BAC Grants: 5 new things for 2015

This year marks BAC’s 35th year of funding. Such an established program needs some fine tuning every few years - here are just a few things that are new in 2015.1. More application resourcesWe've expanded the resources we make available to our applicants. Make sure you check out the Application Resources page as you’re creating your proposal. It includes grant writing links and info we think will be useful, as well as links to find your legislative information and a panel discipline guideline that has info about previously successful projects.2. We’re accepting online work samples!It’s 2015! We’re accepting online work samples! We can’t express how excited we are for this. If you’re not quite up on the digital yet, don’t worry – we’re still accepting CDs & DVDs. Check out the updated instructions for full submission details.3. Focused funding prioritiesWe’ve taken a look at our guidelines, and made some slight adjustments based on feedback from grantees, applicants, staff and panelists. Overall, our commitment to supporting  a diverse array of artists and projects that contribute to the expanse of our cultural life of the borough stands. We've made some adjustments to our programs:Local Arts Support (LAS)Funded by New York Stats Council on the Arts' (NYSCA) Decentralization program, the priority for this state-wide initiative is to put cultural dollars directly into communities within the counties of  New York State. In order to stretch the funding as far as possible, we support organizations and artists that are not already being supported by NYSCA, which are usually small cultural nonprofits, community-based organizations, and individual artists working with local nonprofits. We’ve focused the priority for this program to proposals that:“Have the ability to identify the community the project strives to engage, and articulate the proposed methods of engagement in a thoughtful association between the philosophy of the said project and community.”For these purposes, “Community” can be defined as geographic area; cultural, social, racial or socio-economic demographic; and/or artistic community. Brooklyn-based nonprofit organizations and individual artists working in partnership with a nonprofit organization are eligible to apply. Any organization attached to a LAS proposal cannot have applied directly to NYSCA in 2015.Community Arts Fund (CAF)Our broadest program, focused on supporting high-quality arts experiences in Brooklyn, Funded by Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA).One of the largest sources of frustration we hear from panelists and applicants is that there is so little funding available that prioritizes the community benefit inherent in supporting high-quality work. We agree, so we focused our priority for this program to proposals that:“Demonstrate the ability to identify the audience the project strives to reach, and articulate a thoughtful association between the artistic quality of the project and its contribution to the cultural life of the borough.”So for this one, we’re looking for proposals that can address the quality of work, who it will be reaching, and how it uniquely benefits the culture of Brooklyn. Brooklyn-based professional and pre-professional artists, artist collectives and Brooklyn-based 501c3 organizations are eligible to apply.4. More money to give out for Local Arts SupportYou read that right: the amount we’re able to give to LAS got bigger. We can give more money. Get it.5. Staff!We’ve had a lot of turnover at BAC this year, and the Grants team is no exception. Check out our new grants lovelies that will be helping you this year: Azure Osborne-Lee and Sophie Kurtze.Interested in applying, but need more info?As always, we love being a resource to the city’s artists and cultural organizations. Contact us at grants@brooklynartscouncil.org, or 718-625-0080 with any questions you have about and throughout the process, and get those apps in!