The NEA Arts Endowment is Offering a Grant to Support Statewide Forums on Arts Careers for Individuals with Disabilities

• Meet the Arts Endowment’s “Legal Requirements,” including nonprofit, tax-exempt status, as detailed in the FY 2010 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines, at the time of application.
• Have at least a three-year history of experience that is directly related to the types of activities outlined in the "Award Program Description" prior to the application deadline.
• Have submitted acceptable Final Report packages by the due date(s) for all Arts Endowment award(s) previously received.

Organizations are limited to a single application. An application in response to this announcement does not preclude an organization from applying under other Arts Endowment funding areas including Grants for Arts Projects. In each case, the request must be for a distinctly different project.

The designated fifty state and six jurisdictional arts agencies (SAAs) and their regional arts organizations (RAOs) are not eligible to apply under this program announcement.

This project is designed to advance education and career opportunities in the arts for individuals with disabilities. A June 1998 National Forum on Careers in the Arts for Individuals with Disabilities and three subsequent summits on arts education, arts administration, and vocational rehabilitation assessed needs in this area and recommended strategies for addressing them. A key recommendation was the convening of statewide forums.

The Arts Endowment initiated the Statewide Forums on Careers in the Arts for Individuals with Disabilities project in 2002. Since that time, 26 states have convened forums and conducted follow-up activities.

The Arts Endowment plans to award a single award of up to $50,000 to an organization to 1) manage and support a minimum of two Statewide Forums on Careers in the Arts for Individuals with Disabilities in states that have not yet convened such a forum, and 2) conduct a minimum of four follow-up activities in states that have convened forums. Based on the review of applications, the NEA will determine the appropriate funding mechanism for this award (i.e., either a cooperative agreement or a grant). The awardee organization will:

• Develop a protocol whereby state arts agencies (those organizations that are officially designated and financially supported by their state governments as such) may submit proposals to convene statewide forums or conduct follow-up activities on careers in the arts for people with disabilities. The awardee organization must provide oversight and consultation to the state arts agencies as they develop their proposals. State arts agencies should be encouraged to develop their projects with their VSAarts affiliates.

• Ensure that each forum or follow-up activity engages key individuals and organizations from the arts and disability communities. Career opportunities should span all arts disciplines and include a wide variety of positions such as museum curator, media artist, visual artist, costume designer, actor, director, arts gallery manager, poet, and writer.

• Conduct a peer review to evaluate proposals and determine the state arts agencies that will participate.

• Provide technical assistance to and monitor the activities of the selected states as they develop their forums or follow-up activities. This must include:
– Convening regular conference calls to review progress and provide guidance.
– Identifying and providing resources for participants.

• Provide reimbursement for the forum or follow-up activity expenses.

• Evaluate the statewide forums, follow-up activities, and technical assistance provided. This should include evaluation of the project’s operations and its impact through both quantitative and qualitative data.

• Summarize the results and provide recommendations for the future. This includes providing the following reports to the Arts Endowment:
– A six-month progress report.
– A final report with a summary and analysis of findings from the forums and follow-up activities including recommendations.

• Disseminate relevant information to the field. This may include:
– Using the awardee organization’s Web site and message board to exchange information and to post lessons learned for and from forum and follow-up activity participants.
– Disseminating information and a calendar of events to the arts and disability community and to the public at large.

• Secure any rights, permissions, and releases that are required to carry out the project.

For more information on the background of this project, visit the Accessibility section of the Arts Endowment’s Web site.