Welcome to JumpstART Commissions!
Note to Artists: This opportunity will next open in the fall of 2025. If you’d like to read proposal info from the fall of 2024 application process, it’s all here. Enjoy, and sign up for our emails to stay informed when this opens again.
A sense of place, a landscape that reflects our past, present, and future as a community, is vital to our mental health and feeling of belonging. We want JumpstART to inspire artists to reflect back to us who we were, who we are, and who we want to be here in Chatham County. JumpstART commissions artists to make art, from tiny to medium-sized projects–and then to share those works in the public sphere. If you want to be considered for a JumpstART commission this year, please read on.
Eligibility Requirements
- County Residence :: To propose a JumpstART Commission, you must be a performing, visual, or literary artist living in Chatham County, North Carolina.
- Financial Need :: There is no financial need requirement for this year’s commissions.
- Past JumpstART Artists :: You can indeed submit a proposal if you’re a past JumpstART artist.
- Individuals and Collaborations :: You may submit 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.
- Students: Students can submit JumpstART proposals. Please make sure you have your parent or caregiver’s permission to participate.
- Public Showing :: All applicants must agree to participate in the JumpstART Walkabout at ClydeFEST on April 13, 2024. The schedule for that day is: Set-up at 11 a.m.; Event from Noon to 4 p.m.; Strike/Breakdown at 4 p.m. Artists must be present for the full event.
Funding process and timeline
- Proposal forms available online: 12 December, 2024
- Proposal submission deadline: 21 January, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
- Awards announcements: 31 January, 2025
- Public showing: April 13, 2025
Guidelines and FAQs
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What level of funding is available?
We’ll commission individual or collaborative projects from $500 to $1,500. Note that we have $10,000 in total funding, and we seek to commission 10 projects, so you might take that into consideration when planning your project.
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Is there any creative direction here?
We’re committed to commissioning and sharing a body of work by diverse artists across disciplines that is specific to Chatham County. Last year, we proposed to your artist minds the concept of The Locals. We asked that you choose a Chatham resident–past or present–and let that person be a springboard for your project. This year, we’re focusing in on a group we want to know more about: Chatham residents in their 20s. For The Locals at Twenty-Something, you’ll connect with one Chatham zillenial–or with a small group of these 20-somethings–and let something in their lives; their outlook on the world; their past, present, or future inspire your art. Your muse can be a family member or friend, someone you connect with at the cash register of your favorite shop, someone your Instagram friends suggest would be interesting to you. They do not have to be famous or have everything figured out–and neither do you! Special note: We are interested in sharing work inspired by muses that reflect the diversity of Chatham in all kinds of ways (geographic, socio-economic, racial, cultural, gender . . .). Edited to add: We’ve had a few questions come our way about the exact age range for muses–and about whether they have to be a current Chatham resident. Here’s our answer: Your muse can be anyone who’s past high school age through age 29. We’d even go with a freshly-minted 30-year-old. The point is to explore the lives of folks who are in that early adulthood time of life. And while we hope we’ll get lots of proposals about current Chatham residents, we can also see a successful proposal based on a muse who grew up in Chatham and is now figuring out life elsewhere. Hope that helps!
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What types of projects can I/we propose?
The project can be in any form, as long as it is shareable at a family-friendly, outdoor spring event. If you’re a performing artist, you’ll perform this work. If you’re a visual artist, you’ll show the work. If you’re a literary or multimedia artist, we’ll figure out a plan that works for what you do.
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Are there more details about the JumpstART showing at ClydeFEST?
Yes! We plan to share all JumpstART projects at our ClydeFEST event on April 13, 2025. (Here’s a bit about ClydeFEST, in case you’ve never been.) ClydeFEST a free family event, and last season more than 2,500 folks attended. That’s a whole lot of folks who can experience your work! JumpstART was new to ClydeFEST last year, and it was an absolute hit. Quite a number of folks came to ClydeFEST without kids in tow, just to check out JumpstART. Four important things to consider: (1) The JumpstART work will have its own area at ClydeFEST; (2) Performing artists may be performing their pieces multiple times throughout the day; (3) Each JumpstART artist will need to include a small interactive component with their project so that kids (and kids-at-heart!) can engage with the work in some way; and (4) Each artist will receive an honorarium of $150–in addition to your commission amount–as thanks for your time on ClydeFEST day.
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Does my art have to be specifically for kids?
No. You don’t have to write juvenille fiction or write music like Ziggy Marley on “Family Time”–though you certainly could! Kids (and their grown-ups) like all kinds of art–not just art that’s made especially for them.
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And can you tell me more about this small interactive component?
Sure thing. We’re looking for some small, but specific way folks can engage with your work. That could be a response question on an index card that you ask everyone to answer. It could be a bit of fabric that each visitor can attach to one panel of the work so that it evolves in place–or a bit they can choose and take away home with them. It could be a song section you teach or a moment when you ask folks to give you a phrase to complete a verse. Maybe it’s something specifically inspired by your Chatham County person’s life work or way of being in the world. There are tons of possibilities, and it doesn’t have to be big–but we do ask that it be intentional. Two important things: (1) Make sure to account for the interactive element when you plan your expenses, and (2) We ask that you steer clear of coloring pages, unless they’re a really well-thought-out accompaniment to your work. Kids get a lot of coloring pages in their lives!
- Who will own the completed work?
Artists will retain ownership of their work. In accepting a JumpstART commission, you would be giving CAC the right to exhibit and/or show the work at ClydeFEST on April 13, 2025.
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Are there restrictions around the use of funds?
At least 75% of each commission must fund your artist fees. The remaining 25% may be used for materials, rehearsal space rental, or other project needs–or it may also be used to fund your artist fees.
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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.
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May I apply for more than project–either individually or as part of more than one collaboration?
Yes. Just know that we’re unlikely to commission two projects from the same individual artist.
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How are JumpstART proposals evaluated?
We’ll consider the project’s artistic merit, the feasibility of the project in the timeline and budget, and project as a part of a curated experience of The Locals at Twenty-Something. Panelists may give special consideration to proposals by artists from traditionally underserved communities, artists experiencing economic challenge, and artists who have not previously been a part of JumpstART.
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Why does the application ask about ways in which I identify?
This information will help us live up to our inclusivity value. We actively seek to work with artists who are traditionally underserved and/or have less access to funding mechanisms as part of our commissioning work.
- Why does the proposal form 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.
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Will I need to pay taxes on any commission 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 payment.
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If my project is collaborative, who will get the commission 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 proposal, 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 for your work at creating art in Chatham County.