Grant Application Guidelines
Grant Application Deadline:
November 25, 2009, 5:00 p.m.
Each year, the Office of the Arts at Brandeis funds innovative projects in the visual and performing arts to take place during the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts. A jury of faculty, staff, and students evaluates the applications and recommends funding. Applications are open to Brandeis undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff.
A grant is not necessary to participate in the Festival. If you do not need a grant but would like to perform in the Sunday afternoon Performing Arts Festival on May 2, a separate application will be available soon and is due February 22. Contact Ingrid Schorr for more information.
How to apply
It’s always a good idea to drop by the Office of the Arts and “pitch” your proposal before you turn in your application. An informal conversation can lead to all kinds of refinements in proposal writing and budget preparation.
The application form is here.
Here are examples of succcessful grant applications for performance and visual arts projects. Here is a list of 2009 grant recipients, their projects, and the amount awarded.
General guidelines
- The Festival grants supports projects that offer the Brandeis community opportunities to create, participate, and learn about the arts. The jury evaluates applications on the quality and innovation of the project, and the potential for broad involvement of the Brandeis community.
- In order for the jury to consider your ability to complete the project, visual arts applicants MUST submit work samples or prototypes, and performing arts applicants MUST list a production staff (director, producer, stage manager, or the equivalent).
- Please specify all technical requests in your application. Projects should require minimal technical support.
- While we encourage innovation, we also want you to succeed. Elaborately staged work is usually not possible during the short amount of time available. A full-length original play may be best presented as a staged reading of excerpts, for example.
- Installation work always benefits from careful planning and faculty advisement. Certain structures may be subject to review by the University Safety Officer and the Waltham Fire Department.
- The Office of the Arts does not fund senior thesis projects, but we will support your project in other ways (publicity, planning, logistics).
Notification
All applicants will be notified by e-mail of the jury’s decision within three weeks of the application deadline. You will officially accept your award by picking up a grant packet at the Office of the Arts.
Distribution of Funds
Grants are distributed primarily on a reimbursement basis, although Brandeis can pay some vendors directly. Reimbursements usually take two weeks to process from the date they are turned in to the Office of the Arts.
Acknowledgement of support
Grant recipients must credit the Office of the Arts in all announcements, publicity, and programs for the funded project. The following phrase is recommended: “Made possible [or Made possible in part] by the Brandeis Office of the Arts.” When possible, please place the Festival of the Arts logo next to the credit line (the logo will be supplied to you).
Final reports
Within one month of the Festival, grant recipients are asked to respond to an online survey about the project’s process and outcome. Copies of all printed material such as programs, flyers, and postcards, must be submitted as well.
Click here to proceed to the grant application form.
For more information about the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts and the grants program, please contact:
Ingrid Schorr
Festival Producer
781-736-5008