A description of each Arkansas Arts Council FY09 grant program and relevant application information is available on the disc Guide to Grants Fiscal Year 2009, as well as online at the Arkansas Arts Council website www.arkansasarts.org. The format of each grant application is designed to assist the review process and to provide applicant organizations with an analysis of their artistic and administrative components.

Funding Restrictions
Applying for a Grant
Guaranteed Grant Draft Review Period
When to Apply
Where to Apply
Funding Process
Panel Selection
Application Processing
Review Attendance
Application Review
Panel Recommendations
Funding Decisions
Request for Reconsideration
Reconsideration Process

Funding Restrictions

• Deficits or start-up costs for new organizations
• Contingency funds
• Contributions and donations to other organizations or individuals
• Building renovations or capital expenditures for facilities
• Entertainment expenses
• Tuition for academic study or any form of scholarship or student financial aid
• Faculty salaries
• Lobbying expenses
• Interest and other financial costs

Applying for a Grant

When submitting an application, an eligible organization must include all application information requested and submit the complete application package by the grant program deadline. If an item does not apply, write NA in the space.

The budget form is available as an Excel file that will calculate for you. If a budget line item does not apply, write a zero (0) in the space. Do not leave blank spaces in any section of the application. The Total Income for the FY09 Projected Budget should equal the Total Expenses. Any surplus amount of operating income indicated for FY09 will be subtracted from the grant request.

For clarification on what each budget line item includes, refer to Standard Definitions. Applicants should use those definitions to determine how to divide their operating resources according to the budget line items indicated on the grant application form.

Explanations or additional information requested should be submitted on a separate page. Single-spaced lines are acceptable, but the font used must be clear and no smaller than this size font (Verdana 10).

Guaranteed Grant Draft Review Period

Consult with the Grant Programs Managers on any question or concern that develops in preparing the application. For a guaranteed grant application review, organizations are strongly encouraged to send a draft copy of their application to the Grant Programs Managers between November 26, 2007, and January 11, 2008.

When to Apply

Complete applications must be hand delivered by 4:30 p.m. or postmarked no later than the deadline for a specific grant program.

2 November -Letter of Intent to Apply for Expansion Arts or new/returning General Operating Support/Major Arts Partner applicants

11 January - Collaborative Project Support

18 January - Arts in Education and Major Arts Partners Arts in Education

25 January - General Operating Support and Major Arts Partners General Operating Support and Expansion Arts

Applications that are substantially incomplete will be determined ineligible and changes cannot be made after the application deadline.

Late applications will not be accepted unless the applicant demonstrates good cause for missing the deadline. Good cause will generally be limited to events or factors beyond the applicant’s control—such as natural disasters—and will be determined by the Arkansas Arts Council’s executive director.

We strongly recommend you send material as priority mail and keep your receipt from the delivery service. Without this proof of mailing, the Arts Council may not accept applications that are delayed or lost.

“Complete application” means one authorized set with all indicated parts for a specific grant category. Any application missing a requested item will be eliminated from the review process.|

Where to Apply

Mailed applications must be received at the following address:

Arkansas Arts Council
1500 Tower Building
323 Center St.
Little Rock, AR 72201

Hand-delivered applications must be brought to room 1400 of the Tower Building.


Funding Process

Prior to the beginning of the grant cycle each year, the Arkansas Arts Council approves grant categories, policies, and review procedures. The Council uses a review process at the time of application to determine grant recommendations. All panel recommendations are then presented to the full Council for review and are voted on at the annual funding meeting to determine final grant amounts. Grant award payment schedules are designed relative to the activity periods outlined in the approved grant applications.

Panel Selection

Review panels are composed of Arts Council members and field representatives. The Arts Council Chair appoints Council panelists chosen from members who have expressed an interest in reviewing a particular grant category. Council members serve on panels as ex-officio advisors to facilitate the review process and to provide insight and historical perspective.

Field representatives are chosen from a pool of nominations consisting of former panelists, academicians, arts administrators, and discipline specialists. Staff members select panelists from the pool based on consideration of geographic, artistic, racial/gender diversity, and availability. The executive director of the agency approves final panel selections. Each panelist completes a conflict of interest statement prior to the application review and does not participate in any application review where a potential conflict may exist.

Application Processing

Applicants must submit a complete application package as outlined in the Guide to Grants for General Operating Support Fiscal Year 2009 no later than the stated application deadline.

Once an organization submits its application package, the Arts Council staff checks the application for lateness and technical completeness. Any question of application eligibility is resolved at that time.

Specific costs submitted for ineligible projected budget line items are noted at the beginning of the panel review and will be subtracted from the request amount before dollar recommendations are calculated by the Arts Council. A projected budget surplus that does not exceed the request amount is also noted to the panelists and will be subtracted from the GOS request amount. If the submitted surplus exceeds the request amount, the application will not go on to panel review.

Each panelist receives copies of every application in a specific grant category for analysis prior to the scheduled panel review. A signed copy of each submitted application is available in the Arts Council office for review.

Review Attendance

Panel reviewed applicants are notified of a general time frame in which their application will be discussed during the scheduled review. Representatives of the organization are encouraged, but not required, to attend the panel review to answer questions that panelists may have and to utilize the review comments as a management tool.

Application Review

Procedural rules are stated prior to the beginning of the panel discussions to ensure that all panelists understand their responsibilities. The panel chair, facilitated by staff, is responsible for enforcing procedural rules.

The discussion for each application is limited to the amount of time agreed upon in advance of the reviews. The time limit is strictly enforced. A timekeeper will monitor the time, give a five-minute warning and notify the chair when the time limit has been reached.

The panel chair introduces each application to the panel. The staff facilitator presents comments on technical aspects of the application based on the information submitted, including any reduction in request amount due to ineligible line items or a projected budget surplus.

The panel then discusses and evaluates the information in each application narrative relative to each established criterion. Official representatives of an applicant organization will be given the chance to answer specific questions addressed to them by the panel during its discussion of the application narrative. Answers will be limited to the specific questions posed by panel members.

Panel Recommendations

Each panel discussion is recorded and a staff member takes separate notes based on the panelists’ comments. These notes are read back and the panelists agree upon a consensus statement that serves as a formal evaluation of the application.
Each panelist uses a review sheet listing the criteria established by the Council to record a numerical score and comments. The criteria are the four strategic goals of the Arkansas Arts Council, plus a fifth component summarizing planning and evaluation. The completed panelist review sheets are signed, dated, and submitted to the Council staff for processing.

The staff calculates an average of the field panelists’ scores and an average of the Council member panelists’ scores. The panel compares the lists of the two averages, with further discussion held on any application with significant score discrepancies.

The average of the field panelists’ scores is given precedence in determining the panel’s recommendation to the Council. If panel agreement on a final score cannot be reached, the matter will be forwarded to the full Council for discussion.

All scores are reported to the Council. Review sheets are kept on file in the Arts Council’s office.

Funding Decisions

Applicants should remember that the final amount of funding awarded for each grant application is determined at the annual May funding meeting of the Arkansas Arts Council.

Each year the Council decides on its funding priorities for each grant category. Based on available funds, GOS Year 2 and 3 are reviewed for funding by the Council prior to GOS Year 1 panel reviewed applications.

A formula based on the panel’s numerical score, the amount of request adjusted for ineligible items, and the available Arkansas Arts Council funds, provides the basic amount of funding recommended for each applicant. The Arts Council staff then reviews the formula amount for each application to determine the final grant to recommend to the Arkansas Arts Council.

The recommended amount is presented to the Council along with a prepared summary on each application review that also includes the following information:

• Name of the applicant, grant category, grant application number, and amount of request
• Staff review with notes on technical problems from the administrative side, the program managers and the director
• Panel consensus statement
• Explanation of staff funding recommendation

A copy of this summary will be sent to each grant applicant after the annual funding meeting as part of the official announcement of the grant award.

Request for Reconsideration

Once the Arkansas Arts Council determines the awards at the annual funding meeting, an applicant may request reconsideration of a decision. A request for reconsideration may be made if the applicant can demonstrate any of the following:

The review of its application narrative and budget statistics was based on criteria other than those appearing in the Arts Council’s guidelines

The final decision was unduly influenced by a panelist with undisclosed conflicts of interest

Required information submitted by the applicant was withheld from the review panel or the Arts Council

Dissatisfaction with either the denial of an application or the amount of an award is not sufficient reason to request an Arts Council reconsideration.

Reconsideration Process

To request reconsideration, an organization should consult with the appropriate program manager to review the factors that contributed to the Arts Council’s decision.

If an applicant believes there are grounds for reconsideration, its representative must write a formal letter to the Arkansas Arts Council executive director requesting reconsideration within ten (10) working days of funding notification. The letter should contain evidence to support one or more of the listed grounds for reconsideration.

The request will be reviewed by members of the agency staff and by the executive committee of the Arts Council. The executive committee may deny the request, or it may recommend a review by the full Arts Council at its next scheduled meeting.

The applicant will be notified in writing of any decision made by the executive committee and by the Arkansas Arts Council within 30 days of the decision.