In the past 12 months I applied and won a grant from the Arts Council of England (ACE) for a research and development grant to write a new musical. If you are thinking of applying for funding, here are my tips.
The Proposal
What I found really beneficial about the grant was not so much the money but the agreement between the Arts Council of England and me. Most of us work to commission; we are given a brief, a budget and a deadline, but there are times when you have a creative project that is yours only, like a monster, which doesn’t let you sleep, that you have to release to remain sane. Applying for an ACE grant is allowing yourself to feed the monster using all the organisational skills you have learned in the ‘day job’ and putting them into something that is about you. Yes, because you’re worth it! The time I put into my 2000 word proposal enabled me to clarify exactly what I wanted to do.
Talk about yourself and your work
I had to learn a language around my creative process, something I normally don’t even think about, and understand more intellectually the impact my work could have on my career and on the place and people where I live. The proposal becomes a treatment, which will serve you through the process of bringing the thing to life.
Set a deadline to make it happen.
Yes, that thing that we love and hate. Most of us who work in the commercial sector achieve the most incredible things inside the craziest of deadlines. I am not suggesting that fear is a great motivator. You can set your own realistic deadline, which ACE will keep you to. How many unfinished or un-started project do you have because there was no deadline?
Manage your Budget
Making the figures balance became a truly creative part of my application. I needed to think about money and value and cost and all the things I usually avoid thinking about. ACE will rarely fund 100% of any project. My funding usually made up 50% – 60 % of the total funding. The Spanish word for cash is efectivo so for your idea to become effective you need cash from more than one source. A friend of mine used to say ‘people don’t give money to the poor’ and it’s true that if you have several streams of finance, even if it’s your own money, you have a greater chance of approval. Having the budget tightly worked out at the start of a project also allows a clear parameter for you to work within.
Evaluate before, during and after your project
Gathering evidence allows you to make judgements about what you have achieved and helps you improve as you continue. ACE are as much interested in your process as an artist as the finished product. Clear evaluation makes the ‘reflective practice of creative work explicit and conscious’ ( Moriarty 2002). Collect feedback as you go, keep a blog, take pictures, use film, encourage others to share their comments – this is all gold stars to ACE. Social media is a dream for artists in the research and development of new work; it allows us to share elements of our process and work with our network and evaluate through this initial engagement. I use the following headings suggested by Comedia, a European network for cultural diversity in the performing arts. 1. Technique. 2. Originality. 3. Ambition. 4. Connection 5. Magic. These key words help me evaluate and raise question to my process. They enable me to log and report how I find solutions to challenges in the creation of the work.
Finally, pick the phone up and speak to someone at the Arts Council
The cuts ACE are experiencing are in their operating costs which the Culture Secretary wants to reduce to 5% so it may get harder to develop a relationship with an ACE officer but the more you speak with them, attend the seminars the more chance you will have in getting your proposal right. With the ACE stamp on your project you may find private and commercial sponsors are keener to get on board such is the good name the council has built for itself over the past few years. Grayson Perry spoke to the Royal Philharmonic Society recently about the “insanely difficult” things that artists do, and that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve excellence in any field. If you feel it’s your turn to create a work of excellence why not apply? Because you’re worth it!
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/grants-arts
This article originally appeared in The Hospital Club magazine in October 2010.
