Deadline: 3 June 2019
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Office of Citizen Exchanges, Cultural Programs Division has announced an open competition to support the FY 2019 Arts Envoy Program.
The Arts Envoy Program enables approximately 400 U.S. artists and cultural experts (known as Arts Envoys) to travel abroad each year for individual or group programs to engage and consult with key foreign audiences through performances, workshops, meetings, seminars, and appearances in foreign media. By addressing topics identified and developed by U.S. missions worldwide in cooperation with ECA, the program promotes an understanding of U.S. policies and institutions and the political, economic, social, and cultural context from which they arise.
Goals
The goals of the Arts Envoy Program are to:
- Support U.S. foreign policy goals by enabling U.S. citizen cultural experts to interact with key foreign audiences worldwide;
- Identify and recruit the most appropriate U.S. cultural experts to undertake Public Diplomacy programs in response to Department of State strategic initiatives and requests from U.S. missions abroad;
- Promote an understanding among foreign audiences of U.S. culture and society, including the political, economic, social, and cultural contexts from which they arise;
- Enable foreign audiences to learn about U.S. culture, society and institutions, thereby supporting development and growth of civil society and cultural and social institutions abroad, and countering negative stereotypes;
- Establish sustained relationships and linkages between Arts Envoys and foreign audiences, peers, and institutions in order to cultivate the exchange of knowledge and skills that benefits participating communities;
- Carry out a series of jazz-themed Arts Envoy tours building on the legacy of the original Jazz Ambassadors program from the 1950s-1970s, tentatively called Jazz Ambassadors Redux;
- Implement, through a subaward if appropriate, a new ArtsMotion USA Art Therapy component, which will focus on arts therapy and disability rights.
- Implement, through a subaward if appropriate, a series of food diplomacy programs, which will focus on food security, entrepreneurship, trade promotion, and sustainable practices.
Applicant organizations should identify their own specific objectives and measurable outcomes based on these program goals and the specifications provided in this solicitation.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $2,545,000
Program-specific Guidelines
Competitive proposals will include the following:
- Resumes of experienced staff who have demonstrated a commitment to implementing and monitoring international exchange projects and achieving target outcomes.
- Resumes of experienced personnel to manage special initiatives, including appropriate credentials (e.g. degrees, licenses) to ensure the initiative implementation is compliant with leading industry practices.
- A strategy for implementing virtual, phone, or in-person pre-departure orientations for individual Arts Envoys and Arts Envoy groups.
- A clear outline and description of the roles and responsibilities of all proposed partner organizations in terms of program logistics, management and oversight (e.g. the travel arranger and the passport/visa facilitator), including letters of intent from any partner organizations and resumes of staff.
- A specific outline of how honoraria, lodging costs, and airline tickets will be disbursed to program participants and how passports/visas will be handled based on the information.
- A specific outline of the type of agreement that will be established between the award recipient and the individual Arts Envoys to specify funding and terms and conditions for each overseas program.
Activities and Responsibilities
ECA/PE/C/CU activities and responsibilities for this program are as follows:
- Solicit, evaluate, develop, and approve individual Arts Envoy project proposals from U.S. missions worldwide.
- Recruit and approve all participating individual U.S. experts or arts groups.
- Communicate directly with U.S. missions regarding program arrangements and logistics in consultation with the award recipient.
- Oversee the program budget, review quarterly budget reports, and approve the appropriate allocation of projects among U.S. missions in all geographic regions.
- Collaborate with the award recipient to develop appropriate work flow processes to ensure effective communication between the Department of State and the award recipient.
- Collaborate with the award recipient to develop standardized templates for the project authorization and airline travel booking.
- Advise the recipient on the specifics of all travel itineraries and payment amounts for all program participants.
- Through the Bureau’s Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges (ASPE), provide insurance to all Arts Envoy program participants.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications may be submitted by U.S. public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3).
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted via given website.
For more information, please visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=314418