Registration deadline: February 22, 2011
Application deadline: April 1, 2011

The Presentation category supports activities that present folk arts and artists to the public, including concerts, festivals, lecture/demonstrations, residencies, and programs presenting oral narratives. Applicants may submit no more than one application in this category. Applications may involve one type of activity or a series of thematically related activities that may involve different modes of presentation.

Folk arts events and series are supported. 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.

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.

Presentations should involve personnel and consultants with appropriate cultural expertise and technical skills. These may include, but are not limited to: folklorists, ethnomusicologists, graphic designers, 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 Presentation category will not exceed fifty per cent of project expenses.

Application Instructions

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Overview
Describe this event(s) or series. Indicate the theme or focus of this project, the kinds of traditions to be presented and where and when it will take place. 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.

2. Project Format
What are the format(s), (such as concert, lecture/demonstration, residency or festival) 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 your 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?

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.

Managerial/Fiscal

6. Project Personnel
List the project personnel responsible for selecting and interpreting the artists to be presented along with the personnel administering this project, summarizing their backgrounds and credentials.

7. 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.

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

Service to the Public

9. 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.

10. 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?

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

Support Materials

12. Support Materials
Please list all of the support materials and/or work samples you are submitting. These materials are critical to your application's assessment.

Support Material

Support material must be postmarked, hand-delivered or made available online by the deadline. Please direct them to your appropriate contact at: NYSCA, 175 Varick Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10014 or rbaron@nysca.org or rputnam@nysca.org.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Refer to the Instructions for Work Samples and Support Materials prior to submission.

NYSCA encourages the submission of Web-based Work Samples and Support Material whenever possible.

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), provided on a Windows compatible CD, DVD, or reference to a website. Complete an eScript for Work Samples to accompany your audio or visual examples. Audio or video documentation samples should be cued to the excerpts you would like the panel to see or hear. The total length of the samples may not exceed 5 minutes. See the NYSCA Digital Media/Work Samples Technical Instructions for tips on providing support materials on CDs or DVDs.

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 on a Windows compatible CD or DVD, audio cassette tape, or through reference to a website. 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 be cued to the excerpts you would like the panel to see or hear. The total length of the samples may not exceed 5 minutes. See the NYSCA Digital Media/Work Samples Technical Instructions for tips on providing support materials on CDs or DVDs.