Where's the Arts Bailout?

Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, has written an article for the 'Washington Post' about the current U.S. government bailouts of the financial markets, and asks where the ones are for the arts. He comments on what many of us in the arts community already knew, that “in the past few months, dozens of opera companies, theater companies, dance organizations, museums and symphonies have either closed or suffered major cash crises.” Kaiser suggests that “we need an emergency grant for arts organizations in America, and we need legislation that allows unusual access to endowments. Washington must encourage foundations to increase their spending rates during this crisis, and we need immediate tax breaks for corporate giving.” Read the full article here.

Central European Foundation's Arts Program

Central European Foundation - Celebrating Arts & Culture Programme (deadline: 15 Dec)

Central European Foundation (CEF) announces its third call for proposals to support projects in arts and culture in Slovakia (SR) and the Central European (CE) region*. Our primary focus continues to be breaking down geographic, cultural and financial barriers that keep artists and culture managers from working together in the region.

The goal of the program is to support projects from Slovakia and the Central European region* that focus on developing artistic works, events and performances and presenting them to the widest possible audience. Projects of all artistic genres and diverse themes may be submitted for financial support with several exceptions. Under this call CEF will not support production of feature films that entail major investment (with large budgets) and will not support folklore events or folklore festivals.

The year 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the democratic revolutions in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The foundation seeks to honor this anniversary by supporting projects that address the phenomenon of the revolutions in 1989 and their ramifications for society and culture. For this reason, the foundation will also welcome applications under this call for projects that address this anniversary in an additional category. These projects should, for example, address social or cultural questions related to the events of 1989. Another goal is to help facilitate awareness or interpret the events of the period for the younger generation that did not live through them. Because of the key symbolic and political significance of the Berlin wall, CEF encourages cooperation with partner organizations from Germany as well (see below for funding criteria).

In keeping with our broader mission, the foundation will continue to give priority to international, cooperative projects that foster the following three principles as defined below:
o Creativity: projects create new works in any one genre or combined genres, or revive lost traditions; projects find innovative ways to bring culture into daily life;
o Cooperation: projects involve cooperation across regional or national borders; and cooperation among nationalities and ethnic groups, social groups and sectors of public life. Projects that support mobility of artists and culture managers and involve partners from more than two countries are a point of emphasis; and
o Continuity: projects pay attention to sustainability and long-term impact and address possibilities for continued presence after the funding period is over. This may include educating future artists and/or pedagogues.

General Administrative Guidelines:
1. Applicants must be either an organization FROM SLOVAKIA or a team from Slovakia and any of the following countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. The grant application must be made by an organization from Slovakia. In projects that include German or Austrian partners, CEF will not fund administrative or production costs of partners from these countries.
2. Eligible grantees are nongovernmental organizations or public institutions headquartered in Slovakia that have been functioning actively for at least one year. For-profit entities are not eligible to receive grants.
3. CEF will cover up to 60% maximum of the total project budget. The applicant must be able to demonstrate its ability to co-finance the project.
4. There is no minimum or maximum size of a grant, but projects with a total budget over SKK 200,000 (EUR 6,600) will be given preference.
5. Projects must be publicized adequately in the media by the applicant as part of normal activities. Applicants should provide a promotion and media plan as part of each application.
6. The beginning of project implementation must be in 2009 and the project activities must be completed at the latest by 2010.
7. Applicants who have already received support from CEF during a previous grant round are eligible to apply.
8. Applicants must submit an application form, a detailed description of the project and a budget prepared according to the budget template given. The application form, requirements for the detailed project description (checklist) and budget template can be downloaded below.
9. Budgets should be submitted in Slovak crowns or Euros.
10. Each applicant may be a leader on only one project.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Those interested in a grant may apply if they meet the criteria listed above and if they send a completed application form and the necessary additional documents by regular post to the foundation address by December 15, 2008 at the latest (projects must be postmarked Dec. 15 or before). A copy of the application must also be sent electronically (e-mail) to cef@cef.sk by December 15, 2008 at the latest.

SELECTION PROCESS: The Board of the Central European Foundation makes the final decision on the results of the grant round. All applicants will be informed of the selection results individually. An updated list of approved projects will be regularly published on the foundation’s website. The selection may last 3-4 months. We request that applicants take this timeline into account when designing their projects. There is no set number of projects that will be supported under this call. The foundation reserves the right not to fund any projects submitted. The application form, checklist and budget template can be downloaded HERE. For reasons of lack of time, foundation staff will not offer personal consultations of project and will not check the completeness of applications before the deadline.

Please submit all materials to CEF at: Central European FoundationSasinkova 12811 08 Bratislava, Slovakiae-mail: cef@cef.sk

*The definition of the Central European region for this call is: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

German Cultural Foundation’s Wanderlust

Wanderlust is the urge to travel and broaden one’s horizons. The German Federal Cultural Foundation is committed to fulfilling this dream for municipal and state theatres in Germany which would like to establish a partnership with a foreign theatre.

Wanderlust is an application-based fund that finances theatre partnership and exchange for two to three seasons. In the first year, the theatres could exchange artistic personnel. In the second, they might choose to host a guest production from their partner theatre. And in the third year, the theatres could organize a co-production to be performed at both locations. The partner theatres are free to organize the details of their working arrangement themselves according to their interests. The goal is to involve as many members of each theatre in the cooperative venture as possible. The fund also provides the option of continuing an existing partnership in the case that both partner theatres begin a new project.

The Federal Cultural Foundation can award a maximum of 150 000 EUR per partnership. The applying theatre or third-party sponsors must finance at least 25 % of the entire cost of the project. The fund runs for five years, within which time theatres have two opportunities to apply for funding. Application forms are available here and can be submitted online. The first submission deadline is 15 October 2008.

Call for West Africa Project Proposals

The Regional Fund for the Promotion of Cooperation and Cultural Exchange in West Africa is calling for a project proposal for the following activities:

• cross cutting or multidisciplinary activities: this domain involves development of multidisciplinary professional organisations, training on cultural related jobs, the development of multidisciplinary cultural centres, and the promotion of cultural tourism
• applied and visual arts
• music and theatre
• literature
• cultural heritage
• films (production/distribution of documentary films related to arts and West African Culture)

The guidelines in French, English and Portuguese are available on the following web site .

Germany's Wanderlust

Wanderlust is the urge to travel and broaden one’s horizons. The German Federal Cultural Foundation is committed to fulfilling this dream for municipal and state theatres in Germany which would like to establish a partnership with a foreign theatre.

Wanderlust is an application-based fund that finances theatre partnership and exchange for two to three seasons. In the first year, the theatres could exchange artistic personnel. In the second, they might choose to host a guest production from their partner theatre. And in the third year, the theatres could organize a co-production to be performed at both locations. The partner theatres are free to organize the details of their working arrangement themselves according to their interests and capacities. The goal is to involve as many members of each theatre in the cooperative venture as possible. The fund also provides the option of continuing an existing partnership in the case that both partner theatres begin a new project.

Project applications are selected by the Executive Board of the Federal Cultural Foundation based on the recommendations of an independent jury.The Federal Cultural Foundation can award a maximum of 150 000 EUR per partnership. The applying theatre or third-party sponsors must finance at least 25 % of the entire cost of the project. The fund runs for five years, within which time theatres have two opportunities to apply for funding. Application forms are available here and can be submitted online.

Schedule:
15 October 2008 1st submission deadline
January 2009 1st jury session for partnerships starting in the 2009/2010 season
15 October 2009 2nd submission deadline
January 2010 2nd jury session for partnerships starting in the 2010/2011 season

Contact: Anita Kerzmann,
German Federal Cultural Foundation
Franckeplatz 106110 Halle/ Saale
Tel. +49 345/ 2997 161 / Fax. +49 345/ 2997 333
anita.kerzmann@kulturstiftung-bund.de

European Cultural Foundation Project Grant

Artistic project grants for organizations and individual artists

General: This funding line supports outstanding artistic projects which show vision in illuminating the issues of diversity in Europe. Projects will be assessed specifically on their artistic quality. Artistic uniqueness and European relevance are the main selection criteria.

Who can apply? Cultural organizations AND individual artists
Deadline for applications: 1 September 2008
Average grant: €30 000 - €60 000

I. The Application Process
-For your first application, you do not have to fill in an application form. We simply ask you to present us your project in a written format (English, max. of 2 pages, around 1000 words), no attachments needed at this stage; of course, it helps when you say something about who might be involved, where and when it might be taking place, why this project is relevant. But as you only have limited space, stick to what is most important, and focus on what you are actually going to do.

-After the deadline, we will start reading all the project descriptions
-Within a few weeks, we will invite those applicants whose projects we found most interesting to write a more extensive project application. This will include all necessary technical details about dates, budget, exact activities, context, etc. These applicants will have 4 weeks to submit the complete applications
-The full project application will then be finally assessed by the Grants team and its advisers

For full guidelines, click here.

The Open Society Institute's ACNP Grants

The Open Society Institute's Arts and Culture Network Program (ACNP) makes grants to individuals and organizations to support projects that draw on the power of culture, in particular artistic and expressive culture, to help build and maintain open societies.

Grants are awarded in three program areas:
1. Enhancing Collaborative Practices: Professional Development - Collaborative Artistic Production
2. Developing Public Cultural Spaces: Capacity-Building - Public Cultural Events
3. Roma Cultural Program: Professional Development - Individual or Collaborative Artistic Production - Capacity-Building - Public Cultural Events

Enhancing Collaborative Practices and Developing Public Cultural Spaces support projects that include activities in one or more of the following countries:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Roma Cultural Program supports projects that include activities in one or more of the following countries:
Afghanistan, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Preference will be given to applicants based in these countries, although partners or collaborators in other countries may be included as participants in grant-supported activities. Applications will be reviewed approximately every two months, and applicants will be notified of ACNP’s funding decision within one month of review. Applicants will be advised of the anticipated notification date upon submission of an application. Applications must be submitted electronically, in English or Russian, on the downloadable Application Form available at www.soros.org/initiatives/arts.

Rita Bakradze

Program CoordinatorArts and Culture Network Program

Open Society Institute Budapest

H-1051 Budapest, Oktober 6. utca 12.

Hungary

Phone: +36 1 3273100

Fax: +36 1 3273121

Website: www.soros.org

Arab Fund Call for Proposals

submitted by our friend and colleague, Eyad Houssami, currently splitting his time between Amman, Beirut and Damascus on a Fulbright.

The Arab Fund for Arts & Culture aims at simulating and supporting artistic creativity and freedom of cultural expression in the Arab World.

The Arab Fund for Arts & Culture (AFAC) is a non profit organization providing direct financial assistance to independent artists and cultural institutions across the Arab region. AFAC invites individuals, NGOs, cultural and educational organizations, governmental bodies and private companies working in culture and arts in the Arab World to send in project proposals in the fields of:

1. Independent Filmmaking
2. Performing Arts
3. Visual Arts
4. Literature
5. Research
6. Capacity Building and Training
7. Regional Cultural Events and Regional Exchange

Application should be completed in Arabic and sent by no later than 30 September 2008 to: grants@arabculturefund.org

Or in a sealed envelope addressed to:
Arab Fund for Arts & Culture
Amman 11118, Jordan Po Box 1402

Application form, guidelines and frequently asked questions can be downloaded from their website: http://www.arabculturefund.org/

"Confirmation of receipts" emails will be sent by email to applicants.
If you have any questions write to us at: afac@arabculturefund.org

NEA New Play Development Program

The NEA New Play Development Program (NPDP) is a new leadership initiative created by the National Endowment for the Arts and managed by Arena Stage. The program will support the process and production of new American plays. This is the first round of the new program, through which a total of seven projects will be selected, developed, and documented over the course of the next two and half years. The Program is open to nonprofit, professional theaters or a consortium of theaters who apply in collaboration with a playwright. The Program Director is David Dower, Associate Artistic Director at Arena Stage. The Program Coordinator is Arena Stage’s Vijay Mathew. You can reach them at npdpinfo@areastage.org, or by calling 202.554.9066 x1215. Intent to apply deadline is June 20, 2008 and the application postmark deadline is July 31, 2008. Click here for the full guidelines and application.

US Foundation Giving Up 10%

As recently reported by the Foundation Center, the USA’s 72,000 grant-making organizations increased their giving by 10% in 2007 to $42.9 billion. The 2008 edition of Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates found that a nearly 12% growth in foundation assets in 2006 — the first double-digit gain in assets since 1999 — contributed to the increase. The establishment of new foundations, while occurring more slowly than during the late 1990s and early 2000s, also helped to raise the level of foundation giving.

According to the report, independent and family foundations — which represent almost 90% of all private foundations in the U.S. — increased their giving by 12.7% in 2007, compared to a 9% increase in 2006; community foundations boosted their giving by 13.9% — the fourth consecutive year of double-digit increases and a slight increase over the 11.8% jump in 2006; and corporate foundation giving rose 6.6%, following a modest 2.6% increase in 2006.

According to the survey, foundation assets grew an estimated 9 percent in 2007, to a record $670 billion, which suggests that foundation giving overall will show positive, albeit modest, growth this year.

EU-Mexico Cultural Exchange

This program aims to promote cultural cooperation between the EU and Mexico, through the implementation of cultural exchanges between both regions, leading to participation of artists from EU Member states (and eligible countries) in cultural festivals in Mexico as well as other meetings and cultural policy dialogue between cultural operators in EU and Mexico. The deadline for the submission of projects is June 1. Applications must be made by the Mexican nationality partner. See guidelines (in Spanish only) for all details.

Open Proposal Call for Turka 2011

Turka, Finland has been named the European Capital of Culture for 2011 and they are searching for project proposals. They have announced an open project call and are now looking for new and innovative projects and the best people/organizations to present them. The year long celebration will be implemented through extensive national and international cooperation, and will be comprised of about 300 projects, with the aim of finding most through the open call. Proposals are due by May 31, 2008. Click here for more information.

Cultural Cooperation Grants for EU-Brazil

The European Commission Culture Program (2007-2013) has announced a Call for Proposals for cultural cooperation projects with Brazil. Applicants must either reside in 1 of the 27 member EU states, 1 of 3 EEA countries, 1 of the 3 candidate countries or Serbia. Eligible projects will involve cooperation from at least 3 different countries (one being Brazil). Also, at least 50% of the activities must take place in Brazil. Check out the EACEA website for full guidelines and specifications. The deadline is June 1, 2008.