Individual Artists

Artist Entrepreneurial Grants
Quarterly Deadlines:

• April 1, 2008 for projects beginning on or after July 1, 2008
• July 1, 2008 for projects beginning on or after October 1, 2008
• October 1, 2008 for projects beginning on or after January 1, 2009
• January 2, 2009 for projects beginning on or after April 1, 2009

Grant Coordinator: Judy Rigmont
Judy.L.Rigmont@dcr.nh.gov
(603) 271-0794

Realizing the significant contributions that professional New Hampshire artists make to the state's economy, this grant category supports professional development opportunities that will increase their artistic and entrepreneurial capacity to develop and market their work. It supports a wide variety of opportunities that can advance the work of New Hampshire's professional artists, including: structured mentoring sessions between master-level and emerging professional artists; professional development opportunities, such as attending workshops, conferences or classes to increase their artistic and business skills (i.e., marketing, developing a business plan, pricing their work, legal issues, financial management); attending showcases to introduce arts presenters to their work; and the development of promotional materials, including websites and printed materials. Priority is given to projects that will increase an artist's business skills, advancing their work to a new level, or marketing their work.

Note: Limited funds to support international cultural exchanges are available through the Department of Cultural Resources and its fiscal agent, Park Street Foundation. Click here for Cultural Exchange Grant guidelines and application.

Maximum Grant Request
Requests may be made for $250 - $750.

Important Note: All grant categories and amounts are subject to change, depending on availability of state and federal funds for any fiscal year.

Required Match
At a minimum grants must be matched on a one-to-one cash basis. State Arts Council funds may not be matched by other State Arts Council or National Endowment for the Arts funds.

Who May Apply?

• Professional New Hampshire artists who are at least 18 years old. Professionals are defined as: "People who devote a majority of their time to practicing, performing, and/or teaching an arts discipline and who receive payment for their work in that discipline."
• Individual artists who have been legal residents of New Hampshire for a minimum of two years.
• NH Roster Artists who live within 10 miles of border and can demonstrate over 50% of their work is for NH audiences.
• Individual artists who have attained undergraduate degrees in the creative or performing arts at least one year prior to application.
• Artist Entrepreneurial Grant recipients must be legal residents of New Hampshire at the time grants are awarded and demonstrate that they will continue to live in the state during the grant period.

Restrictions
This grant does not support:

• The creation of new work.
• Purchase of equipment.
• Current undergraduate or graduate students.
• Amateur artists (see definition of professional artists above).
• Out-of-state artists unless they are juried members of our NH Artist Roster, live within 10 miles of the NH border, and show evidence of doing a significant amount of work in New Hampshire.
• Requests from Artist Fellowship recipients during the year in which they are Fellows.
• More than three successive grant applications (must take year off).
• More than one application per fiscal year (July 1- June 30) per artist.
• Costs associated with producing a CD or DVD.
• Costs for framing artwork.

In addition, funds may not be used for:

• Direct financial aid to individuals to pursue degree-granting opportunities;
• Previously incurred debts or deficits;
• Hospitality costs;
• Travel costs that exceed current state per diems and transportation restrictions;
• The presentation or distribution of new artwork that is not made available to the general public in a not-for-profit venue;
• Costs associated with international travel.

Sample Projects

• Registration fees, tuition costs, travel and per diem for attendance at conferences, workshops, and/or artist showcases that will increase their business and/or artistic skills or increase the marketing potential of their work.
• Enrollment in a master class to enhance artistic skills.
• A performing artist wishes to showcase his/her work at a national or regional conference for performing arts presenters.
• An artist contracts with a consultant to develop a business plan.
• Artist(s) need to consult with an artistic director/choreographer/playwright/writer or musician in planning and creation of a new work that takes their work in a new direction (consultant costs only).
• A master professional artist mentors an "emerging" (early career) professional artist and is reimbursed for related expenses (i.e. supplies, travel, stipend, use of studio).
• An artist or professional company contracts with a website or graphic designer to improve their marketing efforts.

How to Apply
Applicants are strongly encouraged to either attend one of the Council's grant information sessions held in the fall or to discuss their proposals with Judy Rigmont at 603/271-0794 or by e-mail at judy.l.rigmont@dcr.nh.gov before writing their applications. Draft applications may be reviewed if submitted at least two weeks in advance of the application deadline. First time applicants must contact the grants coordinator to discuss their eligibility and the project.

When sending in a draft, please clearly indicate DRAFT FOR REVIEW in BOLD letters on your submission.

• Fill out the Application and Budget Form: MSWord / PDF
• For mentorships only: Mentorship Planning Sheet: MSWord / PDF
• Answer the Narrative Questions
• Submit Support Materials
  Note: Artists who are members of the NH Artist Roster, recipients of Artist Fellowships, Percent for Art commissions, Governors Arts Awards, or have served as Poet or Artist Laureate do not need to submit support materials.
• Follow the directions in How to Prepare the Application Package

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Deadlines
Applications must be postmarked or hand delivered by 4:15 p.m. to the Arts Council’s office at 2 ½ Beacon Street, second floor, Concord, by the deadlines listed below:

• April 1, 2008 for projects beginning on or after July 1, 2008
• July 1, 2008 for projects beginning on or after October 1, 2008
• October 1, 2008 for projects beginning on or after January 1, 2009
• January 2, 2009 for projects beginning on or after April 1, 2009

Office hours are Monday – Friday 8:15 am-4:15pm. Our office is closed all state and most federal holidays. Late applications will not be accepted. The Council cannot accept applications transmitted by FAX or be responsible for applications lost in transit. Errors and omissions may affect a panel’s evaluation of your application; so please prepare your application carefully and follow instructions.

Notification
Applicants will be notified within approximately eight weeks of the application deadline.

Payment
The NHSCA disperses funds appropriated from public sources, both federal and state. Checks are issued by Administrative Services of the State of NH, not the Department of Cultural Resources or NHSCA. If an individual is awarded $2,500 or more from the State Arts Council during a fiscal year, payment can take up to ten weeks after the receipt of properly executed grant forms. Therefore, we ask grantees to plan cash flow accordingly. All awards are subject to availability of state and federal funds.

Grant recipients are responsible for all applicable federal taxes. We urge that you keep all receipts and other appropriate records for tax filing purposes.

IMPORTANT:
All grant agreements for quarterly grants must be completed and returned within 30 days of award notification. Failure to return the grant agreement within that timeframe could result in cancellation of the grant and reallocation of funds.

Payment of a grant will be withheld if the final reports for previous grants are not in compliance with policy below.

Grant Period & Final Report
The grant period for fiscal year 2009 is July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009. A final report must be submitted by July 31, 2009. An extension of up to three months may be requested by writing to the program coordinator responsible for administering the grant. The request should be sent no later than July 15, 2009 and should briefly note why the extension is necessary and the date the report will be submitted. A status report will be due with the request. Failure to submit the final report by the required date will result in the applicant becoming ineligible to apply for NHSCA funding for two years. Additionally, failure to submit the final report may result in a withholding of funds from any currently awarded NHSCA grant. Click here for the Final Report Download Center.

Important: Failure to submit a final report will cause the grantee to become ineligible for funding for two years.

Funding Criteria
The following criteria, as relevant to the project, are used by reviewers to rate applications:

• Clarity of proposal
• Realistic project budget
• Quality of the professional development activity
• Potential for increasing artist's business or artistic skills
• Quality of contracted consultants, if applicable
• Potential for advancing artist’s career (either applicant artist or artist being mentored)
• For mentorships: Realistic timeline and work plan

Narrative Questions
1. Briefly describe the project for which you are seeking funds (maximum ½ page).
2. How will this project advance your work, or if a mentorship, the work of the artist you are mentoring?
Attach planning sheet – see link in “How to Apply” section above.
3. How will you raise the required 1:1 matching funds for this project?
4. What percentage of your income for the previous calendar year came directly from your artwork? Are you employed either part-time or full-time in a position that is NOT related to your work as an artist?

For Mentorship Projects Only:
5. Describe the planning process and time frame for working with the other artist(s).
6. Describe how you will make the accomplishments of the mentoring sessions available to the public.

Required Support Materials
Three copies of the following documents as relevant to your project:

• Resumes or other informative written materials for project consultants and/or artists who are not juried by the State Arts Council
• Descriptive material on the conference, workshop or other professional development opportunity requested
• For marketing materials, including website development: price quote from graphic/web designer on their letterhead plus background info/bio of designer/company
• Evidence of legal status as a resident of NH (copy of voter registration, driver’s license, etc.)
• For mentorships only: A copy of your planning sheet (link in “How to Apply” section above)

One copy of:

• Work samples (i.e., CDs, slides, DVDs, manuscript pages) for artists who are not already juried by the State Arts Council. See Preparation of Work Samples for instructions on preparing work samples/support materials.

How to Prepare the Application Package

1. Fill out and sign the original application form and make 3 copies.
2. Fill out the original project budget form and make 3 copies.
3. Complete the narrative questions and make 3 copies.
4. Collate the original and 3 copies of the application form, project budget form, narrative questions, written materials about artists (if not juried by the Council), resulting in a total of 4 sets (original plus 3 copies).
5. The original application and all collated supporting materials are for Council files. Add to this set work samples of artists, if not juried by the Council. Please include a SASE if you want your audio-visual materials returned.
6. The other 3 copies of the collated materials are for the panel reviewers. Please do not use binders or folders for the 4 separate sets of materials. It is helpful if you use post-it notes or label the application cover sheets to indicate original, set 1, 2, and 3. Staples and clips are acceptable. Four separate, large envelopes may be used to contain the collated supporting materials, if applicable.
7. Don't forget to make a copy of the application for your files!
8. Mail everything together in one package, putting the set with the application form with original signature on top.

Why all these copies?
The original is for the State Arts Council files. The copies are for the three panelists who will read your application prior to review and discussion at the panel meeting.

Application Review Process
Applications are reviewed quarterly by State Arts Council staff and Director along with consulting panelists, as needed. The panel's funding recommendations are forwarded to the State Arts Councilors for review and approval. If the applicant's cumulative total of grants received from the State Arts Council for that fiscal year (July 1 - June 30) is $5,000 or more, the grant recommendation must also be submitted to the Governor and Council for approval.

Last updated: February 14, 2008