Mississippi Arts Commission: Programs

Next application deadlines: June 1, 2012 or November 1, 2012

Please submit Artist Minigrant applications no earlier than 30 days prior to one of the deadlines. Applications received prior to this date will be returned. Applications must be submitted through eGRANT, postal mail, or delivered by hand to MAC’s office by the due date. Faxed or emailed applications are not accepted.

Apply online using MAC's eGRANT system

Artist Minigrant Application Form: [PDF]

.

Artist Minigrant Program Guidelines (PDF document version of the text below): [PDF]

Program Overview

MAC's Artist Minigrant program supports established and emerging professional artists based in Mississippi by providing funds to assist with professional training, promotional efforts, or purchase of supplies.

Applicants may apply for up to $500. Artist Minigrants are reimbursement grants, meaning grantees must complete their project and submit documentation to MAC (such as receipts or paid invoices) before the grant funds are sent. The program does not require a cash match from the artist.

Artist Minigrants may not be used to support academic research or study towards an academic or professional degree. Artists may receive only one Minigrant per fiscal year. Individuals who have received an Artist Fellowship are not eligible to receive an Artist Minigrant in the same fiscal year. If grant funds are limited, MAC gives priority to eligible applicants who have not previously received a Minigrant.

Artists who are applying for the first time are strongly encouraged to contact a MAC program director (see staff list at the bottom of this page) to discuss whether or not their project would be eligible for funding before submitting an application.

 

Eligible Projects

Artist Minigrants can support:

• Registration and related travel expenses for a professional conference or workshop where the applicant will receive training or professional development within their artistic discipline. An Artist Minigrant cannot support a presentation by an applicant at a professional or educational conference. Booth fees at fairs or festivals are not eligible under this option.

• Projects that help promote the applicant's work, such as designing and printing a brochure, poster, gallery card, CD/DVD duplication (as part of a promotional plan) or designing a website. Applicants requesting funds for CD or DVD duplication projects must explain how the discs will be used in their promotional plan and how they will be distinct from the applicant’s commercial ("for sale") discs. MAC expects grantees to produce professional quality CD or DVDs when utilizing Minigrant funding.

• The purchase of expendable supplies (such as clay or paint) used to create new work. The grant cannot be used to purchase permanent equipment, such as musical instruments, computers, or other non-expendable items.

PLEASE NOTE: Minigrants cannot be used to reimburse expenses that were incurred before a grant is awarded. All expenses must take place within the grant period in order to be eligible for reimbursement.

Artists who receive a Minigrant are obligated to spend the grant funds on the project described in their application. If a change is required, the grantee must submit a Grant Change Form before requesting reimbursement for a new activity. We recommend that the grantee call and speak with a MAC program director prior to submitting the Grant Change form to ensure that the change will be eligible.

 

Who May Apply

You may apply for an Artist Minigrant if you are:
• A professional artist producing work of high artistic quality. Individuals are considered to be professional artists if they:
◦ earn at least part of their annual income in their artistic work,
◦ consider their artistic endeavors as a career,
◦ maintain a high level of artistic quality, and
◦ make a significant time investment in their artistic disciplines through practice, performance or production
• More than 18 years of age
• Not a full-time student; and
• A permanent, legal resident of Mississippi at the time of application and throughout the grant period. Applicants may be required to show proof of residence.

Review Criteria

Minigrant applications are adjudicated based on the artistic excellence of the applicant's work and the degree to which the proposed project will help the applicant to create work of higher quality. MAC considers the following three components in determining artistic excellence:

• The originality and vision of the work
• The artist's technical mastery of their discipline
• The technique or process used to create the work

 

How to Apply

Please submit one copy of each of the following:
• Artist Minigrant Application Form
• Narrative (two-page maximum) in which you describe:
◦ your development as an artist
◦ the details of your proposed activities, including:
- a description of the activities
- your timeframe for completing the work
- if others are involved in the activities (for example, a website designer or other professional doing work for you), please provide details on who they are and what they will be doing.
◦ how the activity will help you to expand your work as a professional artist
• Your current artistic resumé. This document should detail your work as a professional artist only. Do not include information about your non-arts work.
• Documentation that supports your funding request. For example, a copy of a conference brochure (with registration price listed), an estimate from a designer or printer, or the catalog page featuring the supplies you wish to purchase.
• Appropriate work samples that have been created within the last three years (see the "Sample Formats" section below for details).
• A list that describes the submitted work samples. The list should include the titles and the completion dates of each sample. If appropriate for the samples, include the medium and dimensions.
• A one paragraph description of the process or techniques used to create the work samples (not required for literary artists).

Work Sample Formats

Literary Artists: 10-15 pages of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, playwriting (original or adaptation), or a screenplay completed within the last three years. If your submitted work sample is an excerpt from a longer work, you may include a one-page synopsis of the work as a whole. Published work must be submitted in typed manuscript rather than published form. The sample must be formatted using a 12-point font size and one inch margins on all sides of the page.

Media Artists: One copy of a DVD with 5-10 minutes of excerpts of your work completed within the last three years. The list of work samples should include, for each excerpt, the title, length, date completed, technique, original format, genre (documentary, experimental, etc.) and the applicant's role in creating the submitted work.

Performing Artists: One copy of a DVD or CD containing 5-10 minutes of representative work completed within the last three years. Musicians should include at least three songs in their sample. CD samples should be prepared so that they can be played on a standard CD player (no mp3 discs). On the list of work samples indicate the title, names of the artist(s), date, and location of recording. Please note: storytellers, actors, dancers and other theatre artists are required to submit their samples on DVD.

Visual Artists: One set of digital images that feature six different samples of work (up to three views of the same work are permissible) completed within the last three years. The images should be saved in JPEG format at 72dpi, with no image wider than 1600 pixels. They should be saved on a CD-R disc with each image numbered to correspond with the work sample listing. Only the required images should be included on the CD-R. They should not be saved as part of a presentation program file (like PowerPoint).

 

Return of Work Samples

All work samples will be discarded 60 days after the application deadline if no instructions are given for their return. To have support materials returned through the mail, you must provide a self-addressed mailer with sufficient postage. You may also pick up your material at MAC’s office during regular business hours. Please make arrangements with the program director managing your application before visiting the office.

Dates  to Remember

June 1 or November 1, 2012 – Artist Minigrant application deadlines
During the deadline month – MAC staff review the applications and MAC’s Minigrant Committee meets to make the funding decisions on all applications
July 2 or December 3, 2012 – Applicants are notified whether their application was funded or not.

Staff Contacts

For questions about the program, please contact one of the following MAC Program Staff members, based on your artistic discipline:

Performing Arts - Allison Winstead - 601-359-6546 / awinstead@arts.state.ms.us

Visual Arts and Crafts - Kim Whitt, 601-359-6037 / kwhitt@arts.state.ms.us

Literary and Media Arts, Diane Williams, 601-359-6529 / dwilliams@arts.state.ms.us

Folk and Heritage-based Arts, Mary Margaret Miller, 601-359-6034 / mmiller@arts.state.ms.us

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, the Riley Foundation, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson and other private sources.