Registration deadline: January 22, 2010
Application deadline: April 12, 2010

Support is offered for an exhibition of the work of living folk artists, to explore issues in the folk arts, or to interpret the traditional culture of a specific community through its folk arts. The proposed exhibition should enhance understanding and appreciation of the folk arts for general audiences as well as communities represented in the exhibition.

Application Instructions

The online application form includes the following questions, and a project budget. If this request includes an exhibition catalog, please complete the Publication form as part of your request. Required support materials are listed below.

New or returning applicants are expected to consult with Program staff well in advance of the January registration deadline.

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Project Overview
What is the theme and focus of the proposed exhibition? Provide a brief summary of the artists, objects/art work being presented. Does the exhibition entirely involve living traditions, or does it also include historical materials?  If it involves historical materials, indicate the rationale for including these materials and the extent to which historical materials will be used.  

2. Project Context
Summarize your exhibition research, including any documentation of living traditions. Please note relevant previous scholarship and exhibitions on this topic. How does the exhibition relate to your mission and the audience served? 

3. Field Research
If this project involves field research, describe the traditions to be documented and the field research process. Indicate the archive that will receive the documentation, and the credentials of the individual who will carry out the documentation.

4. Related Programming
Describe your plans for public programs accompanying this exhibition, including lecture series, school programs and other presentations by folk artists. Provide brief background information about the artists, scholars or other speakers participating, indicating their professional affiliations and areas of specialization.

5. Technology
For exhibitions incorporating new technologies, describe the approach, the technical capacity and staff support for this aspect of the exhibition.

Managerial/Fiscal

6. Project Personnel
Who are the curators, consultants, designers, or other individuals responsible for research, selection and interpretation of the work that will be exhibited and the design of the exhibition? Include brief descriptions of their qualifications. 

7. Touring Exhibitions
If the exhibition will travel to other venues, indicate the schedule and itinerary and describe any plans for revising the content for other sites. If this application is for presentation of an exhibition produced by another organization, describe your plans to relate the exhibition to your own audience and collection (if any). 

8. Exhibition Time Frame
What is the time frame for the planning, installation, opening and closing dates of this exhibition?

9. Facilities
Describe the facility that will be used for your exhibition. 

10. Finance
Detail the plans for meeting the expenses of the exhibition.  Include fundraising activities and other initiatives to generate funding to be directly applied to this exhibition.

Service to the Public

11. Interpretation
How will you interpret the content and theme of this exhibition? If a publication is planned, describe the contents and identify the author(s) and their relevant credentials. 

12. Collaboration and Community Involvement
How will the community whose traditions are represented in this exhibition participate in its planning and implementation?

13. Marketing
How will the exhibition be marketed and promoted, within and beyond the community whose traditions are represented? 

Support Materials

Support material must be postmarked or hand-delivered to the Program by the application deadline. If you want support materials returned, provide a self-addressed stamped envelope. 

1. Up to 10 images representative of the objects to be included in the exhibition, provided on a Windows Compatible CD, DVD, or reference to a website. 

2. Up to 10 images representing exhibition installations previously mounted by your organization, demonstrating the abilities of the exhibition designer and the facility to be used for the exhibition. The images may be provided on a Windows compatible CD, DVD, or reference to a website. Complete a visual support materials script to accompany your images. See the NYSCA Digital Media/Work Samples Technical Instructions for tips on providing support materials on CDs or DVDs.

3. Resumés of the curator, principal consultant(s), exhibition designer and, if applicable, editor and contributors to the exhibition catalogue.

4. If your organization has been supported by the Folk Arts Program for an exhibition in the past, provide printed materials produced for the most recent exhibition, such as a catalogue, brochure, and/or educational materials.

5. If this project involves field research, provide samples of audio, still photography and/or video documentation previously undertaken by relevant project personnel on a Windows compatible CD or DVD, audio cassette tape, or through reference to a website. Sample release forms must also be provided. Complete a visual support materials script to accompany your images. Audio or video documentation samples should be cued to the excerpts you would like the panel to see or hear. The total length of the samples may not exceed 5 minutes. See the NYSCA Digital Media/Work Samples Technical Instructions for tips on providing support materials on CDs or DVDs. 

6. For multi-year requests involving a planning phase, provide a work plan/timeline.