The SMART grant encourages schools, arts organizations/institutions and community based teaching artists to collaborate on the design and delivery of high quality arts learning experiences for pre-K-12 students.

• Deadline: April 5, 2013
• Maximum grant award: $10,000 (with a required match of 1:1 in-kind and/or cash match)
• Project must take place: between June 14, 2013 and June 13, 2014
• Funding will be made available: after July 1, 2013

The SMART grant is intended to fund learning in and through the arts during or after school for the pre-K-12 population. The grant encourages projects that offer long term and in depth engagement with a master artist or artist collaborative. Applicants are expected to submit innovative and collaborative project designs strengthened by curriculum integration and assessment.

Eligibility Requirements

A professional Maine 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.

A school or school district is eligible to apply if it is public and affiliated with a municipal, county or tribal govenrment or is nonprofit organization.

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 1:1 cash or in-kind match This demonstrated 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.

Review Process

Applications are reviewed by a committee of public members who are selected for their expertise in specific artistic fields. The committee will be chaired by a member of the Maine Arts Commission.

Grant recommendations will be presented to the executive committee or the full Maine Arts Commission, at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The approval of the review process, making the grant official, takes place at that time.

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 Criteria

Grant proposals are reviewed on a competitive basis using the following criteria:

• Demonstration of highest artistic excellence and merit.
• Clear description of the project.
• Evidence of significant collaborative planning among all partners and capacity to carry it out.
• Description of evaluation methodology with clear objectives and outcomes.
• Assurance that the project will include trained teaching artists and will provide professional development opportunities where appropriate.
• Evidence that the project will provide full access to learning in and through the arts including opportunities for special needs students.

Examples of Successful Grants

The Bay School

This grant supported The Digital Age: Building a Relationship between Main Lesson, Practical Arts and Teaching Artists, a project that integrated woodworking, claywork and metalwork in middle school curriculum.

Mayo Street Arts

This grant supported the Children's Puppet Workshop, a community-based arts and humanities program for neighborhood youth.

Required Application Materials

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 your 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 and Detail (form below) providing evidence of 1:1 cash and/or in-kind match. No substitutions for the budget form are allowed.
3. Application Narrative (form below)  Clear, specific responses to each of the questions, addressed sequentially and numbered. Responses cannot exceed four 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  From individuals or representatives of organizations or schools who can speak to their anticipated benefit from the project. (up to three).
6. Vendor Form if you are a first time applicant only.  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 (form below) with original signature of an authorizing official. Please mark with name of applicant.

Mail or fax (207/287-2725) the assurances form and vendor form (if required) to the Maine Arts Commission, 193 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333-0025. 

Stop!

Each Applicant must speak with Julie Richard, executitive director at 207/287-2710 or julie.richard@maine.gov, 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 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 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.