Creativity and Aging in America

CFDA No. 45.024
2008NEA01CA
7390000

This program announcement refers to the FY 2008 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines which may be obtained on the Arts Endowment’s Web site at www.arts.gov.

Grant Program Description

Creativity and Aging in America is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to actively engage older Americans in quality arts programs. Through this initiative, the Arts Endowment will support exemplary projects in the disciplines of literature and music. Projects must be conducted by professional artists and engage older adults as students, artists, and/or teachers. For the purposes of these guidelines, older adults are age 65 and above.

Recent research supported by the National Institutes of Health, AARP, International Foundation for Music Research, and the National Endowment for the Arts found that older adults who actively participated in ongoing, community-based arts programs, conducted by professional artists, experienced more physical and mental benefits than participants in non-arts activities. The research showed that active participation in the arts correlated positively with older adults' health outcomes and their sense of independence, potentially reducing risk factors that drive the need for long-term care.

Creativity and Aging in America will focus on the disciplines of literature and music. Activities may take place in a variety of settings such as senior centers, community centers, retirement centers, museums, literary centers, performing arts centers, libraries, schools, and healthcare facilities. Projects must be planned in cooperation with the target population including local organizations that address aging-related issues.

Partnerships are encouraged to ensure the success of these projects. A project should achieve greater success when it is founded on the shared vision, planning, and resources of several groups working together. Applicants are encouraged to build partnerships with community organizations representing the arts, education, aging, and government.

Grantees will be asked to contribute to the Arts Endowment's documentation of the Creativity and Aging in America initiative by providing high-quality digital images and information about project participants. At least $1,000 of a project's total cost may be allocated to professional documentation expenses that are incurred throughout the project period.

Projects

Projects, regardless of the size or type of applicant organization, should be of national or regional significance, have the potential to serve as models for the field, or provide an unusual or especially valuable contribution because of location in an area where programming that involves older adults is underrepresented.

Both excellent existing projects and new projects are welcome.

Projects may include but are not limited to:

• Activities that involve older adults in choruses, instrumental groups, and/or creative writing projects.

• Intergenerational programs including mentorship programs between older adult artists and students.

• The expansion of arts education beyond kindergarten through grade 12 to include lifelong learning in the arts for older adults in the disciplines of literature and/or music.

• Technical assistance, including Web-based resources, to assist with quality arts programming in literature and/or music for, by, and with older adults.

Projects must:

• Be limited to the disciplines of literature and/or music.

• Focus on the involvement of older adults in the art form(s).

• Employ professional artists.

• Be planned and implemented in cooperation with the target population including local organizations that address aging-related issues.

• Engage older adults as resources such as artists, program planners, or trainers.

• Be fully accessible to individuals with various disabilities.

Additional Information

For more information on the arts in aging, please see the final report on The Creativity and Aging Study and the report on the Arts Endowment’s May 2005 Mini-Conference on Creativity and Aging in America. In addition, examples of some of the best practices around the country can be found in Creativity and Aging: Best Practices.

Award Information

Grant Amounts and Matching Funds

Grants are for $15,000 or $25,000. Approximately fifteen grants will be awarded. All grants require a nonfederal match of at least 1 to 1.

At least $1,000 of a project's total cost may be allocated to professional documentation expenses that are incurred throughout the project period.

Period of Support

The Arts Endowment’s support of a project may start on or after January 1, 2009. Generally, a grant period of up to one year is allowed. Allow sufficient time to plan, execute, and close out your project.

No pre-award costs are allowable in the Project Budget. Project costs that are incurred before January 1, 2009, will be removed from the Project Budget.

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 2009 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines, at the time of application.
• Have a three-year history of arts programming prior to the application deadline.
• Have submitted acceptable Final Report packages by the due date(s) for all Arts Endowment award(s) previously received.

For projects that involve multiple organizations, one organization that meets the eligibility requirements above must act as the official applicant, submit the application, and assume full responsibility for the grant.

Organizations are limited to one Creativity and Aging application per year. 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.

The designated fifty state and six jurisdictional arts agencies (SAAs) and their regional arts organizations (RAOs) are not eligible to apply under the Creativity and Aging guidelines.

How to Prepare and Submit an Application

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 May 23, 2008. We strongly recommend that you submit by May 19 to give you ample time to resolve any problems that you may encounter. You take a significant risk by waiting until the day of the deadline to submit your application.

Supporting material that must be mailed directly to the Arts Endowment must be postmarked (or show other proof of mailing) no later than May 27, 2008. Please mail these items to the Accessibility office in Room 523, not to the Literature or Music offices.

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.

If you have already registered with Grants.gov, renew/verify your registration with Grants.gov and make sure that all of your information is current before you apply.

If you are unable to submit your application electronically, you may request a waiver from this requirement. A waiver will be granted for the following reasons only:

• Internet access is not available within a 30-mile radius of your organization's business office.
• Disability prevents the submission of an electronic application.

Your waiver request must be in writing and must explain which of the two grounds for an exception prevents you from submitting your application electronically. Include accurate contact information (including phone number) so that we may notify you of the status of your request.

Your waiver request must be received (not postmarked) at the Arts Endowment at least three weeks before the application deadline, or no later than 5:30 p.m., Eastern Time, on May 2, 2008. You may fax your request to 202/682-5613 or send it to:

Deputy Chairman for States, Regions, and Local Arts Agencies
Grants.gov Waiver Request
Room 710
National Endowment for the Arts
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506-0001

The National Endowment for the Arts continues to experience lengthy delays in the delivery of First-Class mail. Please consider faxing your waiver request or using a commercial delivery service, particularly if you are sending your request close to the receipt deadline.

In the event a waiver is granted, your complete paper application package must be postmarked (or show other proof of mailing) no later than May 23, 2008.

IMPORTANT: You must have Adobe Reader (version 8.1.1 or higher), a small, free software program, installed on your computer before you download your application package from Grants.gov. Earlier versions of Adobe Reader or other Adobe products will lead to errors and prevent you from submitting your application through Grants.gov. If more than one computer will be involved in the preparation of the application package, ensure that the same version of Adobe Reader is used.

To verify that you have a compatible version of Adobe Reader installed, click on the test application package link below:

> Adobe Reader Version Test Application Package

If you do not already have Adobe Reader (version 8.1.1 or higher) installed on your computer, please download and follow the installation instructions for Adobe Reader (version 8.1.1 or higher).

Access the application package on Grants.gov by clicking on the link below:

Funding Opportunity Number: 2008NEA01CA

Enter information directly into the Grants.gov forms. Do not copy from an old application package or another document and paste into the forms as this will prevent your successful submission.

Then follow the links below to "How to Prepare and Submit an Application" for the discipline of your project. These instructions will guide you to submit material that corresponds to the requirements for literature or music applicants to the Access to Artistic Excellence category in the FY 2009 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines. Submit only these items:

• Application for Federal Domestic Assistance (SF-424)
• NEA Supplemental Information Form
• NEA Organization & Project Profile Form
• Attachments Form to which you have attached:
  • Organizational Background Statement
  • Details of the Project Narrative
  • Project Budget Form, Pages 1 and 2
  • Financial Information Form
  • Biographies of Key Project Personnel
  • List of Current Board Members
  • Your Own Project Budget (optional)
  • Programmatic Activities List
  • Work Sample lndex
• Supporting material to be mailed directly to the Arts Endowment including work samples. If your project involves both literature and music, submit work samples that represent both disciplines. These materials must be mailed directly to the Arts Endowment and be postmarked (or show other proof of mailing) no later than May 27, 2008. Please mail these items to the Accessibility office in Room 523, not to the Literature or Music offices.

Go to "How to Prepare and Submit an Application" 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 artists, arts organizations, works of art, or services that the project will involve, as appropriate.

The artistic merit of the project, which includes the:

• Involvement of the target population in planning, developing, and implementing the project.
• Potential to enhance access to the arts and opportunities in the arts for older adults.
• Potential to enhance the educational experiences of the participants.
• Accommodations to make the project fully accessible to individuals with disabilities.
• Ability of the applicant to carry out the project including the appropriateness of the budget, the quality and clarity of the project goals and design, the qualifications of the project’s personnel, and the resources involved.
• Where appropriate, the quality of the proposed interaction between the partner organizations.
• Where appropriate, the potential to reach underserved populations such as those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, disability, or living in an institution.
• Likelihood that the project will achieve the identified outcome(s) and the feasibility of the proposed performance measurements. *
• Plans for documentation.

* 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 Creativity and Aging initiative is: Audiences throughout the nation have opportunities to experience a wide range of art forms and activities. 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 November 2008.

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. Additional acknowledgment requirements may be provided later.

Administrative Requirements

Before submitting a Statement of Interest, 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 Contact

If you have questions, please contact:

Katie Lyles
Accessibility Specialist
202/682-5733 or 202/682-5496 Voice/T.T.Y.
lylesk@arts.gov

Paula Terry
Director, AccessAbility
terryp@arts.gov

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 620, 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.

April 2008

OMB No. 3135-0112 Expires 11/30/2010

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