Deadline: 27-Feb-25
Applications are now open for Creative Aging Initiative Grant to support eligible arts organizations, libraries, veterans homes, senior and community centers, colleges/universities, and units of government to cover costs for arts learning experiences with New Jersey older adults aged 55 and over.
Benefits
- A CAI project is defined as an arts-based learning experience that directly engages older adults for multiple sessions. Projects may be sequential and build to a project culmination (residencies) or include a series of individual workshops that focus on skill-building and development in the performing, visual, media, or literary arts. Projects in Year One and Year Two may build upon one another to address one community need or they may be separate offerings to address two or more community needs.
- Each session must be led by a teaching artist experienced in arts-based learning for older adults. Creative aging programming must be offered without charge to participants.
Funding Information
- Successful applicants will receive $10,000 of funding for each year of the two-year grant cycle, pending available resources.
- The Creative Aging Initiative Grant (CAI) provides $10,000 to eligible arts organizations, libraries, veterans homes, senior and community centers, colleges/universities, and units of government to cover costs for arts learning experiences with New Jersey older adults aged 55 and over.
- This is a two-year grant program, and successful applicants will receive a commitment of funding for CAI each year of the two-year grant cycle. The CAI grant period runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 (Year 1) and July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 (Year 2).
Ineligible Activities
- Ineligible activities include, but are not limited to:
- Art Therapy or rehabilitative programing
- Comedy
- Culinary arts, including decoration
- Floral and environmental arts, including floral arranging and gardening
- Martial arts, including tai-chi and other wellness-based movement and exercise
- Yoga, Pilates, meditation, or other wellness-based movement/mindfulness
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be:
- Incorporated in the state of New Jersey as a nonprofit. Eligible organizations include libraries, veterans homes, senior centers, community centers, colleges/universities, or units of government;
- Tax-exempt by determination of the Internal Revenue Service;
- An organization in “good standing” with the New Jersey Department of State;
- Current with New Jersey’s Charities Registration Bureau and Division of Revenue requirements;
- Registered in the federal System for Award Management and have its CAGE and UEI codes (See the System for Award Management guidance section below for help on how to secure your organization’s registration.);
- In compliance with all pertinent state and federal regulations including but not limited to: Fair Labor Standards, the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988; and Section 1913 of 18 U.S.C. and Section 319 of P.L. 101-121. Apart from all other provisions of law, particularly the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bear upon all Council grantees, those grantees whose Council grant is composed all or in part of funds derived from the National Endowment for the Arts will be required to be in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 at the time of and as a condition of receipt of the grant under penalty of rescission and any others set forth under law.
- In addition, the applicant must demonstrate that it:
- Primarily serves New Jersey communities (51% or more of audiences must be from New Jersey);
- Provides a location that is barrier-free and accessible by all participants;
- Has experience working with arts-based learning for adults aged 55 and over for two years or more; Governed by an independent board of directors responsible for the governance and administration of the organization, its programs, and finances;
- Employs at least one half-time administrative staff person (20 hours/week at minimum) responsible for contributing to the administrative oversight of the organization;
- Demonstrates capacity to support a teaching artist and their programming, including paying the teaching artist at no less than $80/hour.
Application Requirements
- The application is comprised of one (1) review page and fourteen (14) forms in SAGE. All questions and support materials are required components. Please follow form instructions and upload all the documents/files as PDFs in the order requested. All application and support materials must be submitted in English.
- Organizational Profile Information Review Page: This page provides the essential information about the organization. The contact information listed in this form will be utilized by the Arts Council for all communication purposes. It is paramount that the information is current and accurate. Review all information and update accordingly.
- The Grant Contact should be the individual responsible for managing the grant in SAGE and is the organization’s primary Arts Council contact. This person must have the ability to speak on behalf of the organization and its grant.
- Form 1. Type of Support: The Creative Aging category will be pre-selected for you.
- Form 2. Panel Category: Please select the Creative Aging Initiative, regardless of art form(s) presented.
- Form 3. Application Detail Summary: This form asks for the purpose of funding which may be used in public materials. The statement is limited to approximately 50 words or 300 characters, and it should contain the basic “who, what, where, and when” information.
- Sample Statement: “The CAI grant will support the Smith County Library in providing residencies for older adults in creative writing, filmmaking, and performance. Year One will engage participants in the basics of scriptwriting and screenplay development. Year Two will provide foundations of filmmaking and acting on camera.”
- You will also be asked to provide three project description codes that will be reported to the National Endowment for the Arts and National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. They suggest that you select the following:
- Type of Description: 12 – Arts Instruction
- Project Descriptors: Older Adults
- Arts Education: 01-D: 50% or more of this project’s activities are arts education directed to adult learners.
- Form 4. Grant Narrative: The narrative is limited to 12,500 characters or approximately three pages in length. The narrative should clearly and concisely communicate your project to the application review panel and provide context for the other materials in the application. It is a good idea to craft the narrative in a Word document and then copy and paste it into the SAGE narrative form. Please use the narrative topic headers in the body of your narrative.
For more information, visit New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
