Informational seminar to assist artists will be held in
Hollister Oct. 6; five webinars also scheduled
The Creative Work Fund (CWF) invites artists and nonprofit
organizations to apply for grants for collaborative projects
featuring media or performing artists. Letters of inquiry are due
by Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. Up to $810,000 will be available for grants
that may range in size from $10,000 to $40,000.
Informational seminar to assist artists will be held in Hollister Oct. 6; five webinars also scheduled
The Creative Work Fund (CWF) invites artists and nonprofit organizations to apply for grants for collaborative projects featuring media or performing artists. Letters of inquiry are due by Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. Up to $810,000 will be available for grants that may range in size from $10,000 to $40,000.
An informational seminar hosted by the San Benito County Arts Council and Community Foundation for San Benito County will be held on October 6, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Community Foundation offices at 829 San Benito St., Suite 200. For more information, please call Jennifer at 636-2787 or [email protected] or visit www.creativeworkfund.org.
The 2012 grant program will focus on media and performing arts projects. Projects may culminate in any form, but they must feature a lead artist with a strong track record as a media artist or performing artist and collaboration between that artist and a nonprofit organization. The Creative Work Fund uses the following definitions for these eligible artists:
Media artists create narrative, documentary, animated, or experimental time-based works using audio, digital, film, and/or video media. Computer arts also are included in this category. (Please note that the Fund considers still photography in its visual arts category.)
Performing artists create or execute work in dance, opera, performance art, theater, and vocal and instrumental music. (Please note that the fund considers spoken word artists in its literary arts category.)
The CWF grant program emphasizes the creation of new work – not distribution or productions of work already developed. To be eligible to apply, the principal collaborating artists and organizations must live or be located in the Northern California counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, or Stanislaus; and have been there for at least two years.
Artists and organizations should plan projects and prepare and sign their letters of inquiry together. Letters of inquiry are due by Dec. 2. The Creative Work Fund will invite approximately 60 detailed proposals (30 in each category) from those who have submitted letters by February 8, 2012. Completed applications (from those who are invited) are due April 20, 2012. The grant awards will be announced June 18, 2012. Grants are highly competitive and recommended to CWF by committees of accomplished panelists.
Launched in 1994, the Creative Work Fund involves collaboration among three California-based foundations to address the declining support for artists and new works. Since its inception, CWF has contributed $8 million to advance art-making by California artists in a variety of disciplines. Grants are awarded to genuine, creative partnerships between artists and nonprofit organizations. Each year, CWF focuses on projects from different disciplines; the 2012 grants will fund collaborative projects that feature media or performing artists.
“We see art as a means to explore ideas, provoke conversations, and strengthen connections in communities,” said CWF Program Director Frances Phillips. “By promoting and encouraging collaborative art-making projects, our grants support artists while linking them to the work of and people served by nonprofit organizations. Previous recipients of projects in media and performing arts have collaborated with museums, orchestras, galleries, and ensembles as well as with health, environmental, social justice, and educational groups.”
The Creative Work Fund is a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund that is supported by generous grants from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation. For further information, or to see examples of previously funded projects, visit http://www.creativeworkfund.org or call Jean Wong, Creative Work Fund Coordinator, or Frances Phillips, Creative Work Fund Director, at 415-402-2793.
Seminars and webinars
Seminars:
Hollister: Oct. 6, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Community Foundation for San Benito County, 829 San Benito St., Suite 200, Hollister
Webinars:
(Produced in conjunction with The Foundation Center) Sign up for any one of the Webinars at www.creativeworkfund.org/seminars.html
Sept. 20, noon to 1 p.m.
Oct. 3, 6 to 7 p.m.
Oct. 18, noon-1:00 pm
Nov. 7, 6 to 7 p.m.
Nov. 8, noon to 1 p.m.
