SUPPORT OUR WORK

GIVE ONLINE

Giving Opportunities

Click the button below to see a list of funds at the SWFL Community Foundation that you can donate to. DONATE TO A FUND

MAKE A GRANT FROM YOUR DONOR ADVISED FUND

MAKE A GRANT
Please click here to request the most current information on Fund Transfers and Wiring Instructions

LOGIN
GIVE ONLINE
Home > Grants Programs > Arts & Culture Artist Guidelines

Arts & Culture Artist Guidelines

CITY OF FORT MYERS ARTS & CULTURE GRANT GUIDELINES FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS

 

INTRODUCTION
The City of Fort Myers recognizes the importance of the arts to the cultural, educational, and economic well being of its diverse population. In order to enhance access by all its residents to a full range of cultural experiences, the City of Fort Myers provides funding for arts and cultural programs, through the City of Fort Myers Public Art Committee.

The maximum funding for each arts and culture grant is $10,000 for Operating Grants for organizations, $5,000 for Project & Program Grants for organizations and $2,500 for individual artists.

The City would like to see granted funds matched by the grant recipients with funds from earned income, foundations, individual and corporate contributions, government agencies and other organizations. These matching funds can include in-kind goods and services as well as volunteer and professional time, as a part of the cash match.

 

CITY OF FORT MYERS ARTS & CULTURE GRANTS GOALS
Through grant making and other activities and services, the City of Fort Myers strives to:

  • Develop stable, well-managed arts & culture organizations and institutions, through fair distribution of funds
  • Encourage artistic quality and program innovation, including “seed money” for organizations and projects
  • Develop new audiences and challenge existing audiences
  • Promote lifelong arts and cultural education
  • Promote multicultural inclusion in all aspects of the City’s cultural life
  • Stimulate increased private support for the arts & culture
  • Promote economic development and tourism in the City of Fort Myers
  • Promote and encourage art and culture in all communities and neighborhoods of the City
  • Create a nurturing environment in which artists can flourish

The Public Art Committee recommends guidelines and policies and the allocation of the arts & culture budget to grant program categories. The Southwest Florida Community Foundation establishes a committee to review all applications and presents recommendations for grant awards to the City for presentation to the Mayor and City Council.

Only one grant per organization or artist will be funded per year.

ELIGIBILITY

  1. Artist must live or work within corporate limits of the City of Fort Myers or create/perform work that will make a meaningful contribution to the arts and culture of the City of Fort Myers.
  2. Artist must produce interpretive and creative work in artistic disciplines, such as: dance, literature, music, theatre, visual arts, performance art, including choreographers, composers, playwrights, poets, writers and video artists.
  3. Be actively engaged in the pursuit of creating and producing works of art.
  4. If the artist has received a City of Fort Myers Art & Culture Grant at any time in the past then a Post Grant Final Report must have been submitted for that Grant.
    Grant recipients who have not completed a Post Grant Final Report for any grant received are not eligible to apply for funding at any time in the future.

LIMITATIONS

  1. Only one (1) application per artist per grant period.
  2. Individual Artist Grants can be awarded two years in a row. Artists who received two sequential grants must take a year off before applying again. For example, a grant award recipient for years 2016 and 2017 may not apply again until the grant cycle opens in 2019. Timely submission of Post Grant Final Report Form for all previous grants is an eligibility requirement.
  3. The following programs and activities are not eligible for grant funding:
    1. Group exhibits or productions that involve presentations of works created independently by multiple artists
    2. Permanent works of public art
    3. Student artists whose works will be used toward degree program or for academic credit
    4. Projects and activities primarily promotional, research-oriented, recreational or therapeutic.
  4. Individual Artists Grants do not include funding for individual art pieces whether or not they are intended for public display.
  5. If the proposed project or activity is a new direction for the applicant, such as work in a new medium or an allied artistic

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST GUIDELINES
Please click here to review grant portal registration instructions: https://floridacommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GranteeView-Guide-Registration-1.pdf

Your description should include:

  • overall goal(s) as an artist,
  • objectives or ways in which you will meet the goal(s),
  • specific activities for which you are seeking funding,
  • who will carry out those activities,
  • time frame in which the activities will take place,
  • how your work as an artist will benefit the community of the City of Fort Myers, what impact do you expect to have and your long-term strategies (if applicable) for sustaining this effort.

CITY OF FORT MYERS ARTS & CULTURE GRANTS REVIEW PROCESS & CRITERIA

 

REVIEW PROCESS
Although the review process varies according to grant category, the process always involves a qualitative evaluation of some kind.

Applications are submitted on the Southwest Florida Community Foundation grant portal.

Application materials are distributed to the Southwest Florida Community Arts and Culture Review Committee, composed of artists, arts & culture administrators, and community arts & culture representatives for individual review and ratings according to review criteria stated below.

Review Committee meetings are scheduled for discussion and ratings are averaged to reach each applicant’s overall rating.

After the Arts and Culture Grants Committee has rated the applicants, the panel makes funding recommendations which are forwarded by the Southwest Florida Community Foundation staff to Public Works Administration’s staff.  Public Works Administration staff prepares a Council Agenda Item (Greensheet) for presentation to the Mayor and City Council for approval.  Awards will be announced in April and checks will be sent within 3 weeks of receipt of a signed agreement from the Artist or Organization.

 

REVIEW & SCORING CRITERIA
Applications are evaluated based on:

  1. Artists of exceptional talent and demonstrated ability to improve their creative skills and enhance their careers.
  2. Proposals that meet the City of Fort Myers’ Art and Culture Grant Goals.
  3. Evidence of the applicant’s ability to carry out the proposed activity including not only information provided in the application and support materials, but also performance realized from prior City arts grants, if any.
  4. Artistic ability, clarity of proposal and matching support will be considered.

Interim and Post-Grant Final Report
An interim report will be due mid-way through completion of the grant process on November 30, 2019. A Post-Grant Final Report is due at the end of the granting period and must be received in order to be eligible to apply for a grant in any future grant cycles for this program. The post-grant final report will be due May 31, 2020.