NEA John Renna Art Scholarships

CFDA No. 45.024
2007NEA01RS
7418200

This program announcement refers to the FY 2007 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines which may be obtained on the Arts Endowment's Web site at www.arts.gov.

All organizations are required to submit their applications electronically through Grants.gov, the federal government's online application system. The Grants.gov system will accept applications through 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 6, 2006.

Grant Program Description

John Anthony Renna bequeathed his estate to the National Endowment for the Arts for the purpose of supporting two- or four-year scholarships for art students of limited financial resources. To fulfill the terms of this bequest, the Arts Endowment has created the National Endowment for the Arts John Renna Art Scholarships initiative to award grants to independent schools and colleges of art, enabling them to provide such support.

Independent schools and colleges of art:

• Specialize in art and design.
• Offer B.F.A. and/or M.F.A. degrees.
• Are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art & Design.
• May provide free or subsidized tuition for students of limited financial resources.
• Are not departments of larger colleges or universities.

Each grantee school will:

• Prepare and disseminate NEA John Renna Art Scholarships application guidelines and forms to solicit information and material sufficient to judge each applicant's artistic ability and limited financial resources. This includes distributing the school's financial aid requirements.
• Conduct an open application process to solicit a broad range of students through a variety of networks.
• Select recipients and provide a scholarship to each.
• Submit reports to the Arts Endowment on the number of scholarships awarded, and the names and hometowns of the recipients.
• Monitor recipients and evaluate their participation.

Recipients of the scholarships must:

• Be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
• Have limited financial resources.

Award Information

Grant Amounts and Matching Funds

The Arts Endowment anticipates awarding no more than five one-time grants, generally ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. All grants require a nonfederal match of at least 1 to 1.

NOTE: These grants are not for the endowment funds of the recipient schools. NEA John Renna Art Scholarships funds will be requested from the Arts Endowment and must be expended to award the scholarships. Minimal federal funds may be used to support the school's administrative costs.

Period of Support

The Arts Endowment's support of a project may start on May 1, 2007, or any time thereafter. Scholarships may last for two or four years.

Applicant Eligibility

Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations; units of state or local government; or federally recognized tribal communities or tribes may apply. To be eligible, the applicant organization must:

• Meet the Arts Endowment's "Legal Requirements," including nonprofit, tax-exempt status, as detailed in the FY 2007 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines, at the time of application.
• Have a three-year history of scholarship program administration prior to the application deadline.
• Meet the definition of an independent school or college of art.
• Have submitted acceptable Final Report packages by the due date(s) for all Arts Endowment award(s) previously received.

Organizations are limited to one NEA John Renna Art Scholarships application.

An application in response to this announcement does not preclude an organization from applying under other Arts Endowment funding opportunities including Grants for Arts Projects. In each case, the request must be for a distinctly different project.

How to Prepare and Submit an Application

All organizations are required to submit their applications electronically through Grants.gov, the federal government's online application system. The Grants.gov system will accept applications through 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 6, 2006. [Material that must be mailed directly to the Arts Endowment must be postmarked (or show other proof of mailing) no later than November 7, 2006.]

The Arts Endowment has created an easy-to-follow checklist for registering. Step-by-step instructions for registering also are available at Get Registered. If you have problems registering, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726, e-mail support@grants.gov, or consult the information posted on the Grants.gov Web site at Applicant Help. The Grants.gov Customer Service hours are 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday to Friday.

Read the guidance below and then follow the link to "Apply Electronically Through Grants.gov." These instructions will guide you to submit material that corresponds to requirements for Museums applicants to the Access to Artistic Excellence category in the FY 2007 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines.

In your Details of the Project Narrative (Attachment 3) include:

• How students are selected for your school including the criteria for judging artistic ability and limited financial resources.

• Describe any current scholarship programs that your school currently administers that would demonstrate your organization's ability to carry out the project.

• How you would establish, publicize, and manage the NEA John Renna Art Scholarships program. Include information on the process by which students would learn about and be selected to receive scholarships.

• Describe your school's strategy for reaching and soliciting students of limited financial resources as well as your school's financial aid criteria.

• The size and number of awards your school would distribute each year. Note whether the scholarships would be for two or four years.

• The anticipated budget for the scholarship program including sources of matching funds. Be sure to note the projected administrative costs associated with operating the program.

In addition to the material that you submit electronically, you will be instructed to submit certain items directly to the Arts Endowment. Be sure to include:

• Visual documentation. You may submit only digital images as work samples; do not submit slides or photocopies.

Go to "Apply Electronically Through Grants.gov" for further instructions.

Application Review

The following criteria are considered during the review of applications:

The artistic excellence of the project, which includes the:

• Quality of the school including its programming.
• Quality of the artists and arts educators that are to be involved.

The artistic merit of the project, which includes the:

• Record in carrying out similar scholarship programs.
• Potential impact on recipients.
• Strategy to reach and direct funds to students with limited financial resources.
• Plans for documentation, evaluation, and dissemination, as appropriate, of the project.
• Likelihood that the project will achieve the identified outcome(s) and the feasibility of the proposed performance measurements. *
• Ability to carry out the project including the appropriateness of the budget, the applicant's ability to raise non-Arts Endowment funds to complete the project, the quality and clarity of the project goals and design, the resources involved, and the qualifications of the project's personnel.
• Where appropriate, the potential to reach underserved populations such as those whose opportunities to experience arts learning are limited by geography, ethnicity, or disability.

* The Arts Endowment, along with other federal agencies, collects information on the projects it funds in order to track the results -- or outcomes -- of its activities. This information is compiled and reported to Congress and the public. The outcome the Arts Endowment intends to achieve through the NEA John Renna Art Scholarships initiative is: Artists and arts organizations have opportunities to create, interpret, present, and perform artistic work. Within the context of this outcome, we ask all applicants to define what they would like to achieve, how they will assess the degree to which it is achieved, and, upon completion of the project, what they have learned from their successes and failures.

All applications are reviewed by an advisory panel. Panel recommendations are forwarded to the National Council on the Arts, which then makes recommendations to the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Chairman reviews the Council's recommendations and makes the final decision on all grant awards. Pending the availability of funding, it is anticipated that applicants will be notified of award or rejection in April 2007.

Award Administration

Crediting Requirement

Grantees must clearly acknowledge support from the National Endowment for the Arts in their programs and related promotional material including publications and Web sites. The program will be referred to as the National Endowment for the Arts/(Name of Grantee) John Renna Art Scholarships. Schools that receive grants will be provided with specific requirements for acknowledgment of Mr. Renna's gift.

Administrative Requirements

Before submitting an application, organizations should review the Grants for Arts Projects guidelines and General Terms & Conditions for detailed information on legal requirements and other administrative matters that pertain to this announcement.

Agency Contacts

If you have questions, please contact the Museums and Visual Arts staff at 202/682-5573, 202/682-5576, or 202/682-5555.

Reporting Burden

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated at an average of 32 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The Arts Endowment welcomes any suggestions that you might have on improving the guidelines and making them as easy to use as possible. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: Office of Guidelines & Panel Operations, Room 710, National Endowment for the Arts, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20506-0001. Note: Applicants are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently valid U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

October 2006
OMB No. 3135-0112 Expires 11/30/2007

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