FY2024 Teaching Art Together Grant

Program Purpose

To support teachers in bringing professional teaching artists into Kentucky classrooms for one-week teaching residencies.

To involve students and teachers directly in the creative process during an artist's residency, and to integrate the arts into daily instruction through links to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Visual and Performing Arts.

To provide teachers with tools that will enable them to incorporate the arts into their classrooms after the residency is completed.

Who May Apply

Any teacher at a Kentucky public or private school that supports preschool through grade 12.

Any representative of a nonprofit or public organization in Kentucky with full time staff providing education to minors, such as juvenile detention centers or residential group homes.

Program Description

The Teaching Art Together Grant enables teachers to implement artist residencies in their classrooms. Teachers and artists work in partnership to design and implement the residencies. Residencies may be focused on a specific artistic discipline or explore cross-curricular pairings such as dance integrated into a math curriculum, new media integrated into a science curriculum, etc.

For every five days of a residency, there must be 20 hours of contact time with the artist. Artists should be scheduled for four to six class sessions daily. The schedule may include a combination of core and non-core groups as well as professional development for teachers:

• Core group: A core group meets five times per five-day (20-hour) residency. Artists must meet with a minimum of one core group. There may be a maximum of four core groups per five days of residency.
• Non-core group: Non-core groups must meet two to three times per five-day (20-hour) residency. Non-core groups allow for flexibility in scheduling and can increase the number of classes participating in the residency.
• Professional development (PD): PD may be provided at a maximum of three hours per five days (20 hours) of the residency in lieu of an equivalent amount of class time. This time can include pre- and post-planning time between the artist and the teacher as job-embedded professional training.

Grant Amounts and Matching Requirements

The following grant is available:

$1,000 for 5-day (20-hour) residencies – 50 percent match

The grant amount ONLY covers the artist’s fee. The artist's fee is $1,000 per five-day (20-hour) residency. The applicant’s school or organization is responsible for costs ($500+) associated with any supplies or materials required to implement the residency, reimbursing artist travel expenses (mileage, rood, and board), as well as any culminating events, such as performances or exhibitions. These expenses should not be included in the application but should be discussed with the artist before applying.

Grant funds will only be released after the final report is completed by the applicant (see instructions below). This should be done as soon as possible after the residency concludes so the artist’s payment can be processed.

Restrictions

• All artists must be selected from the arts council’s Teaching Artists Directory.
• No more than two Teaching Art Together applications will be accepted from one school or organization per fiscal year.
• No more than four Teaching Art Together grants may be awarded to one teaching artist per fiscal year.
• Classes may not be combined to exceed more than 29 elementary students and 31 high school students with the artist during any one class session.
• Teachers may not leave artists alone with students for any reason.
• Residency hours may not be used for before or after-school programming (except for PD). If a school would like to include a culminating assembly after school or other evening program, the school must negotiate the rate of pay with the artist outside of this grant.

Program Timeline

Deadline for submission of the application and supporting materials

Oct. 27, 2023

Review of applications by panel

Nov. 17, 2023

Arts council board reviews panel recommendations

Dec. 8, 2023

Applicant notification

As soon as possible after board approval of panel recommendations

Use of grant funds may begin

Jan. 1, 2024

Use of grant funds must conclude

April 30, 2023

Final report due

30 days after completion of residency

Performance Expectations

Applications will be reviewed using scoring criteria that correspond to the following performance expectations. Refer to the Panelist Assessment Sheet for more details. Applications should address each of these criteria and show that the proposed artist residency will meet them. A good exercise is to turn the criteria into a question, e.g., “how will students be engaged in the creative process?” The criteria are divided into three categories and assigned values of 10 points each, totaling 100 points.

1. Planning and Implementation (50 points)
• Preparation for the residency
• Student engagement in the creative process
• Teacher engagement during the residency
• Parent and community engagement
• Residency ties to the Kentucky Academic Standards for the Visual and Performing Arts
2. Measuring Impact (30 points)
• Clear and measurable student learning outcomes
• Assessment of student learning outcomes
• Strategies for continued learning after the residency
3. Accessibility and Cultural Equity (20 points)
• Culturally equitable residency programming (what’s this?)
• Instructional strategies and resources to engage students with disabilities

How to Apply

1. Obtain approval: Arrange for your administrators (e.g., district superintendent and principal) to approve the proposal and sign your application by the required deadline date.
2. Select and contact an artist: All artists must be selected from the arts council’s Teaching Artists Directory.
3. Develop a residency plan: Teachers and artists work in partnership to develop and finalize the residency plan, including the class schedule. Enter the final schedule into this scheduling chart.
4. Complete the application: Applications for this program are made through our online grant system. Before beginning the application, carefully read all instructions included in this document. Detailed application instructions are provided below. The application must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on the deadline date. Following the deadline, each application will be reviewed by the program director, who may contact the applicant if clarification is needed.

Accessing and Completing the Application

Creating a GO Smart Profile

Before beginning the application, you will need to create a profile, including a username and password at kyarts.gosmart.org. For this program you will need to create an “individual” profile. Do not select “organization” profile. Store your username and password in a safe place to ensure that you can access your account later. You can use this profile to apply for this program year after year and update it as needed. When entering contact information, please consider the following:

Primary Contact Information

• Enter the information of the person responsible for the application (usually yourself). This will also be the person the arts council contacts with any questions about the application.
• The Kentucky Arts Council does not maintain username and password information. If you forget or lose your username or password, open the application, click “Login” and use the prompt to reset your login information.

Applicant Information

• Enter the full legal name of the school or organization.
• Please contact your financial officer for the 501(c)(3) date of incorporation. The financial officer can also provide you with the FEIN and UEI numbers, which you will need to complete the application.
• Select the applicant discipline that most accurately describes the proposed artist residency.
• Select the racial and distinct group categories that represents the people who will benefit from this artist residency.
• You can look up your federal congressional district here, and your state legislative districts here.

Once the profile page has been submitted, you will be re-directed to the arts council’s grant management system. To begin your application, select “Current Programs & Applications.”

Required Materials

IRS tax-exempt determination letter: The letter can be obtained from your finance officer. It indicates the tax-exempt status of your school or organization as a nonprofit or public entity. A sample letter is available from the arts council staff upon request.

Class Scheduling Chart: (Download) For every five days of a residency, there must be 20 hours of contact time with the artist. Artists should be scheduled for four to six class sessions per day. The schedule may include core and non-core groups as well as professional development for teachers (not to exceed three hours total). The scheduling chart is pre-populated with formulas to assist you in tracking contact hours with the artist. Four lines each for core and non-core groups have been provided for your convenience, as well as three lines for professional development sessions. However, you may choose any combination of groups as long as the above guidelines are followed. In the columns signifying the days of the week, type an "X" to indicate which days each class meets.

Application Instructions

Navigating GO Smart

• As you work through the application, save every page before moving to the next. Failure to save each page will result in the loss of information.
• Use the page links on the left side of each application page to navigate between pages, or use the “Previous” or “Next” buttons at the bottom of each page.
• Use the PDF button at the bottom of most pages to view the application as the panelists will view it.

Demographics

• For type of activity, choose “school residency.”
• Select the applicant/project discipline as the artist’s discipline, if several artists are going to participate in the residency choose “multidisciplinary.”
• For % of arts education choose 01, “50% or more of funded activities are arts education.”
• For the NEA primary strategic outcome, select “learning.”
• For project descriptors, choose “none of the above.”

Other Required Information

• Some fields are set in the application document and cannot be changed.
• Amount Requested: Enter the amount the arts council will grant, not including any extra funds provided by your organization (e.g., for a 20-hour residency the amount would be $1,000).

Introduction

• Use these responses to explain the context of your school or organization and how the proposed residency will fulfill some need. Many panelists are recruited from out of state, so do not assume that all will be familiar with local issues and culture.

Performance Expectations

• This section will determine your application’s score, so explain how the proposed residency meets each of the performance expectations in as much detail as possible.

Supporting Documents

• IRS determination letters must be uploaded as PDF files.
• Signature page: This is an electronic form through a service called DocuSign. You can click to sign the document directly in your web browser and do not need to download or print anything. You will be prompted to enter the email addresses of your Superintendent (or equivalent administrator), Principal, Contact Person, and Artist. After you sign and click “Finish,” the form will automatically send itself to the next signatory. Submitting the signature page does not automatically submit your application – you must return to the application and click “Submit.”

Application Review Process

Step 1: Panel Meeting

A panel of educators, arts professionals and other individuals with relevant experience will review and score all applications according to the program performance expectations. Applicants may monitor the panel meeting and listen to the panelists’ deliberations via conference call. The arts council will send notification of panel dates and conference call arrangements to applicants after the application deadline.

Step 2: Arts Council Board Meeting

The panel’s recommendations are forwarded to the arts council’s governing board for approval.

Step 3: Grant Agreement

If your application is approved, the arts council will send a notification of approval via the email provided in the application. A Grant Agreement Form (GAF) for the total amount funded will be sent directly to the teaching artist named in the application. The GAF must be signed and returned within 30 days.

Once the arts council receives the signed GAF from the artist and the completed final report from the applicant, a Kentucky State Treasury check payable to the teaching artist will be mailed.

Grant agreements cannot be altered without prior approval from the program director. If residency dates must be rescheduled or canceled for any reason, notify the program director immediately. Failure to do so may jeopardize future funding. Grants are for the period and activities specified in the approved application. Funds must be spent or committed for activities taking place within the period stated unless an extension has been approved by the arts council in writing..

Appeals

Applicants may appeal adverse grant decisions if they can demonstrate any of the following:

• The review of the application was based on criteria other than those appearing in the arts council’s guidelines.
• The final decision was unduly influenced by a panelist with undisclosed conflicts of interest.
• Required application information submitted by the appropriate deadline was withheld from the review panel or the arts council.

Applicants must initiate a formal appeal within 30 calendar days of the date of the award-notification letter of the arts council’s decision. Upon receipt of this award-notification letter, applicants should first consult with the appropriate program staff to review the considerations that went into the arts council's decision. If, after such consultation, applicants wish to pursue an appeal, they must do so in writing to the executive director of the arts council. If applicants are unable to consult with appropriate program staff within the time limitation, the applicants must still submit a written appeal postmarked within the 30-day time period.

In the executive director's response to a formal appeal, a deadline date for submission of all material supporting the appeal will be established. No such deadline date will be set earlier than seven days or later than 21 days from the date of the executive director's letter. Failure by applicants to meet any deadline date in the appeals process will result in the loss of the right to appeal.

An ad hoc committee of members of the arts council board will review all appeals. Should the committee recommend a change in applicant’s funding, the arts council board at its next regular or special meeting shall act upon the committee's recommendations. The ruling of the arts council shall be the last administrative remedy and there shall be no further right of appeal.

Grantee Expectations

Legislative Letters
Applicants approved for Teaching Art Together Grant(s) are required to send a letter to each of their state legislators (Sample) and forward copies to the arts council.

Final Reports

The applicant must submit a final report within 30 days of completion of the residency. The artist’s payment will not be processed until this final report is received. The final report form will be accessible in the application portal using the same login credentials created when first applying. Failure to complete the final report will jeopardize any future funding opportunities.

The artist must complete their regular annual report as a member of the Teaching Artists Directory.

Program Support

Arts council staff can offer the following support to ensure that program standards and goals are met:

• Assistance in developing a residency plan.
• Consultation regarding applicant eligibility.
• Technical assistance with submitting the application or final report.
• Assistance locating or implementing accessibility resources.

For More Information

Cynthia Warner
Arts Education Director
cynthia.warner@ky.gov
502-782-4982