[ 1 ] NEIGHBORHOOD EXPRESSIONS (NE)
Micro-grants are available for independent artists (with individual practices performed outside of any arts-employee) who reside in the City of Los Angeles. The proposed project must be: a free public project (activity or presentation) hosted by the operator/manager of a venue in your geographic neighborhood (that is not a conventional arts space, such as a product-design gallery, cineplex, theater lobby, etc.). Neighborhood Expressions grants are given to Los Angeles artists who wish to start a new collaboration with a neighboring café, coffee shop, retailer, health clinic, community center, indoor/outdoor market, or other nearby businesses to engage community members and neighborhood audiences (indoor activities are allowed in this category but open-air activities are highly encouraged)
Creative activities must be free and modestly marketed (to destination travelers, although DCA assumes that the host organization draws a natural audience). Eligible presentations should be either a live performance (e.g. dance, music, theatre, literary readings/spoken word), or a temporary visual display/exhibition. Host businesses should be near (5 miles maximum) from the artist-applicant’s residence in the City of LA. Grant amounts are determined by the council districts in which person+project is authentic:
- $1,200 – Activities within Arts-Underserved council districts 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12.
- $900 – Activities within Arts-Moderately Served council districts 1, 2, 4, 10, 15.
- $600 – Activities within Arts-Generously Served council districts 5, 13, 14.
- Any artist who is facing eviction or displacement for financial reasons may request two grants (from the amounts designated above) for two months of work in order to help them remain as a neighborhood asset.
(Click here for an interactive map of LA City council districts. Confirm whether an address is within LA City boundaries by searching for it in the City’s Neighborhood Info tool)
[ 2 ] ARTS & SOCIAL WELLNESS (ASW)
“Seed funding” of $7,500 to $10,000 for community entrepreneurs who aim lead a collaborative effort to animate an outdoor public space with an activity such as: live performance(s), temporary banner(s)/mural(s), candlelight vigil, cultural picnic, or mini-festival. ASW projects are framed around community-relevant themes that bridge the arts with: science, nature, environmental goodness and justice, and/or community wellness and health.
ASW projects that promote mental/physical/environmental/community wellness or promote art+science should be pitched under one of the two descriptions below:
- Pop-up projects (such as cultural presentations, creative engagements/workshops, temporary installations such as vinyl murals) proposed by a team of local players who live or work in the neighborhood of the proposed project. Pop-up proposals should draw attention to relevant themes or topics and be planned in alliance with one or more local neighborhood associations. All Pop-up projects must be able to garner an audience of at least 300 people. Up to $7,500 can be requested for a Pop-up project. Projects which pay fees to ten (10) or more artists/ensembles (with 50% living or working in the neighborhood-area) are most competitive.
- Festival-style projects (such as art walks or street fairs) which aim to enliven a corridor (a single street spanning a couple of blocks or more) while building collaboration and economic development among neighborhood businesses. All Festival-style projects must be able to garner an audience of more than 1,000 persons. Up to $10,000 can be requested for Festival-style projects. Projects which pay fees to ten (10) or more artists/ensembles (with 50% living or working in the neighborhood-area) are most competitive.
Applicants planning events that have never been attempted before are encouraged to first propose a pop-up event as a proof of concept, before considering to apply for a festival-style project.
ASW projects taking place in any LA City Council District are welcome, though priority consideration will be assigned to activities in neighborhoods where arts centers or arts businesses are few or small. Approximately ten grants of $10,000 or $7,500 per lead artist or community business are available for start-up cultural activities (which may be a singular concept to be repeated three times over three years, or a serial concept to be developed in three phases over three years). In this category it is expected that at least 5 local artists/acts will perform among the ten that are proposed to get paid.
ASW grants for projects will generally range up to a maximum of $7,500 (pop-ups) or $10,000 (festival-style projects), but can double to $15,000 or $20,000 (pop-ups and festival-style projects, respectively) for events that take place in the City’s Arts-Underserved council districts 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12.
[ 3 ] INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS & INTERCULTURAL FOODS (IFIF)
Applicants in this category request support for activities such as community picnics, outdoor festivals, pop-up performance events, outdoor food/food-truck festivals, and creative enhancements to farmers markets with live performing arts and cultural activities. IFIF projects should embrace multicultural themes and promote opportunities for cross-cultural learning and feature entertainment that can take place at a range of street-adjacent, family-friendly spaces, such as: farmers markets, public parks, school yards, parking lots, and other publicly accessible outdoor spaces.
Projects which pay fees to ten (10) or more creative-entrepreneurs (with 50% living or working in the neighborhood-area) are most competitive. IFIF funds should be used primarily to compensate artists, musicians, groups of chefs with moderators in conversational-presentation, as well as site-fees, permits, rental equipment (tents, stages, chairs) and other temporary production expenses. City funds cannot be used for either equipment purchases, or free food/beverage distribution (including samples). Therefore at all free IFIF events, the guests must purchase tickets in order to select and consume food under their own liability for health and safety. The distribution of free brochures, menu ideas and individual recipes, and/or short cooking classes are greatly encouraged. Like ASW projects, IFIF grants will generally range up to a maximum of $7,500 (pop-ups) or $10,000 (festival-style projects), but can double to $15,000 or $20,000 (pop-ups and festival-style projects, respectively) for events that take place in the City’s Arts-Underserved council districts 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12.
[ 4 ] INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION AND PROMOTION PROJECTS (IPAPP)
The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) often receives inquiries from foreign governments (cities, regions, states, or countries), tribal nations/groups (ceremony or residency organizers), and/or international festival-producers who have pre-determined projects (to host and/or present) for which they wish to engage one or more Los Angeles artists. Likewise, the City of LA DCA and its like-minded government-agency partners have the desire to export and promote local treasures and build the capacity of small and mid-size nonprofit arts organizations to accomplish international presentations which can be documented on video and posted online back in LA to benefit both the performers and Los Angeles audiences. Moreover, local nonprofit arts organizations often belong to international associations or cultural diaspora, and therefore they have authentic needs to build international relationships. The IPAPP category aims to respond to these three complementary needs, all of which support LA talent in their development as “international ambassadors.”
Under the IPAPP category, applicants respond to an “Imminent Opportunity” posted by DCA and approved by the project host and endorsed by their municipal/regional/state or federal endorser(s) (click here to view current list of Imminent Opportunities).
Whether applying to host or travel, applicants to the IPAPP category should be non-profit arts agencies with annual budgets less than $5 million per year (sometimes working together under the insurance of a lead-agency) to design and accomplish an imminent opportunity. IPAPP projects should be accomplished under the linked expertise between one specific administrator (not part of the performing roster), the artist/creative team, and a videographer will also be traveling with each team, because a documentary video is a required outcome of every IPAPP proposal. Proposals must also designate whether a language-translator is traveling (either a tasked embedded to the administrator or one of the performers) or whether a local multi-lingual translator is assured as a donated service by the host organization.
Over multiple years of relationships, steady exchanges between Los Angeles-based arts nonprofits and a foreign collaborating agencies are goals for IPAPP, yet each phase of each exchange should be structured as a separate proposal in a separate year. In a few instances a one-time or one-way relationship is understandable. In no cases should an a proposal that responds to an “Export Experience” be combined with an “Hosting Experience” in the same proposal or attempt to have an exchange happen simultaneously. And in rare cases a foreign government will request an on-line creative collaboration which can be positioned in a third proposal-type called “Virtual Collaboration.”
The overall goal of IPAPP is for DCA to build the capacity of Los Angeles-based nonprofit arts organizations (working alone or together) to send a performer, ensemble, or set of related groups to accomplish a DCA approved and posted Imminent Opportunity with respectful attention expected to the diplomatic responsibilities to interface with: government authorities, embassies or consulate officers, event sponsors, and project authorizers, etc.
One other eligibility issue to be noted before applying is that – artists that are foreign-born with dual citizenship are unlikely to be selected for exchange with their home country (since the fluidity between the USA and their birth country is already accomplished).
Applicants to this pilot initiative should email Grants Manager Ben Espinosa to verify organization-eligibility and discuss how best to respond to an Imminent Opportunity that is posted with a deadline.
Unlike other PAF proposals, IPAPP projects should be planned 3-6 months in advance and may be accomplished during 3 later months making the total cycle 3-10 months from submission, to acceptance, to detail planning, to travel, to performance, to return, and culminating in a final payment after the video-posting.
IPAPP grant-contracts will range between $10,000 to $45,000 per exchange, and are intended to primarily cover artist/creative fees (inclusive of artists’ travel, lodging, and meals) project materials, and shipping/crating expenses. Proposed projects should involve traveling 2-12 persons traveling internationally at any one time, with no person remaining overseas for more than 95 days. The cost of lodging will certainly be the limiting factor for the duration of most IPAPP projects In the end, all IPAPP projects should result in installations or performances with documentary video-posting that are free to the community and appropriately sited in public places or within public view.
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PROJECT TIMING & FUNDING LIMITATIONS
PAF proposals in categories 1, 2, and 3, can/should be planned, developed, and inaugurated within a 3- to 5- month production schedule. Hence, PAF sponsored projects in categories 1, 2, and 3 must be produced within 5 months. In rare instance artist-ensembles may request a 2-month time extension if they wish to raise additional project support through crowd-funding and potentially increase the marketing and impact of their proposed project. All timelines considered, The current cycle of PAF funding will be adjudicated between today and May 30, 2024 with the expectation that these grant contracts be fulfilled by no later than September 15, 2024.
A new installment of the PAF Program with all four categories shall be posted again in October 2024 for projects to occur before December 31, 2025
Before sketching any proposal, please also read and understand these limitations:
PAF funds cannot be used to pay for:
- construction of long-term street improvements
- purchase of permanent equipment (i.e. depreciable assets should be rented and not purchased)
- projects that primarily take place indoors or outside of public view (with the exception of Neighborhood Expressions projects)
- projects that support political rallies or election campaigns
- projects that are primarily religious in nature or intent, unless a special case is made that the artistic services are multi-denominational
- student artists or youth education projects
- enrollment programs that are limited to certain individuals or groups
- contests/competitions wherein artists may/may not win prizes (PAF projects should validate all types of emerging and mature artists with guaranteed fees)
No group or individuals should apply for or benefit from more than one PAF grant per annual cycle.