Mesa Arts Center (MAC) Creative Economy Fund

Grants to Arizona Nonprofits for Community Arts
Activities Benefiting Residents in Eligible Locations

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Agency Type:

Local

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City of Mesa Department of Arts and Culture

Deadline Date:

06/12/20 5:00 PM

Description:

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Grants of up to $5,000 to Arizona nonprofit organizations for community arts projects taking place in a local arts center for the benefit of residents in eligible locations. Interested applicants must contact staff prior to submitting an application. Funding is intended to encourage organizations to host arts events, projects, and activities by offering reduced licensing rates at an arts center in the downtown area. Funded activities must serve the communities of Mesa and East Valley.

As part of a larger initiative to further activate the urban center of Mesa, to increase the growing number and variety of offerings at the Mesa Arts Center (MAC) in downtown Mesa, and to continue to build an environment of creativity and discovery in the downtown district, the City of Mesa Department of Arts and Culture Creative Economy Fund in-kind grant program is being continued for a tenth year. The intent of this program is:

To provide support to professional and semi-professional organizations who use or wish to use the MAC venues;
To bring new cultural offerings to the Mesa and East Valley communities; and
To encourage new organizations to experience presenting or producing an event at the MAC, in order to form new partnerships and relationships among and across cultural organizations in the region.

The Fund will support reduced licensing rates at the Mesa Arts Center for non-profit organizations presenting an arts project, event, activity, workshop or a series of any of the above.

.Applicants may submit proposals requesting reduction of licensing fees for the use of Mesa Arts Center theaters, Studios or Shadow Walk, or Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum lecture hall or courtyard for the purpose of presenting quality arts programs for the Mesa community and region.

All applicants are encouraged to include audience engagement/audience development activities as part of their project.

Projects may include, but are not limited to, the following:

A concert or series of concerts
A theater, dance or spoken word production
A collaborative or interactive community art project
A festival
A workshop or class(es) in the visual or performing arts
A multidisciplinary project

The amount requested can cover base license fees only (cost for facility use).

For Review Criteria, see https://www.mesaartscenter.com/download.php/get-involved/downloads/creative-economy-form#page=4.

GrantWatch ID#:

GrantWatch ID#: 143865

Estimated Size of Grant:

Amounts requested for licensing reduction may not exceed the total amount being paid in facility licensing fees.

Funding awarded to any one organization will not exceed $5,000, and for most applicants is unlikely to exceed $2,500.

Term of Contract:

The proposed projects must take place between October 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021.

Important note: Due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, Mesa Arts Center is currently closed to the public and slated to reopen on October 1, 2020. Depending on conditions related to the pandemic, this reopening date is subject to change

Eligibility:

See RFP and/or Grant Guidelines for full eligibility

Additional Eligibility Criteria:

Applicants must be a non-profit, Arizona-based 501(c)(3) organization.

While arts and culture organizations are strongly encouraged to apply, other non-profit organizations that are offering arts programming to the public are also welcome to apply.

Non-profit organizations whose tax exempt status is pending may apply one time only through a non-profit fiscal sponsor. A letter from the fiscal sponsor must accompany the application.

If you apply to both the Creative Economy Fund program and the Arts at the Center program and are awarded both, you will need to choose to receive one or the other award but cannot accept both. You will not be eligible to receive support through both programs.

The amount requested can cover base license fees only (cost for facility use); all production, front-of-house, or ticketing fees that are not included as part of the licensing fee will not be eligible for funding, but must be included as expenses in the project budget. Marketing services will not be provided as part of this support (though all projects taking place at Mesa Arts Center will be included as calendar listings on MAC’s website and promoted on their digital marquees).

The events held at the Mesa Arts Center through the Creative Economy Fund cannot be fundraising events or promoted as such by the presenting/producing organization, whether for the applicant's own or another organization or cause.

Pre-Application Information:

Timeline:

- June 12, 2020 (by 5:00 p.m.): Application due date
- June 22-26, 2020: Applications reviewed by a community panel; recommendations made
- By July 23, 2020: Recommendations are reviewed and endorsed by the Museum and Cultural Advisory Board
- By July 31, 2020: Applicants are notified of the outcome of their proposal
- June 30, 2021: Projects must be completed
- July 31, 2021: 2020-21 Final Report due

As a requirement of the application, you must discuss calendar availability and cost estimates with Mesa Arts Center’s Event Services Coordinator Jaime Kenney prior to developing your budget. You are also required to attach a copy of your event estimate from Event Services in your application. Please do not wait until the final week for submission to contact Jaime, as she could be unavailable to do last minute calculations. Once you know your project and have selected a date, contact her immediately.

Those applicants who received an award for the 2019‐2020 fiscal year and are applying for the 2020‐2021 fiscal year must include, as part of the project for which support is requested, a community engagement, education or audience development activity or initiative, and are strongly encouraged to expand on previous efforts of these kinds. This is required so that the support provided through the Creative Economy enables growth of the organization’s audiences and/or increased value to the community. Examples of activities that fulfill this requirement include workshops, audience talk-backs, lecture-demonstrations, school or community-based performances or outreach activities, discount ticket offers, ticket giveaways to low-income or underserved audiences, and special promotions that reach new audiences, although this is by no means an exhaustive list. Creativity in responding to this requirement is encouraged, and a thoughtful plan will increase the likelihood of receiving support.

Organizations may submit only one application for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

For information about the Mesa Arts Center: mesaartscenter.com.

For facility details and licensing fees/information: http://mesaartscenter.com/index.php/visit/download/rental-rates

Contact Information:

Before starting your grant application, please review the funding source's website listed below for updates/changes/addendums/conferences/LOIs.

The application may be downloaded and mailed/emailed, or submitted online:

1. To download, complete the Creative Economy Form found in Supporting Documents below and send to:

- By mail to:

Creative Economy Fund
Office of the Director
PO Box 1466
Mesa, AZ 85211-1466

- By email to: sarah.goedicke@mesaartscenter.com

2. To apply online: https://www.mesaaz.gov/things-to-do/arts-culture/creative-economy-fund

For questions, or to set up a phone appointment to discuss the application and provide any needed guidance, contact:

Sarah Goedicke
Management Assistant to the Executive Director
Mesa Arts Center
480.644.6607
Sarah.Goedicke@mesaartscenter.com

To discuss calendar availability and cost estimates:

Jaime Kenney
Event Services Coordinator,
480-644-6511
jaime.kenney@mesaartscenter.com

Mesa Arts Center
1 East Main Street
Mesa, AZ 85201

URL for Full Text (RFP):

See the full text of this grant

Geographic Focus:

USA: Arizona: Mesa and East Valley communities

Categories:

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