AUGUST 2016

Welcome to e-Prairie Arts! This electronic newsletter supplements our printed newsletter, Prairie Arts, which is published three times per year. e-Prairie Arts will be distributed during the months of February, March, April, June, July, August, October, November and December. If you know of anyone else who would like to receive e-Prairie Arts, please e-mail comserv@nd.gov. Those wishing to unsubscribe, may send an e-mail to comserv@nd.gov as well.

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**How has the North Dakota Council on the Arts benefited you and/or your community? We would love to know! Send your comments to amschmid@nd.gov.**

STATEWIDE NEWS

NDCA is excited to welcome Jane Chu, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts to North Dakota!
You are cordially invited to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) with Chairman Jane Chu on Wednesday, August 24, 2016, at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo. Join the NEA, NDCA and The Arts Partnership for a social from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m., followed by a town hall from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Free and open to the public! Please click here to RSVP! (RSVP's are not required, but are appreciated.) For more information visit www.nd.gov/arts/news/press-releases/nea-chairman-jane-chu-visits-north-dakota.

Artist-in-Residence, Community Arts Access and Presenter Support Grants now available online
Artist-in-Residence, Community Arts Access and Presenter Support grants (for programming taking place between January 1 and June 30, 2017) are now available via NDCA’s online grant system. The deadline date for these grant programs is November 1, 2016. Check guidelines for draft review deadlines. Early submission is strongly encouraged for all programs. To access NDCA’s online grant system, or to view grant availability, please visit http://nd.culturegrants.org.

Important notice of deadline change/consolidation to all Community Arts Access, Presenter Support and Artist in Residency grantees!
Beginning January 1, 2017, NDCA will be consolidating the Community Arts Access and the Presenter Support grants into one grant program with two tiers. The combined grant programs will be called the Community Arts Access grant. Also, there will no longer be Spring and Fall grant rounds, the grant will instead be consolidated to a once-per-year, Spring, April 1 application and submission process. Any grant applications for projects/activities taking place from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018 must be submitted during the upcoming April 1, 2017 grant round.
Beginning January 1, 2017, NDCA will also be consolidating the Spring and Fall Artist in Residency grant rounds into a once-per-year, Spring, April 1 application and submission process. If you would like to implement a residency at your school during the 2017-18 academic school year, an application must be submitted during the upcoming April 1, 2017 grant round. Please plan accordingly!

Professional Development and Special Project grant program review and notification changes
NDCA's Special Project applications will now be reviewed by a panel four times a year (instead of twice a month). The FY17 grants will be reviewed by a panel in August and November 2016, and February and May 2017, so it is important to plan ahead when submitting an application.
Professional Development grant applications will now be reviewed by a panel at the end of each month (instead of twice a month). Please note that grant award notifications for both grant programs will be sent out within two weeks of the panel's decision. If you have any questions on the Special Project grant please email Beth at bklingenstein@nd.gov; for questions on the Professional Development grant email Amy at amschmid@nd.gov.

North Dakota 2017 Governor’s Awards for the Arts Call for Nominations
Call for Nomination materials must be postmarked by January 13, 2017! A nomination form is available at www.nd.gov/arts/sites/default/files/PDFs/2017nominationform.pdf. The North Dakota Governor’s Awards for the Arts program is presented by the Governor’s Office and NDCA to recognize organizations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the arts in the state. Nominations are reviewed by members of NDCA, who then submit final candidates to the Governor for selection of the award winners. The awards will be presented at a special public event in Bismarck, March 28, 2017. Don’t miss your opportunity to nominate an individual or an organization in the following categories: Individual Achievement (artist, staff, or volunteer); Arts Organization; Arts in Education (educator, school, or administrator); or Private Business (please note that not all categories may be awarded, and/or there could be more than one recipient in a single category).

2017 Statewide Arts Conference and Governor's Awards for the Arts
Be sure to save the date for the 2017 Statewide Arts Conference and Governor's Awards for the Arts Ceremony on March 28, 2017 in Bismarck, ND. More information will be available soon at www.nd.gov/arts/programs/statewide-arts-conference.

North Dakota Poetry Out Loud registration is now open
All schools wishing to participate in the North Dakota Poetry Out Loud (POL) program and apply for the Poets in Schools Grant must officially register through North Dakota Council on the Arts. Registration for 2016-17 Poetry Out Loud is now open and the forms can be downloaded at www.ndpol.com/2016-17-registration-form.html. POL Teacher Resource materials will be mailed to all participating teachers upon registration.

Nonprofit Board Development workshops registration open
NDANO will be hosting board development workshops this fall featuring expert Carter McNamara. Workshops will be held from 12-6 p.m. with the first three hours designed for CEOs and their board presidents, followed by a second three-hour session for all board members. Register today to attend a session around the state: Sept. 21 - Minot, Comfort Inn; Sept. 22 - Bismarck, Ramada Hotel; Sept. 26 - Fargo, Bremer Bank; and Sept. 27 - Grand Forks, C'mon Inn.

Start planning your events now, October is National Arts and Humanities Month
National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Each year since 1993, NAHM has helped give millions of Americans the opportunity to explore new facets of the arts and humanities in their lives and has encouraged them to begin a lifelong habit of active participation. National Arts and Humanities Month’s four primary goals are to: create a national, state and local focus on the arts and humanities through the media; encourage the active participation of individuals, as well as arts, humanities and other interested organizations nationwide; provide an opportunity for federal, state and local business, government and civic leaders to declare their support for the arts and humanities; and establish a highly visible vehicle for raising public awareness about the arts and humanities. In towns and communities across America, arts organizations are planning and developing events, celebrations and innovative programming to highlight National Arts and Humanities Month. Throughout the month of October, special events will capture the spirit that the arts and humanities bring to everyday life. To learn more about how you can participate visit www.americansforthearts.org/events/national-arts-and-humanities-month.

NATIONAL NEWS

2017 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Award
Do you believe in the power of free, live music to bring people together and invigorate community life? Does your town or city have an underused public space that would be ideal for outdoor concerts? Apply for a 2017 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Award! Applications are now open. The Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards were created in 2014 by the Levitt Foundation, a pioneer in the creative placemaking movement. Levitt AMP brings the joy of free, live music to people of all ages and backgrounds living in small to mid-sized towns and cities, transforming underused public spaces into thriving community destinations. Informational webinars will be held on August 3rd and September 9th. Applications are due October 10th. For more information, and to apply, visit http://concerts.levittamp.org.

2016 Intercultural Leadership Institute
The guidelines and application information are now available at www.nalac.org/programs/nalac-institutes/ili for the first cohort of the Intercultural Leadership Institute, a new year-long rigorous personal and leadership development program for artists, culture bearers and other arts professionals. The Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) is a collaborative program of Alternate ROOTS, First Peoples Fund, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) and PA'I Foundation. These four partner organizations have created ILI out of a shared commitment to pursue cultural equity and to support artists, culture bearers, and other arts professionals as change-makers in their communities. The inaugural cohort will spend three weeks together over the course of a year deeply immersed in ILI host communities including Mississippi, South Dakota and Hawai’i. These communities represent numerous cultural and historical heritages and in the case of ILI's 2017-18 cohort, will offer learning and leadership experiences based largely in the African-American heritage of the U.S. South, the Native American heritage of Lakota Territory, and the native Pacific Islander heritage of Hawai'i. To learn more visit www.nalac.org/programs/nalac-institutes/ili.

100 Years of Arts in the Parks
100 Years of Arts in the Parks celebrates how artists inspired the creation of the national parks and are helping to re-imagine the parks today. With its 100th anniversary celebration this year, the National Parks Service has been working to highlight the many ways they connect with attendees in their parks. Over the years, the NPS has implemented arts programs as a means to further its mission of preservation and engagement of national parks. Watch the amazing videos at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/arts/100-years-of-art.htm, and take a moment to enjoy how the arts have become a part of the NPS!

New NEA Our Town grant guidelines now available 
Guidelines for 2017 Our Town funding are now posted on the NEA website. Grants will be offered in Arts Engagement, Cultural Planning, and Design Projects as well as in Projects that Build Knowledge about Creative Placemaking. Applications are due on September 12, with funding available on August 1, 2017. Guidelines are available at: https://www.arts.gov/grants-organizations/our-town/introduction.

16th Annual National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) Conference, Austin, Texas, November 11-14, 2016
Across the nation, arts organizations and the communities they serve are in a constant state of evolution. As arts marketers, how do we successfully maintain organizational relevance while building sustainability in our rapidly changing world? How can we meet change with a responsive, creative, and flexible approach? How can we capitalize on change to fuel inventive and unconventional thinking, forward-thinking solutions, and a willingness to experiment? With continuous shifting trends in the landscape of arts marketing and audience engagement, arts organizations must go beyond “embracing” change. Instead, we need to desire change, seek it out, work for it, and invest in it; we need to Fuel the Change. To learn more and to register visit http://artsmarketing.org/conference. NDCA Professional Development funds are available to attend this conference, visit www.nd.gov/arts/grants/general/professional-development, to learn more.

The GRAMMY Foundation is now accepting Letters of Inquiry for the 2017 grant cycle
With funding generously provided by The Recording Academy®, the Grant Program awards grants each year to organizations and individuals to support efforts that advance the archiving and preservation of music and the recorded sound heritage of the Americas for future generations, and research projects related to the impact of music on the human condition. Grant funds have been utilized to preserve private collections as well as materials at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and numerous colleges and universities. Research projects have studied the links between music and early childhood education, treatments for illnesses and injuries common to musicians, and the impact of music therapy on populations from infants to the elderly. In the past, nearly $7 million in grants have been awarded to more than 380 recipients. A letter of inquiry is required before submission of a full application. To read the guidelines and to submit a letter of inquiry for the 2017 GRAMMY Foundation grant cycle, please visit www.grammyfoundation.org/grants. The deadline each year for submitting letters of inquiry is October 1.

EVENT AND EXHIBIT CALENDAR, ARTS OPPORTUNITIES

**Check out upcoming Events and Exhibits listed on NDCA's calendar. If you have events, exhibits or artist opportunities that you would like included on the NDCA web site, please email them to comserv@nd.gov. Check out the other current Arts Opportunities available on the NDCA web site!

Post your art activities on Tourism’s web site as well. The arts bring a great deal to tourism within the state of North Dakota and both NDCA and ND Tourism can benefit from joint efforts to market the arts within ND. NDCA encourages studios, organizations, schools and universities to list their art activities on the Tourism web site. The broad reach of Tourism's web site offers an extremely effective way of promoting your art activities. Here is the link to a tutorial on how to enter your activities: http://screencast.com/t/emJIJkyI. For assistance, contact Scooter Pursley at spursley@nd.gov, or 701-328-2874.

The North Dakota Governor’s Photo Contest for Travel and Tourism celebrates the talents of North Dakotans and the scenic beauty, adventure, wildlife, places and people they enjoy here. The contest is open through August 31, 2016. This contest is a partnership of the Office of Governor Jack Dalrymple, AAA, North Dakota Tourism and the North Dakota Council on the Arts. The Contest is open to photographers who are 18 years of age or older who are legal residents of North Dakota. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Entry deadline is August 31, 2016. Photos should show North Dakota’s appeal as a travel destination. Contest categories include: Adventure and Recreation, Places to Visit, Events, People, Scenery, and Wildlife. Only North Dakota residents are eligible. Photos must have been taken in North Dakota, preferably within the last three (3) years. For more information visit www.ndtourism.com/blog/2016-governors-photo-contest.

North Dakota Art Gallery Association (NDAGA) is seeking proposals for solo or group exhibitions for 2017-2018. In the fall of each year the gallery directors from North Dakota and surrounding states hold their annual conference; it is at this time that proposing artists have the opportunity for their work to be reviewed for possible exhibition. These traveling exhibitions are promoted throughout the Midwest to regional gallery and museum directors and curators. Honorariums are paid to chosen artists to tour their work. Member artists are eligible for exhibition review privileges without a fee. Artists working in any medium are encouraged to submit their art. A copy of the prospectus is available at www.ndaga.org/index.cfm?page=opportunities. Please contact us at ndaga@ndaga.org for further information. Entry deadline is August 31, 2016.

DID YOU KNOW ...

What do Americans believe about the arts?
It’s undeniable—the arts transform people and communities every day. But how do United States citizens feel about the arts? Do they value artistic activities and arts education? Do our country’s citizens feel the arts are an important part of their lives and do they support government funding for the arts? There’s no need to guess at the answers for these questions. New research by Americans for the Arts provides an in-depth look at the perceptions and attitudes about the arts in the United States. An Americans for the Arts and Ipsos Public Affairs survey of more than 3,000 American adults over the age of 18 in December 2015, provides current insight on topics including support for arts education and government arts funding, personal engagement in the arts, the personal benefits and well-being that come from engaging in the arts, and if/how those benefits extend more broadly to the community. Explore and the information available at www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/research-studies-publications/public-opinion-poll-overview, to understand how your neighbors and community members feels about the arts.

OTHER RESOURCES