Capacity Building in Maine’s Cultural Communities

Apply for this grant

A major goal of the Maine Arts Commission’s Strategic Plan is to “develop Maine communities through arts and culture.” The power of the arts to build quality of life for Maine communities has been clearly demonstrated and the Maine Arts Commission is dedicated to supporting this effort. To this end, the community arts program focuses on building the capacity of community cultural organizations.

Non-profit community cultural organizations serve the community at large, provide broad access to the arts, interface with the community and address community issues and needs in innovative ways. Community cultural organizations may include presenting, traditional arts, or other types of organizations with innovative and community-based programs (rather than organizations which primarily present artists/productions/exhibits developed outside of the community).

The following guidelines are designed to assist community organization with capacity building projects that are defined as efforts to strengthen local arts and cultural organizations through convenings, cultural planning, workshops, technical assistance and other developmental efforts.

Successful community arts development projects will:

Strengthen local arts agencies and related organizations’ capacity to broaden access to artistic excellence throughout Maine.
Create sustainable community arts organizations working to develop and build Maine communities economically, culturally and socially through arts and culture.
Enhance quality of place in Maine communities.
Build funding support for Maine’s community arts organizations and their work.
Create a structure for building arts into the everyday lives of Maine communities, both as participants and audience.

Deadline

The application deadline is December 12, 2008, for projects starting after July 1, 2009.

E-GRANT will accept applications until 11:59 pm, E.S.T., however; agency staff is only available to answer questions until 5:00 pm, E.S.T. Because of the volume of e-GRANT submissions on the day of any grant deadline, we strongly recommend you give yourself a 24 hour buffer.

Applicants may submit applications for preview by staff at least three weeks prior to the deadline listed above.

The agency is unable to accept late applications under any circumstance.

Examples

General Examples:

Community cultural planning that identifies a community or region’s cultural needs and opportunities and develops a plan of action to respond.
Strategic planning.
Start-up of a local arts agency.
Development of initiatives to train community scholars in gathering, interpreting and presenting information about community culture.
Audience building and marketing efforts.
Board development.
Efforts by local arts organizations to develop exhibits or presentations to celebrate, interpret and validate local artists and local culture.
Professional training for staff.
Salary assistance for professional staff to a local arts agency (must demonstrate how salaries may be sustained beyond the Maine Arts Commission grant period).

Specific Examples:

A community arts organization develops a web page that ties contiguous communities together, informing residents of region-wide arts activities and creating a network for artists and audience
A community arts organization plans a capital campaign and hires administrative assistance to free up the Executive Director to focus on executing the capital campaign.
A children’s museum and a children’s theatre explore a plan to merge the two organizations to provide better quality service to children in the community
An arts service organization develops a web site to house individual artist portfolios and an internet craft guide.
A community arts organization works with a folklorist to research, interpret, and present traditional culture, increasing public awareness of traditional culture, and validating the practice and presentation of traditional culture.

Who is Eligible to Apply

A Maine community organization that:

supports arts programming and services or promotes, presents, produces and/or teaches arts as its primary purpose, and
is a non-profit organization, legally established in the state of Maine, and
has 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service, or is a unit of local, county, state, or tribal government, and
has completed and filed all final reports required for previously awarded Maine Arts Commission grants.

Applicants from communities are strongly advised to involve local arts and cultural organizations in their planning. Preferably the local arts agency will be the lead applicant. If not, please explain how the local arts agency is involved in planning and implementing the capacity building project. Applicants from communities that support more than one local arts organization are strongly urged to demonstrate coordination or communication among those local arts organizations and assess the possibilities of partnerships, avoiding overlapping proposals. For clarification on specific eligibility information, contact Keith Ludden, Community Arts Associate, 207/287-2713 or keith.ludden@maine.gov.

Applicants must demonstrate a fiscal structure that allows them to legally and responsibly utilize grant funds.

The maximum award is $10,000.

Review Process

The Maine Arts Commission will appoint a committee including Maine Arts Commission members and several public members who have expertise in community arts development. The committee will review only applications that have been forwarded by staff as complete.

Recommendations will be presented to the Maine Arts Commission at its February 2009, meeting. The Maine Arts Commission approves the selection process. Funds will be available after July 1, 2009, at the earliest and are dependent on funds received from the National Endowment for the Arts. Please plan accordingly which may mean that grant funds are used to reimburse costs incurred for the project.

Review Criteria

Capacity Building grant proposals are reviewed on a competitive basis using the following criteria:

Potential of the project to increase the capacity of local arts organizations and/or strengthen the infrastructure for traditional or community arts in Maine.
Sustainability of enhanced local organizational capacity beyond the grant period.
Quality of planning that includes key community stakeholders.
The likelihood that the proposal will result in increased access to artistic excellence and/or increased participation in the arts in the community.
Relevance of the proposal to the community’s cultural, social, and economic needs.
Financial stability of the applicant.

Although not listed here as a criterion for individual applications, the grant review committee also considers the question of geographic balance in evaluating the total pool of funded applications.

How to Apply

Guidelines are available in large print format by request. All Maine Arts Commission programs are accessible. All programs funded by the Maine Arts Commission must also be accessible.

Accessible Print Symbol Telephone Typewriter Symbol Sign Language Interpretation Symbol

Defining e-GRANT

Applicants are now required to apply through the Maine Arts Commission e-GRANT system. Forms to accompany e-GRANT applications can be downloaded on your computer, filled out and electronically uploaded to the e-GRANT system.

e-GRANT provides the following advantages over the standard application format:

e-GRANT allows applicants who apply for multiple grants to supply contact information only once. Only one copy of the electronic application is required.
e-GRANT guarantees that an application will be received by the deadline. Applicants are notified as soon as the e-GRANT application is downloaded.
e-GRANT will not allow an incomplete application to be submitted, but rather will identify missing materials. Complete applications are guaranteed to be reviewed.
e-GRANT allows an applicant to submit narrative, budget information and resumes, letter of intent, etc. by attaching word processed documents.
e-GRANT applications may require an original signature or artist materials that can not be submitted electronically. These must also be postmarked by the deadline as well.

Please review the following guidelines carefully in preparing your application. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in disqualification of the application. Only complete applications will be accepted.

Before developing the final application, discuss the idea or project contact Keith Ludden, community & traditional arts associate at 207/287-2713, keith.ludden@maine.gov. This is required. Applicants who have a compelling reason that they are unable to apply through the e-GRANT system must discuss an alternative at this time.

Applicants who have been encouraged to proceed must complete/submit:

e-GRANT Application Forms: Applicant Information and Project Information
Assurances Form with original signature of authorizing official.
Application Budget Form providing evidence of cash or in-kind match or volunteer resources (a cash commitment strengthens the application.) No substitutions for the budget form are allowed.
Budget Narrative that provides descriptions of the items in the budget as well as any additional details, especially information on sources and amounts of other anticipated income, anticipated revenues from ticket sales, etc.
A one- or two page summary of the applicant's operational budget for the most recently completed fiscal year demonstrating evidence of the applicant's financial stability.
Vendor Form (this is information used by the Treasury to generate a check if the grant is awarded. Applicants should be sure to indicate the address the check should be sent to.)
Up to three letters of support from all collaborators, including a representative of your governing board.
Resumes of those responsible for carrying out the project.
Resumes for artists involved in the project.
Up to five digital images representing a sampling of previous art activities that can be used later to publicize the program. Include a list that describes each image, the date and photo credits. If students are included please complete a release form for each one.
Application Narrative. Please provide responses to the following seven questions. Do not substitute a text that has already been developed for another source but rather answer each of the following questions sequentially and by number. Answers should not exceed a total of three (3) pages. Do not use type fonts below 12 point.

1. What is the project? Please be clear and succinct.
2. Describe the project activities and provide a timeline for planning and completing the project.
3. How will the project strengthen the infrastructure in Maine for traditional and/or community arts?
4. What community cultural, social and economic needs does your project address?
5. Outline the planning process for the project and explain how it fits a larger community vision.
6. What are the intended outcomes for the organization and for the community?
7. How will you evaluate the project and its success?

Please do not submit applications in elaborate file folders or packaging. Exclude all extraneous materials that are unrelated to your current application. Make copies of all forms and other application materials for your records prior to submitting them to the Maine Arts Commission. If you have questions about your application, please contact Keith Ludden, community arts associate at 207/287-2713, keith.ludden@maine.gov.