Arts Funding Worshops

Image by angusf from Flickr

This year Arts NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts combined to do a presentation on the their grants programs. They have been rolling it out as a road show across NSW so if there is one near you I encourage you to go as it is a great opportunity to hear direct form the funders about their programs. 

Contrary to myth, both of these bodies do want you to apply and want you to have the best chance at winning a grant. In some ways the odds are against you: for applicants to the Australia Council it is a bout 1 in five applications are successful. But you do have to be in it to win it

Here are some of the key tips they gave to writing a successful application

1/ Choose the Right Grant.

Check your eligibility and talk to the relevant person. Do some research and check out who has been previously awarded grants and what it was for. IF your not sure, or cant find the type of grant you are looking for then give them a call.

2/ Write in Plain English

Be concise. Be Direct. They want to know what you want to do, how you intend to do it and who will do it. This last point is important - briefly describing why the people involved are the best people for the task gives an assessment panel a sense of if the task will be completed

3/ Don't wait until the last minute.

A rushed application reads like ...well... a rushed application. If you can't plan to get the application done in a timely manner then it doesn't give a strong indication that you can manage the time line of your project.

4/ Budget!

There is an old saying "look after the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves".  (For those of you who were born after 1966 - use Google for an updated version). In your budget make sure that it balances: ie expenditure equals income. Make sure it adds up. Add notes to make it clear. Show all sources of funding. Included any "non cash" contribution.

5/ Support Materiel

Don't drown the poor assessors - each assessor is reading hundreds of applications  . Included the most relevant and potent materials/images that you can that support your case for why this project is important to you and your organisation and that you can deliver the project on time and on budget.

6/ Cut and Paste your application into the online applications

When writing your grant application do it in a word document and then cut and paste that into the on-line applications.  That way you will have solved all of your word count issues, spelling , grammar and its just a matter of publishing. Also should the system crash - you at least have a copy of your work!

7/ Visit the Website(s)

Each of the main funders list all their grants on their sites and provided a lot of information about each of the grants. It really is the quickest way to obtain a lot of information before you start writing..

Arts NSW 2012 Arts Funding Program Guidelines http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/index.php/category/funding-and-support/

The Australia Council's 2011 Arts Funding Guide is http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/grants

Finally don't forget that M&G NSW is also here help. Our friendly team is standing by to take your call! or you can visit our website http://mgnsw.org.au/grants/overview1111/

Michael Huxley

National Regional Arts Broadband Forum

Recently I was fortunate enough to be invited to be one of fifty observers to the National Regional Arts Broadband Forum, organized by Regional Arts Australia, at Parliament House, Canberra.

Twenty speakers representing a range of stakeholders including; NBN Co, ABC Television, the tertiary education sector, new media, regional and Aboriginal arts organizations, discussed an open response to the question – How will better access to broadband enable the arts to help build stronger communities?

Much of the conversation centred on the impact NBN services will have on education services and creative enterprise/opportunity. By removing distance and isolation from the equation, clearly, more people will be able to participate either as ‘makers’ or as ‘audience’. In nurturing this ‘market share’, speakers stressed the need for players to partner and connect, to metaphorically create broadband like links, in support of what can be achieved.

The Hon Simon Crean MP, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government & Minister for the Arts also addressed the forum. He strongly articulated arts related broadband opportunity in the context of community cultural, social and economic benefit. His vision of a connected future emphasised the need for arts related participation to be found at ‘intersections’ throughout the community. He unambiguously sees the arts as a major player in regional development, lifestyle and service provision and that this role will be enhanced by the NBN.

In health and education, across local government, within community and social services and throughout the private sector ‘cultural’ intersections already exist. As many readers of this blog know, in regional Australia, museums, galleries, theatres, conservatoriums and Aboriginal cultural centres are often found at the centre of what people do. Programs they run actively seek to connect and ‘tap the talent out there’, a role Crean emphasised in commenting on the two way nature of broadband – the ability to upload shouldn’t be forgotten.

In the not to distant future, Regional Arts Australia will be publishing a more detailed account of proceedings. Hopefully we will be able to publish it (or a link to it) on our website so stay tuned and in regard to the NBN, think big!

Michael Rolfe

Visiting The Willows and Boorabee

A visit to The Willows and the spectacular Severn River Gorge was the absolute highlight of a recent trip to the New England area for M&G NSW CEO Michael Rolfe and myself.

The Willows and the adjoining Boorabee property form a 2900 hectare Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) gazetted in March 2010 and one of only five in NSW.

It has an abundance of rare native wildflower and bird species and, if you are lucky, you might spot a Koala or three. The Koala is a totem of the local Ngoorabul people and they have ambitions to slowly develop the area as a koala sanctuary.

There is a cluster of huts offering basic accommodation that some fortunate school groups and others have used occasionally. Glen Innes Local Aboriginal Land Council plans to makes some improvements to these and the caretaker’s house. Three local Aboriginal Rangers are employed part time on the property under the Caring for Country program, there’s certainly plenty to do!

The Cooramah Aboriginal Cultural centre in town, also run by the LALC, is closed to the public at the moment, thought the café space is leased and the separate youth centre building is popular and busy.

The links to land and culture through the IPA is a priority and hopefully at some stage Cooramah can reopen to showcase this through artworks, photos and displays for those who can’t access this beautiful part of the world.

Steve Miller

National Museum of the American Indian

On my recent trip to the New York I took the opportunity to meet John Haworth and check out t the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The New York centre is named after George Gustav Heye whose personal collection became the core of  NMAI collection when it became a  Smithsonian Institute in the 1989. The Center is located in the Alexander Hamilton  US Customs House  just near Battery Park and at the begining of Broadway.  Opened in 1907 the building is listed on the National American Register of Historic Places and is extraordinary and imposing. The Museum which opened in 1994, shares the building with the Bankruptcy court but has offices, exhibition space and education centre on the ground floor and on the first floor (or second floor in America) two exhibition spaces off the building's central rotunda  and a shop and information centre of the  foyer. The Washington Campus is located on the Mall and was opened in 2004.

The permanent exhibition (well though to 2020) is Infinity of Nations and represents the indigenous people of the Americas from Tierra de Fuego in the south to Alaska and the Arctic in the north. As you walk though this extraordinary collection of artifact, objects and art you see the relationships between each of the indigenous cultures, the effect of trading routes as well as white settlements. http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/

Also on this floor is A Song for the Horse Nations which examines the effect of the introduction of horses by the Spanish on the American Indian lifestyle. http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/horsenation/

On the ground floor is a function room that also doubles as an exhibition space. The current exhibition is Small Spirits: Dolls from the National Museum of the American Indian. Each of the dolls reflects different communities and traditions of Native peoples and are drawn from the collection.

Just opened is a mid career survey of internationally renowned glass artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit). Echoes, Fire, and Shadows. In theses beautiful glass works there is in incorporation of contemporary glass technique and Tlingit motif.

On his website  http://prestonsingletary.com/ he states

I sometimes hope that people will view my work on other levels not associated with “ethnic art.” At the same time, it is this inspiration that gives my work its power. I see my work as an extension of tradition and a declaration that Native cultures are alive and developing new technologies and new ways of communicating the ancient codes and symbols of this land.

Being there in the morning meant I was also caught up in a number of school groups being lead though the exhibitions. Each of the guides was of American Indian decent and spoke with great connection and pride about the knowledge they were sharing.

The Museum is certainly worth the time on your next trip to New York! - Michael Huxley

Images from top left in a clockwise direction. Exterior: National Museum of the American Indian , Small Spirits: Dolls from the National Museum of the American Indian, glass baskets from Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire and Shadows, guide with school group in the A Song for the Horse Nations exhibition. Education Centre located in the Old Treasury Room.

Wagga Wagga Grants Seminar

Yesterday I reunited with my funding friends Clare Power (National Maritime Museum, Sydney) and Dianne Dahlitz (National Library, Canberra) who last week had joined me in Dubbo for Access to Funding. This time we were speaking about our funding programs to arts organisations in the Riverina region of NSW.

The Museum of the Riverina in Wagga Wagga were the hosts of this Grants Funding Information session, and attracted a varied and enthusiastic audience of council and arts workers, community groups, and volunteer museums.

Also speaking were
Lani Houston – Regional Development Australia - Riverina
Scott Howie – RADO for Eastern Riverina Arts Program
Louise Conibear – Industry & Investment NSW, Wagga Wagga

It was really interesting to see that all the funding providers stressed the same kind of important points about writing grant applications – such as the imperative of including a clear budget (that adds up!), thinking of a catchy title to grab assessors attention, remembering to actually sign the application, and keeping in good contact with the grant providers to make sure you are on track.

Don’t forget M&G NSW has some helpful info sheets about writing applications, and also project management.

Speaking of Wagga Wagga, everyone loved the giant Chinese dragon in the foyer of the Museum, that was made by local school children to welcome in Chinese New Year. Heres a short video made by the ABC about the project.