Deadline: 30-Oct-20
ArtsFairfax is inviting Nonprofit arts organizations for its Emergency Relief and Recovery Grant Program to sustain the arts in Fairfax County by providing support to arts organizations and artists as they adjust to losses sustained because of programming and/or operations that have been modified or cancelled as a result of COVID-19 and the ensuing State of Emergency declared by the Governor.
ArtsFairfax creates and nurtures an environment in which the arts and artists can flourish and is designated as Fairfax County’s local arts agency. Through partnerships with schools, individual artists, arts organizations, and other cultural and community groups, ARTSFAIRFAX promotes and encourages excellence in the arts by initiating and supporting activities, services, and policies that inspire, nurture, and reflect the cultural diversity of Fairfax County.
Emergency Relief and Recovery Grants are non-recurring grants to eligible nonprofit arts organizations and individual artists to support ongoing activities that occur on a regular basis as part of an organization’s mission or artist’s practice as well as special projects that may have been adversely impacted by COVID-19. Grant funding may be used to offset:
- Lost income due to the cancellation of programming/operations;
- Unexpected expenses directly resulting from COVID-19;
- Overhead costs for the organization or artistic practice (rent, newsletter subscriptions, website hosting, electricity, phone bills, etc);
- Staff salaries and benefits, including artist payments;
Goals
Through the Emergency Relief and Recovery Grant Program, ArtsFairfax seeks to:
- Provide funding to help sustain arts organizations and individual artists;
- Contribute to the recovery of the arts sector in Fairfax County.
Funding Information
- Individual artists may request between $500-$1,000 depending on their need. Applicants may be granted an amount less than requested.
Grant Restrictions
All Emergency Relief and Recovery Grant Program grants must:
- Support activities, programs, or projects occurring within Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, or the City of Falls Church;
- Have qualified artistic or scholarly, administrative, and management leadership (either professional or volunteer) capable of completing any grant-supported activities, programs, or projects;
- Emergency/Recovery expenses must take place by June 30, 2021.
Ineligible Funding
Emergency Relief and Recovery Grants cannot be used for:
- Construction or renovation projects;
- Political advocacy costs;
- Proselytizing, or promoting a faith or religion.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nonprofit arts organizations based in Fairfax County, City of Fairfax, and City of Falls Church including umbrella organizations with arts divisions and departments are eligible. Organizations receiving line item funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia, as well as schools or departments of state universities, Fairfax County Government departments, divisions, and agencies, and their affiliated foundations and fundraising entities, are not eligible for these ARTSFAIRFAX grants.
- Individual artists working in Choreography, Creative Writing, Dance Performance, Film/New Media, Music Composition,
- Music Performance, Theater Performance, and Visual Arts are eligible to apply. All individual applicants must meet the following criteria to apply to the Emergency Relief and Recovery Grant Program. Staff reviews all grant applications for eligibility prior to the review process.
- Individuals must be at least 18 years of age at the time of the application deadline;
- Individuals must be residents of Fairfax County for at least 12 months prior to the application deadline. Applicant must provide proof of residency. Residency must be in the applicant’s name. Residency is based on the applicant’s physical residence [home], not on a P.O. Box, studio/workspace, or other property owned by the applicant. Grantees must remain residents of Fairfax County for the duration of the grant period. City of Fairfax and City of Falls Church residents are not eligible;
- Individuals must be actively working in and/or deriving income from their arts discipline.
- Individuals must have exhibited, performed, presented and/or published artistic work in a public context that demonstrates an ongoing commitment to their artistic discipline for 3 or more years;
- Individuals must be identified as a primary creator or author of work(s) described in the application. Individuals applying as a director or conductor, must be the Key Creative Individual(S) most clearly responsible and;
- involved in the creative aspects of the process;
- Individuals are not eligible if they have previously received an ArtsFairfax Emergency Relief and Recovery Grant.
Review Process
- Following the grant application deadline, ArtsFairfax staff determines whether an applicant is eligible and whether an application is complete. Staff may contact applicants for information needed to make an eligibility determination. If an applicant is determined to be ineligible, the application will be rejected without evaluation. Incomplete applications are subject to rejection without evaluation. If an application is rejected, the applicant will be notified by mail.
- All eligible applications for the Emergency Relief and Recovery Grant Program are evaluated by panel review. Panelists are arts professionals with knowledge of or expertise in the segments of the arts community that are eligible to apply to the ArtsFairfax for funding. In-person panel meetings are open to the public and applicants will be notified of the schedule for the panel meeting and are encouraged to attend. If necessary, panel meetings may be held online to comply with public health guidelines. Virtual panels will not be open to applicants for observation; however, staff notes summarizing the discussion and comments will be available.
- The ArtsFairfax Board of Directors makes the final funding decisions based on the evaluations by the panels and the overall goals of the Emergency Relief and Recovery Grant Program and of ArtsFairfax.
For more information, visit https://artsfairfax.org/err-grants/
