GCA Newsletter / Fall 2017 Deep Center, Savannah, GA GCA Announces Availability of Partner, Project, and Arts Education Grant Guidelines for FY19 FY19 Partner and Project guidelines are now available and FY19 Arts Education Program Grant guidelines will soon be available on the grant guidelines page on the GCA website. Partner and Project Grant applications are due on February 13, 2018. GCA will host an online grant workshop for Partner and Project Grants on January 17, 2018. Arts Education Program Grant applications are due on March 6, 2018. GCA will host an online grant workshop for the Arts Education Program Grant on January 24, 2018. You must register to participate in the workshops. Sanaa Furqan, GCA Grants Administrative Coordinator GCA Announces Hiring of Sanaa Furqan as Grants Administrative Coordinator Georgia Council for the Arts is pleased to announce the hiring of Sanaa Furqan as Grants Administrative Coordinator. Prior to joining GCA, Sanaa worked as an Administrative Coordinator with a specialty in finance, marketing, and special events with The Center for Healthy Development at Georgia State University. She currently attends Georgia State University where she is majoring in Communications and Journalism. Also, please note that GCA is using for the first year a new online grant application system, Foundant. Be sure to register for GCA eNews and follow GCA on Facebook to receive important updates and notifications about the grant funding process. Rome Shakespeare Festival, Rome, GA Vibrant Communities Grant Recipients Announced GCA recently announced the recipients of the Vibrant Communities grant. Eighty-four entities in 64 counties received $300,000 in funding. "The Vibrant Communities grant supports incredible art programs that are happening in communities across Georgia," said GCA executive director Karen Paty. "This grant program is one of many ways that GCA works to support the meaningful work of artists and arts organizations throughout our state because a thriving arts community creates vitality, improves education, and contributes in significant ways to local economic and community development." GCA received 123 applications requesting more than $467,000. Applicants included libraries, schools, arts centers, cities, historical societies, community theatres, Boys & Girls Clubs, etc. The Vibrant Communities Grant is available to organizations in counties that did not receive a FY18 Project, Partner, or Arts Education grant. Click here to view the list of FY18 Vibrant Communities grant recipients. GCA grant system changes from GO to Foundant GCA Announces New Online Grant Application System During the fall of 2017, GCA will transition from our current grant system, GO, to a new online grant application system, Foundant. We are currently working with Foundant to train GCA staff to administer the new system. 2017 Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities Governor Deal Presents Awards for the Arts and Humanities Governor Nathan Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal recently announced the recipients of the sixth annual Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities. The awards were presented in partnership with the Georgia Council for the Arts and Georgia Humanities. "The First Lady and I are longtime supporters of the arts, humanities and expressions of creativity," said Deal. "These awards recognize outstanding individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to Georgia's economic, civic, and cultural vitality. Our state's creative industries provide some 200,000 jobs for Georgians and generate $62.5 billion in economic impact. I congratulate the individuals and institutions being honored today and am grateful for their contributions to communities throughout Georgia." Twelve members of Georgia's arts and humanities communities were selected following nominations from around the state. The recipients represent a diverse group of individuals and organizations that have supported the growth of Georgia's creative industries through community involvement, pioneering programs, and long-term financial commitment. The recipients of the 2017 Governor's Awards for the Arts and Humanities are: Karen Berman, Milledgeville Valerie Boyd, Athens William Eiland, Athens Gilmer Arts and Heritage Association, Ellijay Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Art Program, Atlanta Virginia Hepner, Atlanta Kenny Leon, Atlanta The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta Dr. Pearl McHaney, Decatur National Infantry Museum Foundation, Columbus Janisse Ray, Reidsville Lois Reitzes, Atlanta Detailed information about the recipients is available at www.gaarts.org. Visit the new GCA online grant portal and follow the instructions for new users to set up an account. While we understand that this change will require some extra effort, we are confident that features such as a grantee's ability to manage contacts, requests for reimbursement, and other contract-related documents accessed directly through the system will make the grant process clearer and easier to manage. If you have questions about the change in online grant systems, please contact Tina Lilly, Grants Program Director, at tlilly@gaarts.org or 404-962-4827, or Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager, at abell@gaarts.org or 404-9624839. Inspired Georgia, UGA Press Inspired Georgia Tour Continues with Exhibit at Berry College After successful exhibitions in Zebulon, Milledgeville, and Rome, GCA is pleased to announce that the "Inspired Georgia" photo exhibit will continue its statewide tour with an exhibit at the Altama Museum of Art & History in Vidalia, GA, featuring Janisse Ray reading at the opening event on November 30th. GCA Arts Education Campaign GCA Launches Arts Education Campaign In mid-October, GCA launched their Arts Education Campaign, including a series of 16 slides highlighting the benefits of arts education paired with adoption tips outlining how local advocates can work to improve access to quality arts learning opportunities in their schools, districts, and communities. The slides, adoption tips, and a toolkit with additional resources are available on the GCA Arts Education Campaign web page. We encourage you to use these resources in your classrooms, in your schools, in your communities, and on social media to help make the case for access to quality arts education opportunities. Be sure to follow the Georgia Council for the Arts Facebook page and share the arts education benefits and adoption tips that GCA posted during October. If you have questions or suggestions for additional resources, please contact Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager, at 404-962-4839 or abell@gaarts.org. Communities hosting future exhibits include Statesboro and Albany. Each venue will serve as a host for these remarkable images, along with literary events celebrating local poets in each region of the state. Opening dates and program details are available on the GCA website. "Inspired Georgia" was born from a collaboration between Georgia Council for the Arts, Georgia Poet Laureate Judson Mitcham, Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP), and UGA Press. The volume is a unique collection of Georgia's contemporary poets and photographers that engages the history and culture of the state. Still looking for the perfect gifts for board members, donors, colleagues, friends, or loved ones? In 2017, the AJC named "Inspired Georgia" as one of "5 gift books sure to dazzle this holiday season." Please consider "Inspired Georgia" and purchase your copy of the book here. Proceeds from the sale of the book will fund future UGA Press and GCA co-publications celebrating the arts in Georgia. Just some of GCA's 49 Teaching Artists in action GCA Teaching Artists Registry Update 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, GCA is updating and expanding our existing Teaching Artists Registry with 24 new teaching artists representing a diverse group of practitioners. The profiles for the new artists will be added to GCA's online Registry by early December. GCA Teaching Artist profiles are published online and artists are available for booking in schools, arts organizations, and communities. Qualified teaching artists must be a resident of Georgia, must have a combination of training in their artistic field and experience in educational settings, and must pass a background check. The Teaching Artists Registry application timeline for 2018 will begin this winter, with an application deadline in the spring of 2018. More details will be available later this year. If you have questions about the Teaching Artists Registry, please reach out to Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager, at abell@gaarts.org. Samara Huggins, 2017 Georgia and National Poetry Out Loud Champ Georgia Poetry Out Loud School Registration Deadline Georgia schools that wish to participate in the 2017-2018 Poetry Out Loud (POL) competition must register by December 16, 2017. Poetry Out Loud 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 school-wide contest. Each school's winner competes in a regional semifinal competition. Finalists from the regional semifinals advance to the state finals held in March 2018. The Georgia state champion will compete at the National Finals in Washington, D.C. in May. More Arts News and Opportunities For 2018, GCA is developing a new five-year strategic plan. GCA is currently in the process of consolidating and analyzing constituent feedback to help inform the development of the new plan. Visit the GCA website for additional details about the strategic planning process. As the holiday season approaches, remember that event tickets, original art, season subscriptions, and books by local authors all make great holiday gifts. Support your local arts organizations and artists this year! 2017 Poet Laureate's Prize Ceremony at the State Capitol, Atlanta, GA Georgia Poet Laureate's Prize Call for Entries Georgia's Poet Laureate, Judson Mitcham, in collaboration with GCA, is pleased to announce the fifth 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 2018. GCA is seeking high quality photos from arts organizations and communities for use in publications, newsletters, web pages, and promotional materials. If you have high quality images to share, please send them to Tina Lilly at tlilly@gaarts.org or Allen Bell at abell@gaarts.org. GCA offers internships! Serving as an intern for GCA is a great opportunity to learn about grant making, nonprofit management, collections management, and arts education. Apply via this link. 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 1, 2018. The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education recently unveiled a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) Asset Map www.gasteammap.org. This tool provides a visual depiction of where investments in STEM and STEAM education exist across Georgia. Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Roswell, GA GCA FY18 Partner, Project, and Arts Education Program Grants Timeline The announcements for Partner, Project, and Arts Education Program Grant applications were recently made, so this is the time of year when grantees are curious about the timeline for contracts and payments. To answer some of your questions in advance, we put together a timeline of the grant contracting and payment processes. October-December 2017 - Date range when grantees may expect to receive payment for initial CRR forms submitted in September depending on the time required to set up accounts and process payments October 2017-June 2018 Grantees may continue to submit CRR forms to request payment of the grant award up to 90%; Payment processing and delivery usually takes 4-6 weeks July and August 2018 - Final reports and CRR forms for the final 10% of the grant award are due Also, GCA wants to remind all grantees to thank their state legislators for grant funds allocated for FY18. Without the commitment of the Governor and the General Assembly, these grants would not be possible. If you have questions about grant contracts or payment processing, please contact Sanaa Furqan, Grants Administrative Coordinator, at sfurqan@gaarts.org or 404-9624837. Add your events to ExploreGeorgia.org Promote Your Arts Organization and Events on ExploreGeorgia.org Georgia arts organizations can attract more visitors by posting information about their organizations on Georgia's official tourism website, exploregeorgia.org. The website reaches more than 4.5 million unique visitors, helping them plan their trips to Georgia. In addition, public relations staff for the state use exploregeorgia.org to search for information about sites and events that they can promote on the state's social media channels and to media across the country. All Georgia organizations are welcome to post information to the site about performances, festivals, exhibits, or other programs. Request your free account by visiting partner.exploregeorgia.org. The South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality artistic work being created in the American South. The program is open to individual visual artists living in the South Arts region, including Georgia. The application deadline is December 15, 2017. New research published by the National Endowment for the Arts highlights the value of the arts in rural communities. The report, Rural Arts, Design & Innovation in America, shows that rural areas give equal importance to arts and entertainment organizations and attract more outside visitors than their urban counterparts, among other findings. Shakespeare in American Communities exposes students at underserved middle and high schools to high-quality performances of Shakespeare's plays. Through this National Endowment for the Arts program, matching grants of $25,000 will support school productions and related educational activities. The application deadline is February 8, 2018. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Big Read broadens our understanding of the world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Approximately 75 communities across the country will be selected to participate in The Big Read in 2018-2019. The application deadline is January 24, 2018 The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is a national competition for high school students who have a passion for writing songs for musical theater. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Songwriting Challenge offers six finalists mentorship opportunities with professional songwriters and musicians, as well as scholarship awards. Applications are due by January 5, 2018. Older adults who create art and attend arts events have better health outcomes than adults who do neither concludes a new report published by National Endowment for the Arts. Staying Engaged: Health Patterns of Older Americans Who Engage in the Arts presents the first detailed look at arts participation habits of adults aged 55 and older. The arts are part of a well-rounded education, and new research from WolfBrown and Johns Hopkins University demonstrates that arts education early in life can help students develop socioemotional skills, including areas such as tolerance, cultural awareness, perseverance, school engagement, and self-efficacy. A new report analyzes the effectiveness of arts integration and identifies 44 interventions that demonstrate evidence of success, including teacher professional development, school improvement efforts, afterschool programs, and supports for English learners. Visit the Wallace Foundation website to download Review of Evidence: Arts Integration Research Through the Lens of the Every Student Succeeds Act and to access the supplementary materials. Copyright 2017 Georgia Council for the Arts, All rights reserved.