Agency Calendar

As a participant you will…

• Build the capacity of your creative aging programs through research and development efforts
• Work one-on-one with a research consultant to gain new assessment and evaluation skills and knowledge
• Collect demographic & programmatic data to better understand equity and equitable evaluation within your programs
• Develop tools to advocate the benefits of creative aging programs to funders, policy and decision makers
• Strengthen your connection to the creative aging community

When you’re ready, go click on “Apply Now” below. This will take you to a website called Submittable where you’ll submit your application materials. You do not have to complete the application in one session; Submittable allows you to save a draft of your application and complete/submit it later.

Apply Now

The application consists of the following:

Profile  

In this section, you will provide general information about the applicant (individual or organization).

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Application Narrative   

The call for applications is open to all artists, arts organizations and health/aging organizations with Creative Aging programming based in Arizona. Organizations who apply must be incorporated as a nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status or be a unit of government. Applicants must have programming scheduled for the Fall 2020 or existing data to review.

The Arizona Commission on the Arts is seeking up to 12 teaching artists, arts organizations and health/aging organizations to participate in this program.

Applications will be reviewed by AZ Creative Aging partners and Arts Commission staff. Late or incomplete applications will be ineligible for review or funding.

The reviewers will seek a balance of arts disciplines and geography within the participant cohort. Up to 12 artists, arts organizations and health/aging organizations will be selected.

Applicants will be notified of their application status by mid-April, 2020.

In 2019, the Arts Commission and Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, in partnership with the Institute of Sustainable Communities, developed a five-month engagement process that prioritized the perspective and voices of the creative aging sector in an effort to strengthen the creative aging movement in Arizona. The process successfully gathered information from community leaders and local creative aging experts to articulate and define a set of strategies unique to Arizona. The creative aging visioning process resulted in the following final strategies; Researchapalooza was developed out of this process and in response to these collective strategies.

Strategy A

Build the capacity for the creative aging sector to deepen collaboration and relationships between artists and organizations.

Strategy B

Increase advocacy to policy makers and general public awareness of creative aging programming and the benefits it has among older adults and an entire community

Strategy C

Strengthen the creative aging community through:

• Dedicated research and evaluation efforts by all
• Increased collaboration and connectivity
• Increased communication among peers

Strategy D

Ensure equity is prioritized throughout the creative aging sector.

Strategy E

Build a creative aging culture where the community is able to remain innovative, imaginative and nimble.

Award Amount

Applicants may request a minimum of $3,000 and a maximum of $5,000.

Up to 20 grants will be awarded this year.

Eligible Expenses

Grant funds may be used for any of the following (this list is not comprehensive):

The funding period is January 2024 – January 2025. Proposed activities may be underway prior to the time of application but must be completed by January 31, 2025.

The R&D Grant application is split into two stages. All applicants submit a Proposal Narrative and Work Samples. Applications determined to be most competitive according to evaluation criteria move on to Stage 2.

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Applicants are encouraged to do the following prior to beginning their application:

Request Accommodations

If you require accommodation in completing this application, or otherwise participating in the grant application process, please contact Director of Artist Programs Kesha Bruce at [email protected] or (602) 771-6530.

Prepare Narrative Responses

You can type your proposal narrative or you can upload audio recordings of your responses. For each narrative question you will find a maximum word count (not character) and a maximum recording length. If you share your proposal narrative via audio recordings, keep it simple and to the point. Don’t worry about impressing the panelists with your recording technique, just make sure we can hear and understand you. All audio files must be uploaded as MP3 files (.mp3). Some applicants find it helpful to develop the narrative portion of the application using word processing software, outside the application platform. This allows them to thoughtfully draft their responses and monitor their word counts for each question.

Create an Account

In the interest of improving the user experience for applicants and reviewers, the Arizona Commission on the Arts has transitioned to a new submission platform this year: SurveyMonkey Apply. Whether you are a new or returning applicant, you will need to create an account on our new platform at https://azarts.smapply.io/.

Narrative Proposal Details

Do not include links to external websites or video hosting platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo.

If you share your proposal narrative in an audio recording, keep it simple and to the point. The recording should be just you, describing your proposal and answering the five questions listed above. Please do not include edits of your work samples. Production quality of this recording will not be considered in your review. Just make sure we can hear and understand you and keep editing and post-production embellishment to a minimum.

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Work Samples

Remember to test your work samples as you upload them. Please do not submit promotional materials, exhibition posters, event program, or published reviews as work samples. Do not include URL links to external websites or video hosting platforms.

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Work Sample Descriptions

Your application materials will be reviewed according to the following criteria. Please note: need is not a criterion. Application merit is based upon strength of responses in relation to the following review criteria:

Potential Impact to Artist 

The application clearly describes the potential impact to the artist’s personal craft and/or body of work. 

Potential Impact to Artist’s Community of Practice 

The application clearly defines the artist’s community of practice and describes how the proposed activities will impact, reflect, or respond to the applicant’s artistic discipline, audience, field of study, place-based community, or broader community.

Artistic Strength

The submitted work samples reflect the artist’s distinct vision and originality. The work sample description  conveys a clear understanding of the artist’s craft—the techniques you use and the intention behind them—and a commitment to artistic achievement.

Integrity of Proposal

Viewed as a whole, the application demonstrates the integrity with which the artist approaches their artistic practice and their defined community of practice. The application materials demonstrate a commitment to high ethical standards and equitable professional practices in regard to the proposed actions, values, methods, and goals.

Applicants who advance to Stage 2 of review will be invited to submit additional information including a process map, an experience list, and an expense list. Panelists will review the application as a whole and convene for a public panel meeting to make final funding recommendations.

Process Map

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Experience List

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Expenses List

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Grant Amount Requested

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Budget Narrative

As you develop your application materials for Stage 2, consider that the panelists will be thinking about Stage 1 Application Materials and Evaluation Criteria in addition to the following:

Feasibility

The application provides substantial evidence that the proposal will be realized within the funding period. The application includes a reasonable expenses list for the scope and scale of the proposed activities. The process map and experience list provide evidence of the applicant’s ability and capacity to successfully realize the proposal. The experiences described in the experience list are relevant to the proposed activities. The process map presents a clear path to the completion of the proposed activities.

Applicants must be individuals and may submit only one application per year. Organizations are not eligible to apply. At the time an application is submitted, and the grant is awarded, an applicant must be:

• 18 years of age or older;
• not enrolled for more than three credit hours at a college or university;
• and a resident of Arizona.

Recipients of the R&D Grant must wait 4 years to reapply and may receive a maximum of four (4) awards in their lifetime. This also applies to recipients of the previously-named Artist Research and Development Grant and previously-offered Artist Project Grant. Applicants who failed to submit a Final Report for a previous award are not eligible to apply.

This program does not fund the following:

• Support for activities, or projects which would otherwise be eligible for another Arts Commission grant, such as: Career Advancement Grant; Lifelong Arts Engagement Grant.
• Teaching artist residencies.
• Documentation of existing arts projects.
• Costs related to activities for which the applicant is employed or contracted.
• Costs related to academic research or formal study toward an academic or professional degree.
• Expenses incurred in the presentation of final work, such as self-publishing, promotion, catalogs published by the artist(s), exhibition expenses, and self-presenting. Such expenses may be one component of the proposal but cannot be the sole purpose of the requested funds.
• Fundraising projects
• Food and beverages for any purpose.
• Scholarships, awards, and competitions.
• Grant administration, overhead, or processing fees taken by an umbrella/parent organization.

This list is not comprehensive.

Kesha Bruce
Artist Programs Manager
Phone: (602) 771-6530
Email: [email protected]

Grantwriting 101

Over the course of three sessions, previous R&D Grantees will share tips, tricks, and insights on crafting your best application.

Session 1: Proposal Narrative

Attendees will learn insider tips on crafting a compelling narrative that communicates who you are, what you do, and why it matters.

This session was presented on Thursday, June 10, 2020.

Session 2: Communities of Practice

Attendees will learn how to identify your communities of practice, tips for describing your community of practice in the R&D Grant application, and how thinking about your contributions to a community of practice can lead to more authentic and ethical engagement.

This session was presented on Thursday, June 17, 2020.

Session 3: Work Samples

Attendees will learn how to choose work samples that reflect your distinct vision; the best ways to convey the techniques you use and the intention behind them; and tips for putting your best foot forward and avoiding common mistakes.

This session was presented on Thursday, June 24, 2021.

Applicants must be individuals and may submit only one application per cycle. Organizations are not eligible to apply. At the time an application is submitted and the grant is awarded an applicant must be:

• 18 years of age or older and
• a resident of Arizona.

Full-time faculty at a college or university are not eligible to apply. Adjunct faculty are eligible to apply. An individual may receive only one Opportunity Grant in any category each fiscal year. 

As this grant is available to artists working in all disciplines and at any stage in their career, a wide array of opportunities could be considered eligible, so long as there is potential for significant impact in one or more of these three categories:

Introduce Your Work to New Audiences
An opportunity to present your work in a significant way that will expose your work to new audiences or raise your artistic profile.

Develop New Skills
An opportunity to develop new artistic skills though participation in activities such as conferences, artist residencies, workshops, fellowships, master classes, or apprenticeships.

Develop Your Artistic Entrepreneurship
An opportunity to expand your entrepreneurial capacity, such as the production of marketing materials, website development, payment of professional fees (lawyers, accountants, etc.), and any practice-related capital expenses (like equipment purchases, materials, services, rental fees for equipment or facility, etc.)

Keep in mind you will be asked to describe how engaging in the proposed opportunity will advance your work. Further, the opportunity should not duplicate previous work or experiences, but should represent a new or further developing professional endeavor.

Grant funds may be used for any of the following (this list is not comprehensive):

• Equipment purchases, materials, or services needed to fulfill/engage in the opportunity
• Rental fees, including equipment, instruments, facility (including short-term space and studio rentals), etc., which support the artistic opportunity Preparation, freight, and/or shipping costs
• Costs associated with documentation of the opportunity
• Travel necessary to engage in the opportunity (see Funding Restrictions for more information)
• Registration fees
• Professional fees which support the artistic opportunity
• Grant funds cannot be used for any projects, or days of a project, that take place before the start date of the cycle in which they are submitted, and/or after the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2024). If your full project timeline starts before or ends after the funding period, you are still eligible to apply and should articulate the full timeline in your application, but should only request and use grant funds for project activities taking place within the funding period.

Applicants are encouraged to do the following prior to beginning their application:

Request Accommodations
If you require accommodation in completing this application, or otherwise participating in the grant application process, please contact Director of Artist Programs Kesha Bruce at [email protected] or (602) 771-6530.

Prepare Narrative Responses
You can type your proposal narrative or you can upload audio recordings of your responses. For each narrative question you will find a maximum word count (not character) and a maximum recording length. If you share your proposal narrative via audio recordings, keep it simple and to the point. Don’t worry about impressing the panelists with your recording technique, just make sure we can hear and understand you. All audio files must be uploaded as MP3 files (.mp3).

Some applicants find it helpful to develop the narrative portion of the application using word processing software, outside the application platform. This allows them to thoughtfully draft their responses and monitor their word counts for each question. A Word document version of the narrative questions can be downloaded here.

Create an Account
In the interest of improving the user experience for applicants and reviewers, the Arizona Commission on the Arts has transitioned to a new submission platform this year: SurveyMonkey Apply. Whether you are a new or returning applicant, you will need to create an account on our new platform at https://azarts.smapply.io/.

click/tap the “Apply Now” button below. You do not have to complete the application in one session; at any point you can save a draft of your application and complete or submit it later.

CLOSED

Narrative Proposal

1. Describe the opportunity you will engage in with the grant funds. What are your specific proposed activities? (250 words)
2. Tell us about your artistic practice and why this opportunity is appropriate and vital to your work at this stage of your career. (250 words)
3. How will engaging in this opportunity address at least one of the eligible opportunity categories (introduce your work to new audiences, develop new skills, or develop your artistic entrepreneurship)? (250 words)
4. What next steps in your artistic career would be made possible after completing this opportunity? How does it tie to your future artistic goals and trajectory? (250 words)

If you share your proposal narrative in an audio recording keep it simple and to the point. The recording should be just you, describing your proposal and answering the four questions listed above.

Please do not include edits of your work samples. Production quality of this recording will not be considered in your review. Just make sure we can hear and understand you and keep editing and post-production embellishment to a minimum.

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Timeline of Proposed Activities

Include a timeline that details the proposed activities related to your opportunity in the table provided in SurveyMonley Apply.

This may be a single date, such as “Day of Workshop – April 12, 2024” or a list like the following:

• Preparing Sheet Music for Printing & Rehearsing Flute Solo. – January-February 2024
• Record with Jane Doe at AZArtsy Recording Studio Solo Pieces – March 3, 2024
• Record with Jane Doe at AZArtsy Recording Studio Finalized Group Compositions – March 6-8, 2024

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Work Samples

Submit work samples you’ve completed within the last 10 years which are relevant to the opportunity. From the list to the right, please choose the most appropriate artistic work sample format to represent your discipline:

• 3 minutes of recorded audio, or
• 3 minutes of recorded video, or
• 6 images, or
• 3 pages of double-spaced text, or
• Combination of materials listed above: Please edit accordingly for no more than a total of 3 minutes of reviewing time (2 images = 1 min. 1 page = 1 min.)

You will be asked to provide the following information (as applicable) for each work sample you submit.:

• Title of work
• Date completed/premiered
• Location/site of exhibitions or presentation of work
• Dimensions of work
• Medium of work
• Collaborators

Please do not submit promotional materials. Panelists can’t assess your work based on an exhibition poster, an event program, or a published review. Remember to test your work samples as you upload them.

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Work Samples Description

Provide a brief description for each work sample as it relates to your opportunity.

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Experience List and Description

Provide 3 to 10 arts-based experiences you have engaged in over the past 10 years that relate to the opportunity you want to engage in and briefly describe how each experience demonstrates progression of your artistic trajectory leading to the opportunity.

The experience list helps the panel situate the opportunity you propose in a broader context; please briefly describe the overall relevancy of the experiences you listed to the opportunity. (up to 200 words)

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Expenses List

List only eligible expenses (see list on page 2 of the Artist Opportunity Grant guidelines) related to your proposal. Include any additional information you’d like the panel to know. If your eligible expenses exceed $1,500, please tell us how you will fund the rest of your proposed activities. If some expenses are outside the funding period, indicate which line items the grant funds would cover.

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Grant Amount Requested

Indicate the grant amount you are requesting, based on eligible expenses, between $500 and $1,500.

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Budget Narrative

If your eligible expenses exceed $1,500 please tell us how you will fund the rest of your proposed activities. (up to 200 words)

Your application materials will be reviewed by agency staff members according to the following criteria. Please note: need is not a criterion. Application merit is based upon strength of responses in relation to the following review criteria:

Quality of Proposed Opportunity
Application clearly outlines the specific details of the opportunity and outlines how the opportunity is unique, relevant, and specifically important in relation to applicant’s current artistic trajectory.

Is the opportunity clear and consistent throughout? Is there an understanding of the past work in relation to the current opportunity and intended future goals?  

Potential Impact to the Artist
Application clearly describes the potential impact to the artist’s work, including what next steps would be possible and its ties to their future artistic goals and clearly describes the potential of the opportunity to address at least one of the three eligible opportunity categories.

Is it clear what next steps are possible after the opportunity? Is there a clear set of activities that will allow the applicant to develop & advance their artistic trajectory? Is the potential to introduce work to new audiences, develop new artistic skills, or support the development of the entrepreneurship connected to the proposed activities? 

Feasibility
Application demonstrates substantial evidence that the proposal will be realized within the funding period and includes a reasonable expenses list for the scope and scale of the proposed activities. The experiences described in the application are relevant to the opportunity proposed.

Do the materials demonstrate that the opportunity will be completed by June 30th? Is the expense list clearly connected to the opportunity described and logical to what is proposed? Does the experience list demonstrate ability to complete the opportunity and connect to trajectory shared in narrative? 

Integrity
Application demonstrates a commitment to high ethical standards and equitable professional practices regarding proposed actions, values, methods, and goals.

Is there connection or relationship with proposed communities, collaborators, or mentors, and is there intent to compensate these parties for their contributions? Are potential barriers to access being discussed openly and intentionally within the application? 

Evaluation Rubric

To assist in their evaluation, reviewers will use a rubric. This evaluation tool can be found here. Applicants may find it helpful to refer to the rubric as they prepare their applications.

Eligible opportunities must take place during the funding period dates of the cycle in which they are submitted.

Funds are delivered approximately 6-8 weeks after all necessary paperwork has been submitted by the grantee. This includes the award agreement, state W-9 and payment form. 

This program does not fund the following:

• Support for opportunities, activities, or projects which would otherwise be eligible for another Arts Commission grant, such as the Research & Development Grant or Festival Grant;
• Teaching artist residencies;
• Opportunities that take place outside of the funding period;
• Ongoing studio or space rental;
• Equipment not related to the opportunity;
• Costs related to activities for which the applicant is employed or contracted;
• Opportunities related to academic research or formal study toward an academic or professional degree, such as capstone projects;
• Fundraising projects, food and beverages for any purpose;
• Grant administration, overhead, or processing fees taken by an umbrella/parent organization.
• Costs for nonrefundable travel expenses which are cancelled or postponed beyond the funding period end date.
• Organizations or individuals debarred or suspended from receiving Federal funds (2 CFR 180 Subpart C).

Due to the continuously evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, please be aware that if travel plans are cancelled or postponed for beyond June 30, 2022, grantees will need to adjust their project budget accordingly to redirect awarded funds to other eligible expenses and/or return a portion of the grant funds.

Additionally, according to the Arts Commission’s enabling statutes, “Notwithstanding any other law, no monies from the Arizona Commission on the Arts may be spent for payment to any person or entity for use in desecrating, casting contempt on, mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, trampling or otherwise dishonoring or causing to bring dishonor on religious objects, the flag of the United States or the flag of this state.” Recipients of Arts Commission support are further instructed to “take into consideration general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public” within funded programs.