Fellowships encourage the creative development of artists by enabling them to set aside time to pursue their work and achieve specific creative and career goals. Fellowships are highly competitive awards.  Artists are encouraged to apply when they have created a substantial body of work that they are prepared to present in a professional manner.  Artists interested in applying for a Fellowship Award should contact cristina@arts.ri.gov

Eligibility

• You must be a current, legal resident of the State of Rhode Island in order to apply for support from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. You must have established legal residence in Rhode Island for a minimum of twelve consecutive months prior to the date of application.  Rhode Island State Law (§ 44-30-5) defines a "resident" as someone "who is domiciled in this state" or "who is not domiciled in this state but maintains a permanent place of abode in this state and is in this state for an aggregate of more than one hundred eighty-three (183) days of the taxable year.
• Applicants must be at least eighteen years of age.  Students attending high school or students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in an arts discipline or an arts-related subject area at the time of application may not apply.
• RISCA staff, Council and their spouses and immediate relatives are ineligible to apply for RISCA funds. 
• Fellowship grant recipients will be ineligible to apply in the same category for two deadlines following receipt of an award (example, if you apply on October 1, 2010 and receive a grant, you may not apply again until October 1, 2013). Recipients of Fellowship Merit Awards may apply at subsequent deadlines. Recipients of previous grants in any category may not apply unless all final reports for previous grants have been submitted.
• Applicants are eligible to apply in more than one category provided they have sufficient work and submit entirely different applications and work for each discipline. Different excerpts from the same piece do not constitute separate work. Support Materials or materials used as the basis for awarding a past Fellowship or Merit Award may not be used in a new application in any Fellowship category.
• Applicants may only submit work created and completed within the three years prior to the date of application (with the exception of Film & Video).

Categories

Fellowships are offered annually in the following categories:

April 1 deadline:
Crafts
Film & Video
Folk Arts
Fiction
Poetry
Playwriting/Screenwriting
Photography
Three-Dimensional art

October 1 deadline:
Choreography
Drawing & Printmaking
Music Composition
New Genres
Painting
(Note: The Design Fellowship has been replaced with the Design Innovation Grant)

The applicant makes the final decision as to the category of application. Further information about the categories and the supporting document/material requirements are listed below.

Review Process
• All application materials are reviewed by staff to determine compliance with eligibility and submission requirements (see Eligibility section above and Supporting Document Requirements below). Council staff may call upon applicants or grantees to furnish proof of their eligibility.
• A panel consisting of one in-state member, one out-of-state member and a third regional (not to exclude Rhode Island) member chosen for their involvement, mastery, or accomplishments in a particular arts discipline reviews each applicant’s artistic support materials. RISCA employs a “blind review” process designed to protect the anonymity of the applicant and to guarantee assessment purely on the basis of the artistic merit of the artworks submitted.
• The panel will recommend a Fellowship Winner and a Fellowship Merit Award Winner. Panels are strongly encouraged to recommend awards, but reserve the right to decline to make a recommendation, if they feel that no application warrants a fellowship or a merit award.
• The panel’s recommendations are presented to the Council for approval.

Review Criteria
Applications will be evaluated on the basis of artistic quality, as defined within the context of each individual arts discipline (and by traditionality, in the case of applicants for the Folk Arts Fellowship). Since panels assess Fellowship applications solely on the review of support materials such as manuscripts, jpegs, and recordings, applicants should submit the best quality support materials possible. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that support materials are prepared and submitted adequately to RISCA for panel review.

Grant Amounts
One $5000 Fellowship and one $1000 Fellowship Merit Award are granted in each discipline annually. The Council reserves the right to increase or decrease either the amount or the number of awards granted in any given year. RISCA grant awards are always contingent upon the availability of funds from the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Deadline
Fellowship applications must be submitted online and all artistic support materials must be either received online or by hardcopy (see requirements according to discipline under Supporting Document Requirements below) in the RISCA offices by no later than the close of business (4:30pm) on April 1 or October 1, (see Categories above).  During months when the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline will be 4:30 PM on the next business day. Late or incomplete applications will not be reviewed. 

How to Apply

1. RISCA has transitioned to an online grants application system. In order to register for this system, go to http://www.arts.ri.gov/register.
2. Once you have registered, go to http://www.arts.ri.gov/apply to begin the process of submitting an application. All Fellowship applications must be submitted online.
3. Support materials must be submitted online or received in the RISCA offices by 4:30 on the deadline date.  See instructions for submitting artistic support materials according to each discipline below.
4. Applicants must include a copy of their resume or CV with their Fellowship application.  This can be uploaded to the online system within the “work samples” section or they can be sent to the RISCA offices hard copy.

Supporting Document Requirements
RISCA is now using an online submission process for all applications and is transitioning to an online submission of support materials. We encourage applicants to upload images as jpegs, sound files as mp3s, wav and aiff files, and text documents online. You also have the option of sending discs, tapes and manuscripts by mail or delivering them to the RISCA offices by 4:30 PM on the deadline date. However, the basic application must still be submitted online.  For all materials delivered hard copy to the RISCA offices, please provide a Support Materials sheet with a numbered list of each artwork, including title, year of completion and other details according to each discipline as described below.  YOUR NAME SHOULD NOT APPEAR ON THE SUPPORT MATERIALS SHEET.   Please print your support materials sheet and include it with all artistic support materials sent to the RISCA offices.

• All support materials must be submitted on disc and/or online. No original or single editions of works will be accepted.
• The applicant must submit work that has been created within the three years prior to the date of application (with the exception of film and video, which must be completed within the past five years).
• All work submitted for review must be complete and not a work-in-progress. The applicant must be the primary creative force behind the work.  Consequently, no other artist may submit the same piece as support material at this deadline or in any future RISCA application. Artists can submit the same support materials for a Fellowship and a Project Grant for Individuals if they are applying for both. Artists may not submit the same support materials for Fellowship applications in two different disciplines.  To apply for more than one Fellowship Award, applicants must submit completely different artworks for each application.
• Please be aware that your work will be viewed one image at a time, in the order you have designated. Images should be numbered and arranged according to the Support Materials Reference Sheet or according to the order submitted online. For each item please list on the Support Materials Reference Sheet or within the Description field online the title, medium, dimensions, year of completion, and additional information as required below. If any other clarification about each artwork is necessary for the panel to understand what they are seeing or hearing, no more than one line per image may be added for clarification. (For example, if a painting is on a three-dimensional surface or if a musical composition incorporates sections of improvisation, that may be briefly noted.)
  Support materials must be prepared according to the specifications listed below. As the review process is completely anonymous, the fellowship applicant's name must not appear on the Support Materials Reference Sheet, nor embedded within any images that the panel will view.
  
  
• Choreography may include any dance discipline (such as modern dance, ballet, hip-hop, Latin dance, etc), but must consist of a deliberately composed dance sequence, which is part of a meaningful whole. In other words, the Choreography Fellowship awards accomplishment in the art of choreography rather than dance. Submit two to three works completed within the past three years.  For longer works, it is recommended that applicants submit a cued 10-15 minute segment of strongest portion of the work/s which the panel will view first.  Applicants are encouraged to also submit the full length piece/s in case the panel wishes to view them in their entirety.  Work must be submitted on DVD or VHS videotape formats.  On the Support Materials Reference Sheet the applicant should include a complete numbered listing of the works submitted including title, year of completion, duration of total piece as well as cued section, number of performers, and the title and composer of the musical score if applicable. The name of the applicant should not appear in the submitted materials.
• Crafts (including, but not exclusively, the manipulation of materials such as clay, wood, metals, fiber, glass, etc.): Submit a minimum of 8, maximum of 10, jpegs online and/or on disc. Detail or installation views may be included, however the application may not exceed 10 images total.  Images uploaded to the online system should be formatted to 1920 pixels x 1920 pixels and 72 dpi.  Images burned to disc should each be no larger than one MB and do not need to be formatted to a specific size. 
• Drawing and Printmaking (such as pencil, ink, charcoal, conte crayon, pastels, lithography, aquatint, mezzotint, woodcut, linocut, etching, intaglio, monotype, silk-screen, and all other printmaking techniques): Submit a minimum of 8, maximum of 10, jpegs online and/or on disc.  Images uploaded to the online system should be formatted to 1920 pixels x 1920 pixels and 72 dpi.  Images burned to disc should be no larger than one MB each.
• Film and Video: Submit one to three works, completed within the past five years.  For longer works, it is recommended that applicants submit a cued 10-15 minute segment of strongest portion of the work/s which the panel will view first. Applicants are encouraged to also submit the full length piece/s in case the panel wishes to view them in their entirety.  Work must be submitted on DVD. On the Support Materials Reference Sheet the applicant should indicate the title, year of completion, any special techniques used and his or her role/s in each of the production of the film/s. The name of the applicant should not appear in the submitted materials or the support material sheet.
  
• Folk Arts: The folk arts are defined as those artistic practices that have a community or family base and express that community's aesthetic heritage and tradition. The learning process is informal and is passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth, apprenticeship, and imitation. For visual arts, submit a minimum of 8, maximum of 10, jpegs online and/or on disc.  Images uploaded to the online system should be formatted to 1920 pixels x 1920 pixels and 72 dpi.  Images burned to disc should be no larger than one MB each.  Music. theater and dance should be submitted on DVD or VHS formats.  Submissions should reflect the artist's most recent work, preferably work created within the last three years. Applicants must consult the RISCA Folk/Traditional Arts Program staff prior to the application deadline.
  
• Poetry: Submit FIVE copies of a maximum of 15 pages. Manuscripts should be presented in professionally formatted, typewritten form; photocopies from journals or books will not be accepted. Indicate on the Supporting Document Reference Sheet whether the work is part of a larger text, part of a series, a complete manuscript, etc. YOUR NAME SHOULD NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE ON THE MANUSCRIPT. MANUSCRIPTS WILL NOT BE RETURNED.
  
• Fiction: Submit FIVE copies of a manuscript comprising no more than 30 pages of a complete work, excerpt of a novel, or short stories. Work should be double-spaced, with 1” page margins and 12pt font. Manuscripts should be presented in professionally formatted, typewritten form; photocopies from journals or books will not be accepted.  . Indicate on the Supporting Document Reference Sheet whether the work is part of a larger text, part of a series, a complete manuscript, etc. YOUR NAME SHOULD NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE ON THE MANUSCRIPT. MANUSCRIPTS WILL NOT BE RETURNED.
  
• Playwriting/Screenwriting: Submit FIVE copies of a complete full-length play or screenplay, or a long one-act comprising a maximum of 30 pages in length. Manuscripts should be presented in professionally formatted, typewritten form; photocopies from journals or books will not be accepted. YOUR NAME SHOULD NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE ON THE MANUSCRIPT. MANUSCRIPTS WILL NOT BE RETURNED
  *For all literature applicants: RISCA encourages applications in literature, including the submission of work in languages other than English. However, if non-English literary works are submitted, the applicant must also provide an English translation of each work, along with information identifying the translator.
  
• Music Composition: Submit a minimum of two, maximum of three, musical works representing their own original compositions completed within the past 3 years.  Works may be submitted online as mp3, wav or aiff files (on the support materials page of the online application, a browse to file function will appear. If you attempt to upload a CD, no browse function pops up because you will need to rip the sample and convert to mp3, wav or aiff files.  Sound files cannot exceed 5 MB) and/or on CD.  Corresponding musical scores may be scanned and uploaded as text documents or sent hard copy.  For all materials sent card copy, please include a Support Materials Sheet listing the title of each composition, year completed, duration.  Applicants may include a listing of instruments, areas of chance or improvisation, or other information necessary for understanding the content of the recordings.   If applicants would like the panel to listen to a specific section of the submitted pieces, please indicate those on the support materials sheet and indicate placement of cued segments within accompanying scores. THE NAME OF THE COMPOSER SHOULD NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE ON THE SUPPORT MATERIALS SHEET OR MUSICAL SCORES but should be written directly on the compact disc.
  
• New Genres: This category includes work that does not fall within the other Fellowship categories. New Genres may integrate more than one arts discipline, work may be interactive or incorporate new technologies and innovative processes. It includes, but is not limited to: performance art, conceptual modes, audio art (other than music composition), multi-media works and other experimental interdisciplinary art forms. The applicant must be the primary artistic force behind the work, not a performer or interpreter of the work of another artist. Applicants should submit documentation of a minimum of one, maximum of three performance pieces (including music, dance, film, etc) as audio files submitted online, DVD or CD.  Visual art should be submitted as 8-10 jpegs online and/or on CD.   Images uploaded to the online system should be formatted to 1920 pixels x 1920 pixels and 72 dpi.  Images burned to disc should each be no larger than one MB and do not need to be formatted to a specific size.  New Genres is the only Fellowship Category that may include a written statement within the application. The purpose of this statement is to clarify the scope and nature of works submitted and may not include personal information or an artistic statement.
  
• Painting (such as oil, acrylic, tempera, encaustic, watercolor, and gouache): Submit a minimum of 8, maximum of 10, jpegs online and/or on disc. Images uploaded to the online system should be formatted to 1920 pixels x 1920 pixels and 72 dpi.  Images burned to disc should each be no larger than one MB and do not need to be formatted to a specific size. 
  
• Photography: Submit a minimum of 8, maximum of 10, jpegs online and/or on disc. Images uploaded to the online system should be formatted to 1920 pixels x 1920 pixels and 72 dpi.  Images burned to disc should each be no larger than one MB and do not need to be formatted to a specific size. 
  
• Three-Dimensional Art (such as sculpture and environmental work): Submit a minimum of 8, maximum of 10, jpegs online and/or on disc. Images uploaded to the online system should be formatted to 1920 pixels x 1920 pixels and 72 dpi.  Images burned to disc should each be no larger than one MB and do not need to be formatted to a specific size.    

Fellowship Award Requirements:
Credit to RISCA:
Recipients must acknowledge, in a prominent manner, RISCA support in all materials and announcements, both audio and visual related to the performance or exhibition of work created as a result of their support from RISCA. (e.g., "This project is supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts".) Recipients must also display, in a prominent manner, the RISCA logo in association with the acknowledgment. The RISCA logo can be found here: http://www.arts.ri.gov/grants/logos/

Sharing Your Work With the Public
Award recipients should also post events in Rhode Island that present their work (grant related and otherwise) to the RISCA Arts Calendar at: http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/what-to-see/the-arts-calendar/submit-an-event/

Final Reports:
All applicants receiving RISCA grants must complete a final report on forms provided by RISCA (these forms are available on the RISCA web site, at http://www.arts.ri.gov/forms and a link to final report forms will appear online when applicants sign into the system after grant awards have been announced). Grant reports must be submitted within thirty (30) days of the completion of the grant period (usually no later than July 30), but can be submitted upon completion of the project. All grantees are subject to periodic audit or review by RISCA or the State of Rhode Island and must retain fiscal records for a period of seven (7) years following completion of the grant period. 

Tax Liability:
RISCA recommends that individuals concerned about tax liability regarding their grant award follow the advice of their accountant. 

Limits of Liability
The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts is not responsible for damage or loss of materials submitted to its office, whether or not such damage or loss is caused by negligence of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, its employees or agents. All Support Materials submitted must be duplications of works. No original or single editions of works will be accepted.
Support Materials will be mailed back to an applicant only if a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage is provided (with the exception of manuscripts which will not be returned). Support Materials from applications without a self-addressed stamped envelope will be held for sixty (60) days following the award decision and may be picked up during normal business hours, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, at the Council offices. The Support Materials (or a copy thereof) from funded applications become the property of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts; ownership and copyright of the actual work remain with the applicant.