Watauga County organizations planning arts-related activities
are invited to apply for Grassroots Grants for the 2008-09 fiscal
year.
The Grassroots Arts Program of the North Carolina Arts Council
is a long-standing program through which the North Carolina Legislature
and the North Carolina Arts Council are able to fund local arts-related
programming. In each county a Local Distributing Agent (LDA) is
appointed to accept applications for Grassroots Grants from their
community and a panel of local representatives reviews those applications
and awards funding in accordance with the criteria set forth by
the North Carolina Arts Council. In Watauga County, the appointed
LDA is the Watauga County Arts Council.
Projects eligible for this grant program are those artistic and
cultural activities sponsored by any non-profit community based
organization. In accordance with state guidelines, emphasis will
be placed upon the projects of qualified arts organizations (e.g.
theaters, galleries, art guilds, choral societies, musical organizations,
dance companies, writers groups, arts festivals), the support
of arts in education programs conducted by qualified artists which
take place in school settings, after school, or through summer
programs (however, grassroots funds may not be used for activities
associated with a school’s internal arts programs such as
in-school student performances, the purchase of art supplies,
or student arts competitions and publications), and arts programs
provided to the community by other community organizations. These
programs should be conducted by qualified artists.
All projects which receive funding must take place between July
1, 2008 and May 30, 2009. All grant awards must be matched by
at least an equal cash match from the applicant organization and
may not be matched by funds from the state of North Carolina.
Applications for up to $1,000 will be considered. The amount of
money available for each grant is dependant upon the total Grassroots
allotment from the North Carolina General Assembly to the North
Carolina Arts Council. These funds are then reallocated to the
Watauga County Arts Council on a per capita basis. This state
and local partnership is the North Carolina Arts Council’s
single largest category of funding and the strongest supporter
of local arts organizations and programs.
Criteria for selection will include:
· strong community support;
· involvement of racial and ethnic minorities and other
traditionally under served segments of the community;
· responsiveness to community cultural needs;
· involvement of local professional artists;
· the organization’s administrative ability and
financial stability;
· the organization’s ability to develop sufficient
funding for the project.
Organizations must be non-profit and community based to be
eligible to apply.
Cherry Johnson, executive director of the Watauga County Arts
Council, compared Grassroots Grants funding to a ripple effect,
saying, “When you drop a pebble into a pool of water, little
ripples waft out from the center and stretch far away to the
outermost parts of the pool. That’s the effect that I feel
the Watauga County Arts Council’s Grassroots Grants Program
has upon Watauga County. The pebble is the funding sent to us
each year via the North Carolina Arts Council from the North
Carolina General Assembly. The ripples are felt all through
our community.”
Johnson added, “We are extraordinarily grateful to our
local representatives and senators who represent our community
in the North Carolina General Assembly. Their support has made
it possible not only for the Arts Council to provide a wealth
of quality arts programming throughout our community but, through
this sub-granting program, we are able to extend the reach of
the arts even deeper into the community through our sub-granting
partner agencies.”
Applications are due to the Watauga County Arts Council’s
offices in the Jones House Community Center by 5 p.m. on Monday,
Sept. 15. All necessary application forms and guidelines are
available on the Arts Council’s Web site, www.watauga-arts.org.
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