OVERVIEW:

Midtown Houston has been reimagined as a bustling inner city community with prominent cultural landmarks (The Ensemble Theatre, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Lawndale, and MATCH among others) that have helped create a dense, walkable and vibrant neighborhood filled with exciting dining, activities, and park spaces. In September 2012 this community was the first Management District in the state to receive a State of Texas Cultural Arts and Entertainment District designation from the Texas Commission on the Arts. Since that time Midtown has experienced exponential growth in our business, residential and cultural community with more than 90 arts organizations and four parks located in Midtown we truly are the center of it all. The MidtownHOU Arts Micro Grant is made possible in part through the City of Houston and Houston Arts Alliance. For more information about our community visit Midtown

ELIGIBILITY:

This call for projects/programming is open to all arts organizations, professional artists or artist teams and designers who are:

·         Age 18 or older

·         Eligible to work in the United States

·         Candidates are eligible regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identification, military status, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical ability.

·         Artists may also work in a capacity-building partnership with a local or regional artist or artist teams or cultural based organizations.

·         If selected, artists/arts organizations will be required to provide an Open to the Public, Free of Charge community project/performance or a cultural art based event within the boundaries of the Midtown Houston Cultural Arts and Entertainment District.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Application materials must be received by September 15, 2019 by 11:59 PM  MST via the submission portal on CaFÉ. 

INDIVIDUAL or ARTS ORGANIZATIONS:

•Statement of interest: Including your COMPLETE contact information, including organizational or artist social media handles. Briefly describe

(1) What is your interest in this grant opportunity?

(2) What are your qualifications for completing the project/program?

(3)What is your project? Describe it. Please refer to Provide a Project Budget for a link to Items that Cannot be Funded.  Artist teams should explain 1-3 collectively. 

•Provide Work Samples: Submissions should include photographic, visual or audio representations of past projects that demonstrate qualifications as a grant recipient. Applicants must upload a total of 5 images, videos or audio clips that represent up to 5 previously completed projects. Each sample should have an accompanying title, location, cost, materials/media, and timeline associated with that project/programming.

• Provide a Project Budget:  Please provide a project budget that outlines how the funds will be spent. Please refer to the following link for Items that Cannot Be Funded

• Provide Résumés: Résumés for each artist/artist team member should include public or programming experience for the past 2 years. 

ORGANIZATIONS - Please provide (A) one page history of the organization and (B) a list of current Board Members.

•      References: Each artist or organization should provide two (2) professional recommendation letters on letterhead. The letters should be emailed to Cynthia Alvarado

 SELECTION PROCESS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Midtown staff will preview applications for completeness and may reject incomplete applications. A Selection Committee which may include Midtown Staff, visual art/design professionals, and other community members will review and evaluate applications based on criteria that will include the following:

•Aesthetic Excellence: Aesthetic excellence of past projects/programming and creativity of this project/program. Bringing something new and creative goes a long way.

•Track Record: Proven track record of past projects/programming.

•Project Management: Is your demonstrated ability to manage and complete projects/programming on time and on budget. The Selection Committee may invite chosen finalists to interview. After the interviews, the Selection Committee will recommend an artist(s) or organization for approval by the Board of Directors of the Midtown Management District. This selected artist(s) or organization will be invited to contract with the Midtown Management District for the work.  At the time of contract execution Artist(s) and Arts Organizations will be asked to provide a W-9, and a Form 1295 Certificate of Interested Parties.

PROJECT FUNDS AVAILABLE:

The following Grants are available:

16 total grants are available in the following increments

1 - $5,000

6 - $2,500

4- $1,500

5 - $1,000

You may apply for ONE grant

PROPOSED PROJECT TIMELINE 2019:

 August – Issue call for projects

 September 15 – Applications due by 11:59 PM MST**

 September 17 - Finalist selection

 September 2019 - Finalist interviews; if needed

 October 2019 – Projects approved by the Board of Directors

 October 2019 - Selected artist notification and contract execution

 All projects MUST be completed by March 15, 2020

 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The Midtown CAED reserves the right to reject any and all proposals. The District may negotiate changes of any nature with any Finalist or Awardee with respect to discrepancies between the project/program selected for the contract and the project/program that will be selected by the District. All applicants should make their best faith effort to comply with the requirements outlined in this opportunity.

The evaluation criteria included in this opportunity are intended to be used to make a recommendation to the Midtown Management District Board of Directors who are authorized to award the grants.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Applicants with additional inquiries should email Cynthia Alvarado, CPM ®, Operations Manager at cynthiaa@houstonmidtown.com

HELPFUL LINKS TO DISCOVER MIDTOWN:

Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment District 10-Year Master Plan

Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment – midtownhouston.com

Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment District website

Midtown Park: if you plan on placing or performing your project in Midtown Park you must secure written permission from Mechelle Phillips the park manager 30 days or more prior to your project. Please be aware that numerous other events take place in Midtown Park on a regular basis.    

Elizabeth Baldwin Park or Elizabeth Glover Park: if you plan on placing or performing your project in Midtown Park you must secure written permission from Amaris Salinas the park manager 30 days or more prior to your project. Please be aware that numerous other events take place in these parks on a regular basis. These are City of Houston Parks and in some unusual cases you may also be required to provide prior written permission from the City of Houston as well.  

PLEASE NOTE - Bagby Park is currently under renovation construction is not available for use

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria