Artist Opportunities

April 13, 2023 | Agency Tiger Lily Press, Stephanie_Berrie screenprinting Professional Development and Project Support for Individual Artists Artist Opportunities grants support Ohio artists who have opportunities that will significantly impact their professional growth or have projects that will contribute to the vitality of their community. This grant is open to artists of all disciplines, at any stage of their career, and include all types of artistic practice. GRANT AWARDS Grants are awarded to individual artists at both the emerging artist level ($500) and professional artist level (up to $2,500) with no cash match required. Individuals may submit one application per year. Artist Opportunities grantees can anticipate receiving their full request. Note: For the purposes of this program, emerging artists are individuals who have consistently worked in their chosen art form for more than three years, have demonstrated strong artistic potential, and want to develop their careers. Professional artists are individuals who devote a major portion of their time to creating, practicing, performing, or teaching their chosen artform and receive some type of monetary support from this endeavor. ELIGIBILITY All applying artists must: Be at least 18 years of age. Be an Ohio resident for one year prior to the deadline. Remain a resident during the grant period if awarded funding. Have exhibited, performed, or published work as an artist within the past three years. Applicants may not: Be a student attending high school or pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree at the time of application. Apply for both an Artists with Disabilities Access Program grant and an Artist Opportunities grant in the same fiscal year. Apply to support day-to-day expenses of an arts-related for-profit business (i.e., awards must be used for expenses related to an artist’s growth and development). Apply to support the duplication of previous work or experiences (i.e., projects must focus on a new professional endeavor). Apply to travel to an out-of-state exhibition or performance. NOTE: Artists who have received an Individual Excellence Award (in any discipline; beginning FY 2024) are ineligible to apply for an Artist Opportunities award for five years. Please refer to Appendix B for OAC other funding restrictions that may affect your eligibility. HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS The Artist Opportunities program provides support to individual artists to: introduce their work to new audiences and raise their artistic profile through exhibitions, performances, publications, or screenings. develop a new artistic skill through participation in domestic activities such as conferences, artist residencies, workshops, fellowships, master classes, or apprenticeships. advance their career through activities like production of marketing materials, website development, equipment purchases (not to exceed $1,500), materials, services, or rental fees for equipment or facilities. After accepting a grant award in ARTIE, grantees will automatically receive a partial payment of 50% of their total grant award. Final payment of the grant will be processed once a final report is received and approved. OAC staff may request additional information regarding grant activities prior to approving the final payment. HOW TO APPLY Artist Opportunities program applications and support materials must be submitted via the ARTIE system. Please refer to Appendix G for a step-by-step look at applying for, accepting, and managing a grant through this program. Applicants are strongly encouraged to include as much information as possible in their responses to narrative questions in order to provide panelists with a complete picture of how the grant funding will advance the artists’ professional pursuits. SUPPORT MATERIALS Applications for this program must include support materials, including work samples, to be accepted. The following support materials are required for emerging artists: Artist résumé or biography Work samples – may include up to 12 images, or at least two audio, video, or writing samples, not more than three years old The following support materials are required for professional artists: Artist résumé Professional biography or artist statement Work samples – may include up to 12 images, or at least two audio, video, or writing samples, not more than three years old EVALUATION AND SCORING A panel of arts and cultural professionals, educators, artists, and other community members evaluate and score Artist Opportunities grant applications. Panel meetings are open to the public through a free video conferencing platform. Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend online. For details on panel meeting dates, times, and instructions, visit the OAC online grants calendar. During the panel meeting, panelists discuss how well each application satisfies the program’s evaluation criteria. Panelists highlight strengths and weaknesses, discussing all aspects of the application and its support materials. Following the public discussion, each panelist provides a final score for each application. Later, OAC staff use averages of these scores to determine award recommendations to the OAC Board. The OAC Board is the only body authorized to make final funding decisions and approve grant awards. The review process is competitive, and not all applications are funded. REVIEW CRITERIA Criteria are divided into four categories: Program Quality, Community Engagement, Defining and Measuring Success, and Resource Management. Evidence of meeting the criteria may be found in any portion of an application or associated support materials. Each criterion is worth up to five points, for a maximum of 60 points. Program Quality (15 points) Skill is evident in artist’s chosen discipline Artistic work shows potential Commitment to advancing artist’s art form is demonstrated Community Engagement (10 points) Artistic work is promoted in the community (through public events, website, promot