Update: Deadline extended to Friday, May 13 at 11:59 p.m.! Get in there!
Welcome to the JumpstART application!
In 2020, as the pandemic shut down the arts economy in Chatham County, we launched the Chatham Artists and Arts-workers Relief Effort (CAARE) to provide weekly emergency funding for artists impacted by the pandemic. In the spring of 2021, with the hope of light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we transitioned our emergency grants into a new phase of artist relief with JumpstART grants. JumpstART was designed to help get Chatham County artists and arts-workers back to work with grants that pay artists to make art–and to put art in the public sphere as we re-connect with one another in our public spaces.
2021 JumpstART was deeply impactful, so we’re partnering to make it happen again in 2022. We look forward to supporting artists and arts-workers toward projects from the tiny to medium-sized. Read on.
Eligibility Requirements:
To apply for a JumpstART grant, you must be a professional performing, visual, or literary artist or arts-worker living in Chatham County, North Carolina who has been financially impacted due to COVID-19 cancellations and closures, rising cost-of-living, or other economic challenges. This financial impact can be a little, or a lot. Don’t rule yourself out because you’re making room for someone else who you think needs it more than you. That’s very generous, but it also diminishes the importance of your own work and the value people get from that work. It’s okay to let the panel factor in assessments of need, and it’s okay to call yourself an artist and still have been able to fill in livable amount of your income from a non-artist day job.
For the purpose of JumpstART, we define “professional artist” as someone who earns part or all of their income as an artist. We define “professional arts-worker” as someone who earns part or all of their income by making arts projects possible, including exhibition managers, artist managers, stage managers, arts nonprofit administrators, sound technicians, etc.
You may apply as an individual artist–or as a collaborative group. If you are a collaborative group, at least one member of the group must reside in Chatham County. Last year, we allowed folks to apply for multiple projects, in both categories. This year, we ask that you apply for only one project per artist, please.
All applicants must agree to participate in a public sharing in the fall of 2022 that includes all JumpstART-funded work, as arranged by the Chatham Arts Council. The Chatham Arts Council will not require artists to participate in a way that feels COVID-unsafe to the artist.
Funding process and timeline:
- Applications available online: Thursday, April 14, 2022
- Application submission deadline: EXTENDED: Friday, May 13, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
- Panel review: Mid-May 2022
- Awards Announcements: June 1, 2022
- Public showing: TBD in Fall 2022 at The Chatham Experience
Guidelines and FAQs:
- What level of funding is available? We will grant $250 to $750 for individual projects, and $500 to $1,500 for collaborative projects.
- Is there any creative direction here? We’re particularly interested this year in funding and sharing a body of work by diverse artists across disciplines that still feels cohesive, that works together. Right now, in a time when mental wellness feels out of reach for many and community connection is simultaneously glorious and exhausting, we propose to your artist mind the concept of equilibrium. Equilibrium is this year’s JumpstART project theme, and all proposed projects should engage with Equilibrium in some way. Also, we love the way the word sounds–and it has a Q in it. So good, right?
- What types of projects can I/we propose? The project can be in any form, as long as it is shareable at a COVID-safe fall event. If you’re a performing or literary artist, it can be new work–or it can be existing work that you’ll rehearse and perform. Whether it is new or existing work may impact the funding level you’re applying to receive, since it will impact the amount of time required to prepare. If you’re a visual artist, your JumpstART project can be any size or scope from tiny to medium-sized, since we don’t have the budget for large.
- Who will own the rights to the work? Artists will retain ownership of their work. In accepting a JumpstART grant, you would be giving CAC the right to exhibit and/or show the work in the fall of 2022, at dates to be determined.
- Are there more details about the fall JumpstART event? Here’s what we know right now: We plan to share all JumpstART projects–and possibly additional projects–at our Chatham Experience in the fall. We seek to determine the date of that event by June 16. It will be free or pay-what-you-can for all attendees, and we’re hoping the visual art will be installed for several weeks.
- Are there restrictions around the use of funds? At least 75% of each grant award must go to pay your fees as artist(s) and/or arts-worker(s). The remaining 25% may be used for materials, rehearsal space rental, or other project needs–or it may also be used to pay your fees as artist(s) and/or arts-worker(s).
- What are the reporting requirements? We will not require a formal report at the end of this project. Your participation in the public event will serve as the report.
- May I apply for more than project–either individually or as part of more than one collaboration? No. Please only participate in one application this year.
- Are JumpstART grants evaluated based on financial need or artistic merit? Our JumpstART grants panel will consider both financial need and artistic merit when evaluating applications.
- Why does the application ask about ways in which I identify? This information will help us live up to our inclusivity value. Our panel actively seeks to fund artists who are traditionally underserved and/or have less access to funding mechanisms as part of this funding round.
- Why does the application ask where I live within Chatham County? We are called to serve the entire geography of Chatham County, and this information will help us do that.
- Will I need to pay taxes on any grant funding I receive? Per legal requirements, CAC will issue 1099s to any individuals who receive funds totaling $600 or more in this calendar year. A W-9 will be required at the time of grant payment.
- If my project is collaborative, who will get the grant check? We will issue checks per the primary applicant’s direction. For example, if you have a band, we can write a check to each member. W-9s will be required for each person who receives payment.
Before you begin the application, please note that it cannot be saved or returned to at a later time. Please compose longer answers in a program where you can save them, in case of power outages, laptop battery death, or other miserable mishaps that befall us all from time to time. Thank you in advance for your interest in JumpstART and your work at creating art in Chatham County.
We look forward to receiving your JumpstART application by 11:59 p.m. on May 13, 2022!
