You may find it helpful to print out the program guidelines and application so that you can refer to it while completing the application. You also may want to keep the guidelines open in a window on your computer as they contain helpful links to information that you will need as you complete your application.

• Program History
• Program Background
• Program Description
• Project Goals
• How to Apply
• Project Grant Eligibility
• Project Application Timeline
• Funding Restrictions
• Review Criteria
• Helpful Definitions and Hints
• Indirect Costs
• Additional Resources
• Contact Us

Program History

The Creative Campus initiative began following the 104th American Assembly at Columbia University, held in March 2004. The convening was supported by the Ford Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Dana Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, Pfizer and the Altria Group. More than sixty distinguished professionals, including Sandra Gibson (President & CEO of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters), gathered for over two days to examine the factors that characterize effective partnerships in education and the arts – the projects, proposals, curricula, and creative forces that make such partnerships work.

All participants fully acknowledged that higher education and the arts make their own specific offerings to a vital and thriving culture on campus and in the surrounding community. Together they can generate imaginative and inspiring activities that benefit campuses, fortify artists and arts institutions, educate students, and stimulate audiences. In 2006 the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (Arts Presenters), with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), initiated The Creative Campus Innovations program to move the conclusions and recommendations drawn from the American Assembly into action. In so doing, the program endeavored to deepen the aesthetic experience and the expansion of mind and spirit through innovative partnerships between arts presenters and their colleagues based on campuses across the country.

Program Background

The Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program was established in January 2006 with an initial award of $1,500,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to support exemplary campus-based performing arts presenters to develop and implement programs and strategies beyond conventional practice that integrate their work across the academy. The program encourages collaborations between the academy (administration, faculty and students) and local community partners. In 2007 eight campuses were awarded one or two-year grants totaling $1 million to undertake innovative projects that had the potential to increase awareness of the value of and expand support for integrating the performing arts into the academy and the campus community. DDCF engaged WolfBrown to provide ongoing program evaluations and their findings helped to reshape the process for the 2008 grant program.

In 2008, Arts Presenters received a renewal grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to provide a second round of grants to selected colleges and universities under the Creative Campus Innovations Grant program (Creative Campus) for projects beginning September 1, 2010 through May 31, 2012. The changes and additions to the program include: an extended application process that includes planning grants for the second round finalists to strengthen the relationship with the artist(s), build the campus and community partnerships and more clearly articulate potential impact that will address the overall criteria of the program; additional support will be given to first year grantees to further document and assess program efforts and to mentor the new group of grantees; research and dissemination of best practices; and to expand learning communities established during the first grant period.

Program Description

The purpose of the Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program is to identify, support, and document cross-campus interdisciplinary collaborations that integrate the work of performing arts presenters in the academy and the surrounding community. Arts Presenters will award between 8 to 10 one- to two-year project grants, ranging from $100,000-$200,000 each in 2010 to college and university presenters for projects that go beyond conventional practice and perspectives, feature innovative or experimental approaches, connect with arts and non-arts constituencies, and stimulate discussion and debate. Funding support is meant to both support new initiatives and deepen existing efforts to integrate the performing arts into the academy.

Project Goals

Creative Campus Innovations projects should incorporate a variety of campus-based programs and activities that integrate the work of presenters into the life of the academy and the community by working collectively with other college or university partners and community partners to maximize resources and capacities in the performing arts. Each project must meet the following goals:

• integrate the performing arts into the education, service, and scholarly missions of the academy and engage chief academic officers and executive leadership;
• provide opportunities to deepen and expand the participation of artist(s) in the academy through long term residencies, commissions and/or other creative activities; and
• identify, document, and share lessons learned that will contribute to an evolving knowledge base and learning community for campuses and the wider performing arts and presenting field.

How to Apply

1. Read the Eligibility Requirements, Guidelines and Helpful Definitions thoroughly.
2. Access the application using your user id and password.
3. Prepare and submit the online application by the June 30, 2009 deadline.
4. Prepare and mail a hard copy of the application and any support materials (CD, DVDs or videotapes) to: Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, Arts Presenters, 1211 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036. All hard copy materials must be postmarked by June 30, 2009.

PLEASE NOTE:
All applicants should set their e-mail spam filters to accept e-mails from CreativeCampus@artspresenters.org.

Project Grant Eligibility

• Applicants are not required to be members of the Association to be considered for Round I review. However, non-member applicants invited to go forward for Round II will need to acquire membership in the Association prior to submission of the Round II proposal.
• Applicants must be designated as the performing arts presenting organization or presenter for the college or university (see the definition of performing arts presenter in these guidelines);
• Applicants must be able to document the commitment of the institution at the highest level (top level administrators-president, chief academic officer) to support the goal of integrating programs and activities developed by the performing arts presenter into the educational, service and scholarly missions of the academy.
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate and document a history of diverse and high quality performing arts presenting including but not necessarily limited to dance, jazz and/or theatre, and sustained audience and community engagement.
• Applicants must be willing to participate in a learning community to enrich the learning experiences of fellow grantees and the field.
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate that funding received from this project will be financially supported in part through additional budgeted campus or university funds (i.e. Creative Campus Innovations grant funds do not provide sole support for project activities).

Project Application Timeline

Funding Restrictions

• Incomplete applications will be considered ineligible and will not be reviewed.
• Indirect costs may not exceed 12% of the project direct costs (see Indirect Costs section).

Review Criteria

The following review criteria will be used by panels to determine which applications will be recommended to submit full proposals for consideration. The applications that address each criterion will be most competitive.

Project Concept

• Evidence of successfully integrating programs and activities developed by the presenter into the college or university's priorities in education, research and/or community service
• Evidence of the artistic merit and quality of the project, including commitment of the artist to engage students, faculty and audiences in understanding and valuing the creative process in conjunction with work to be presented

Campus and Community Engagement

• Evidence of engaging and sustaining audiences on campus and in the community
• Extent to which students are likely to engage in and benefit from the project
• Depth and quality of cross-campus and community partnerships made possible by the project
• Evidence of the commitment and support of the college or university's top administrators, non-arts faculty, and community partners, including their participation in strategic planning and policy-making that are critical to meeting project goals and sustaining future opportunities for integrating the arts in and across the academy

Organizational Capacity

• Evidence of the highest quality and consistency in presenting outstanding and diverse performing artists who reflect a wide range of styles as well as international perspectives
• Extent to which conditions exist (including readiness to move forward) to establish and/or expand partnerships and collaborations between the presenter and appropriate individuals and committees representing key constituencies across the academy and in the community
• Strong commitment to supporting the artists' creative process and the engagement of students, faculty, and audiences with resources of the college or university, e.g., technological and intellectual resources

Project Impact

• Clearly articulated outcomes that can be reasonably achieved
• An evaluation design that identifies the focus, process, and resources to be engaged in documenting and assessing project outcomes (note: this to be developed with planning grant assistance for invited round 2 applicants)

Helpful Definitions and Hints

The following information is provided to assist applicants with determining eligibility and capacity for competing successfully in the granting program. While there are exceptions due to the sheer diversity of organizations and approaches within the arts presenting fields, they are meant to offer useful distinctions for potential applicants to determine how to best categorize their organization and projects for the purposes of the Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program.

Definitions

Performing Arts Presenter

Arts presenters form a sector of the performing arts field comprised of a variety of sizes, functions, configurations and artistic and curatorial interests – all of which share the mission of providing opportunities for artists and audiences to share the performing arts through performances, commissioning projects, and education initiatives. Arts presenters generally work with professional artists to create programs that complement the existing artistic activities in their communities and to provide local audiences and artists with consistent access to creative expression and works that are not limited by geographic borders.

Participation of Artists

Artists selected to participate in the project must be committed to openly sharing their creative process as part of the development of new work or through residencies that are connected to project goals and objectives. This includes such activities as master classes; co-design and instruction of new curriculum-based courses; workshops for students, faculty, and/or community members; pre and post-performance discussions, and other opportunities to provide insight about the role and value of integrating the arts.

Helpful Hints

Applicants are encouraged to respond directly to the eligibility requirements and review criteria identified in the guidelines above. A significant number of applicants that participated in the first Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program moved forward in the review process by providing clear and adequate evidence of the following:

• Top level officials are committed to providing policy support and resources that will ensure the success of the proposed project
• Documentation of the presenter's high-quality programming and audience engagement
• Descriptions of strategies and expectations for effective integration of the performing arts presenting project or program into the academy, on the campus and in the surrounding community
• Descriptions of the role of the artist, the creative process, the selection process and artistic outcomes
• Strategies for engaging students in the project

Indirect Costs

The following describes the Art Presenters' guidelines for allowable indirect costs within grants. Indirect or Overhead costs are the institutional costs and services that support all of the work of the grantee organization but which cannot be directly attributed to a particular funded project, for example, rent, mortgage, support equipment, service departments such as general administration, development or finance (costs that would exist to a large extent whether or not the funded program existed).

The guideline for budgeting indirect costs is 12% of all the direct costs of the funded project, whether the direct costs are incurred by the grantee or by a subcontractor of the grantee. In other words, the 12% may be shared between the grantee and the subcontractor, but collectively the total indirect costs cannot exceed 12% of the direct costs of the project. A grantee and subcontractor may agree to share the 12%, with each collecting less than 12% of its own direct costs. What cannot happen is for a subcontract that is included in the indirect cost base of the grantee to also include 12% indirect (in other words, the indirect costs are charged on indirect costs).

Additional Resources

1. Change Agents on Campus
   Inside Arts (Arts Presenters bi-monthly magazine) article that highlights the 2007 Creative Campus Innovations Grantees.
2. The Creative Campus: Innovative Ideas for Cross-Sector Collaboration
   Nancy Cantor, Chancellor and President of Syracuse University, delivered this keynote address at the Creative Campus session during the 2009 APAP Conference.
3. Key Campus Resources Required for a Successful Project
   These recommendations were highlighted during the 2008 Creative Campus Innovations Grantee Meeting.
4. The Creative Campus: The Training, Sustaining and Presenting of the Performing Arts in American Higher Education – The 104th American Assembly
   In 2004, the American Assembly at Columbia University convened to discuss the performing arts and their role within higher education. This report summarizes the 104th American Assembly and introduced the concept for the Creative Campus Innovations Program.
5. Creative Campus Press Release
   This release announces the second year of the Creative Campus Innovations Grant program. It also provides a brief description of the existing grant recipients, their partners and the projects developed with funding from the Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program.
6. Frequently Asked Questions
   Arts Presenters has compiled a list of the frequently asked questions about the Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program.
7. Creative Campus Innovations Grant Grantees
   In 2007 eight campuses were awarded Creative Campus Innovations Grants. This document provides basic background information for each project awarded to our existing grantees.

Contact Us

Have questions? Need project grant application assistance? Send an email to CreativeCampus@artspresenters.org or call 888.820.ARTS (2787) and ask for the Programs Department.

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