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Selection Process

Our process includes three steps: inquiry, application, and panel review.

Grant Calendar

February 4, 2008: Inquiry Form available online
March 4, 2008: Deadline for completed Inquiry Forms
Early June 2008: Notification of advance to Application stage
July 2, 2008: Deadline for completed Applications
Mid-September 2008: Notification of advance to panel review
Mid-January 2009: Announcement of awards

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, an artist must be:
• A U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident
• At least 25 years old
• A working artist with at least five years of professional experience

Eligible for 2008-09 Grants:
Emerging Fields may include digital arts, gaming, sound art, architecture, design, interdisciplinary projects, and new genres.
Innovative Literature may include poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and genre-defying literary work.
Performing Arts may include dance, music theater, experimental music performance, non-traditional opera, spoken word, theater/performance art, puppetry, and interdisciplinary projects.

Grantmaking Guidelines

The Creative Capital grant has opened up more possibilities to me as an artist than any other means of support in my arts career thus far. Even the previous larger grant awards from other institutions don’t compare to what the Creative Capital grant, retreat, and support have afforded me and my project.
–CREATIVE CAPITAL GRANTEE

Founded in 1999, Creative Capital Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that supports artists pursuing adventurous and imaginative work in the performing and visual arts, film/video, innovative literature, and emerging fields. We often support projects of great scope and ambition that may initially have challenges receiving support from other sources. We are committed to working in long-term partnership with the artists we fund, making a multi-year financial commitment, and providing advisory services and professional development assistance along with financial support. Funded artists agree to share a small percentage of any net profits generated by their projects with Creative Capital, which applies those funds toward new grants. We see ourselves as a permanent laboratory pursuing the most effective ways to support individual artists, with a process that attempts to mirror the same imaginative spirit that we value in our grantees.

Our process includes three steps: inquiry, application, and panel review.

Creative Capital is incorporated under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as the Creative Capital Foundation. Creative Capital is committed to diversity in all its forms.

What distinguishes Creative Capital from more traditional grantmakers?
Creative Capital’s funding, which rolls in stages, offers the artist key moments to ‘check in’ not only with the staff but also with him/herself and to think about a set of core questions: Is this project on track? What do I need at THIS stage of my project? What will I need at the next stage of development to make this project happen in the way I’d like to see it happen? –CREATIVE CAPITAL GRANTEE

Creative Capital has created a unique comprehensive approach to working with artists, partnering with funded projects for 2–4 years. We remain engaged with projects beyond the initial grant by making additional funding and services available to assist grantees in maximizing the grant opportunity. We surround artists with a wealth of services and opportunities so they can learn how to be more in command of their own careers and thereby thrive. To learn more about our pioneering four-part system of support, please visit http://www.creative-capital.org/programs/index.html

As part of our commitment to reciprocity, each grantee agrees to share with Creative Capital a small percentage of any net profits derived from the project. This provision offers artists the means to give back to the arts community, assisting others in attaining the success they have achieved. The principle of sharing proceeds is essential to the concept of Creative Capital; however, potential profitability is not a criterion for selection. We recognize that many of the projects we fund will be taking risks and might not recoup their original investment. Creative Capital does not expect to receive proceeds from a project that does not produce profits for its creator.

What kind of work/artist does Creative Capital support?
Creative Capital is interested in artists who:
• Are deeply engaged with their art forms
• Articulate a case for bold originality in their work
• Demonstrate a rigorous commitment to their craft
• Have potential for significant artistic and cultural impact
• Understand the professional landscape of their field
Note: This is a one-time award so we urge you to consider if a potential proposal is the right project at the right time for you to take best advantage of what we have to offer.

Competitive projects must demonstrate an original, inventive, and singular vision in their approach to form and content. We have a special interest in projects that transcend discipline boundaries as well as those that illuminate something new about the moment in which we live. To learn more about the type of work that has proven competitive in our process, please view previously funded projects at http://channel.creative-capital.org. Please note that we are open to many kinds of projects that may or may not be represented by our previously funded work.

The program’s biggest strength lies in instilling courage to push further along artistic roads. –CREATIVE CAPITAL GRANTEE

Creative Capital seeks to support artists who are at a catalytic moment in the development of their artistic practice. This can be any pivotal point at which an artist is ready to make significant changes in his/her creative and/or professional approach. Artists at such a stage are poised to take advantage of Creative Capital’s comprehensive system of support, especially non-monetary support. Please visit http://www.creative-capital.org/programs/index.html

This is a demanding grant that requires a high level of engagement between Creative Capital and the grantee. Therefore, we seek to partner with artists who exhibit a genuine comprehension of, and excitement for, how the grant can impact their measurable artistic and professional growth. Our mission, in part, is based on a model of community building and mutual generosity as evidenced by our artist retreats and the payback provision. The Creative Capital community is a valuable network of creative and professional individuals who share knowledge, resources and support. Thus, we value artists who can be generous toward their peers and professional colleagues.

Instead of a one shot infusion of money, there was multiple fiscal support over extended time, guidance in realizing the project, education and a constantly available support team to brainstorm or plan the next stage of the project. –CREATIVE CAPITAL GRANTEE

What kind of projects does Creative Capital not support?
This is not a grant for artists just entering their fields. In addition, we do not fund documentation or cataloguing of past work nor do we fund projects whose main purpose is promotional or educational.

In which disciplines is Creative Capital accepting Letters of Inquiry in 2008?
Emerging Fields may include digital arts, gaming, sound art, architecture, design, interdisciplinary projects, and new genres.
Innovative Literature may include poetry, fiction, nonfiction and genre-defying literary work.
Performing Arts may include dance, music theater, experimental music performance, non-traditional opera, spoken word, theater/performance art, puppetry, and interdisciplinary projects.

Under Emerging Fields, how does Creative Capital define digital arts, new genres, and interdisciplinary projects?
Digital arts may include electronic art, net art, open source technology, locational technology, connectedness, wireless technology, gaming, networked art, experimental programming and software, hacking, robotics, blogs, VJs, etc.
New genres and interdisciplinary projects may include work that is a hybrid form (art & community, tactical interventions, etc.) or at the intersections of disciplines—both within the arts (art & architecture, art & design, etc.) and outside the field (art & social justice, art & biotechnology, art & ecology, art & genetics, etc.) as well as immersive and interactive art, installation, and networked projects.

What kinds of projects are you looking for in Innovative Literature?
In Innovative Literature we seek work by writers who are not only highly accomplished stylists, but who also demonstrate an adventurous spirit when it comes to issues of form and/or content. We are interested in original writing that pushes literature in new and surprising directions. Playwrights should apply in the Performing Arts category.

Please note that “professional experience” in the Innovative Literature category is defined as publication in five or more literary journals, magazines, or anthologies for prose writers and ten or more for poets, or publication of at least one book-length work.

When will you next offer grants for projects in Film/Video and Visual Arts?
We will be funding those disciplines again in 2010.

How does Creative Capital find the work it supports?
Creative Capital identifies prospective applicants in three main ways:
• Open call
• Active solicitation by the Creative Capital staff
• Recommendations by artists and arts professionals
All submissions are reviewed using the same evaluation process.

Who is eligible to apply?
An artist must be:
• A U.S. citizen or a permanent legal resident
• At least 25 years old
• A working artist with at least five years of professional experience

An artist cannot be:
• An institution (If you are an artist who is a principal in a 501(c)(3) organization, you should apply as an individual artist, and if you are selected for funding the grant may be made payable to you through your organization.)
• A full-time student in a degree-granting program or its equivalent at the time of application
• A current employee, consultant, board member, or funder of Creative Capital, or an immediate family member of such a person
• An active or alumni grantee of Creative Capital
• An applicant or collaborator on more than one proposed project.

What about collaborative projects?
We accept proposals for collaborative projects and work by collectives. Please choose one collaborator or collective member to serve as the main contact for the project. Each collaborative team may have up to 5 additional members and each of their names, roles, and bios should be included in the project proposal. All collaborators must meet the eligibility requirements. Creative Capital defines “collaborator” or “collective member” as someone who is considered to be a co-owner of the project, not someone who provides services on a “work for hire” basis. Please note that each artist may be included on only one Inquiry Form.

Collaborative projects or works by a collective fall within one of the two following structural arrangements:
• Team or Collective Collaborations: Two or more people who have an established history of collaboration, sometimes organized under a group name, all of whom are committed to the completion of the proposed project
• One-Time Collaborations: A working arrangement between two or more people who have agreed to stay in partnership while completing the proposed project
• Please note that one-time collaborators will need to make a very strong case regarding their commitment to work together for the entire 2-4 year length of the grant in order to be competitive
• If awarded a grant, all parties to the collaboration will be required to sign a letter of agreement stating their intention to finish the project together
For both of the above definitions, the requirements for submission are the same.

How many awards will Creative Capital make and in what amounts?
Creative Capital will support approximately 40 projects across the three disciplines under review at initial levels of $10,000 each. Including follow-up monetary support, a project may receive as much as $50,000 throughout the life cycle of the grant, with the average amount closer to $35,000. This is in addition to non-monetary services with an average value of $26,000 per grantee, bringing the potential support per project up to $76,000.

The Creative Capital model doesn’t try to neaten up an artist’s process but, rather, values the chaos and has found real ways to help artists channel that creative energy into building strong business infrastructures that will support their work over the long-term. –CREATIVE CAPITAL GRANTEE

What is the review criteria?
All proposals are evaluated based on:
• The artistic strength, vision, and potential impact of the proposed project;
• The professional capabilities of the applicant;
• The feasibility of the project; and
• The potential impact of our funding and services on the project and for the artist.

What is the review process?
There are three steps:
• Each inquiry is read and reviewed by a program consultant and an additional distinguished arts professional from the discipline under consideration.
• Up to 300 artists per discipline will be invited to submit a formal application with work samples. A program consultant and an additional arts professional from the discipline under consideration will evaluate each application.
• Approximately 125 applicants per discipline will advance to a final panel round. In this phase, national panels of artists and arts professionals are convened by discipline to consider the proposals. Each panel will recommend approximately 20 projects to the Creative Capital Foundation Board of Directors. All panel recommendations are subject to approval by the board.

How may artists benefit from this process even if they don’t get a grant?
We have attempted to design a system that serves artists at every step:
• The questions on the inquiry form and application are tailored to be artist-centered.
• At least 2 arts professionals learn about your work at each step, and for those proposals advanced to the panel stage, at least 6 arts professionals will have been exposed to your work by the end of the process.
• Feedback phone meetings are offered to all artists who make it to the panel stage but do not ultimately receive a grant; 51% of our 2008 grantees had previously applied to Creative Capital and many of them had taken advantage of the feedback call service during prior rounds.