Grit Fund.

2016 / 2015 / FAQs / Budget Form / Information Sessions and Workshops

Apply at thecontemporary.submittable.com

Application Guidelines

Overview

The Grit Fund supports unincorporated and collaborative artist-organized activity that contributes significantly to Baltimore’s arts landscape but seldom qualifies for traditional funding. Established with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Grit Fund expands Warhol’s Regional Regranting Program to the Mid-Atlantic, encouraging projects that generate opportunities and create platforms for artists to engage with each other and with the public. Funded activities can include but are not limited to: exhibitions, publications, public events, public art, film screenings, the ongoing work of an existing arts venue or collective, and the founding of a new arts venue or collective.

The Grit Fund, administered by The Contemporary, provides 8-12 grants in amounts between $1,000–$6,000, totaling $50,000 annually. The Grit Fund accepts proposals from non-incorporated, artist-organized initiatives that work collaboratively and reside in Baltimore City or Baltimore County. Projects must take place in either Baltimore City or Baltimore County and be accessible to the general public. The Contemporary’s mission is inspired by three guiding principles: artists matter, collaboration is key, and audience is everywhere. In keeping with this mission, the Grit Fund values risk-taking, encourages collaboration, and seeks to expand points of access to contemporary art.

Grant Amounts

The Grit Fund will award 8–12 grants between $1,000 and $6,000.

Funding Priorities

The Grit Fund strongly prioritizes projects that present the work of multiple artists.

Preference is given to projects that are unlikely to be funded through traditional frameworks of support.

Only proposals submitted by non-incorporated, artist-organized entities will be considered.

Projects must be accessible to or engage the public via process, presentation, production, or publication.

Review Process and Selection Criteria

The Contemporary’s review process will take approximately 8 weeks. To be considered for funding, completed applications must be submitted on time and meet all eligibility requirements. All proposals are evaluated based on criteria including:

  • Artistic Strength
    • overall vision
    • innovative, creative, and conceptual strength of project
  • Feasibility
    • capacity to carry out and complete the project
  • Public interface
    • accessibility to the public
    • commitment to serving a local constituency

Proposals will be reviewed by a five person panel comprised of local and national artists and arts professionals currently working in the field of visual arts. The Contemporary staff members do not serve on the jury.

Eligibility

  • Projects must be collaborative i.e., present the creative contributions of more than one author or artist.
  • Projects must be rooted in or strongly related to visual art. Performance or media-based projects are only eligible if visual art is a core component.
  • Lead organizer must be a resident of Baltimore City or Baltimore County. The lead organizer is the primary contact during the application and granting process.
  • The majority of collaborators must be residents of Baltimore City or Baltimore County.
  • Lead organizer cannot be a student during time of application. Students may be listed as collaborators on projects.
  • Applicants may be a lead organizer on only one application but may be listed as a collaborator on multiple applications.
  • Resulting project activities must be accessible to Baltimore’s public and be presented in Baltimore City or Baltimore County.
  • Applications from 501c3 non-profit organizations will NOT be considered.
  • LLC’s are eligible if their primary purpose is not commercial and they are not a for-profit enterprise.

Responsibilities

Grant recipients are expected to maintain communication with The Contemporary. Awardees are asked to complete a short report after completion of the project in addition to checking in periodically with The Contemporary throughout the grant period.

Timeline

Submissions open via Submittable
Information Session #1 + Grant Writing Workshop
Information Session #2
Information Session #3 + Budget Workshop
Information Session #4 + Tax Workshop
Submissions close online at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Grant Recipients announced
Funds distributed
Grant Recipient reception
All projects must be complete

How to apply

Applications must be completed online. Paper applications will not be accepted. Access the online application at thecontemporary.submittable.com

Submissions open:
Submissions close:

The online application will prompt you to provide the following:

Basic Contact Information

Name, address, and email of lead applicant and names of up to five additional collaborators.

Project Summary (100 words max.)

Brief summary of your proposed project.

Full Project Description (700 words max.)

Detailed description of your project that addresses: the form the project will take, where the project will take place (location/venue), what motivates the project, and any opportunities the project offers for local artist support. Describe your anticipated audience or participants. Describe the public component of your project and how your project will be made accessible to Baltimore audiences.

Biography (200 words max.)

Narrative biography for the lead organizer or group and key collaborators.

Project Timeline

Project timeline including: project phases and key dates during project implementation (April 2016 - March 2017).

Project Budget

Download the budget form at gritfund.org. Complete the budget form and upload it to your online application as a PDF.

Visual Support Material

Provide documentation of past work and/or sketches for your proposed project. If your group is newly formed and unable to provide examples of existing collaborations, choose support materials that will give the jury a sense of collaborators’ individual practices or past work. You will be prompted to upload up to 2 forms of the following support materials:

  • Up to 5 digital images formatted as either JPG, GIF, or PNG. Images should not exceed 800 x 600 pixels, 180 dpi.
  • Up to 2 URLs to videos. Submit links to videos that you have already uploaded to an online platform such as YouTube or Vimeo. You cannot submit the videos directly. If there is a password to view the video, include it in the Support Materials Description List. Up to 5 minutes total of video may be submitted for review.
  • Up to 2 URLs to web-based projects. Please enter the specific URL to be viewed, the jury will not spend time browsing a website in its entirety.
Support Materials Description List

Annotated List that corresponds with each image provided in your Visual Support Materials. Include: lead organizer / group’s name, title, year, medium, and brief description.

Information Sessions

The Contemporary will lead 4 free information sessions and 3 free workshops. Each of the 4 info sessions will cover the same information and provide details on the Grit Fund application process, guidelines, eligibility, funding priorities, and more. Each of the 3 workshops focuses on a different topic outlined below. You are welcome to attend just the info session or workshop portion of each event, or both. While attending an info session and/or workshop is encouraged, attendance is not required to apply for funding. No RSVP necessary.

  • Information Session #1 + Grant Writing Workshop

    Wednesday, December 16, 2015
    Info session 6:00 - 7:00 PM
    Grant Writing Workshop 7:00 - 8:30 PM
    The Contemporary
    429 North Eutaw Street, Suite 1S

    The Grant Writing Workshop is led by Tamar Cloyd, a fundraising and communications consultant, and board trustee of The Contemporary. This workshop provides strategies for writing a compelling and competitive grant narrative.

  • Information Session #2

    Wednesday, January 6, 2016
    6:00 - 7:00 PM
    Jubilee Arts Baltimore
    1947 Pennsylvania Avenue

  • Information Session #3 + Budget Workshop

    Tuesday, January 12, 2016
    Info Session 6:00 - 7:00 PM
    Budget Workshop 7:00 - 8:30 PM
    The Motor House
    120 West North Avenue

    The Budget Workshop is led by Rebecca Chan, program officer for the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation. This workshop offers a detailed look at the Grit Fund Budget Form and tips on preparing a realistic budget that is consistent with your grant proposal.

  • Information Session #4 + Tax Workshop

    Saturday, January 23, 2016
    Info Session 12:00 - 1:00 PM
    Tax Workshop 1:00 - 2:30 PM
    Creative Alliance
    3134 Eastern Avenue

    The Tax Workshop is co-led by Chris Ryer, director of the Southeast Community Development Corporation and coordinator of Highlandtown Arts and Entertainment District, and Jessica Lanzillotti, general manager of Everyman Theatre, treasurer of Iron Crow Theatre Company, member of the Finance Committee of the Bromo Arts District, and board treasurer of The Contemporary. This Workshop covers tax incentives for designated Arts & Entertainment Districts and offers a tax primer for practicing artists, including tips for tracking deductible expenses.

Inquiries

For more information please attend an info session. If you are unable to attend any of the sessions or if you have any additional questions, please email Lu Zhang at [email protected].

FAQs

FAQ’s can found at: www.contemporary.org/gritfund/faqs/.

Apply at thecontemporary.submittable.com

About the Regional Regranting Program

The Regional Regranting Program aims to support vibrant, under-the-radar artistic activity by partnering with leading cultural institutions in communities across the country. The program allows The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to reach the sizeable population of informal, non-incorporated artist collectives and to support their alternative gathering spaces, publications, websites, events and other projects. The Foundation plans to expand this program with partner organizations in areas where the level of on-the-ground, self-organized artistic activity is highest.

The Foundation’s longest running regional regranting program, administered by San Francisco’s Southern Exposure, has been in operation since 2007. With the formation of the Grit Fund, The Contemporary joins eight regranting programs in San Francisco, CA (Southern Exposure’s Alternative Exposure); Kansas City, MO (Charlotte Street Foundation and Spencer Museum of Art’s Rocket Grants); Chicago, IL (Threewalls and Gallery 400’s Propeller Fund); Houston, TX (Diverse Works, Aurora Picture Show, and Project Row Houses’ The Idea Fund); Portland, OR (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s The Precipice Fund); Miami, FL (Cannonball’s Wavemaker Grants); Portland, ME (SPACE Gallery’s The Kindling Fund); and New Orleans, LA (Press Street, Ashé Cultural Arts Center, and Pelican Bomb’s Platforms Fund).

About The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts was established in 1987 for the advancement of the visual arts. The Foundation’s objective is to foster innovative artistic expression and the creative process by encouraging and supporting cultural organizations that in turn, directly or indirectly, support artists and their work. The Foundation values the contribution these organizations make to artists and audiences and to society as a whole by supporting, exhibiting, and interpreting a broad spectrum of contemporary artistic practice.

About The Contemporary

The Contemporary is a nomadic, non-collecting art museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Our mission expands the idea of a museum as an incubator that commissions site-specific and subject-oriented projects. We engage diverse audiences and advance contemporary art through projects and educational programming.

Our work is inspired by three guiding principles: artists matter, collaboration is key, and audience is everywhere.