Grant Review
Review meetings of the Arts Advisory Panel are held approximately three weeks after each grant deadline. These meetings are open to the public and attendance by applicants is strongly encouraged. Meeting details will be distributed to applicants and posted on our calendar page as each meeting date approaches.Fiscal Year 2012:
- Thursday, July 28, 2011
- Thursday, October 27, 2011
- Thursday, February 23, 2012
- Thursday, April 26, 2012
Fiscal Year 2013:
- Thursday, July 26, 2012
- Thursday, October 25, 2012
- Thursday, February 28, 2013
- Thursday, April 25, 2013 (if an April grant round is held)
Review Process
The main function of the Arts Advisory Panel is to advise the Board of Directors on the merits of the grant proposals SEMAC receives. At the Grant Review meeting, the panel will review all eligible proposals and rank each based on the following criteria.
1. Artistic quality and the merit of the project to the arts.
Considerations used to address this criterion may include:
- How well do the resources such as qualifications of artistic personnel, facilities, activities, etc., meet the project goals?
- How well does the project meet or advance the goals of the organization?
- How does the project contribute to the artistic development of the respective art form and/or audience?
- How does the project increase the number and variety of arts opportunities in the community or attempt new approaches to existing arts programs?
2. Demonstrated need for the project by the artist, the arts
organization, or the public.
Considerations used to address this criterion may include:
- Community involvement and support for the project.
- Whether the project is duplicated and if so, does it improve upon an existing program?
- The method used to determine that the project is needed.
3. The ability of the applicant artist or arts organization to
accomplish the project.
Considerations used to address this criterion may include:
- The planning process used to develop the project format.
- Qualifications of the personnel to be used in the project.
- Feasibility of the budget.
- Marketing and publicity efforts.
- Evidence of the applicant organization’s fiscal responsibility.
- Previous successful efforts.
When reviewing the applications, each panelist gives three numerical scores to each application, one corresponding to each of the three review criterion. The scores range from 1 (poor) to 5 (superior). When tallied, the scores are weighted as follows: the artistic merit score is multiplied by three; the demonstrated need score is multiplied by two; and the applicant ability score is used as given. The total of the weighted scores is the application’s ranking. An application must receive a minimum of 19.9 points out of a possible 30 to qualify for funding.
Following the Grant Review, the Board of Directors then reviews the rankings of the Arts Advisory Panel at the next regularly scheduled monthly board meeting. This meeting is also open to the public. The Board makes final funding decisions based on the Panel’s rankings. In the event there are more meritorious projects than money available, grants are awarded per ranking until the allocated funds are exhausted. Applicants will be notified in writing of the Board’s decision within 14 days after the Board meeting.
