OPERA: Access to Artistic Excellence

Introduction

Access to Artistic Excellence encourages and supports artistic creativity, preserves our diverse cultural heritage, and makes the arts more widely available in communities throughout the country. While projects in this category may focus on just one of these areas, the Arts Endowment recognizes that many of the most effective projects encompass both artistic excellence and enhanced access. Support is available to organizations for projects that do one or more of the following:

• Provide opportunities for artists to create, refine, perform, and exhibit their work.
• Present artistic works of all cultures and periods.
• Preserve significant works of art and cultural traditions.
• Enable arts organizations and artists to expand and diversify their audiences.
• Provide opportunities for individuals to experience and participate in a wide range of art forms and activities.
• Enhance the effectiveness of arts organizations and artists.
• Employ the arts in strengthening communities.

The Arts Endowment is particularly interested in projects that extend the arts to underserved populations -- those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. This is achieved in part through the use of Challenge America: Reaching Every Community funds.

Please note: Congress has prohibited the Arts Endowment from making direct grants to individuals except for Literature Fellowships, NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships, NEA National Heritage Fellowships in the Folk & Traditional Arts, and National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors.

Deadline

The application deadline for all opera projects is March 10, 2008. (There is no August deadline.) The earliest beginning date for the Arts Endowment's period of support is January 1, 2009.

The Access to Artistic Excellence category provides support for projects that include but are not limited to:

• New productions of traditional and contemporary works.
• Remounting of existing productions.
• World, national, and regional premieres.
• Commissioning and development of new operatic works. This may include librettist fees and workshops with artists.
• Touring, especially to areas and constituencies that are underserved including schools.
• Programs that provide access to and experience with the art form for adults, children, and intergenerational groups.
• Professional development programs that include theatrical training for artists who have finished their conservatory training and are emerging on the professional stage.
• Documentation, preservation, and conservation of America's opera heritage.
• Services to opera companies, singers, composers, and librettists. These may include activities such as convening, data collection, information sharing, and technical assistance.

If your project is for children and youth, see "Choosing the Right Category for Children and Youth Projects" to help you in your category selection.

Application Review

This category uses the agency's traditional method of application review. Applications are submitted to the Opera staff and are reviewed by a diverse group of experts in the opera field.

Applications are reviewed on the basis of artistic excellence and artistic merit. For more detailed information on how artistic excellence and artistic merit will be evaluated, see the "Review Criteria." You can find additional information in the "Application Review" section of the "Frequently Asked Questions."

Site Visits

At its discretion, the Arts Endowment schedules site visits for Opera applicants to the Access to Artistic Excellence category. (Site visits are not used for the Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast-Track Review Grants or Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth categories.) The Arts Endowment will make every effort to schedule a site visit to your organization.

If you have questions about a site visit for Opera, contact the Opera specialist at paulg@arts.gov or 202/682-5600.

Contact

Opera Specialist: paulg@arts.gov or 202/682-5600

Outcomes

The Arts Endowment has identified five outcomes that it plans to achieve through Access to Artistic Excellence. Each applicant must select the one outcome listed below that is most relevant to its project and indicate this in its application:

1. Artists and arts organizations have opportunities to create, interpret, present, and perform artistic work.

2. Artistic works and cultural traditions are preserved.

3. Organizations enhance their ability to realize their artistic and public service goals.

4. Audiences throughout the nation have opportunities to experience a wide range of art forms and activities.

5. The arts contribute to the strengthening of communities.

If you wish to apply:

CFDA No. 45.024
OMB No. 3135-0112 Expires 11/30/2010
January 2008

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506