Application Guidelines

Please read ALL of the following information carefully!

Applications are accepted through artistfound.org ONLY.
No FAX, e-mail, courier, mail, or other delivery methods.
E-mail info@artistfound.org if electronic submission is not possible.

After reading the Foundation Application Guidelines, please submit the following information based on the Award Category to which you are applying.  Please select category most appropriate to the proposal you are submitting.  Each proposal may only be entered into one category. 

Application Deadline

Final deadline September 15, 2008 11:59 p.m.

The application period is July 15, 2008 through September 15, 2008.

Who May Apply

Foundation awards are open to creators of original work. All artists must be United States Citizens or Resident Aliens. All applicant must resident of Bexar County, Texas for 12 consecutive months, as of the date of application, and at least 18 yrs old.

Individuals are considered to be professional artists if they:  earn at least part of their annual income in their artistic disciplines, and consider their artistic endeavors as a career, and make a significant time investment in their artistic disciplines through practice, performance and production, and are not currently a student enrolled in an art or art-related college or university degree program, nor planning to attend an art or art-related college or university degree program in the coming year, as academic study is not funded, and are not primarily a commercial artist or crafts-maker or any artist whose work primarily falls into commercial, advertising art or crafts and decorative art categories.

Individual, professional artists may apply for an award of $5,000 to help underwrite the costs of creating new works of exceptional quality. Awards are granted for the creation of new, original work. The Foundation makes awards for a specific project to originators, creators of art and artistic production.

The Foundation will confirm applicant eligibility.

Who May Not Apply

Applicants must not be related to current panelists.   All applicants must be individuals; groups of artists are not eligible. Previous Foundation award recipients may not reapply for 5 years.

What is Not Funded

The Foundation does not make grants to pay for past debts, legal fees, the purchase of real estate, moves to other cities, or to pay for the costs of installations, commissions or projects ordered by others. Normally, the Foundation will not fund travel expenses.

The Foundation does not normally make awards to artists solely for performance (dancer, musician, etc.) with the exception of the George Cortes Classical Singing Award or unless it is in the context of a project. This distinction should be carefully noted before undertaking the work entailed in applying for an award.

What to Submit

Artists must propose a project that demonstrates one or more of these characteristics: a potential for artistic growth; a significant shift in their work; or a challenging exploration with new materials, concepts or artistic practices a professional artist producing and maintaining work of high artistic quality.

Work Samples

Work samples are a critical part of the application and serve to introduce you and your work to the panel. Only materials requested in this application will be reviewed. Applicants should submit recent work, created in the past three years. Do not send original artwork. Applicant’s work samples are an important part of the judging criteria and should accurately represent the artist’s work. All work samples should be clear, legible and/or audible reproductions of your work.

Following are the guidelines for submitting work samples. Samples received that do not meet the following guidelines will not be considered and will deem the application ineligible.

Please submit the following work samples: 

• Literary Arts: Applying in the Literary Arts category requires that you submit your samples through our online application.
  In addition, applicants are also required to mail 4 hard copies of their manuscript.
  • Applicants should submit up to 5 sample works of any combination of fiction, creative non-fiction, playwriting, screenwriting or poetry completed within the last three years.
    PLEASE DO NOT EXCEED 20 PAGES TOTAL.
    Entries should be:
    • typed
    • double-spaced and 12pt font
    • clearly labeled with the author's name and the title of the work
    • each file should not exceed 4Mb in size
  • If your work sample is a longer work, you may choose to submit a short synopsis of the work as a whole, as well as an excerpt.
  • Published work must be submitted in typed manuscript form rather than published form.
  • Mailing Instructions:
    • Applicants should provide 4 copies of their manuscript. In the event of multiple work sample genres, please submit 4 copies of a portfolio of your combined work samples.
    • Portfolios/Manuscripts should be comprised of one copy of each work sample, arranged in the order in which they should be reviewed.
    • A typed list of work samples should be affixed by paper clip (or binder clip) to the front of each copy the portfolio. DO NOT staple or include folders.
      This list should include:
      • title
      • date
      • author
      • any other relevant information
      Please send your portfolio/manuscript copies by U.S. Mail ONLY to:
      • Artist Foundation of San Antonio
        P.O. Box 15797
        San Antonio, Texas 78212

• Performing Arts: Original Musical Composition, Original Choreography, or Original Theatrical Production

• Applicants should submit no more than 10 minutes of video or audio excerpts completed within the last three years. Submit your files with only what is to be reviewed.
  • clearly named with the applicant’s name and title of work(s)
  • each file should not exceed 10Mb in size for audio; or 100Mb in size for video
• Applicants will also include the following information with each of their work samples:
  • title of the work excerpted
  • date completed
  • technique
  • original format
  • the specific role of the applicant in creating the submitted work
• Musical Compostion applicants will also include a list of instuments featured in their work.

• Visual Arts:  Painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, installation, photography, collage, and static digital art. 

• Applicants will submit images of work samples that have been completed within the last three years. Please format your work samples following these guidelines:
  • 10 (ten) images total
  • should not exceed 6” in the longest dimension
  • jpg files
  • 150 ppi/dpi/resolution
  • titled as follows (1FirstnameLastname.jpg, e.g.:  1JohnDoe.jpg, 2JohnDoe.jpg, etc.) They should be numbered in the order you wish them to be viewed. 
  • each file should not exceed 4Mb in size
• Applicants will also submit information on all work samples including:
  • the title
  • medium/a
  • dimensions
  • completion date  

• Media Arts: Film (narrative, documentary, experimental or artistic), video (narrative, documentary, experimental or artistic), time-based digital art, and performance art.

• Applicants should submit no more than 10 minutes of video excerpts completed within the last three years. Submit your file with only what is to be reviewed.
  • clearly label with the applicant’s name and title of work(s)
  • each file should not exceed 100Mb in size for video; or 10Mb in size for audio
• Applicants will also submit information on all work samples including:
  • title of the work excerpted
  • technique
  • date completed
  • original format
  • genre (documentary, experimental, animation, etc.)
  • specific role of the applicant in creating the submitted work

• Special Performing Arts Award in Classical Singing: Art Song and Opera

• Applicants should submit no more than 10 minutes of either audio or video excerpts (from multiple songs) completed within the last three years. Submit your files with only what is to be reviewed.
  • clearly label with the applicant’s name and title of work(s)
  • each file should not exceed 100Mb in size for video; or 10Mb in size for audio
• Applicants will also submit information on all work samples including:
  • title of the work excerpted
  • composer
  • date of performance
  • instruments featured in the work sample
  • specific musical role (i.e. alto, tenor, lead...)
• A project is NOT required for this category

• The Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Set Design

• Applicants will submit images of work samples that have been completed within the last three years. Please format your work samples following these guidelines:
  • 10 (ten) images total
  • should not exceed 6” in the longest dimension
  • jpg files
  • 150 ppi/dpi/resolution
  • titled as follows (1FirstnameLastname.jpg, e.g.:  1JohnDoe.jpg, 2JohnDoe.jpg, etc.) They should be numbered in the order you wish them to be viewed. 
  • each file should not exceed 4Mb in size
• Set Design applicants will also provide information detailing medium and dimensions of their work samples.
• Applicants will be given the option to upload up to 10 minutes of video if digital images are not submitted. The video file should not exceed 100Mb in size.

• The Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Costume Design

• Applicants will submit images of work samples that have been completed within the last three years. Please format your work samples following these guidelines:
  • 10 (ten) images total
  • should not exceed 6” in the longest dimension
  • jpg files
  • 150 ppi/dpi/resolution
  • titled as follows (1FirstnameLastname.jpg, e.g.:  1JohnDoe.jpg, 2JohnDoe.jpg, etc.) They should be numbered in the order you wish them to be viewed. 
  • each file should not exceed 4Mb in size
• Set Design applicants will also provide information detailing medium and dimensions of their work samples.
• Applicants will be given the option to upload up to 10 minutes of video if digital images are not submitted. The video file should not exceed 100Mb in size.

The Robert L.B. Tobin Grand Prize for Artistic Excellence:  All recipients of grants from the above categories will be considered for this generous award in the amount of $7,500.  The Foundation board will select the overall winner. 

Foundation awards are highly competitive and do not require a cash match.

The number of awards granted depends on the number of applicants.  The Foundation anticipates awarding fifteen (15) $5,000 awards in addition to the Robert L.B. Tobin Grand Prize Award for Artistic Excellence.

Selection Process and Review Criteria

The Artist Foundation invites professional artists, curators, and representatives from the various disciplines to serve on the Awards and Grants Committee.  The Awards and Grants Committee will nominate judging panel members. The Awards and Grants Committee has strives to find panelists who reflect the diverse population of Bexar County and San Antonio, Texas. 

Each judging panel will be comprised of 3 (three) to 5 (five) panel members.  All decisions of the panels will be submitted to the Artist Foundation Board and the Board will make the final awards decisions. 

Applicants are evaluated primarily on the artistic excellence of the submitted samples.
Artistic excellence refers to:

• The originality and vision of your work
• Technical skill/mastery of the artistic discipline as evidenced by the artist's work samples
• The technique or process used to create the work
• Professional background of the artist and evidence of continuing committment to their artistic process, as evidenced in their resume.

Any committee member or panelist having a conflict of interest will be asked to exclude themselves from voting. 

The judges/panelists will review the application materials submitted by the applicants and will make their recommendations to the Artist Foundation Board of Directors. 

Return of Application Materials

Application materials will not be returned to applicants.  All application materials including work samples will be discarded after the awards are selected. 

Responsibility

• Artists must notify the Foundation of changes to their project that deviate from what was described in their application.

• Artists will keep track of expenses and income during the duration of the project.

• Artists will credit the Foundation with logo or statement in all publicity and materials generated with respect to their project.

• Artists must submit an interim and final report detailing their project’s progress, including expenditures of funds as noted in their budget. On final report artist will  describe project’s impact on their career, methods used to make project available to the public and project’s impact on the community.

• Artists will make their project available in some form to the public with appropriate credit to the Foundation.

Ownership

Works created with assistance of Foundation awards are the property of the artist.  The Foundation will however keep for its archives, the submitted application materials from each award recipient. 

Liability 

During the application and selection process the Foundation will not be responsible for loss or damage of support materials. However, the greatest care possible will be taken in handling the materials. 

Taxes

Award funds are taxable to the recipients under IRS guidelines.  Recipients should consult their tax advisor regarding proper reporting for the award.  Each artist receiving an award will be sent a Form W-9 for completion and return before receiving the award funds.