GOOD IDEA GRANT - Arts Visibility
The Good Idea Grant in Arts Visibility supports Maine’s artists and arts organizations by providing the means with which to increase the visibility of specific artistic projects. Any "good idea" that supports an individual artist or organization through increased visibility of specific artistic projects is eligible for the grant.
- Deadline: March 11, 2010 and January 7, 2011
- Grant amount $1,500
Who is Eligible to Apply
Any individual Maine artist who:
- Has a valid Maine address and has resided full-time in Maine for a minimum of two years at the date of application, and
- is 18 years of age or older at the time of the application, and
- is not enrolled as a full-time student in a field related to the application, and
- has completed and filed all final reports required for previous Maine Arts Commission grants.
A professional Maine arts organization that:
- Is nonprofit and legally established in Maine, and
- has tax exempt status 501(c)(3) from the Internal Revenue Service or is a unit of local, county, state or tribal government, and
- promotes, presents, produces and/or teaches visual, performing or literary art(s) as its primary purpose, and
- has completed and filed all final reports required for previous Maine Arts Commission grants.
An applicant may apply to only one Good Idea Grant category per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).
Examples
The types of projects that might be funded under a Good Idea Grant – Arts Visibility include but are not limited to:
- Support for the creation of various promotional materials for a particular event
- Support to hire a web designer to provide new web features for a particular project
- Support for an organization promoting a group of artists
The types of projects that would not be funded under a Good Idea Grant – Arts Visibility include but are not limited to:
- Support for professional development
- Support to purchase technology equipment and software
- Support for infrastructure (e.g. creation of a digital editing center)
Review Process
Applications are reviewed by members of the Maine Arts Commission's Communication Committee and/or members of the public selected for their expertise in specific fields. The review panel's recommendations are then presented to the Maine Arts Commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting for approval of the selection process.
Review Criteria
Good Idea Grant – Arts Visibility proposals are reviewed on a competitive basis using the following criteria:
- Evidence that the funding will increase the visibility of the artist's or organization's project.
- Artistic excellence of project subject matter.
- Ability to demonstrate the capacity to complete the project.
- Evidence of the use of Maine vendors.
Required Application Materials
Please do not submit work in elaborate file folders or packaging. Make copies of all application materials for your records prior to submitting them.
Preparing your documents for submission - All word documents must be saved as .doc or .rtf files and adhere to the following naming convention: lastname_firstname_TitleOfDocument.rtf (example: veilleux_lisa_resume.doc or veilleux_lisa_narrative.rtf).
- eGRANT Application
Applicants are required to upload all supporting documents (with the exception of video, audio, images or physical design examples) through eGRANT.
- Resume(s)
For the applicant and any other artists to be employed by the project. Third party testimony of an applicant’s work is not required but could be beneficial.
- Vendor Form (form below)
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. You are required to mail your signed vendor form to our office. Faxed copies are not accepted.
- Application Narrative (form below)
Applicants must submit their narrative form containing clear and specific responses to each of the project description statements; these need to be addressed sequentially and numbered. Responses can not exceed two pages.
The project description is the central element of the grant request. The more information the reviewers have about the project and its relation to the increased visibility of the artist, the better they can judge its merits.
- Assurances Form (organizations only, form below) with original signature of an authorizing official. Please mark with name of applicant.
- Artistic Materials
Artists must submit materials in the required formats. Artistic materials are the most important aspect of your presentation to the jury, and it is essential that they are of the professional quality necessary to represent your artwork well. Each applicant must submit, via CD or DVD, one complete set of properly labeled artistic materials through the mail. A list describing these samples, including titles, dimensions, length of performance, title of poems, etc., must be included.
- Visual submission (CD Rom):
- The application package must include one set of ten images, depicting individual pieces, installations, designs models or products. Detail shots may be included.
- Required image format is a digital/scanned image saved as a .jpg. The image needs to be at least 500 x 360 pixels in size with a maximum single dimension of 1024 and saved at a resolution of 72 dpi.
- Save your image using the following convention:
- Artist name_title of image_year of work.jpg (Example: JaneDoe_Untitled_2004.jpg).
- Maximum of 72 characters in the file name.
- Name cannot contain any spaces or characters other than letters, numbers, underscore or hyphen.
- Work samples must be accompanied by a list that includes titles, dimensions, materials and date for each image submitted.
- Represented work must be current, preferably within the past three years, except in the case of large-scale installations.
- Audio and video submission (CD Rom or DVD):
- The application package must include quality recording(s) in CD ROM or DVD format.
- Required formats are:
- Video: .avi or .mov files
- Audio: .mp3 or .wav files
- Recording selection(s) set at a maximum of 15 minute review time and can include a single piece or multiple pieces as edited by the artist to best present the artists work and concept.
- If an artist is submitting a commercially produced CD or DVD then they must clearly indicate selected tracks or portions of tracks. These submissions should allow for jurors to hear/watch selected segments of larger works without viewing the entire piece.
- DVDs and CDs should contain enough space between selections to alert the jurors that they are beginning to assess a new work.
- Must include a separate sheet listing the artist’s name, title(s) of work(s), date(s) of completion, running time(s) when applicable, format of support material, best viewing platform (PC/MAC) and any special presentation instructions, and additional production credits.
- Represented work must be current, preferably within the past three years.
- Send audio and video artistic materials to the Maine Arts Commission, GIG Visi193 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333-0025.
- Web content:
- Web content can be provided using screen shot images as .jpegs, or as part of a PowerPoint presentation that should include live links where applicable.
- When submitting URLs, applicants may wish to suggest preferred web browsers for optimal vision of submitted materials.
- Printed materials:
- Supporting printed materials (one copy only required) must be postmarked on or before deadline date.
Mail artistic materials, assurances form (organizations only), and vendor form to the Maine Arts Commission, GIG – Arts Visibility, 193 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333-0025.
STOP!
Each applicant must speak with Darrell Bulmer, communication associate at 207/287-6746, darrell.bulmer@maine.gov or TTY/NexTalk 877/887-3878, 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 e-GRANT system. 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 who are unable to apply through e-GRANT must contact Kathy Ann Shaw at 207/287-2750, 877/887-3878 TTY/NexTalk User ID: kathy.shaw 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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