Reminders
April 28, 2008: Delaware Performing Arts Presenters Initiative Applications are due
Guidelines and application for this grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to support Delaware presenters are on our homepage, www.artsdel.org.
August 1, 2008: New deadline for Individual Artist Fellowship grant applications
The deadline for Individual Artist Fellowship applications has been moved up to August 1, 2008. New guidelines will be posted and the application will be available on the Division website in May.
Tonisha Jones to represent Delaware at National Poetry Out Loud competition
Tonisha Jones, an eleventh grader from Middletown High School, won Delaware’s third annual Poetry Out Loud competition on February 28, 2008. She will be representing Delaware at the national competition in late April in Washington, DC. The Poetry Foundation will be awarding up to $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends at the National Finals, with at least a $20,000 college scholarship for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion. Good luck, Tonisha!
Tonisha Jones reciting at the Delaware Poetry Out Loud competition. Photo by Dee Marvin
Artline Publication Celebrating 2008 Individual Artist Fellows Available
The 2008 issue of Artline, featuring this year's fellowship winners, was released on March 19. Click here to read the issue. The publication coincided with the Division’s reception to meet the fellows at the Biggs Museum of American Art. Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor gave the remarks and passed out certificates to the artists.
Secretary Windsor and Paul Weagraff congratulate Bob Bickey, sculptor, on his fellowship.
Strategic Planning for the Future of the Arts in Delaware
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Hallmarks of Excellence in Strategic Planning
- Appropriate
- Inclusive
- Collaborative
- Visionary
- Adaptive
- Measurable
- Integrated
- Directive
- Arts-centered
- Communicative
(From NASAA’s Strategic Planning Toolkit) |
As a condition of its partnership agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Delaware Division of the Arts routinely engages in a public strategic planning process. Throughout 2008, the Division and Delaware State Arts Council will be developing their next strategic plan. In fact, they have already met to begin discussing what this planning process might look like.
We will be framing much of our planning process around recommendations compiled by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA). Over the next several months, we will be interviewing key stakeholders in the arts, conducting electronic surveys, and convening focus groups and public forums.
In these economic hard times, planning for the future is critical. We need to develop long-term, yet flexible, strategies to support and nurture the arts in Delaware efficiently, effectively, and economically. This will require careful examination of the current state of the arts, the future of the arts, and to make informed, and sometimes tough, decisions about priorities.
Your input is extremely important to this process. We invite you to stay tuned and check our website frequently (www.artsdel.org) for information about opportunities to contribute in this planning for the future of the arts in Delaware. In the meantime, please feel free to contact the Division with any questions you have about the planning process or comments you’d like to share about the future of the arts in Delaware.
State Funding for the Arts Facing Cuts
The State of Delaware's financial picture has been getting much press coverage lately with stories on reduced revenue, hiring freezes, and cuts in spending. Legislation mandates that the state operate under a balanced budget, and all state agencies are expected to trim back expenses to keep in line with revenue. The good news is that the arts have not been singled out for cuts; these cuts are being implemented in most areas of state government.
At this writing, current grantees; FY 2008 awards remain intact. However, revenue projections for FY 2009 (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009) are not looking promising. Efforts are underway to revise the proposed Fiscal Year budget with an 8% decrease in funding for the arts, as is the case for most state agencies. Needless to say, this will have a significant impact on available funds for grants in FY 2009. While the criteria for evaluating applications and the panel review process will remain the same, funding decisions this year will be much more challenging, working with reduced public funds in the face of the increasing needs of arts providers in these difficult economic times.
Fiscal Year 2009 Grant Applications Summary
Division staff has been reviewing the FY 2009 grant applications before they are sent to grant review panelists in early April. Some comparisons to last year's applicant pool:
Total number of applications in the General Operating Support and Project Support remained relatively consistent Total number of applications in the supplemental grant categories (Public Impact, Technical Assistance, and Education Resource) categories increased by 35% Total number of applications in the Arts Stabilization category remains consistent, but the amount requested increased by 40%
Arts Opportunities on our Website
The Division maintains an Opportunities page on our website that includes everything from auditions to calls for entries to jobs in the arts. We encourage you to bookmark this page and check back, as we frequently update these pages with new opportunities. Click here.
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