Artistic Documentation
Artistic documentation is crucial for evaluating the artistic quality of the applicant and/or project. Samples should be recent, of high quality, and as relevant to the application and/or project as possible. List each sample on the Artistic Documentation Form in the same order that the links are attached or the images/documents are uploaded.
Applicants are allowed to submit either links (up to 3) or images (5 to 10), but not both. Unless your project is to produce and present a gallery or museum exhibition, links to videos are strongly encouraged. Projects which include learning a skill as well as a culminating group presentation MUST show video clips of both the workshop-learning as well as clips of the culminating event. Please be reminded that artistic samples are not marketing materials and panelists generally respond most favorably to artistic samples that demonstrate real-time experiences of a past event. (Note: applicants’ key video samples may be from the past 1-3 years. DCA understands that pre-COVID examples are the standard that most applicants will strive to resume.)
Preview the artistic documentation before submitting to ensure that there are no technical problems that might interfere with the panel’s review of the work. Panelists generally spend no more than three to five minutes on the work sample(s) for each application. Please be aware that the entire sample (not just the selected segment) is considered a part of the application package and may be reviewed.
The following are accepted for Artistic Documentation:
Video clips: (Strongly Encouraged for SAIL-CAPE, Dance, Media, Multi-Disciplinary, Music, Presenting, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Traditional and Folk Art): Up to 5 minutes. In general for the performing arts, panelists prefer to review substantive artistic excerpts rather than short edited clips with heavy narration.
Audio track(s): (Optional for Music when more appropriate than video footage): Up to 5 minutes.
Published Material: (Optional for FASL, Literary, Visual/Design and Operating support applicants): This format is best used for publications and museum and gallery catalogs. Digital versions of these items may be uploaded as artistic documentation. If applicant is requesting Operating support, a published copy of the organization’s current strategic plan should be uploaded.
Images/Photos: (Strongly Encouraged for Arts Service, Visual Arts and non-performing Traditional and Folk Arts): Up to 10 images of completed artwork may be submitted. All images must be numbered (1 through 10). Digital image files must be in JPEG format, 72 DPI, 5 MB or smaller. This format is best used for exhibition materials.
Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials include a listing of past and proposed project venues/sites, a history of participating artists/creative workers, a CA Arts Standards-aligned curriculum (required for SAIL-CAPE projects), sample lesson plans (required for arts enrichment/skill-building projects), and other supporting documents that demonstrate the qualities of the applicant organization, through the words of other field leaders or representatives. Applicants will be required to upload up to six supplemental attachments as outlined below:
Attachment A: Project Location (Required)
A document that lists the site(s) of your proposed project, outlining (a) Name of Venue, (b) Address, (c) City Council District, (d) Name and Title of your contact person at the venue, and (e) Number of Years you have presented work at this site. This list will be used to cross-check the 1 to 4 City Council districts that are to be served by your project. If your project is designed to serve all 15 Council Districts (online/virtual projects, city-wide publications), upload a PDF document that responds to the following question: Where within the municipal boundaries of the City of Los Angeles would your project produced, and how would you verify your online, broadcast/podcast, or distributed publication reaches: (a) city residents, (b) residents in each of the City’s Council Districts, and (c) allows residents an opportunity to provide feedback on your services?
Attachment B: Prior-Year Paid Artists (Required)
A document that lists the paid artists and creative workers from the proposed project in the immediate prior year, with a two-three sentence biography for each professional presenting artist and/or teaching artists. Artists who live in the City of LA should be named in bold; artists who are salaried employees should be listed in italics. Please note that the artists forecasted to be employed for the next iteration of your project may already be listed in the Key Bios section of your grant proposal, so if you have not yet auditioned or selected the proposed artists for next year, the list you are uploading here offers an opportunity to demonstrate the character and quality of artists you have recently hired for the peer panel.
Attachment C: Recent Press Material (Required)
One piece of press material covering a similar project from the past 1-3 years. Note: This should not be a press release or other material drafted or written by your organization; the sample should be a product of independent journalism. If you do not have any reviews, upload an unsolicited letter from someone who attended or participated in your proposed project within the past 1-3 years.
Attachment D: Curriculum & Lesson Plans (Required for SAIL-CAPE Projects)
Applicants with Sequential Arts In-school Learning Culminating in Afterschool Public Events (SAIL-CAPE) projects must upload the CA Arts Standards (Pre-K to 12) aligned curriculum associated with their project. Applicants with an Artistic Project proposal involving public skill-building workshops (e.g. after-school youth arts enrichment, adult continuing-education, and/or senior skill-building, etc) must upload a framework for lessons and at least 2 sample lesson plans.
Attachment E: Non-Arts Partners (Optional but Strongly Encouraged)
If your proposed project has non-arts marketing or presenting partners (that are not the site of the event(s), you will have an opportunity to upload a document that list the names, addresses, and number of years your organization has worked with these partners. Please do not list other arts organizations in this attachment (peer review panelists will have the opportunity to note names of key artistic collaborators from within your proposal narrative and biographies).
Attachment F: Letter of Recommendation (Optional but Strongly Encouraged)
A Letter of Recommendation (in PDF format) for the proposed project from a non-paid collaborating agency (partner, sponsor, academic researcher, etc.). This can also be a letter from an individual or family served by your past project that describes benefits and outcomes in their own words.