February 1, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
SANTA BARBARA ARTS COLLABORATIVE ANNOUNCES ARTS ENTERPRISE GRANTS FOR SANTA BARBARA AREA ARTISTS.
For further information contact: Nathan Vonk, President of Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative at info@sbartscollaborative.org
This week the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative announced its new Arts Enterprise Grants. These grants will be open to artists of all disciplines residing, performing or exhibiting in the City of Santa Barbara. The grants build on the Arts Collaborative’s Direct-to-Artists grants program of April 2010. Funding support for the Arts Enterprise Grants has been provided through the Santa Barbara Limited Edition Online Print Sales program, and the Santa Barbara Foundation.
While the online submittal and review process will be the same as the Arts Collaborative’s 2010 Direct-to-Artist grants, Arts Enterprise Grants will place an emphasis on entrepreneurism and innovation. Ongoing or proposed Arts Enterprise Grant projects should provide innovative approaches or new models to further artistic career goals and provide opportunities for public engagement. Arts Collaborative Board President Nathan Vonk had this to say about the Arts Enterprise Grant opportunity for Santa Barbara based artists, “This grant is an amazing opportunity for local artists to learn from a diverse group of mentors who will help make their project a success.”
Grants will be available online at Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative website APPLY HERE beginning February 11th, 2013. The deadline for the online grant submittal is March 11th at 9pm Pacific Standard Time. Grant panelists will convene to review grant applicants and make selections during the week of March 18-22nd. 2013 Arts Enterprise grant recipients will be announced at the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission Annual Arts Symposium on April 26, 2013 at the Canary Hotel.
The Arts Enterprise Grant Review Panel includes individuals from a wide range of artistic disciplines and includes professionals with varied experience in business, administration, marketing and promotion. Members of the panel will act as an “ad hoc” committee to selected applicants throughout the next 12 months through the successful completion of their proposed project.
Since its inception, the efforts and programs of the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative continue with a goal to foster and facilitate collaboration. Conceived of by Nathan Vonk the Arts Collaborative provided an Arts Crawl program attached to the Downtown Organization’s popular 1st Thursday cultural nights. With the support of Mayor Helene Schneider, the Arts Collaborative instituted an Art in the Mayor’s Office program with an online call for entries. At the April 2012 County Arts Symposium the Arts Collaborative lead a community discussion on strategies to preserve the Funk Zone as an artisan centric neighborhood. The Arts Collaborative recently played a significant role in fostering collaboration, and engaging artists and businesses through participation in Pianos on State, its second Bar Napkin Biennale and the recent very successful Focus on the Funk Zone event in October. Through the Arts Enterprise Grant program the Arts Collaborative intends to continue its ongoing efforts to support and foster collaboration and innovation for Santa Barbara’s creative community. “The idea behind the Arts Enterprise Grant program is to rethink the grant process and leverage the power of collaboration” says Rod Hare, co-founder and board member of the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative. “Grants are a critical part of supporting a thriving artistic community in Santa Barbara, but often result in artists contorting their ideas to fit a grant’s criteria, just to secure the funds to keep going,” said Hare. “Our idea is to hear from artists what projects they’re passionate about, and then provide some necessary funds, yes, but more importantly surround that artist with individuals from the community who will commit to seeing the artist’s vision become reality. Almost like an ad hoc advisory board.”
Arts Enterprise Grant Timeline:
February 11, 2013 Enterprise Grants Available online at http://www.sbartscollaborative.org
March 11, 2013 Grants due submitted online (9pm PST)
March 18-22 Panelists review grants and make selections
April 26 Arts Enterprise grant recipients announced at the SB County Arts Commission’s Annual Arts Symposium.
For information on the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative visit www.sbartscollaborative.org or sbartscollab on Facebook. If you have any difficulties with the registration or online grant application process, the SB Arts Collaborative webmaster is available for questions at webmaster@sbartscollaborative.org.