artist guidelines

Individual Artists and Schools Quarterly Grant Guidelines

Tier I Overview and Eligibility

Eligibility Requirements
The applicant must:

Be a practicing artist in dance, literature, media, music, theatre or visual arts or a school located in Richland or Lexington Counties
Be a legal resident of the US and with a permanent residence in Richland or Lexington county for 6 months prior to the application date and throughout the grant period;
Not be a degree-seeking, full-time student during the grant period;
Be 18 years of age or older at the time of application.

In addition to the list of allowable and non-allowable costs for other Quarterly Grants, individual artist grants will not cover capital costs such as purchase of sound or other electronic equipment, printers, computers and the like. Artists may apply for professional development grants such as performing participation (versus simply attending) national or international festivals or conferences but will be required to present a workshop or class or public performance to demonstrate the benefit of the grant.

Examples of past individual artist grants include: a percussionist was invited to participate and perform in a music festival in Italy and upon return conducted a master class for a high school band. A visual artist received a grant to pay for limited edition prints the sale of which allowed the artist to resign from a non-arts job and paint full time. A filmmaker received a grant to complete editing of a film.

These are only a few examples of how these grants may assist artists. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the project or program with Cultural Council staff prior to submission.

Individual artist grants are highly competitive.

Funding Range & Restrictions
Applicants may apply to the Cultural Council for quarterly support during any deadline, but may receive no more than TWO quarterly grants per fiscal year.
Applicant may request up to $1,000 per award, but most will be less than requested amount

Deadlines and Grant Periods
* May 15
* August 15
* November 15
* February 15

Note: Applications are due in the council’s office at 5 pm on the 15th. If the deadline falls on a weekend, the deadline is extended to 4:00 pm on the next business day.

Match
Cash match required is 1:1 ($1 Applicant: $1 Council Funds). Applicants are required to match 50% of grant funds with actual cash (for example: a $1,000 grant award requires that a $1,000 cash match be invested by the applicant for a total project cost of at least $2,000)

No in-kind or creative time is allowed as part of applicant's cash match.

Review Process
The formal review panel consists of 4-6 members, who will score applications on a 100-point scale. Following a thorough review of all applications, funding recommendations will be made to the Board of Directors for approval.

Reports
For applicants receiving a grant award, please complete a Request Payment Form (Attach PDF). 75% of award amount will be initially disbursed and final 25% will be paid when the Final Report is received.

All grantees are required to file a Final Report Form (Attach PDF) at the end of the grant period. Failure to file the Final Report by the due date will result in cancellation of the award and repayment of funds received. Applicants with outstanding Final Reports will not be funded.

artist guidelines
artist review criteria
organization guidelines
organization review criteria
forms
funding priorities