The Project Support category supports activities that present folk arts and artists to the public, including concerts, exhibitions, festivals, lecture/demonstrations, residencies, and programs presenting oral narratives. Applications may involve one type of activity or a series of thematically related activities that may involve different modes of presentation.

Applications should demonstrate a clearly articulated thematic focus for the event or series requested. If a folk arts activity is a component of a larger, non-folk arts program, the folk arts activity must be a distinct part of the program. The folk arts activity must have its own interpretive materials, and promotion for the program should substantially publicize the folk arts event and the artists involved in this activity.

Applicants are encouraged to present artists in ways appropriate to both the community where this project takes place and the art form to be presented. For example, performing folk artists may not appear to best advantage on a concert stage. Smaller, more intimate presentation formats (which may include such participatory activities as dancing) are often more suitable than the large public festival or formal concert. Applicants are encouraged to use live traditional folk musicians to accompany dance performance.

Exhibitions are supported which present the work of living folk artists, explore issues in the folk arts or interpret the traditional culture of a specific community through its folk arts. The proposed exhibition should focus on traditions currently practiced or within living memory, and may incorporate relevant historical works of folk art. Requests may include expenses for an exhibition catalogue. The proposed exhibition may include objects of folk art, photographic representations of folk culture, and/or multimedia kiosks or other installations in the exhibition utilizing new technologies.

Artists must receive appropriate fees for their presentations, and when travel is involved, adequate per diem expenses. Fees and expenses for each artist or group should be indicated in the budget notes section of the project budget.

Personnel and consultants with appropriate cultural expertise and technical skills should be involved in the proposed project. These may include, but are not limited to: folklorists, ethnomusicologists, exhibition designers, graphic designers, guest curators, publicists and specialists in lighting, sound reinforcement, stage management, promotion and marketing.

Requests in this category may include expenses to identify and professionally document, through field research, the traditions of folk artists as a basis for the selection of artists to be included in a presentation.

Applicants are encouraged to disseminate information about activities within the communities practicing the traditions through ethnic and local media, ethnic organizations, restaurants, houses of worship, and other community sites.

Multi-year support may be provided for ongoing presentation activities which have been supported for at least three consecutive years, and for two-year projects that consist of a planning and documentation phase during the first year.

Funding awarded for projects submitted through the Project Support category will not exceed fifty percent of project expenses.

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), the Events Schedule, Cultural Data Project Report and support materials.

Please note that the request amount should not exceed 50% of the total Project Budget.

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

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Overview
Describe the event(s), series or exhibition. Indicate the theme or focus of this project, the kinds of traditions to be presented and where and when it will take place. For an exhibition, give the time frame for planning, installation, opening and closing dates. Give examples of representative artists to be presented. If your presentation is a component of a larger, non-folk arts program, describe how the theme and content of the folk arts component will be distinguished from, and relate to, the larger program. If this is a multi-year project involving planning and field research in the first year, describe the plan of work and the planning document that will result.

For exhibition requests, indicate whether the exhibition entirely involves living traditions, or if it also includes historical materials. If it includes historical materials, indicate the rationale for including these materials and the extent to which historical materials will be used. If the exhibition will incorporate new technologies, describe how these technologies will be used within the installation.

2. Project Format
For a concert, lecture/demonstration, presentation of oral narrative, residency or festival, what are the formats for the types of presentations to occur? How will the artists be presented, and what will be the sequence of activities for each type of presentation?

3. Project Development
Describe how the organization arrives at programming decisions for its folk arts presentations and the development of this particular project. Does this event or series build on previous activity, or does it represent a new programming direction?

For exhibitions, summarize research, noting relevant previous scholarship and exhibitions on this topic.

4. Field Research and Documentation
Describe audio or visual documentation to be undertaken of presentations to occur through this project. If this project involves field research to identify artists, describe the traditions and artists to be documented and the credentials of the consultant carrying out this field research. Please also describe any relevant field research undertaken prior to the development of this project. Indicate the archive receiving field research produced through this project.

5. Interpretation
Describe the interpretive components of this project, including printed materials, signage, verbal introductions to presentations, pre- or post- concert events, and lecture/demonstrations. If your presentation is a component of a larger, non-folk arts program, indicate the specific interpretive materials to be provided for the folk arts component. For exhibitions, describe public programs accompanying this exhibition, including lecture series, school programs and other presentations by folk artists. Provide brief background information about the artists, scholars or other speakers participating, indicating their professional affiliations and areas of specialization.

6. Touring
If this project will travel to other venues in New York State, indicate the schedule and itinerary and describe plans for revising the content for other sites. If this application is for presentation of an exhibition produced by another organization, describe your plans to relate the exhibition to your own audience and collection (if any).

Managerial/Fiscal

7. Project Personnel
List the project personnel responsible for selecting and interpreting the artists to be presented or exhibited along with the personnel administering this project, summarizing their backgrounds and credentials. For exhibitions, also provide this information for the exhibition designer.

8. Finances
Describe plans for meeting expenses for this project. Include fundraising activities and other initiatives to generate funding to be directly applied to this project. Please utilize the Budget Notes section of the Project Budget to indicate sources of contributed income and to itemize principal expense items, including personnel, marketing and remaining operating expenses.

9. Facilities
Provide a description of the facility or facilities for this project.

Service to the Public

10. Collaboration and Community Involvement
Describe how communities represented through this project will participate in its planning and implementation. What other organizations in the community present programs similar to or different from those proposed in this project? Describe any plans to work in partnership with these or other organizations in the implementation of this project.

11. Education and Interpretation
Describe how the content and theme of this project will be interpreted, including lecture/demonstrations, lectures, program booklets and exhibition catalogue. If an exhibition catalogue is planned, describe the contents and identify the author(s) and their relevant credentials.

12. Marketing
How will this activity be promoted and marketed as a folk arts program, both within the community whose traditions will be represented and to general audiences?

13. Participation
Describe any participatory dimensions of this program (hands-on workshops, dance involving audience members, etc.).

Support Materials

14. Support Materials
Please list all of the support materials and/or work samples being submitted. These materials are critical to the application's assessment.

Support Materials

1. Brief biographical information of representative artists to be included in the project.

2. Audio or visual examples of representative artists to be included in the presentation(s). Complete an Script for Work Samples to accompany audio or visual examples. Audio or video documentation samples should only present the excerpts the panel should see or hear.

3. If your organization has been supported in this category in the past, provide printed materials produced for the most recent project.

4. Résumés of consultants involved in artist selection, documentation and/or interpretation.

5. If this project involves field research, provide samples of audio, still photography and/or video documentation previously undertaken by relevant project personnel. Examples of musicians or storytellers must be in an audio or video format, and dance examples must be provided through video. Complete a visual support materials script to accompany your audio or visual examples. Sample release forms must also be provided. Audio or video documentation samples should only present the excerpts the panel should see or hear.

6. A listing of events that occurred during the past year and are planned for the coming year, including artists, venues and actual or projected attendance.

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)