission accepted).

2. At least two comparable contractors' written estimates based on the construction documents.

3. Estimate summary form: summary of contractor's estimates.

4. Letter from an architect, engineer, or contractor stating the useful life of the proposed capital project.

5. Up to 20 images or website reference providing a "virtual tour" of the entire facility and programs and up to 5 images of the consultant's work with descriptive text, for a maximum of 25 slides. (PowerPoint is preferred).

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.

Exemptions to Electronic Support Materials
The following Programs include funding categories which are exempt from the electronic materials requirement for submission of support materials. These exemptions are category specific requirements. Applicants are expected to carefully read Program Category Guidelines for specific requirements in each of the following Programs, to determine which materials must be submitted electronically in addition to hard copy materials.
Dance Program
Facilities Program
Individual Artists Program
Literature Program

Hard copy Support Materials should be submitted to the Council in the following formats:

• DVD (Audio, Video, or Data)
• CD (Audio, Video, or Data)
• Print Materials (books, magazines, blueprints)

Support Materials will not be returned. Do not submit your only copy or original cop(ies).

Applicants are expected to carefully review Program Specific Requirements for submission of all Support Materials to all Programs across all Program Categories.

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)