Art Creating Community Grants Guidelines-

Mission Statement
The mission of the Decentralization Program is: 1) to allow decision-making powers on the local level, 2) to develop a plan that stimulates local initiative and cultural diversity, and 3) to design a program that is fiscally accountable, providing necessary safeguards for taxpayers’ funds.

Available Funds
Decentralization provides partial funding up to $5,000 for community-based professional and vocational art and cultural programs in all art disciplines throughout Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison Counties. Please remember that this is a competitive process, and no one is guaranteed funding whether they have continuously received it in previous years or not. Also keep in mind that Decentralization cannot fund 100% of your project/program’s budget. You must come up with a fair amount of supplemental funds.

What Are We Looking For?
1. Innovative, new, challenging, different, and diverse arts and cultural projects.
2. Active participation in the arts by area residents.
3. Expansion of arts programs into previously unserved areas or neighborhoods in any of the three counties.
4. Art and cultural programs that reflect, and serve the cultural diversity of the community.
5. Continued improvement of existing community arts programs.

Eligibility
1. Nonprofit organizations including, but not limited to, arts groups, municipalities, libraries, churches, senior centers, and historical societies from Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison Counties may apply. However, they must have an active board of directors or comparable group, which determines and directs organizational policy, along with proof of one of the following at the time of application:

a) Federal tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
b) Registration with NYS Department of State, office of Charities Registration. A letter confirming registration or the registration receipt must be submitted.
c) Board of Regents Charter under Section 216 of the Education Law.
d) Official authorization as an arm of local government (attach formal letter on official stationery signed by appropriate executive officer).
e) Acceptance of incorporation under Section 402 of the Not-For-Profit Law.
f) Please note: Schools are not eligible for funds, nor can daytime in-school arts programming receive funding. However, PTA’s may apply, and projects can take place in schools during off-school hours. Schools or teachers interested in funding should inquire about CNYCAC’s AEI regrant program.

2. Individual artists may apply through a sponsoring nonprofit organization such as a church, firehouse, municipality, etc. Organizations interested in acting as a conduit for an individual artist may submit an application on behalf of an artist so long as they meet the criteria above.
3. The organization must comply with 504 Regulations insuring accessibility to the arts for handicapped persons.
4. Projects funded must take place between January 1 and December 31 of the year funded.

NYSCA Regulations - Who and What Cannot be Funded
-The following organizations and projects are ineligible based on funding restrictions established by the New York State Council on the Arts-

1. Past grantees which have failed to submit final reports.
2. Organizations applying directly to NYSCA regardless of the application’s status.
3. Four-year public universities and colleges or NYS agencies or departments.
4. Arts activities not open to the general public (camps, membership boys and girls clubs, college associations, etc).
5. Arts programs of any organization where the programs are essentially recreational, rehabilitational or therapeutic.
6. Operating expenses of privately owned facilities (e.g., homes and studios).
7. Costs of entertainment (e.g., theater parties, museum openings, receptions, fund-raising benefits).
8. Any permanent equipment, capital expenditures, building construction, or mortgage payments.
9. Individuals not applying through a qualified sponsoring organization.
10. Major expenditures for the establishment of new organizations.
11. Public school districts, their affiliates or components, or activities that exclusively serve a student audience (curriculum based, in-school programs) with no public component.
12. Scholarships and fellowships.
13. Acquisition of works of art.
14. Contingency funds.
15. Private and parochial schools.
16. Creation of textbooks or classroom material.
17. Lobbying expenses.
18. Fees to children for their use as professional artists.
19. Non arts related activities for example balloons, clowns, magic.
20. Regrants for applicants to fund other activities.
21. Cash prizes, juried shows or awards to students.
22. Requests that are greater than an applicant’s project expenses minus total project income.

Review Criteria
-Applications will be reviewed by an 11-member panel for-
1. Artistic merit and quality of the proposed project.
2. Community benefit and interest generated by the project.
3. Organizational history and stability.
4. Evidence of basic managerial and fiscal knowledge.
5. Demonstrated need for funding and reasonable project budget.
6. Non-duplication of comparable existing programs and services to the same area.
7. Fund-raising, outreach and promotional ability.
8. Number and diversity of people served.

The panel will be paying particular attention to 1) new art and cultural projects that would otherwise not be available to the community, 2) maintaining the quality of art and cultural programs receiving ongoing funding, and 3) emphasis on outreach efforts to new sectors of the community and the importance of meeting the needs of the area served whether urban or rural.

The Art Creating Community Regrant Program has a priority of supporting:
• activities of local arts organizations
• artists fees
• marketing/publicity costs
• supplies and materials

Procedure
• An organization may apply for up to three projects. However, the total of all requests cannot exceed $5,000.
• Applications must be submitted to the Arts Council office by 4:30pm, Wednesday, September 26, 2007 or post marked by that date. If applications do not fulfill all the requirements they will be rejected. NO EXCEPTIONS.
• Applicants will be notified in January 2008 of the funding decisions.

Application Requirements
1. All applications must be typed, and questions should be answered in the space provided. If requesting money for more than one project (no more than 3) copy the application and complete one application for each project.
2. New applicants must attend a Decentralization seminar. (See last page of app. for dates and locations)

Your Application Must Include:

1. 12 collated copies of:
• the application form
• the financial statement from your organization’s most recently completed fiscal year
• your organization’s projected budget for 2008
• biographies/resumes of the artist or artists involved in the project (if applicable)
The above 4 materials must be collated, if not the application will be considered incomplete and therefore rejected. So once collated you will have 12 applications that include each of the 4 materials.
2. One copy of proof of nonprofit status.
3. One list of your organization’s board of directors.
4. One copy of your last DEC funded program’s final report (if applicable). Even if your most recent final report has been submitted to CNYCAC you still need to submit a separate copy as part of your application. Your official interim or final report should be submitted to CNYCAC prior to the 2007 deadline and separately from your application. Applications with out the most recent final report included will be rejected.
5. Optional: One copy of additional support material (i.e. - slides, videocassettes, tapes.).

Be sure to keep a complete application for your files.

NOTE: The CNYCAC staff is available for technical assistance in the preparation of your application. If your organization needs assistance with your grant application, please contact Megan Koenig, the Program Coordinator, at (315) 724-1113 or mkoenig@cnyarts.com for assistance.

Grantee Responsibilities
-All grant recipients are required to-
1. Sign a contract for funded project outlining the time period and reporting requirements of the project.
2. File an Interim and/or Final Report within four weeks of the project’s completion.
3. Send the CNYCAC staff and panelists dates, times and locations of funded projects at least four weeks prior to the activities.
4. Provide complimentary tickets when necessary for the purpose of conducting audits.
5. Keep the Decentralization Coordinator advised of any changes made to the project, project progress, and/or any difficulties encountered in fulfilling the project goals.
6. Prominently credit CNYCAC’s financial support in any program, printed material or news releases concerning the funded project, or in any publication, film/videotape, exhibition or visual material produced in connection with the project.