Georgia Council for the Arts [Mar. 2016]

GCA Newsletter / March 2016



Aurora Theatre, Lawrenceville, GA
GCA Partner and Project Grants Update and Process
The deadline for Project and Partner Grant applications was in February, so this is the time of year when applicants are curious about when panels will meet and grant announcements will be made. To answer your questions, we put together a timeline of the grant review process.
February - Application deadline; eligibility and completion check by GCA staff March - Panelists are confirmed, assigned, and trained by GCA staff; panelists receive application materials April - Panelists review applications and submit preliminary scores May - Panelists participate in panel meetings and submit final scores June - Final scores are tabulated by GCA staff; grants are calculated based on application scores and available funding July - GCA makes grant announcements and distributes contracts to grantees August - Grantees return signed contracts and other required documents which are processed by GCA staff and forwarded to other GDEcD divisions for final approval September/October - Requests for initial payment are processed by GCA staff and forwarded to other GDEcD divisions for final approval October/November - Initial grant payments are received by grantees

Moving in the Spirit, Atlanta, GA
Arts Education Program Grant Deadline Is March 16
For FY17, the GCA Arts Education Project Grant has a grant application and adjudication process which is separate from Partner and Project Grants. This change is designed to align the Arts Education Project Grant with the goals and strategies outlined in the Governor's Arts Learning Task Force Recommendations. The Arts Education Program Grant guidelines and application are available on the GCA website. The application deadline is March 16.
Georgia Poet Laureate Judson Mitcham
Poet Laureate's Prize Entry Deadline Is March 7
Georgia's Poet Laureate, Judson Mitcham, in collaboration with GCA, is pleased to announce the call for entries for the third annual Poet Laureate's Prize, awarded for an original poem written by a Georgia high school student. Selected by the Poet Laureate, the winner and finalists will be announced in April 2016. The Prize ceremony takes place in May with Governor and Mrs. Deal and the Poet Laureate. The winning and finalist poems will be published at atlantamagazine.com. Entry details are included in the guidelines. The deadline for Poet Laureate's Prize entries is March 7, 2016.

Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA
GCA Teaching Artist Registry Update and Expansion
In an effort to provide up-to-date resources to schools and organizations, and to help promote the work of our state's best teaching artists, Georgia Council for the Arts is updating and expanding our existing Teaching Artist Registry. Qualified teaching artists must be a resident of Georgia, must have a combination of training and experience in their field, and must provide documentation to verify that they have passed the requisite background check to work in a school environment. The Teaching Artist Registry application form is available online. The deadline to apply is April 29. If you have questions about the application or process, please reach out to Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager, at abell@gaarts.org.

Dance Canvas, Atlanta, GA
Call for Grant Panelists for Project, Partner, and Arts Education Grants
GCA is seeking individuals interested in serving on Grant Review Panels in the coming months for Partner, Project, and Arts Education Program Grants. We seek to develop panels which are diverse based on where in the state panelists reside, the artistic disciplines in which they have expertise, the type of organizations for which they work, among other factors. We are especially interested in recruiting panelists who live outside of the metro Atlanta area. If you are interested in serving as a grant panelist, please send a short bio or resume to Tina Lilly at tlilly@gaarts.org.

Lindsay Brice, Brooks County, GA
Art of Georgia II: Call for Entries for Metro Atlanta Visual Artists
GCA is seeking submissions from visual artists in the Metro Atlanta counties of Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett for our next exhibit of The Art of Georgia II: Portraits of a Community. This is the second iteration of this rotating exhibit at the Georgia State Capitol which began in 2012. "The Art of Georgia II" will exhibit the work of Georgia visual artists on a regional basis over the next two years. The deadline for submissions is March 11. Submission guidelines are on the GCA website. Selected works will hang at the Capitol in the Office of the Governor from March-October 2016. Please help us spread the word to Metro Atlanta artists.

MeccaFest, Carrollton, GA
Reminder: FY16 Project Grant Final Reports
FY16 Project Grant Final Reports are due no later than 30 days after the end of the project. The report should not be submitted in eGrant. Instructions and forms for the FY16 Final Report can be found here.
More Arts News and Opportunities
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published two articles on arts education. One focused on the availability of arts classes in Georgia schools based on research produced by GCA and the Governor's Arts Learning Task Force, while the other features remarks by a Gwinnett County music teacher about the limits of standardized testing to assess the benefits of arts learning for her students.

GCA Arts Advocacy Video
GCA Releases Arts Advocacy Video
For the last few years GCA has heard a consistent request from members of the arts community for digital content that illustrates the rich texture, vibrant diversity, and vital economic impact of the arts in Georgia. GCA is proud to share our first ever video on the arts in Georgia. Written by Chuck Reece and narrated by Kenny Leon, we hope this piece will help educate and inspire citizens statewide to connect with their local arts community, get to know the works of Georgia artists, and support the dynamic work done by each of you. Please post it to your website, share it on social media, include it in speeches, use it as you see fit. Let's work together to champion the power of the arts in Georgia

Today's creative economy gets a big boost from the arts, according to new data from the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In 2013, arts and cultural production contributed $704.2 billion to the U.S. economy, a 32.5 percent increase since 1998. Consumer spending on the performing arts grew 10 percent annually over the 15-year period. The Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA) is the first federal effort to provide in-depth analysis of the arts and cultural sector's contributions to the economy.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) recently released The Summit on Creativity and Aging in America, a report from the May 2015 national summit. The report investigates three topics relevant to healthy aging: health and wellness and the arts, lifelong learning in the arts, and age-friendly community design.

2015 Georgia POL State Champ Paris Stroud
Poetry Out Loud State Finals
Poetry Out Loud (POL) is an innovative program sponsored by National Endowment for the Arts which encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance of the written word. Structured similar to a spelling bee, winners of each classroom recitation competition advance to a schoolwide contest. Each school's winner competes in a regional semifinal competition. Finalists from the regional semifinals advance to the state finals held on Sunday, March 20, at 1:00 p.m., at the Atlanta History Center. The Georgia state champion will compete at the National Finals in Washington, D.C. in May. Last year's state champion, Paris Stroud of Paulding County High School, placed second in the National Finals.

A recent independent study indicates that teachers using Wolf Trap Institute's arts-integrated early childhood strategies had a significant, positive impact on children's learning in math. The new analysis shows that students in the classrooms of Wolf Trap-trained teachers gain the equivalent of more than a month of additional math learning.
American Sounds is a pilot project introducing presenters from outside the United States to artists representing quintessentially American music traditional/folk, Native American, jazz, blues, Gospel, zydeco, country, bluegrass and more. The goal of American Sounds is to build and expand relationships that result in new opportunities for American musicians to tour abroad. Interested Georgia artists can learn more here. Applications are due March 18.
South Arts is currently accepting applications for several grant programs, including Regional Touring Grants (deadline is March 8), Literary Arts Touring Grants (deadline is May 2), and Traditional Arts Touring Grants (rolling deadline through May 18).

Copyright 2016 Georgia Council for the Arts, All rights reserved.
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