VSA and MetLife Foundation Invite Arts Organizations to Apply for Arts Connect All Program

VSA, an international nonprofit that works to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts, and the MetLife Foundation have designed the Arts Connect All funding opportunity to encourage arts organizations in select metropolitan areas of the United States to create or enhance multi-session, inclusive education programs by strengthening partnerships with local K-12 public schools.

The Arts Connect All program is designed to enable more students with disabilities to experience social, cognitive, and cultural development through arts learning alongside their peers without disabilities; create educational access and inclusion in the arts for students with disabilities; and document the contributions that arts organizations make to inclusive education in public schools. Inclusive programs are those which have students with and without disabilities interacting in activities together to create awareness, understanding, and respect.

VSA and MetLife Foundation invite proposals from arts organizations working to create or enhance inclusive educational programs that incorporate inclusive teaching practices; provide access to students with all types of disabilities; develop social, cognitive, and artistic skills; involve people with disabilities in planning and implementation; build staff, teacher, and/or artist knowledge and skill of inclusive practices; and collaborate with public schools, actively engaging students, parents, and school administrators.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) performing and/or exhibiting arts organizations — including museums, theaters, and multidisciplinary arts presenters —that are creating or have an established educational program are eligible to apply. Organizations must have as their primary mission the goal of advancing the arts and/or a specific art form.

Only arts organizations located in and partnering with public schools in the following metropolitan areas are eligible: Phoenix, Arizona; Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, California; Denver, Colorado; Hartford, Connecticut; Tampa, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Portland, Oregon; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; Nashville, Tennessee; Houston, Texas; and Seattle, Washington.

Eligible programs (existing or newly developed) must have students with disabilities and without disabilities learning together at the same time and place; must involve K-12 public school students in the target audience; must be ongoing or have multiple sessions; may take place during school hours or after school; and may receive awards in a maximum of three grant cycles. Second- and third-year grants must expand or enhance programs funded in a previous cycle.

A maximum of ten grants of up to $15,000 each will be awarded.

Guidelines and application instructions are available at the VSA Web site.

PBS Announce Diversity and Innovation Fund for new, weekly, primetime series

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service have announced the first Request for Proposals from their Diversity and Innovation Fund. The fund seeks proposals to provide the National Programming Service with a new, weekly, primetime series that will expand viewership and usage and reach an adult audience on-air and online that reflects the diversity of the 40-to-64-year-old demographic.

Specifically, the DI Fund seeks to diversify the NPS by attracting more racially and ethnically diverse viewers and Web visitors within the target demographic; expand the current NPS audience through the increased use of content created by a diverse group of producers and through the effective use of new and emerging technologies; leverage the talent and creativity of executive producers and producers from minority and underserved communities; build capacity for the public media system from within those communities; and encourage innovation in the planning, production, and distribution of public media content.

The content should be conceived and budgeted with multiple-platform use (broadcast, VOD, Internet, mobile, DVD, etc.) in mind from the outset.

The RFP encourages proposals for a variety of popular genres, including science, history, travel, natural history, and exploration. This RFP is not seeking children’s, drama, or news and public affairs content, as these subject areas are being addressed via other initiatives and/or existing properties.

Applicants are invited to submit proposals for a series of ten episodes that can be produced for $375,000 per hour (or less), with attendant rights that allow for the efficient use of the content on all distribution platforms. The intent is to “pilot” several projects. One or more will then be selected for series production.

PBS will begin accepting proposals on July 26, 2010. Visit the PBS Web site for complete program information and application procedures at http://www.pbs.org/difund/

Chase Community Giving Launches Summer 2010 Online Program ($5 million to 200 charities!)

Chase, the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co., has announced the launch of its Chase Community Giving Summer 2010 program on Facebook. The program will award a total of more than $5 million to be shared among two hundred charities.

Chase Community Giving is a program that allows users to vote online for the local charities that matter most to them. By participating, users will help Chase direct corporate philanthropy dollars to eligible small and local organizations working in the focus areas of primary and secondary education, youth development, healthcare, housing, community development, the environment, combating hunger, arts and culture, human services, and animal welfare.

The first Chase Community Giving program, held earlier this year, was the most popular corporate philanthropy crowdsourcing campaign of its type. More than two million Facebook users became fans of the program and helped decide which of the more than 500,000 charities that participated should receive a share of $5 million. More than a hundred winners from thirty-one states were selected.

For the summer 2010 program, the number of charities eligible to receive awards has doubled and several new tools have been introduced. Charities will be able to edit their charity profiles and add meaningful media to help tell their stories in the form of videos and photos. In addition, badges, which users earn to indicate their commitment to their community, have been introduced. And a Gift Vote feature that lets users earn the right to give additional votes to a friend has been added.

To underscore the program’s focus on small and local organizations, 501(c)(3) public nonprofits with operating expenses of $1 million or less are eligible to receive funding. The top vote-receiving charities meeting the eligibility and other requirements of the program rules will receive the top grants. The eligible charity with the most votes will receive $250,000; the top four runners-up will receive $100,000 each; and the remaining eligible charities in the top two hundred will each receive $20,000. There will be one round of voting. Voting begins June 15 and ends July 12, 2010.

For more information and program requirements: http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/

Call for Proposals: 2010 All Africa Dance Festival on Peace

Call for Proposals: 2010 All Africa Dance Festival on Peace

Africa Dance Festival
Deadline
July 15, 2010
Region / Country
Kenya

Summary of RFP:

The 2010 All Africa Dance Festival on Peace is a global celebration of dance for peace.

The Festival Programme of the All Africa Dance Festival will be compiled from proposals that are reviewed by a Festival Committee by the deadline. The participation selection has no set criteria and is open to all artists, and all styles, choreographers, dance troupes and peace educators who register to present their artistic work.

Proposals for consideration for the Main Festival Programme need to be submitted in writing to reach the Festival Director no later than 15th July 2010.

Detailed proposals for the Main Programme should include:

* Background of the institution, organization or individual submitting the proposal
* A narrative description of the production / exhibition / performance
* Brief narrative biographies of the principal artists in / proposed for the production / exhibition
* An artistic statement motivating why the work should be presented at the 2010 Festival.

Entrance to the festival for festival and conference delegates is Free! Please check detailed updates on http://www.africadancefestival.com . It should be noted that the Festival’s budget does not, unfortunately, stretch to cover international flights and freight, and artists from outside of Kenya are requested to raise funding for these costs themselves. Artists are also advised to enquire from their government departments if their country’s Embassy in Kenya or arts foundations in their home countries can fund their participation as a cultural exchange program in the All Africa Dance Festival on Peace.
Submission Instructions

Contact:
Karegwa Muchiri at: info@africadancefestival.com or on +254-20-4452674/ 4450937

Freedom to Create Grants: money for global arts development

Freedom to Create Grants
Region
Global

Rolling deadline

Through grant making, Freedom to Create offers funding to projects that use the arts to create transformational change in the developing world. The organisation invites applications for funding to support projects that use art forms to educate, build, heal, and inspire people – from educating communities on a particular issue, to inspiring people to change the status quo, to building arts capacity.

The following requirements must be met to be considered for a Freedom to Create grant:

* Projects must be run by a registered non-profit organisation
* Projects must fall into one of six sectors: Education, Health, Social Harmony, Urban Regeneration, Freedom to Create, or Designs for Life
* Projects must indicate how their results will be measured – both quantitatively and qualitatively
* The project itself must be located in a developing country, and is ideally a country most in need. To further assess whether a country may be eligible for funding, please see the list of Emerging and Developing Countries in the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Report or the United Nation’s Human Development Index.

Preferred Projects – One or more of the following qualifications will be of particular interest:

* Are based in the world’s harshest places and least developed countries
* Offer a new approach to issues and challenges
* Are designed to deliver sustainable change
* Offer ambitious ideas
* Include strong ways of measuring the project’s impact on society

Excluded Projects – Grants are unable to support:

* Individual artists
* Educational scholarships
* Organisations that discriminate on the basis of race, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, or sexual orientation in policy or in practice
* Programmes that promote sectarian religious activities
* Programmes that promote impermissible lobbying
* Programmes which contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
* Projects located in the developed world, such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. However, please note that organisations based in these countries are welcome to apply for funding if their programmes are located in the developing world.
* Costs not directly associated with the project’s implementation.

Freedom to Create
Level 46
UOB Plaza 1
80 Raffles Place
048624
Singapore
Tel: 65 62105560
http://www.freedomtocreate.com/
info@freedomtocreate.com

Alter-Ciné Foundation Documentary Film Grants for African, Asian, and Latin American filmmakers

Alter-Ciné Foundation Documentary Film Grants
Regions:
Africa, Eastern Europe/Central Asia, Latin America, South Asia, South East and East Asia
Deadline Date
August 15, 2010

The Alter-Ciné Foundation offers a yearly grant to young film and video makers born and living in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to direct a documentary film on the theme of rights and freedoms, including social and economic rights, women’s rights, the right to culture, and artistic creation. The Foundation will award a grant of CDN$10,000 to a video or filmmaker to assist in the production of a documentary project. The grant is aimed at young video and filmmakers who want to direct a film in the language of their choice that respects the aims of the Foundation.

The Foundation particularly supports documentary films that, as stated on their website, “dare to go against the tide, that take the side of the defenceless and question common assumptions by giving a voice to the voiceless, enriching our understanding of the world and helping us reflect on the possibility of changing the world from a perspective of peace, justice, equality and respect for differences.”

The Alter-Cine Foundation was created in the memory of Canadian filmmaker, Yvan Patry who passed away on October 14 1999. Patry was a co-founder of the production company Alter Ciné and directed numerous documentaries and current affairs programmes in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Patry’s documentaries, according to the Foundation, have contributed to tearing down walls of silence, denouncing injustice and barbarism, and giving voice to victims of horror.

To apply, the video/filmmaker must complete the PDF format application available here.

Contact
Alter-Ciné Foundation
5371 avenue de l’Esplanade
Montréal Québec
H2T 2Z8
Canada
Tel: 1 514 273 7136
http://altercine.org/prog_an.html
alter@mlink.net

Attention photographers: Open Society Institute Seeks Entries for Moving Walls 18 Documentary Photography Exhibition

Open Society Institute Seeks Entries for Moving Walls 18 Documentary Photography Exhibition

The Open Society Institute invites photographers to submit a body of work for consideration by its Moving Walls 18 group exhibition.

Moving Walls features in-depth explorations of human rights and social issues. Thematically linked to OSI’s mission, Moving Walls is exhibited at OSI’s offices in New York and Washington, D.C. The show will feature the work of seven photographers.

Any emerging or veteran photographer who has completed a body of work related to a human rights or social justice issue may apply. The program will accept any genre of photography that is documentary in nature and is not staged or manipulated. Priority will be given to work that addresses issues and geographic regions of concern to OSI. Work in progress may be submitted as long as a substantial portion of the work has been completed.

OSI will support Moving Walls photographers’ budgets for printing, dry-mounting, and other production costs. In addition, selected photographers will receive a $2,000 royalty payment. To support the professional advancement of photographers who have not received much exposure, an additional travel grant will be provided to select Moving Walls photographers to attend the opening in New York and meet with local photo editors and relevant NGO staff. Recipients must apply for the travel grant after being chosen for inclusion in the Moving Walls exhibition.

For complete program information and entry guidelines, visit the OSI Moving Walls Web site: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/photography/focus_areas/mw/guidelines

Attention Artists: Ford Foundation Launches Funding Initiative to Develop Arts Spaces

Ford Foundation Launches Funding Initiative to Develop Arts Spaces

The Ford Foundation has announced a ten-year, $100 million initiative to support a new generation of arts spaces nationwide. The new initiative, Supporting Diverse Arts Spaces, will provide funding for projects that incubate and produce creative work across all disciplines. Grant funds will support both new projects and the revitalization and expansion of existing arts spaces.

As part of the initiative, the Ford Foundation has joined with LINC (Leveraging Investments in Creativity), and the MetLife Foundation, to call for applications for the first round of Ford Foundation Space for Change predevelopment and planning grants. Through an open Request for Proposal process, grants will go to organizations that are in the early stages of planning facilities that support artistically innovative and culturally diverse endeavors that will strengthen relationships between the community and artists.

Nonprofit arts organizations with strong track records of artistic excellence, who are intending to buy, build, renovate, partner in the development of, or become anchor tenants in a vibrant artist space can apply for grants of up to $100,000 each over two years in capital and/or planning support. All applicants must, at a minimum demonstrate a track record of excellence in their programming and artistic production; be 501(c)(3) organizations that directly serve both artists and communities; demonstrate strong community ties; and have the fiscal and organizational capacity necessary to partner in or carry out a facility project.

Examples of the wide range of facilities that would be eligible for support include work- and/or live-work spaces for artists; performance facilities; rehearsal spaces; gallery spaces; community arts and educational facilities; and any other type of spaces where artists work, where art works are made, or presented, or where educational activities associated with the arts and involving artists take place.

Letters of Inquiry will be accepted on a rolling basis. For the Spring 2010 Cycle, LOI will be reviewed from April 14 to June 22, 2010 (for LOI received on or before May 28, 2010). For the Fall 2010 Cycle, LOI will be reviewed from September 22 to November 3, 2010 (for LOI received between May 29 and September 17, 2010). LINC will invite organizations with strong LOI to submit a full proposal within 30 days of receiving the LOI.

Link to info and application

New RFPs listed October 26:from arts to sciences

Arts and Culture

Big Read Program Offers Grants to Support Community Reading Projects
Grants of up to $20,000 in matching funds will be awarded to museums, colleges, and universities partnering with libraries working to revitalize the role of literature in American culture….

Posted on October 23, 2009
Deadline: February 2, 2009

Theatre Communications Group Accepting Applications for Future Collaborations Program
Grants of up to $6,000 will be awarded to theaters and individual theater professionals in the United States or its territories for unrestricted travel designed to promote collaboration and the sharing of ideas with colleagues abroad….

Posted on October 22, 2009
Deadline: November 16, 2009

Arts Midwest Announces Guidelines for 2010-11 Performing Arts Fund Grants
Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to presenting organizations in the Arts Midwest region to support state touring of professional performing artists, including public performances and in-depth educational activities….

Posted on October 22, 2009
Deadline: Beginning March 24, 2010 (until funds depleted)

Philadelphia Arts Organizations Invited to Apply for Engage 2020 Innovation Grant Program
Grants of up to $75,000 will be awarded to nonprofits in the Greater Philadelphia region working to increase cultural participation through artistic programs and products, enhanced audience experiences, and/or marketing and communications initiatives….

Posted on October 22, 2009
Deadline: December 1, 2009 (Letter of Intent)

American Library Association Invites Proposals for Carroll Preston Baber Research Grant
Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded to one or more librarians or library educators working on projects that could lead to an improvement in services and that assist the library community nationally….

Posted on October 22, 2009
Deadline: December 1, 2009

Luce Fund in American Art Offers Support for Scholarly Exhibitions and Publications
American museums are eligible to receive support for projects that demonstrate, in tangible fashion, the impact of the artist or subject in the field of American art or American art history as well as contribute something to scholarship….

Posted on October 21, 2009
Deadline: April 1, annually (Letters of Inquiry)

Community Improvement/Development

Home Depot Accepting Applications for Building Healthy Communities Grant Program
Grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded to nonprofits for materials that equip volunteers working to improve the physical health of their communities through activities that enhance green spaces and community structures….

Posted on October 23, 2009
Deadline: December 15, 2009

Peoples Bancorp Foundation Offers Community Grants in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky
The Peoples Bancorp Foundation seeks to enhance the quality of life for individuals served by organizations located in the communities served by Peoples Bank….

Posted on October 20, 2009
Deadline: Open

Environment

Grant Applications Invited to Help Restore Populations of Native Aquatic Species
Grants of up to $60,000 in matching funds will be awarded to nonprofits, universities, Native American tribes, and local, state, and federal agencies working to restore, protect, or enhance native populations on lands adjacent to or on federal property….

Posted on October 23, 2009
Deadline: December 1, 2009 (Pre-proposal)

National Geographic Conservation Trust Offers Funding to Preserve Earth’s Resources
Grants of up to $20,000 will be awarded to researchers working on projects that contribute significantly to the preservation and sustainable use of the planet’s biological, cultural, and historical resources….

Posted on October 21, 2009
Deadline: Open

Health

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Invites Schools of Nursing to Apply for New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Funding
Grants will be awarded to educational institutions with accredited entry-level accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs or master’s nursing programs for non-nursing college graduates….

Posted on October 23, 2009
Deadline: December 15, 2009

Kansas Health Foundation Invites Applications
The foundation offers Recognition Grants in order to expand its support to a broad range of health-related organizations in the state….

Posted on October 21, 2009
Deadline: March 15 and September 15, annually

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Accepting Applications for the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program
College seniors and recent graduates will spend ten weeks in Washington, D.C., gaining knowledge about federal legislative procedure and health policy issues while further developing their critical thinking and leadership skills….

Posted on October 17, 2009
Deadline: December 4, 2009

Philanthropy and Voluntarism

Consulting Firm Offers Grants for Forward-Thinking Nonprofit Organizations
Consulting services valued at up to $12,000 will be awarded to two nonprofits that have been in business at least two years and have new or emerging fundraising programs….

Posted on October 18, 2009
Deadline: November 15, 2009

Science/Technology

Vodafone Americas Foundation Launches Second Annual Wireless Innovation Project
Awards totaling $600,000 will be given to nonprofits, educational institutions, and social entrepreneurs working to advance wireless related technologies that have the potential to solve critical global issues….

Posted on October 19, 2009
Deadline: February 1, 2010

Social Science

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Offers Support for Research on Violence and Aggression
One- or two-year grants of up to $30,000 will be awarded to graduate students writing their dissertations and researching the causes, manifestations, and control of violence, aggression, and dominance….

Posted on October 21, 2009
Deadline: February 1 and August 1, annually

Arts and Culture grants (October 18)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Accepting Applications for 2010 Institutional Grants
Grants will be awarded to nonprofit film organizations and to higher education film programs working to provide film workshops, seminars, training, and education opportunities to college students and adults….

Posted on October 15, 2009
Deadline: January 15, 2010

USArtists International Offers Funding for Artists to Perform at Festivals Abroad
Grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded to cover the festival participation expenses for selected American dance, music, and theater ensembles and solo artists with nonprofit status….

Posted on October 15, 2009
Deadline: January 8 and May 3, 2010

Creative Work Fund Invites Letters of Inquiry From San Francisco Artists Collaborating With Nonprofits
Grants of up to $40,000 will be awarded for two-year projects featuring one or more performing or visual artists collaborating with a nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area…

Posted on October 15, 2009
Deadline: November 6, 2009 (Letters of Inquiry)

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Arts Program Accepting Applications for Fund for National Projects
Grants of up to $200,000 will be awarded to individual nonprofits and consortia working to strengthen the health of the dance, jazz, presenting, or theater arts fields….

Posted on October 15, 2009
Deadline: November 1, 2009, and May 1, annually (Letters of Inquiry)