Investing in the Artist Grant: Arts Organizations (2024 – 2025)

Applications are due on the Submittable.com website by
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 at 11:59 PM*

*Must attend one Information Session to qualify to apply for grant (see dates below)

 

ANTICIPATED TIMELINE – ARTIST GRANT 2024-2025

Event dates, times, and locations may be subject to change under certain circumstances. Please check back on the grant web page for any changes prior to attending the Information Sessions and Arts & Culture Commission meetings.

Website: https://www.santa-ana.org/departments/arts-and-culture-office/
September 20, 2024 Application Opens
October 3, 2024 Information Session #1 – Zoom, 6:00 – 8:00 pm [MANDATORY – at least one]

Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86913186194?pwd=RlbbisaLrFI86iPEp1lfJqfJYqwkDH.1
October 8, 2024 Information Session #2 – Zoom, 6:00 – 8:00 pm [MANDATORY – at least one]

Zoom link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83317088669?pwd=ue7TFFblmAOGLQwI7vi2WOGR0wq1o2.1
October 11, 2024 BONUS Information Session #3 – Zoom, 11:00 – 1:00 pm [MANDATORY – at least one]

Zoom link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84469191519?pwd=sdMXTmpxL5QYHGbHBMVgOAvG3qQh0T.1
October 21, 2024 Artist Grant Applications DUE
November 21, 2025 Funding recommendations from Arts & Culture Commission
January - February 2025 Artists Notified

 

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Investing in the Artist grants distribute small but impactful funds to arts organizations/cooperatives, serving as a catalyst to further the organization’s work while living and creating in Santa Ana, resulting in a more vibrant local art scene.

ART & ECONOMY: SHAPING SANTA ANA’S FUTURE THROUGH COLLABORATIVE CREATIVE EXPRESSION

The City of Santa Ana will support creative projects that explore the dynamic relationship between arts & culture and economics. This encourages nonprofit arts organizations to engage with the city’s economic and cultural fabric through participatory and interactive works, inviting the community to actively reflect on and contribute to the conversation, specifically how the arts and creative industries impact the city’s economic landscape, cultural identity, and community well-being.

We invite submissions from artists and arts organizations working in various mediums—visual arts, performance, music, creative writing, digital media, and more—who will not only explore the intersection of arts & culture and economics but also design projects that involve direct participation from the residents, businesses, and communities of Santa Ana.

Potential ideas to consider:

  • Projects that invite the community to explore how the arts & culture drive the city’s economy.
  • Collaborative works that engage citizens in imagining or influencing the future development of creative spaces in the city.
  • Projects that ask the community to contribute stories, images, or artifacts related to Santa Ana’s cultural heritage, focusing on the role this heritage plays in tourism and the local economy.
  • Interactive exhibitions or public engagements that highlight how art and culture are valued economically and socially.
  • Projects that invite participation from underrepresented communities to address economic inequities in the cultural sector.

Awards

The Arts & Culture Office is seeking to award grants in the amount of up to $20,000 for arts organizations/cooperatives that will enrich and invigorate the Santa Ana arts and culture landscape with Art & Economy: Shaping Santa Ana’s Future Through Collaborative Creative Expression and will be distributed in two (2) payments.

The grant period will be for 12 months and will require an interim and final report of outcomes achieved, including an itemized budget with documentation such as receipts. This is a REIMBURSEMENT grant. The first payment will be disbursed at the commencement of the project, and the second payment will be disbursed 60 days after the successful completion of the final report. All grantees are required to maintain financial records to verify compliance. If you are selected for an audit, you must have and submit proof of expenses for review by grants staff upon request.

Only activities and costs consistent with the grant application or proposal approved by the Arts & Culture Office will be funded. If changes in the awarded project are necessary, grantees must contact Arnet Victoria at (714) 647-5355 or artsandculture@santa-ana.org.

If the proposed project has not been completed by end of the grant cycle, awarded funds to the organization will need to be returned to the City, and the applicant(s) will be ineligible to reapply for the following two years.

Conflict of Interest

The Arts & Culture Commission members are actively involved in the arts professionally and/or personally. The Commission desires to avoid situations which may compromise, or appear to compromise, members’ objectivity while not preventing their continuing involvement in the arts, or in projects supported by the Commission and City. If the Commission member has a professional, fiduciary, and/or personal relationship with an applicant, the Commission member must notify the Commission of the relationship before the panel meeting or review of the applicant. The Commission member must also excuse him/herself from the room during the discussion of the applicant, and may not discuss the application with any other member of the Commission prior to, during, or after discussion of the application.

Eligibility Criteria

Nonprofit arts and culture organizations/cooperatives that meet the following criteria are welcome to apply:

  • Organizations with arts, culture, design, or creative innovation focus.
  • Organization must be based in Santa Ana and/or serve Santa Ana communities.
  • Projects can be small in scope and do not need to serve large numbers of people as long as they positively impact the organization’s purpose or mission.
  • A project may be a part of an applicant’s regular season or activities. Organizations that undertake a single short-term project in a year—a dance festival, for example—could apply for support for that event or they could identify certain components of their operations, such as securing rehearsal space, marketing activities, paying artists, etc., as their project.
  • A representative from the organization must attend one Information Session.
  • Applicants may not apply for consecutive grant cycles for the same project.
  • Only one application per project will be accepted. Organizations may not apply separately for the same project.
  • Cannot use this grant to complete a project that has already been funded through the City (ex: Sponsorship Program.
  • Grant recipients who have not completed their projects from prior grant cycles will not be eligible to apply this year. This includes completing their final reports.
  • Grant recipients who withdrew from program in the prior year, will be ineligible to reapply for the following two years.
  • Applicants engaged in active litigation with the City, have outstanding balances with the City, and/or have active code enforcement violations, or a history of multiple code enforcement violations are not eligible for the program.

Organizations/Cooperatives will be required to obtain/demonstrate the following prior to an award:

  • Current City of Santa Ana business license or city approval for business operation (for cooperatives).
  • Current General Liability insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 naming the City of Santa Ana as Additional Insured on a primary and non-contributory basis.
  • Active 501(c)3 nonprofit status and good standing with IRS or registered as an eligible cooperative with the City of Santa Ana.

Cooperatives are defined as:

  • A business entity that is owned and controlled by the people who work in it. Worker cooperatives thrive in many industries and regions.
  • In a worker cooperative, decisions are made democratically, by the people who do the work (usually following the principle of "one worker, one vote") instead of by one person or group people that holds all the power.
  • Cooperatives are a specific legal definition in which the workers are defined as members and owners of the cooperative. These member-owners are entitled to a vote, and to a share of the profits of the business (called patronage).

Online Resources Available for Cooperatives

More information on worker cooperatives

Starting up a worker cooperative

Conversion of existing business to a worker cooperative structure

Legal resources for worker cooperatives

Technical assistance for worker cooperatives

Ineligible Projects (What We Don't Fund)

  • Administrative and operational expenses
  • Scholarly research, tuition, or academic expenses.
  • Projects held, performed, or exhibited outside of the City of Santa Ana.
  • Programs that are not accessible to the public.
  • Funds going directly into trusts, endowments, or cash reserves.
  • Projects with religious purposes that serve to proselytize.
  • Projects with political purposes that serve to endorse a candidate and/or political party.
  • Projects CANNOT START UNTIL JANUARY 2025

Funding Priorities

  • Activating geographical areas in Santa Ana underserved by the arts
  • Collaborations/partnerships among different entities across artistic and non-artistic fields

Selection Process

Applicants will be reviewed and scored by a grant peer review panel made up of artists, arts and nonprofit professionals, and others with knowledge and professional qualifications in the arts and with familiarity of Orange County’s arts sector. Grant review panels will reflect the diversity of the region and the various professional groups encompassed by the arts sectors such as practitioners, administrators, board members, and educators. As a public agency, all information submitted to the Arts Commission in conjunction with a grant application becomes public record at the time the application is submitted. Applications will be reviewed and scored by a peer panel according to the following criteria.

Notes

  • Review panel may approve an amount that is less than what the applicant requested. It is encouraged that applicant find other funding sources for their project.
  • Approval of application does not imply that your dates and locations listed are approved as well. Contact appropriate entity to reserve the location and dates.
  • If doing a public art installation or public program, site must be selected prior to submission. Additionally, a letter from the property owner or facility must be included with your application.

Evaluation Criteria

Organization applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Project/Artistic Merit & Theme Relevance – 40%
  • Organizational Readiness/Fiscal Responsibility – 25%
  • Potential Community Impact – 25%
  • Organization Need – 10%

Criterion 1

A project with exceptional Project/Artistic Merit & Theme Relevance engages qualified and diverse arts or cultural professionals; provides arts experiences that expose participants to new perspectives; provides opportunities for engagement in the creative process; demonstrates cross-sector understanding, both supporting the arts and advancing community priorities; and provide clear examples of how the theme of “Participatory/Interactive Art” is incorporated into the project.

Criterion 2

An organization with exceptional Organizational Readiness/Fiscal Responsibility recruits and retains an engaged, diverse, and qualified board, staff, contractors, and/or volunteers and has an accumulated deficit of less than 20% of their total operational expenses for two or more years. Competitive applications will address all application questions and provide complete information.

Criterion 3

A project with exceptional Community Impact will be able to make a positive difference for Santa Ana residents, neighborhoods, and communities by creating leverage and visibility for these communities to receive greater resources; enhance the quality of life for those in the community; providing pipelines for arts leadership; enhance visitor’s experience of the City; and support economic growth in the City.

Criterion 4

Exceptional demonstration of Organization Needs must clearly relate to the organization’s mission and purpose and how it serves its constituents; supported with evidence such as statistics, expert views, and trends; and directly connect to, and support, the organization’s ability to respond to the need. Additionally, organization must clearly show efforts to find funding outside of the City of Santa Ana’s offerings, as well as displays of being self-sustaining.

Submission Requirements

Applications must contain the following documents to be considered for funding:

  1. Application Cover Sheet (use attached)
  2. Organization Mission and History
  3. List of Key Staff/Board of Directors (Resume/CV if applicable). Limit 2 pages.
  4. Organizational Operational Budget
  5. Narrative for proposed use of funds. Limit 2 pages. Formatting guidelines: Double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman, one inch margins.
  6. Supplemental Questions - Please answer each question separately:
  • Describe any additional City of Santa Ana resources required for your project (permits, public space, licenses etc.) that you are required to obtain.**
  • Is this a new or existing program/project?
  • How will the proposed project be presented or shared with the public? Will the art display, event, or performance be free and accessible to the public?
  • How will your project enrich the quality of life for Santa Ana residents?
  • Describe how will your project stimulate economic development for the City of Santa Ana?

7. Original artwork design or Schedule of Activities/Curriculum (download sample on webpage)
8. Project Timeline (download sample on webpage)
9. Line Item Budget (download sample on webpage)
10. At least two (2) signed Letters of Community Support. If letter is in language other than English, please provide English translation.

**If doing a public art installation, site must be selected prior to submission. Additionally, a letter from the property owner must be included with your application.

Submission Due Date

Applications are due on the Submittable.com website by MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024 at 11:59 PM.

Submit applications here (use Google Chrome): https://cityofsantaana.submittable.com/submit

The online application will prompt you to submit the information directly into the fields and to upload submission materials. The Arts & Culture Office strongly recommends submitting the application at least 5 days prior to the deadline to give ample time to troubleshoot.

For questions please contact Arts & Culture Office at (714) 647-5355 or artsandculture@santa-ana.org.

Additional Information

The artist selected through this application process must 1) have a current Santa Ana business license and 2) agree to maintain liability insurance, which will insure and indemnify the artist(s) and the City of Santa Ana during the term of the contract and for one year after acceptance of the project.

  • Awarding of grant funding is subject to City Council approval of funds.
  • The City of Santa Ana is not obligated to select a finalist from the submitted applications and reserves the right cancel this application at any time.
  • Submitting an application does not constitute an expressed or implied contract.
  • Applicants submitting will receive notification of the results of the selection process.
  • Application materials will not be returned.
  • This application is subject to ordinances in effect in the City of Santa Ana.
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