The Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Humanities Council collaborate to provide Arts and Humanities grants that assist organizations in Maine to investigate and present stories and cultural expressions of the state, its communities and its people. These grants support projects and public programs that include or combine both arts and humanities disciplines. The arts help build communities by helping them discover their cultural assets, building audiences and promoting the excellence of the creative sector. The humanities explore the nature and value of human experience through literature, history, theology, philosophy and the disciplines of social and political science.
- Deadline: May 17, 2013
- Maximum grant award: $1,000 (with a required 1:1 in-kind and/or cash match)
- Project may start: 60 days after the deadline.
The range of potential projects under the Arts and Humanities grants is limited only by the community’s imagination. The funding partners are particularly interested in projects that explore diverse cultures or represent rural areas of the state. Projects might include a local folk life festival, a community performance of an historical play, a school-based historical mural project or a project combining oral history and documentary photography.
Eligibility Requirements
A professional Maine community organization is eligible to apply if it is a nonprofit organization, legally established in the state of Maine, and has tax exempt status 501(c)(3) from the Internal Revenue Service.
All applicants must have completed and filed all final reports required for previous Maine Arts Commission grants. An applicant must demonstrate a fiscal structure that allows them to legally and responsibly utilize grant funds. The applicant must provide a minimum of a 1:1 in-kind match and/or cash match. This demonstrates the applicant’s ability to take on the project. This match must be documented as part of the application package.
The applicant becomes legally accountable for complying with the above eligibility requirements upon submission of this request.
An applicant may only receive one Arts and Humanities Grant per calendar year. An applicant must wait a full calendar year after receiving an Arts and Humanities grant two years in a row to apply again.
Review Process
Applications are reviewed approximately two weeks after the deadline by staff members of both the Maine Arts Commission and Maine Humanities Council.
Review Critera
All grant proposals are considered on a competitive basis using the following criteria:
- Clarity of the proposal and project design.
- Quality of the humanities and artistic content of the proposed project.
- Ability to reach a broad public audience.
- Realistic funding and implementation plans.
Examples of Succesful Grants
This grant supported Finding Humanity in Nature, an exhibition and related progamming that explored the evidence of humanity and culture in Maine's natural world.
This grant supported the presentation of Freud's Last Session: Debate and Performance.
Required Application Materials
Please review the following required materials carefully in preparing your application materials. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in disqualification of your application. Only complete applications will be accepted. Make copies of all application materials for your records prior to submitting them.
The preferred format for text files is .pdf, but .doc or .rtf files will be allowed. No other format will be accepted. Failure to save a document correctly may limit its ability to be uploaded through eGRANT and jeopardize the application. Instructions for submitting artistic work samples, if required, can be found below.
1. eGRANT Application Applicants are required to upload all supporting documents through eGRANT.
2. Application Budget Form (form below) No substitutions for the budget form are allowed. Organizations must provide evidence of 1:1 in-kind and/or cash match.
3. Application Narrative (form below) Clear, specific responses to each of the questions, addressed sequentially and numbered. Responses cannot exceed two pages. The project description is the central element of the grant request.
4. Resume(s) For key staff members involved with the organization. Artists to be employed by the project may be included as well.
5. Letters of Support Up to three letters of support are required from individuals or representatives of organizations or schools who can speak to their anticipated benefit from the project.
6. Vendor Form (form below) To be provided by a first time applicant, or those whose contact information has changed. 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.
7. Assurances Form for Organizations only (form below) Form must include the original signature of an authorizing official. Please mark with name of applicant.
Mail or fax (207/287-2725) the assurances and vendor forms (if required) to the Maine Arts Commission, 193 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333-0025.
STOP!
Each applicant is required to speak with Kathy Ann Shaw, senior grants director at the Maine Arts Commission at 207/287-2750, kathy.shaw@maine.gov and Anne Schlitt, assistant director of the Maine Humanities Council at 207/773-5051, annes@mainehumanities.org about the project before submitting an application. Failure to do so will disqualify the application.
How to Apply
Applicants are required to apply through the Maine Arts Commission’s eGRANT system. An eGRANT application will be accepted until 5:00 pm, on the date of the application deadline. Because of the volume of eGRANT submissions on the day of any grant deadline, we strongly recommend you give yourself a 24-hour buffer.
Applicants who are unable to apply through eGRANT must contact Kathy Ann Shaw at 207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov to discuss an alternative prior to applying. Alternative submissions will not be accepted without prior authorization.
The agency will not accept late or incomplete applications under any circumstance.
Grant information is available in large print format by request. All Maine Arts Commission programs are accessible to people with disabilities. All programs funded by the Maine Arts Commission must also be accessible.
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