Partnerships – Rhode Island State Council on the Arts

RISCA staff members assist in navigating the FY22 fall grant application process

September 27, 2021September 28, 2021fayezuckerman

View the video of the fall grant workshop

Get your questions to staff prior to 6 p.m. on deadline day– October. 1. The portal closes at 11:59 p.m.

Click here to sign up for open office hours on Oct. 1.

Our helpful and friendly RISCA staff can assist you with your grant application needs. In addition, we are available to meet with you about your grant ideas. We are offering grant writing and budgeting workshops, drop-in hours and one on one meetings during August and September so you can meet our Oct. 1 deadline.

In addition to open office hours on Oct. 1, the staff is available for schedule meetings throughout the open granting period.

How to schedule a one-on-one meeting

Arts Access Grant

Todd Trebour, Organizations Program Director, will be holding one-on-one virtual meetings for nonprofit organizations interested in Arts Access Grants organizations. He will answer any questions you have about the grant program. He can also help you with the budget forms; review any specific answers you’ve written; or any other assistance you need with your grant application.

You can sign up for either a 30 minute or 1-hour meeting slot. To schedule a meeting with Todd, click here.

If none of the dates or times listed works for you, email Todd at todd.trebour@arts.ri.gov for alternate date or time.

Project Grants in Education and Individuals in Education

Maggie Anderson, Director of Arts In Education, will be holding one-on-one meetings for nonprofit organizations, artists and schools interested in Project Grants in Education for Individual.

For more information and to schedule a meeting to assist you with your grant application, email Maggie Anderson at Maggie.Anderson@arts.ri.gov.

Fellowships

Mollie Flanagan, Individual Artists Program Director, will be holding one-on-one virtual meetings for artists interested in fellowships for individual artists. She will be answering any questions you have about the grant program.

You can sign up for drop-in hours with Mollie. Here is a listing of Mollie’s meetings. Please sign up in advance for the following drop-in hours.

For office hours for Fellowships, please sign up in advance by clicking here.

Folk Arts Fellowships and Apprenticeships

Elena Calderón Patiño, Community Arts Program Director, will hold meetings for artists and culture organizations interested in folk arts. The folk arts are defined as those artistic practices which are community or family-based and express that community’s aesthetic heritage and tradition.

For more information and to schedule a meeting, contact Elena.Patino@arts.ri.gov.

Project Grants in Healthcare

For more information on Project Grants in Healthcare, contact Randall.Rosenbaum@arts.ri.gov.

RI Arts and Humanities Councils award nearly $1 million in grants with federal funds to 121 culture, humanities, arts nonprofits

September 17, 2021September 20, 2021fayezuckerman

Funding expands assistance reach to state’s more vulnerable and hardest-hit organizations

Some 121 RI culture, humanities and arts nonprofits benefit from the RI Culture, Humanities and Arts Recovery Grant (RI CHARG) program, a historic collaborative partnership between the State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (Humanities Council). The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded $968,000 in assistance to Rhode Island from their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and is not part of the $1.1 billion in ARPA funding awarded to the state.

These federally appropriated cultural assistance funds administered by RISCA and the Humanities Council provide general operating support grants of $8,000 each to 121 culture, humanities, and arts nonprofits:

95% are small to midsize and/or Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) centered organizations;
65% are organizations based outside the city of Providence; and
More than 25% are first-time grantees.

The Councils designed the RI CHARG program to help RI’s culture, humanities, and arts nonprofits prevent, prepare, respond, and recover from hardships suffered due to the pandemic. In keeping with federal agencies’ priority on equity, inclusion, and access efforts and to support small and mid size organizations, funding priorities were given to BIPOC centered organizations and nonprofits with annual budgets under $500,000.

Click here for a list of grantees. You can also find the listing at the Humanities Council.

“These federal funds given to our state through the NEA’s and NEH’s ARPA allotments acknowledge the important economic impact culture, humanities, and arts have on Rhode Island,” Governor McKee said. “On behalf of Rhode Island, I thank and applaud our State Council on the Arts and RI’s Humanities Council for their partnership and swift work in getting this badly needed recovery assistance to their respective communities.”

Elizabeth Francis, Executive Director of the Humanities Council noted: “This historic collaboration between the Humanities Council and RISCA has enabled our two organizations to streamline the application process for cultural organizations across the state, ensuring that the combined $968,000 in relief funds from the NEH and NEA reaches those in the prioritized areas. This unique approach has gained national attention and we’re proud to know that culture, humanities, and arts nonprofits across the state will benefit from this effort. As communities emerge from the pandemic, the humanities and arts are essential to rebuilding our social fabric.”

Randall Rosenbaum, Executive Director of RISCA, added: “I am delighted that we were able to combine funding from the NEA and NEH to directly support these cultural nonprofits. We’re proud that so many of these grantees are small and medium sized organizations; represent culturally diverse communities; or are new to us. These grants will have a significant impact on communities throughout our state who have suffered greatly because of the pandemic.”

Rep. Langevin Hosts Grant Workshop with NEA, RISCA for Disability Led and Serving Organizations

July 26, 2021August 3, 2021fayezuckerman

Grant workshop focused on funding from the American Rescue Plan Act
Deadline for applications is August 12

Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), the co-chair of the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus, hosted a virtual grant workshop with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) for organizations from throughout the country working at the forefront of arts and accessibility. The workshop focused on funding available through the NEA from the American Rescue Plan Act and aimed to put disability-led and disability serving organizations in a strong position to successfully apply for this funding opportunity.

“The arts provide so many benefits for people with disabilities, like helping improve cognitive and motor skills and boosting self-esteem and emotional wellbeing. Art also offers an outlet for expressing many of the unique challenges that people with disabilities face,” said Rep. Jim Langevin. “As a strong supporter of the arts, I’m grateful to NEA, RISCA, and other state arts councils that are working hard to make these funds available across the country so that organizations focused on art and accessibility can emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever.

Arts and culture organizations were among the hardest hit by the pandemic. These funds will allow organizations to make critical investments to reopen their doors and welcome back the public. Organizations may apply for general operating support such as employee salaries, mortgage, and health and safety equipment.

“The Arts Endowment is grateful for Representative Langevin’s leadership in the fields of disability rights and the arts,” said National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “We have a unique opportunity to work together to assist as many organizations as possible and encourage greater access to the arts for all.”

“Congressman Langevin is a champion of the arts in Rhode Island and throughout the nation,” said Randall Rosenbaum, Executive Director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. “We are proud of his work on behalf of the arts and culture in Washington, and thrilled that he hosted this important workshop by the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to help organizations that serve people with disabilities access funding through the American Rescue Plan to support necessary arts programming for these historically underrepresented communities.”

The NEA received $135 million in the American Rescue Plan Act, representing a strong commitment from President Biden and Congress to the arts and a recognition of its value to our economy. In April, as required by statute, the Arts Endowment made available 40 percent of those funds to the state arts agencies and regional arts organizations. The NEA will award the remaining amount in direct grants.

More information about grants through the American Rescue Plan is on the NEA website. This includes application guidelines, FAQs, and a growing collection of applicant resources. The deadline for applications is August 12.