Georgia Council for the Arts, 2017 Summer

GCA Newsletter - Summer 2017 Click here to view this email in your browser.





GCA Newsletter / Summer 2017



Savannah Music Festival, Savannah, GA
GCA Announces FY18 Partner, Project, and Arts Education Grants
Last month, Georgia Council for the Arts announced the recipients of its Partner, Project, and Arts Education grants, and traditional arts and literary arts funding for fiscal year 2018. One hundred organizations throughout the state were collectively awarded more than $1 million in grants. Funding for Partner Grants was awarded to 53 organizations across the state, support for Project Grants was awarded to 35 organizations, 23 organizations received the Arts Education Program Grant, two received literary arts programs funding, and one was awarded funding for traditional arts programs. A total of 114 grants were awarded. Funds awarded by GCA appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. The full list of FY18 grantees is available here.

Marva Swanson, GCA Database Manager, Retired
Marva Swanson, Database Manager, Retires from GCA
Georgia Council for the Arts Database Manager Marva Swanson officially retired on July 31 of this year. Swanson joined the GCA staff 13 years ago, after working in corporate America for 35 years. Marva plans to continue her journey as a fiber artist during her retirement. She will continue to exhibit her work in national and international juried shows. To date, her work has been published in two books and three magazines.

Rome Shakespeare Festival, Rome, GA
Vibrant Communities Grant Guidelines Available
The Vibrant Communities grant will fund arts projects in counties in which no organization received an FY18 GCA Project, Partner, or Arts Education Program Grant. The complete list of eligible counties is available in the guidelines. This grant will fund programs such as performances, exhibits, residencies, workshops, festivals, etc. Basic information about Vibrant Communities includes:
The grant is open to any nonprofit organization, government entity, library, school, college or university. Applicants may request $1,000-$5,000. The grant requires a 50% cash match. The deadline to apply is August 31, 2017. The project must be completed by June 1, 2018.
To accompany the guidelines, GCA assembled a list of artists and arts organizations that have programs for which a community could request support. Both the guidelines and the artist list can be found on the GCA website. GCA offered a Vibrant Communities training webinar on August 3, 2017. A recording of the training webinar is available online. If you have questions, please contact Tina Lilly at tlilly@gaarts.org or 404962-4827.
GCA grant system changes from GO to Foundant
GCA Announces New Online Grant Application System
In the fall of 2017, GCA will transition to a new online grant application system, Foundant. Two years ago, when GCA selected GO as the agency's online grants system, we were encouraged by the number of other state arts agencies using the program, the company's history of working with organizations like GCA, and its apparent sustainability. We have since learned that the company which manages GO has decided to make significant changes to the system which will make it unusable for GCA (as well as for other state arts agencies around the country). While the timing is not ideal for our agency, or for our applicants and grantees, we were excited that our research into a new system revealed enhanced programs on the market with more advanced technology than GO and we are confident that the functionality of Foundant will make GCA grants management easier for our grantees and our staff.
Here is what applicants and grantees need to know regarding their GO accounts:
Deadline: After August 30, you will no longer be able to access your GO account. Archiving: You will have until August 30 to access your account and archive your grant applications and final reports. We strongly recommend that you do this so that your organization has a record of your grant applications and final reports. To archive your files, follow these steps:
Log in to your GO account. Click on the My Data tab. For each grant application and final report, click on the icon to the far right, Create PDF. A PDF will then be created, which may take a few minutes. Once the PDF appears, you may either print it out or save it to your computer. Repeat these steps for each application and final report your organization submitted through GO. Final Reports: FY17 Partner, Project and Arts Education final reports will be submitted in GO. FY18 final reports will be submitted in the new system, Foundant. Complete instructions about FY18 final reports will be released in the fall.
We are currently working with Foundant to train GCA staff to administer the new system. We will share information about how to set up an account later this fall. 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, or about archiving your applications and final reports, please contact Tina Lilly, Grants Program Director (tlilly@gaarts.org or 404-962-4827) or Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager (abell@gaarts.org or 404962-4839).

Word cloud from GCA survey feedback
GCA Strategic Plan Update
For 2018, GCA is developing a new five-year strategic plan. The strategic planning process began during the spring with a series of regional meetings to inform the plan, providing an opportunity for constituents to share their vision for how GCA can harness the power and potential of the arts in Georgia to build strong, vibrant communities. The regional meetings were hosted in Gainesville, Dublin, LaGrange, and Atlanta. In addition, GCA sought constituent input through an online survey available during April, May, and June 2017. A total of 709 survey responses were received. GCA is currently in the process of consolidating and analyzing constituent feedback from the surveys and regional meetings to help inform the development of the new plan. Visit the GCA website for additional details about the strategic planning process.
Inspired Georgia, UGA Press
Inspired Georgia Tour Opens with Slow Exposures Exhibit
We are pleased to announce that the "Inspired Georgia" photo exhibit will tour the state in 2017 and 2018, opening at Slow Exposures in Zebulon, Ga. from September 14-17. Communities hosting future exhibits include Milledgeville, Rome, 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. Purchase your copy of the book here.
More Arts News and Opportunities
GCA is hiring a Grants Administrative Coordinator. The person hired for this position will be responsible for supporting GCA's grants team and grantmaking program by managing the administration of, and payments on, GCA contracts. A position description and application details are available online.
The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has developed a draft of the state's plan to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which was signed into law in December 2015. While the public comment period has passed, we still encourage you to review the draft for your own information. For those seeking information specific to arts learning in the plan, the fine arts are referenced on pages 24, 26, and 67.
The State Board of Education recently approved the first Georgia Standards of Excellence for Media Arts, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts, based on the recommendation of State School Superintendent Richard Woods. The standards were revised based on public feedback, including a 60-day public comment period. Standards for Music and Dance will be reviewed this school year.
For just the second year, the Georgia Department of Education is offering a Fine Arts Diploma Seal to graduating high school seniors. For the 2016-2017 school year, 1,467 Georgia high school graduates received the Fine Arts Diploma Seal. The creative industries are a $29 billion sector of Georgia's economy and employ more than 200,000 Georgians. The goal of the Fine Arts Diploma Seal is prepare students for college and careers in these fine arts-related industries. The application deadline for schools to be included in the program for the 20172018 school year is September 15, 2017. Schools that were previously accepted to the program do not need to resubmit an application unless the contact details or other application content has changed.
Americans for the Arts recently published Arts and Economic Prosperity 5, which shares data demonstrating that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is a significant sector in our state and our nation. Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $166.3 billion of economic activity during 2015. This activity supported 4.6 million jobs and generated $27.5 billion in revenue to local, state, and federal governments. For Georgia, local data is available for Atlanta (City of Atlanta, Fulton County, Metro Atlanta, and Greater Atlanta Region), Augusta (Greater Augusta, Columbia County, and Richmond County), Macon (Macon-Bibb County), and Savannah (City of Savannah).
Out of more than 310,000 Poetry Out Loud (POL) competitors nationwide last academic year, Georgia POL state champion and Whitefield Academy senior Samara Eln Huggins claimed the title of National Champion at the POL National Finals in late April. Watch a video of the POL national champ reciting "Novel" by Arthur Rimbaud during the National Finals on the Poetry Out Loud YouTube channel. Read an interview with Samara on the National Endowment for the Arts' Artworks Blog. Congrats, Samara!

The first of 16 images from the GCA Arts Education Benefits Slide Series
GCA Plans Release of Arts Education Benefits Slide Series and Adoption Tips
In mid-September, GCA will release 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 and adoption tips will be available on the GCA arts education web page. Stay tuned for the announcement with more details in mid-September.

Georgia's Poet Laureate, Judson Mitcham, and GCA announced the winners of the Poet Laureate's Prize in May. Recognized for an original poem by a Georgia high school student, the winner and finalists were honored by Governor Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal. The winner was Max Morella from Milton High School. The four finalists were Anna Crossley from Roswell High School, Rosasharn Brown from the Weber School, Sophia Seufert from DeKalb School of the Arts, and Mina Yu from Oconee County High School. To read the winner and finalist student poems, visit Atlanta Magazine. Congrats to the winner and finalists!

Some of GCA's 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. New teaching artists added to the registry have been notified and will be announced to the public later this fall. In the meantime, current GCA Teaching Artist profiles are available 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 fall, with an application deadline in the winter of 2018. More details will be available later in the year. If you have questions about the Teaching Artists Registry, please reach out to Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager, at abell@gaarts.org.
Larinda Wilken, The Morning, Douglasville, GA, from The Art of Georgia II, Northwest Georgia
GCA 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.
July 2017 - GCA makes grant announcements and distributes contracts to grantees
August 2017 - Grantees return signed contracts and other required documents to GCA; Grant contracts and supporting documents are processed by GCA staff and forwarded to the GDEcD accounting department to set up grantee accounts
September 2017 - After contracts are processed and grantees have incurred the requisite amount of expenditures (at least double the grant funds being requested), grantees may submit a Contractor's Request for Reimbursement (CRR) for up to 90% of the grant award; Initial CRR forms are processed by GCA staff and forwarded to the GDEcD accounting department for payment processing
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
If you have questions about grant contracts or payment processing, please contact Tina Lilly, Grants Program Director (tlilly@gaarts.org or 404-962-4827) or Allen Bell, Arts Education Manager (abell@gaarts.org or 404962-4839).

Congratulations to Milton High School student Maya Eashwaran on being named a National Student Poet and winner from the Southeast Region. The National Student Poets Program honors student poets and showcases their achievements for a national audience. The program is a partnership between the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Read three of Maya's poems at www.artandwriting.org. Congrats to Maya!
GCA worked with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE) to host a Critical Issues Forum focused on Arts Learning and the Innovation Workforce on Thursday, April 20, at the Georgia Film Academy in Fayetteville, GA. A video recording of the forum is available online.
GCA Executive Director, Karen Paty, recently contributed an editorial about Georgia's cultural economy and how it drives strong communities for the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA). Karen was also recently interviewed by Georgia Trend magazine for an article on the arts in our state and by WABE for a story about the impact of NEA funding on the arts in Georgia.
GCA Grants Director Tina Lilly and Director of Tourism Product Development Cindy Eidson from the GDEcD Tourism Division presented a session at the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) annual convention in Savannah. The workshop, titled "Art, Tourism and Economic Development," focused on the ways that cities can use their arts resources as a tool to address issues such as workforce training, community development, and downtown revitalization. For example, the Thomasville Center for the Arts utilized pop-up shops and murals during a month-long festival to draw attention to a neglected section of their downtown. As a result, two buildings in this area were purchased, two other spaces entered into long-term leases, and one of the artist groups moved into their pop-up space permanently.
The NEA has announced the availability of Our Town grant applications, which will be offered in two areas: Arts Engagement, Cultural Planning, and Design Projects, and Projects that Build Knowledge About Creative Placemaking. Applications are due on September 11, 2017, with August 1, 2018, set as the earliest possible project start date. The NEA has made available on their website recordings of the webinars offered on July 24 and July 31 to support the application process. Guidelines are available on the NEA website.
Congratulations to the eight Georgia arts organizations that recently received Regional Touring grants from South Arts. You can read the announcement about the recently funded Regional Touring programs on the South Arts website.
Registration is now open for the 2017 Performing Arts Exchange (PAE) in Atlanta, Sept. 25-28. Produced by South Arts, PAE is an annual performing arts booking, showcasing, and professional development conference and serves as the primary marketplace and forum for performing arts presenting and touring in the eastern U.S.
The first annual Georgia Theatre Educators Conference will be August 25 & 26, 2017, at the Hilton Atlanta Marietta Hotel & Conference Center in Marietta, hosted and organized by Georgia Thespians, the state chapter of the Educational Theatre Association. The Georgia Theatre Educators Conference will include a variety of hands-on workshops, including set construction, acting, curriculum and unit planning, and sound techniques. Registration is now open
The Georgia Art Education Association (GAEA) will hold their fall conference from October 19-22 in Augusta. Hosted at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center, the conference theme is Voices, Visions, Visuals: The Art of Storytelling. Registration for the conference is now open.

Copyright 2017 Georgia Council for the Arts, All rights reserved.
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