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Individual Artist Fellowships

The Individual Artist Fellowships reward artistic excellence, advance the careers of Maine artists and promote public awareness regarding the eminence of the creative sector in Maine.

The Maine Arts Commission offers five fellowships annually in functional craft, literature, visual arts, performing/media arts and traditional arts.

 

Who is Eligible to Apply

A profession Maine artist is eligible to apply if s/he has a valid Maine address and has resided full-time in Maine for a minimum of two years at the date of application, is 18 years of age or older at the time of the application, and is not enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student and the application is not a required part of their course of study.

All applicants must have completed and filed all final reports required for previous Maine Arts Commission grants.

Creators only are eligible to apply. A creator is an artist who consistently produces original work. For example, an artist may apply as a composer, but not as a singer; as a choreographer, but not as a dancer. Applicants must apply with their own original work.

Multi-artist applications must represent a team or group who consistently work together to produce a single body of work. Multi-artist applicants must also own the legal rights to the name being used.

Artists may submit only one application in any Individual Artist Fellowship category during a single grant period. An artist who has previously received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Maine Arts Commission may not apply for the next ten years. An artist may be awarded a maximum of three Individual Artist Fellowship awards in a lifetime.

 

Review Process

Jurors are selected for expertise in a specific field, as well as for a broad-based familiarity with relevant fields within the genre they are jurying. Every attempt will be made to select nationally renowned jurors. Due to the competitiveness of the Individual Artist Fellowship program and to avoid conflict of interest, all jurors selected for this program reside out of state. Because the sole criterion for selection is artistic excellence, the jury may, at its discretion, decline to award a grant.

All applications are reviewed anonymously to ensure equity. Supporting materials, including resumes and work sample descriptions are only reviewed at the specific request of a juror. Separate juries are assembled to review craft, literary, visual, performing/media arts and traditional arts. Therefore, the bulk of the review is based on artistic materials alone.

Grant recommendations will be presented to the executive committee or the full Maine Arts Commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting. At this time the grant process is approved and the grant becomes official.

The review process and delivery of funds may take up to four months. This means that grant funds may be used to reimburse costs incurred for the project after the grant has been approved. Please plan accordingly.

 

Review Criterion

Grant proposals are reviewed on a competitive basis using the single criterion of artistic excellence.

 

Examples of Successful Grants

The Maine Arts Commission awarded its first Individual Artist Fellowships in 1988 and has continued to do so to the present. For an archive of past recipients and programs please visit:

Fellowship Recipients

 

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. 

eGRANT Application  Applicants are required to upload all supporting documents through eGRANT.

  1. Biographical Information  Resume, curriculum vita, or biographical sketch that speaks to your experience as a practicing artist. The jury will not favor one format over another, but please send only one version. This material is referenced only if requested by a juror. Staff also uses biographical information to promote the fellows once they are selected.
  2. Application Narrative: For Performing/Media Arts applicants only (form below)  Provide a specific response that does not exceed 250 words.
  3. Vendor Form (form below)  To be provided by a first time applicant or those who’s 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.   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.
  4. Work Samples As outlined below.

 

Art Work Sample Submission Guidelines

There are up to ten opportunities to submit work samples with your application, although not every application will ask for ten samples. Work samples are a crucial aspect of your application and it is essential that they are of professional quality and appropriate representations of your current abilities.

Naming of all files should use the following convention: last name_title_year of work (Eg: Doe_Untitled_2010.jpg). There is a maximum of 72 characters file name limit and the name should NOT contain spaces or characters other than letters, numbers, underscores and hyphens.

A Description of Work Samples

For Individual Artist Fellowship applications only:

The review process is anonymous therefore there should be no evidence of your name anywhere on your actual samples. You are asked to submit a work sample description with your name that only staff will see during the review

Represented work must be current; preferably within the past three years

FORMAT REQUIREMENTS FOR WORK SAMPLES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Manuscripts

Preferred format PDF, but WORD documents will also be accepted. Literary samples should be examples of an artists literary creation(s), submitted in the way that corresponds to the application. Manuscripts should include works of prose or up to five poems. Script and playwriting applicants should include one act or scene. Manuscripts in all genres must not exceed 20 pages. Selections from a longer script or work of prose may be accompanied by a synopsis of the complete work. All materials must be legible in 12-point or larger type and double spaced.

Images 

Preferred format JPEG, but PDF images will also be accepted.Optimal image size is 1920 pixels on the longest side (to accommodate HD viewing) at a resolution of 96 dpi and a file size under 5mb. Images can be a digital photograph or a digital scan.

AudioPreferred format MP3, but WAV or AIFF files will also be accepted.Optimal audio submissions should be an audio file under five minutes in length in a file size under 10mb. If the audio file is longer than five minutes listening points should be indicated on the explanatory document about how to listen to the work sample(s). Links to audio files that are housed online can count as audio submissions.

Video

Preferred Format MPEG-4, but MOV and AVI files will be accepted.It is preferred that time-based works submit at least one video work sample. Optimal video submissions should be a video or video clip under five minutes in length in a file size under 20mb. If the video file is longer than five minutes viewing points should be indicated on the explanatory document about the work samples. Links to a video URL that is housed on a hosting site such as Youtube, Vimeo, or the artist’s website can count as a video submission.

If you are unable to upload your materials or you wish to submit files that are copy-protected you may submit the work samples on a CD or DVD. If you do this you must send six copies of the material. Please write the appropriate information to identify the application on the disc itself (not on the case).

Web 

Website URL address in a PDF, but WORD documents will also be accepted.If the artist has their materials in an online resume or some other networked means of exhibition they can direct reviewers to the material by providing a URL. The URL should link to a specific page containing the work sample. An applicant should not assume the reviewers will navigate into the site if directed to the home page. The applicant may suggest preferred web browsers for optimal viewing of submitted materials in the explanatory document about the work samples.

The Maine Arts Commission reserves the right to use submitted materials in the promotion of the artist and/or Maine Arts Commission programs. The material will be used in a promotional manner only and will not be used for commercial purposes.

We recommend that contributors consider licensing their media files under a Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial/Share-Alike license.

How to Apply

If you have any questions before you begin the application process for literary arts, please contact Julie Richard, Executive Director at 207/287-2710, julie.richard@maine.gov. For craft, visual, or performing and media arts, please contact Kerstin Gilg, performing and media arts director, 207/287-6719, kerstin.gilg@maine.gov. For traditional arts please contact Kathleen Mundell, traditional arts specialist, 207/236-7641, or mainetraditionalarts@gmail.com.

Applicants are required to apply through the Maine Arts Commission eGRANT system. An eGRANT application will be accepted until 5:00 pm E.S.T. on the date of the application deadline. Because of the volume of eGRANT submissions on the day of any grant deadline, it is strongly recommended that 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

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.

 

Apply Now!

eGRANT Access and Application Forms
Vendor Form(PDF) and instructions(PDF)
For Performing/Media Arts applicants only!
Apply eGRANT