Apply for the Vermont Artists' Space Grant by August 27

The Flynn Center is pleased to announce the fall edition of our artists’ assistance project: the Vermont Artists’ Space Grant. Formerly known as the New Art Space Assistance (N.A.S.A.) Grant, this new opportunity offers Vermont artists both the time and space to develop new work and the chance to take part in the Flynn’s Deeply Here Festival in the 2012-13 season. The Deeply Here Festival is a Vermont-centric event featuring some of the finest artists statewide, and the work grant recipients produce will be considered for inclusion in the festival. The next application deadline is Monday, August 27, 2012 (please postmark by August 27). The awardee will be announced the week of Monday, September 3 with work beginning soon after and culminating by late April or early May.

Supporting Vermont artists and the creation of new work are integral parts of the Flynn Center’s mission to build the artistic community in Vermont. In that spirit, the Flynn Center introduced the New Art Space Assistance (N.A.S.A.) Grant in 2000. This grant provides Vermont artists, working locally, with the development time and space in which to engage in process and thus to create new and meaningful work. The Flynn Center believes strongly in the inherent value of professional, dedicated workspace for artists. The grant—open to an individual artist or a group of artists for a project in theater, dance, music or a combination thereof—provides for the freedom to create and experiment, allowing the awardee to incubate ideas and change direction as the piece evolves. Emphasis therefore is not placed on the awardee presenting a finished and polished piece; in fact the opposite is true of this grant, which culminates in an informal, work-in-progress showing.

The Vermont Artists’ Space Grant award includes six hours of creation time per week for 10 weeks in either the Chase Family Dance Studio or the Hoehl Studio Lab and an opportunity for an informal public showing of the new work in either of the two FlynnArts studios or in FlynnSpace. Minimal technical support will be provided—some light cues, the most basic of sound, and seating as is found on that date—and will be in keeping with the informal setting of this work-in-progress showing. Marketing assistance will be provided by the Flynn Center and includes press releases, one announcing the award and later the work-in-progress showing; ads and an email advertising the work-in-progress; 11x17 posters hung around the Center; as well as press connections and a program. Any additional marketing is up to the awardee to organize and implement.

Tracey Gilbert Dengler, a member of the Vermont Artists’ Space Grant panel, says, “We’re thrilled to continue our program offering residencies for the development of new work from Vermont artists. One of the most valuable things needed for performing artists is time and space, and we’re happy to be able to support local and regional artists in this capacity.”

Applications are now reviewed twice annually by a panel of Flynn staff members, based on the grant criteria below. For more information on the criteria, application process, and how grant recipients will be curated, please contact Tracey Gilbert Dengler at 802-862-6825 or [email protected].

Access the Vermont Artists’ Space Grant press room by clicking here.

More Information

Who May Apply

Applicants must be Vermont artists—defined as artists who live and create primarily in Vermont and are recognized as full-or part-time Vermont residents.
Applicants previously awarded may reapply only with a different project after a one-year period.

Criteria for Award

The proposal must be for the development of new, original work. The application should demonstrate how the artist intends to grow and develop in new ways through the process; what risks are being taken, what is or are the artistic investigation(s), what questions you are proposing to explore and how are they new or leading to new, original work. The application should show how the artist or group of artists are experimenting, evolving, and growing rather than simply continuing previously learned and mastered methodologies.

The artist's proposal must show that work to be accomplished during the grant period demonstrates an intent or emphasis on process, rather than on producing a polished "product." The grant is awarded to the applicant clearlyexpressing their engagement in an artistic investigation and who is most likely to benefit from an intensive, self-guidedlearning process. It is not awarded for rehearsal space, classes, discussion groups, or for the refinement of an existingand/or a finished, already highly polished production. Applicants should demonstrate the ability to be self-reflectiveabout their learning process as artists.

Although the Flynn Center encourages artists at all levels to apply, the applicant should be able to demonstrate skill and competence in their primary art form and be able to show a past history of successful work. The artist's proposaland attached artistic history must demonstrate the ability—through past accomplishments, resources, skills, and scopeof the proposal—and thus feasibility to undertake the project successfully. The application should clearly state at whatstage you are in as an artist and how this grant will support your development.

The artist's proposal must include a realistic timeline showing how the 10-week time period will be utilized. Applicants should consider their goals for the project and build a timeline that realistically meets those goals while allowing room for the process involved in an artistic investigation. The 10-week, up to 60-hour grant cycle inherently limits the scope of a project and may mean the timeline only allows for the incubation of one part or one segment of a larger process. A brief discussion of the future of the work or a vision for the future of the work—beyond what this creation grant would assist with—is encouraged.

Core Facts

Application deadline is Monday, August 27.
The proposal must be for the development of new, original work.
The artist's proposal must show that work to be accomplished during the grant period demonstrates an intent or emphasis on process, rather than on producing a polished "product."
Although the Flynn Center encourages artists at all levels to apply, the applicant should be able to demonstrate skill and competence in their primary art form and be able to show a past history of successful work.
The artist's proposal must include a realistic timeline showing how the 10-week time period will be utilized.