In light of our strategic plan and values statement, the Governor-appointed Council which oversees RISCA had asked RISCA staff to reassess and – in some cases – restructure our grant programs to accurately reflect our newly articulated agency values and priorities. The first grant program RISCA restructured was our Investments in Arts and Culture (IAC) general operating support program for organizations, the process was completed in March 2021. Now, we are moving to RISCA’s Individual Artist granting programs. Instead of restructuring or re-envisioning the existing programs, the working group built brand new grant programs. Click here to read the guidelines.
To develop these new program guidelines, RISCA was guided by a Working Group comprised of 10 individual artists from around the Ocean State (see CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE WORKING GROUP? section for more information below). At this point in the process, we would like to hear your thoughts on the draft guidelines for four new grant programs. These grant programs will replace the existing Fellowships and Project Grants for Individuals. Folk Arts Apprenticeships and Folk Arts Fellowships will remain unchanged, and were not a part of this process.
WHY SHOULD I GIVE FEEDBACK?
In an effort to reflect our values of transparency, RISCA organized a Working Group to provide direct public input during the drafting process for this grant program – typically this phase of developing a program would be done by staff without direct public input. The public feedback phase is typically done for all new grant programs. We want this new program to be as relevant and effective for Rhode Island as possible – which means we need to hear from you!
HOW DO I GIVE FEEDBACK?
The draft guidelines and an overview of the programs and changes are available here. When you are ready to provide feedback, you will use this survey – see the instructions within the survey for more details. If you are unable to input your responses into the survey for any reason, or if you need a copy of the guidelines in a format readable by screen readers or in a different language, please contact Mollie Flanagan at mollie.flanagan@arts.ri.gov.
Providing us feedback within the survey is important, as we will share the written feedback with RISCA’s Governing Council. To answer any questions you might have before answering the survey, we are hosting three Q & A sessions. While you do not need to attend these sessions in order to provide feedback, we do recommend attending one:
- Q & A Information Session #1: Wednesday, August 25th, 2-4pm. Register to join the call via this link here.
- Q & A Information Session #2: Monday, August 30th, 6-8pm. Register to join the call via this link here.
The feedback survey will be open until end of day September 6, 2021.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH MY FEEDBACK?
All survey responses will be compiled. Mollie will summarize the feedback, and provide that to the working group and to RISCA’s governing council. Then, Mollie will take all feedback into consideration, and write another draft of the grant guidelines. Then, these drafts will be reviewed and finalized by the working group. In their final review of these new guidelines in late September, RISCA’s Governing Council will consider feedback – and RISCA staff’s responses to the feedback – in their final approval of this program.
CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE WORKING GROUP?
In February 2020, RISCA’s Governor-appointed Council leadership approved a timeline and process for the restructure of the individual artist granting programs. In particular, RISCA’s Governor-appointed Council wanted to ensure that RISCA’s support of individual artists is in alignment with the new strategic plan, and focused on equity and access.
As a part of the process, Individual Artists Program Mollie Flanagan stewarded a Working Group that reviewed a wide variety of materials, including RISCA’s strategic plan; grantmaking best practices; grant programs from other state and local arts agencies; and research on individual artist support. The Working Group then created the outline for four new grant programs, that would replace the current programs. Through multiple meetings and editing sessions, the working group and Mollie have created this draft of four new grant programs for public feedback. This working group is comprised of ten artists from around the state, working in a wide variety of disciplines and bring diverse experiences to the group.