California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Program (CAC IAF) Central California Region

ESTABLISHED ARTIST FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION FOR MICRO REGION 1-Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties

APPLICATION AND PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Central California Region Program

The California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Program (CAC IAF) is statewide, but these application and program guidelines are specifically designed for artists living and working in Central California. The Central California Region grant program is open to artists who live in one of 17 counties across central California: Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Ventura.

Artists residing in other California counties are eligible to apply for the California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Program in their region. For more information, please visit the California Arts Council website.

Administrative & Application Structure

SVCREATES is the Administering Organization for this grant program, working in partnership with the CAC and leadership from local arts agencies across 17 counties. To help make this program more accessible, the Central California Region has been divided into 3 micro-regions (see list below). The application and review process for each micro-region will be facilitated separately, through designated Lead Agencies. See “How to Apply” below for the Lead Agency for your county.

Fellowship Funding Levels

The CAC Individual Artist Fellowship Program identifies three career tiers at which artists may benefit from this support:

CAC Emerging Artist Fellows - $5,000
Emerging artists are those in the beginning stages of making their work public and engaging the larger community in their practice. Individuals at this career stage may have had a few public showings of their work, but have not yet developed a sustained public practice or approach to pursuing resources. A total of up to 38 awards in this tier will be granted across the 17 county Central California region.

CAC Established Artist Fellows - $10,000
Artists in the Established tier regularly make their work public and engage the larger community in their practice. Individuals in this tier can give multiple examples of artistic and/or cultural works that have made significant social impact. A total of up to 22 awards in this tier will be granted across the 17 county Central California region.

CAC Legacy Artist Fellows - $50,000
Artists in the Legacy tier can point to a significant body of work, produced over a substantial period of time, that has engaged their communities and that has made significant social impact. Artists in this tier may be able to point to Emerging and Established Artists that they have mentored or influenced. A total of up to 3 awards in this tier will be granted across the 17 county Central California region.

● Individuals may submit an application in one career tier only.
● Fellowship grants support individual artistic practice through unrestricted funding.
● Awards will be funded at the full dollar amount for each tier; partial awards will not be made.
● This grant is not intended to support artist groups or collectives.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants will:
● Be 18 years of age or older at the time of application submission.
● Have, at minimum, a two-year history of artistic practice in California.
● Reside in one of the following Central California counties at the time of application: Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tulare, Venture. Residency will be determined by your mailing address.
● Recipients of the 2021 CAC Individual Artist Fellowship are not eligible to apply.

Review Criteria

Applications from individual artists and culture bearers will be adjudicated by peer review panels based on the following review criteria:

● Creative Vision: Artist effectively communicates their personal story, artistic medium or practice, and long-term aspirations for their work

● Aesthetic Excellence: Artistic work and/or examples of cultural practice demonstrate strong alignment with the components of the Attributes of Excellence in Arts for Change, including commitment, communal meaning, disruption, cultural integrity, risk taking, sensory experience, emotional experience, openness, coherence, resourcefulness, and stickiness.

● Community Engagement and Social Impact: Artist effectively communicates a practice of meaningful engagement with their community(ies), and the positive social impact their work has had locally, regionally, and/or statewide, addressing themes including but not limited to race, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Application Requirements

Application requirements include narrative questions, work samples, artist resume/CV and one letter of support.

Narrative Questions:
● Describe how you came to be an artist, your traditions or artistic practices, challenges and accomplishments. (500 words max)
● Describe the long-term aspirations for your work. How do you hope to grow as an artist? (250 words max)
● Who are the specific social or artistic communities/participants/audiences you seek to
engage/inspire/impact through your work? What is your connection to these communities and what is your desired impact? (250 words max)
● Legacy Artist Applicants only: In what ways, if any, do you support or mentor emerging artists?
(250 words max)

Work Samples:
Applicants must submit one or more of the following work samples. The work samples should represent your art practice and discipline. You are not required to submit all file types.
● Digital images: up to 10 images
● Video/Audio Samples: up to 3 video/audio samples, 5-minutes maximum length per sample
● Writing sample or music composition/score: maximum 10 pages (your writing sample may include more than one work, e.g. ten one-page poems)

Choose samples that highlight your individual approach and voice as an artist. For example, some artists may wish to present work in chronological order, while for others it can be a disservice. Submit work that you are most passionate about and believe is the strongest.

Artist Resume of professional activities and achievements: Include significant awards and training, selected exhibitions, performances, installations, presentations, community recognition and/or publications. If possible, please include the city, state, and country (if outside the U.S.). 

Letter of Support or Testimonial:
Applicants must provide a written statement from a key stakeholder, partner, or community member that speaks to the impact of the artist’s practice and impact in their community.

Supporting materials (optional):
Applicants may also submit up to two additional supporting documents, such as press materials, flyers, brochures, programs, newsletters, and other marketing pieces. More recent materials are preferred.

How to Apply

Applications should be completed online, based on the county where you live and the award category
you’re applying for. Follow these steps carefully:
1. Determine which award category is appropriate for your stage of artistic practice: Emerging, Established, or Legacy.
2. Determine the Lead Agency serving your county.
3. Emerging and Established Artist applicants should apply through one of three Lead Agencies, depending on your county of residence and corresponding micro-region.
4. Legacy Artist applicants ONLY: Legacy applicants from all of the 17 counties in the Central California region should apply through SVCreates. Finalists for the Legacy Artist Fellowship will be required to attend an online interview
with the review panel.

Micro Region 1
Kern, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo
Lead Agency: Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
You are applying for Micro Region 1 at this application.

Micro Region 2
Fresno, Inyo, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare
Lead Agency: Fresno Arts Council
To apply for the Emerging or Established Artist Fellowship for Micro Region 2, click here.

Micro Region 3
Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
Lead Agency: San Benito County Arts Council
To apply for the Emerging or Established Artist Fellowship for Micro Region 3, click here.

Legacy Artist Fellowship
To apply for the Legacy Artist Fellowship, click here. Lead Agency: SVCreates

Application Support

As administrators of this program, we’re here to answer your questions and provide the support you need to complete your application. Application support for each micro-region will be available from the Lead Agencies during the application period. Legacy Artist Fellowship application support for all 17 counties will be available through SVCreates.

For this micro region application, contact: Hannah Rubalcava, contact@sbac.ca.gov
 

Language Accommodation

CAC IAF Program Guidelines are available in Spanish at SVCreates. However, applications must be submitted in English. If you need application support in a language other than English, please contact the Lead Agency for Micro Region 1 at contact@sbac.ca.gov.

Review Panel Selection

Each panel will consist of artists, arts leaders and culture bearers, and community members with arts and culture expertise who reside within one of the counties in the applicant’s micro-region. Panels will represent a range of diversity in artistic disciplines, cultural competencies, geographies, gender identities, and generations. Panelists will review each application and score it based on the Review Criteria listed above. Panelists will then meet online to discuss and rank applications based on scores. Panel meetings are NOT open to the public.

Grantee Requirements

Fellowship recipients will be required to:
● Submit a W-9 form with their Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for payment purposes
● Submit a brief report on the impact of the award after the conclusion of the Fellowship term (August 31, 2024)
● Attend one online or in person convening of 2023 Fellows during the grant period
● Provide, as available, links to artist website or social media for promotion of artist’s work

Timeline

Application Opens: March 10, 2023

Application Deadline: May 5, 2023 at 5:00 pm

Panel Review period: June - July, 2023

Panel Interviews of Legacy Finalists: mid-July

Award Notification: August 2023

Fellowship Term: September 1, 2023 - August 31, 2024

Fellows Final Report Due: October 15, 2024

Application Requirements

Submission Package

Applicants must be prepared to provide the following information and acknowledgements as part of a complete submission:

ARTIST INFORMATION (applicants must provide the following information)

• Artist Contact Information
• Eligibility Acknowledgement
• Artist Statement
• Completed Narrative Questions
• Work Samples (1 or more of the following)
  • Digital images: up to 10
  • Video/Audio Samples: up to 3 video/audio samples, 5-minutes maximum legnth per sample
  • Writing sample or music composition/score: maximum 10 pages (writing sample may include more than one work, e.g. ten one-page poems)
• Artist Resume
• Letter of Support
• Other supporting documents (optional)

Eligibility Criteria

Other Requirements

Submit online applications using the CaFÉ call for artists website* only (see note below). Hardcopies will not be accepted at this time. Submittals of application materials sent to staff email will not be accepted.  The deadline for the online submittal is May 5, 2023 at 5:00 pm PST.

Please Note: Failure to submit using the approved CaFÉ online call submittal system or to include all required materials herein may result in the application being deemed incomplete and ineligible for consideration.  We encourage you to submit all required application materials, including all written materials and images, well in advance of the deadline.  In this way, if you have a technical issue with the online application process, there may be opportunity to work with the application portal vendor to address the issues before the deadline.

Eligibility

By submitting an application, I certify the following:

• Be 18 years of age or older at the time of application submission.
• Have, at minimum, a two-year history of artistic practice in California.
• Reside in one of the following central California counties: Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, or Ventura. Eligibility will be determined by your mailing address.
• Recipients of the 2021 CAC Individual Artist Fellowship are not eligible to apply.