Support is available for ongoing programming and related activities involving performing, visual and/or literary arts. These activities must be professionally directed and take place in, or tour, communities of color or communities of a specific ethnic character.

Examples of projects eligible for support in this category include but are not limited to:

• *Community-based, professionally directed performances by a dance, music or theatre company. Support is also available for performing companies of color or other ethnic companies to tour communities of color and/or other ethnic communities throughout the state. Such activities must serve audiences of color or other ethnic audiences and be performed in community-based venues serving the relevant ethnic groups.
• An annual program involving more than one art form, such as exhibitions, presentations of music, dance or theatre, and/or literary readings.
• A series of visual arts exhibitions, or a series of film and electronic media screenings.
• A season of programs in a single art form (performing, visual, literary or media) consisting of various types of activities such as workshops, children’s programs and performances.
• Touring of an exhibition(s) or a performing arts company.
• Services providing access to arts programming within communities of color or communities of a specific ethnic character.

Priority is given to organizations that pay fees to artists and curators and those that provide ongoing programming that is not available elsewhere in the specific community. Generally, this category does not support single, one-time activities such as a single exhibition or festival. Funding may cover fees for artists, guest curators, designers, film/video rental costs, preparation and production costs, publicity, catalogues or program notes, publication expenses, outreach workshops related to these programs involving artists, and reasonable administrative expenses. Organizations may not require or request artists to pay a fee of any kind to participate in activities.

NOTE: Organizations that receive funding through other Council program areas must contact with Special Arts Services staff before the deadline to describe how the proposed programs differ from activities supported by other Council discipline areas.

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 may not exceed 50% of the total Project Budget.

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

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Theme and Focus
Briefly describe the program of activities requested, indicating the theme and focus of exhibitions or other special events. Indicate how they relate to your organization’s mission and/or history of programs for community audiences.

For performing arts programs, indicate special features such as guest artists or new works. Include title(s), number of productions, and number of performances of each, and note whether the program marks a new direction.

For exhibitions, provide a brief summary of the program content and design and list the artists, objects/art work being presented. For a service activity, indicate its relationship to other programs in your organization. If this organization is a first-time applicant to Special Arts Services, provide a brief history of programs and achievements that relate to this request.

2. Changes/Developments
If not a first-time request, describe any significant changes or developments since the last Council review. Highlight any recent achievements or programmatic challenges.

3. Artistic Staff
Please identify the key artistic staff (director(s), curator(s), etc) responsible for implementing this project. Describe their credentials and relationship to the community served.

4. Artist's Role
If applying for exhibitions featuring the work of living artists, describe how the artists are involved in or contributing to the program content and design? What is the financial arrangement with the artists?

5. Facilities
Describe the community-based facilities in which the activities will take place. For performing arts programs, detail their suitability in terms of production values, including lights, sound, floor, and other performance requirements. Note challenges, if any, and plans to address them.

6. Touring
If this is a touring request, list venues and dates. Describe the fiscal and programmatic responsibilities of any host organization.

7. Time Frame
For exhibitions, what is the time frame for the exhibition(s) and what are gallery hours when it is open to the public?

Managerial/Fiscal

8. Staff
List principal administrative staff, indicating their qualifications and duties. Indicate any recent relevant changes or developments in the organization’s management, and any changes expected for the proposed grant period.

9. Governance
Describe the board’s committee structure, diversity, meeting schedule, and approach to staff and fiscal oversight. How does the organization ensure that the board is reflective of the community?

10. Finances
Detail the plan for meeting the expenses of the program, highlighting new sources of income and new fundraising projects or initiatives. Itemize in the budget notes major expense items and indicate revenue that is confirmed and/or secured.

Service to the Public

11. Mission and Audience
Please detail the significance of the proposed program or service in relation to the organization's mission and the audience served. Who is the primary audience? Describe your efforts to be responsive to community needs and demographics and list the results. Indicate the ethnic composition of the audience to be served. For services requests, indicate who is using this service, the level of activity and whether the service is new or ongoing.

12. Marketing and Promotion
Briefly describe marketing, outreach and audience development strategies, including use of the Internet and social media, ticket pricing, etc., and describe a recent success.

13. Community Context
Identify other organizations which provide similar or complementary arts services to the community. How does the organization work in partnership with them?

Support Materials

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

Support Materials

1. Representative examples of promotional materials for past activities.

2. Brief biographical information of key personnel, including artistic staff. For exhibitions, please provide biographical information for exhibiting artists and curators.

3. Audio or visual examples of work by representative artists to be included in your program. For exhibitions, include ten images of the work to be exhibited and two to three images of the exhibition space.

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)