FOR PROJECTS TAKING PLACE JULY 2019 — JUNE 2022

APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 14, 2018, NOON PST
(submission through sf.culturegrants.org)

For any questions about WCTAIR, contact Program Officer Liz Ozol at liz.ozol@sfgov.org or 415-252-2231.

Translation

A translation of this grant application is available upon request; however, only applications in English will be accepted.

Una traducción de esta solicitud de aplicación está disponible a petición; sin embargo, solamente se aceptarán solicitudes en inglés. Favor comunicarse con Kate Patterson-Murphy al 415-252-2229 ó kate.patterson@sfgov.org para una traducción al español.

此拨款申请书的翻译版本将应请求而提供;然而,只有英文版本的申请书才会被接纳。联系电话:311

Ang pagsasalin sa Tagalog ng aplikasyon para sa pagkalooban na ito ay makukuha kung hihingilin. Ngunit ang aplikasyon sa Ingles lamang ang aming tatanggapin. Para sa tulong, maaring i-contact si Cece Carpio, 415-252-2217 o cece.carpio@sfgov.org.

Print Guidelines (PDF) APPLY NOW Print INSTRUCTIONS (WORD DOC) 

 

Jump to:
Important Dates
Information about WritersCorps Teaching Artist in Residence
Who Can Apply
Panel Evaluation & Scoring Criteria

Important Dates

Informational Webinar September 5, 2018, 12 NOON
Technical Assistance Workshop
View the schedule of upcoming dates
October 11, 2018, 5 p.m.
Application Due November 14, 2018, 12 NOON PST
Panel Review February 2019
Interview and Demonstration March 2019
Funding Recommendations April 2019
Commission Approval May 2019
Grant Period July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2022

Information about WritersCorps Teaching Artist in Residence (WCTAIR)

About WCTAIR

The WritersCorps Teaching Artist in Residence (WCTAIR) grant is a three year grant, renewed annually, that provides support to individual teaching artists to offer free, long-term, in-depth literacy–focused arts workshops to youth at San Francisco community sites. Sites may include in-school or after-school classes and must include complementary programming with a neighborhood branch of the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). The communities prioritized by the grant may include, but are not limited to, youth who are low-income, impacted by the justice system, pregnant or parenting teens, and/or English language learners.

The WCTAIR grant will support teaching artists with a proven track record of working with the proposed youth population to deliver high quality programming. The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) will provide a multiyear grant award to cultivate a deep collaboration between a literary teaching artist and a community-based organization (CBO) or school. SFAC will provide technical assistance and professional development for the teaching artist. These activities will include periodic meetings with the grantee cohort and occasional learning institutes for mutual support and shared learning. The grant prioritizes funding for teaching artists with experience to be effective in the community they propose to serve.

Applicant categories

The literary teaching artist should apply for the grant with a partnership already established with a CBO or school. The CBO or school will need to answer several questions in the application, and of course will work closely with teaching artist for the duration of the teaching artist residency. The organization must be deeply rooted in working within the youth community. Additionally, the program must strive to serve youth at free or significantly reduced rates and have no admission or private fees.

The literary teaching artist is the lead applicant.

  • The literary teaching artist can apply directly for the grant if they reside in San Francisco and have proof of their address and do not want to be fiscally sponsored.
  • If the literary teaching artist does not reside in San Francisco, s/he may apply through a San Francisco-based fiscal sponsor.
  • A literary teaching artist who has residency in San Francisco may also choose to apply through a fiscal sponsor so that that the fiscal sponsor assumes legal and fiduciary responsibility for the grant.
  • Applicants proposing to work in a San Francisco United School District (SFUSD) public school must have a fiscal sponsor.

In either case, whether the literary teaching artist applies directly or through a San Francisco-based fiscal sponsor, the teaching artist must partner with a CBO or school which has a San Francisco address and serves San Francisco youth.

A teaching artist applying with a fiscal sponsor should still request $40,000. A 10 percent indirect administrative cost for fiscal sponsorship of $4,000 will be paid to the fiscal sponsor in a separate payment. The partnering school or CBO will receive $3,000 for indirect administrative costs.

Alignment with SFAC Cultural equity goals

The San Francisco Arts Commission is committed to creating a City where all artists and cultural workers have the freedom, agency and platform to share their stories, art and culture.

Honoring the San Francisco Arts Commission’s commitment to support cultural equity and access, and to assure that every child in San Francisco is given the opportunity to have access to high quality teaching artists, priority will be given to teaching artists and sites that serve historically underserved populations of youth.

Eligible Request Amount

$40,000 per year for up to three years. The renewal grant will be awarded upon the completion of project deliverables.

Approved expenditures will include time for curriculum preparation, meeting with site representatives and classroom teachers, participating in SFAC-provided cohort learning and teaching institutes, and teaching a minimum of 150 hours per year. The grant also covers health care, program materials, and may also include artist’s professional development stipends, and/or consultant fees.

Who Can Apply

General eligibility

  • Applicants must not be in default on any grants or loans from: (1) SFAC, (2) other City departments (including, without limitation, the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families; Office of Economic and Workforce Development; Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development; and Grants For The Arts), (3) Northern California Grantmakers Arts Loan Fund; (4) Northern California Community Loan Fund, (5) Community Arts Stabilization Trust; and/or (6) the Center for Cultural Innovation. This default clause was expanded due to the fact that SFAC has a fiduciary relationship with these particular organizations, through either shared City resources or other pooled philanthropic funds. 
  • The proposed project (Year 1) must take place in San Francisco between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. The second and third year of funding follow the same calendar: Year 2 (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021), Year 3 (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022).
  • The applicant must be willing and able to meet the requirements associated with receiving funds from the City and County of San Francisco. In order to receive a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, you must become a registered, compliant supplier (formerly called a vendor) and meet the City of San Francisco's insurance and business tax requirements. For more information about supplier requirements, visit: http://sfgov.org/oca/qualify-do-business. Please note if you are not already a City vendor, you will only be required to register if you are awarded a grant. Insurance and business tax requirements will be explained and made available upon approval of grant awards. 

lead applicant eligibility:
TEACHING ARTIST OR TEACHING ARTIST WITH FISCAL SPONSOR

  • Must have current San Francisco address. Applicants must submit paperwork demonstrating San Francisco residence with their application. Acceptable paperwork includes: IRS tax determination, utility bill, lease or business license.
    If teaching artists does not have San Francisco address, proposes to work with a SFUSD school, or prefers to work with a fiscal sponsor, the fiscal sponsor must be a 501(c)(3) organization with a current San Francisco address.
  • Must be at least 18 years old and have proven two-year track record of teaching underserved youth. Experience teaching in a classroom or college setting are not in themselves sufficient qualifications. We are looking for applicants who have experience working as teaching artists who have shared creative writing experiences with young people.
  • The artist cannot be enrolled as a full-time student at the time of the application or during the grant period.
  • Evidence of literary accomplishment. The teaching artist may not have authored a book, but writing should be at the center of professional life and practice.
  • Must have a Bachelor of Arts or experiential equivalent.
  • Meet requirements for working with youth including but not limited to background check and fingerprinting.
  • Must be able to teach a 15 minute demonstration lesson and participate in a 20 minute interview with the panel at 401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco during the week of March 26-28, 2019. Applicants will be notified of presentation day/time no later than December 1, 2018.

PARTNERING AGENCY eligibility:
CBO OR SCHOOL

  • CBO/school must provide continuing programming in San Francisco as evidenced by maintaining consistent programming for at least two years targeting underserved student communities (as defined in introductory paragraph) from third grade to 24 years old in San Francisco.
  • CBO/school may partner with a teaching artist who may be a resident of San Francisco, but is not required to be, if they offer specific expertise to the partnership.
  • CBO/school has capacity to nurture a long-term relationship with a literary teaching artist through an in-kind contribution which includes a variety of material and relational supports.
  • CBO/school has a mission clearly rooted in serving youth and is based in San Francisco.

ineligible expenses

    Grant funds may not pay for: 
    1. Activities and events outside of San Francisco;
    2. Deficit reduction;
    3. Ongoing operating expenses, administrative or staff costs for CBO/school;
    4. Start-up costs/seed money for new organizations.

    project requirements

    Literary teaching artist commits to:

    • Conducting long term, in-depth literacy arts-based residency with youth from underserved community at site.
    • Participating as an active member of the WritersCorps Teaching Artist in Residence community, including grantee cohort trainings, meetings, technical assistance, and professional development.
    • Visioning, planning, and realizing at least one site-specific student publication annually (options range from anthologies to installations to other creative vehicles which showcase youth writing)
    • Planning and facilitating at least one youth-centered site-based reading/event.
    • Facilitating and participating in at least one WCTAIR-wide reading/event annually.
    • Managing project budget and submitting all required paperwork.
    • Connecting residency programming to a branch of the SF Public Library through activities such as field trips and library card registration.
    • Supporting documentation and evaluation of WritersCorps Teaching Artist in Residence grant’s impact within communities.

    CBO/school commits to:

    • Designating and supporting a site representative who attends two site representative meetings per year (beginning and mid-year); orienting the teaching artist; providing oversight and communication; troubleshooting as issues arise; and providing support for data collection, events, and evaluation.
    • Providing, at minimum, a classroom to the teaching artist for workshop hours and a place to securely store supplies.
    • Following all California licensing requirements to ensure student safety.
    • Support the teaching artist in connecting residency programming to a branch of the SF Public Library through programming such as field trips and library card registration.

    Grantee requirements

    • City Permits and Permissions: If the proposal includes components that require City permits or approval such as publicly installed art, street closures, sound amplification in public space, or murals, the applicant will be solely responsible for securing the necessary permits, permissions, and approvals. This planning should be reflected in your project timeline. 
    • Insurance Requirements:
      General Liability:
      Awarded grantees will need to submit a certificate of General Liability Insurance and an Endorsement Page with first invoice. General liability insurance cannot be waived. This requirement can met by the following: 
      • Purchasing General Liability Insurance as an individual artist or organization. 
      • Purchasing Special Event Insurance for any public events associated with the grant project. 
      • Obtaining a General Liability Insurance certificate from their host venue, which adds the grantee and event to their policy by endorsement and lists the San Francisco Arts Commission as additionally insured. 

    Workers Comp Insurance: Workers Comp insurance is required for an organization that has employees. If you do not have employees, the San Francisco Arts Commission will provide a waiver for this requirement. 

    NEW: Waiver of Subrogation addendum is required for organizations to do work on ANY City-owned property. 

    Auto Insurance: Auto Insurance is required if the awarded grantee will use a vehicle for the purposes of the grant. The San Francisco Arts Commission will provide a waiver for this requirement. 

    Abuse and Molestation Insurance: Proof of Abuse & Molestation coverage in addition to General Liability coverage is required for working with vulnerable populations (minors, people with disabilities, or elderly people). 

    • Art Installation: Please note that any art installed with these grant funds on property owned by the City and County of San Francisco or on private property, must be reviewed and approved by the San Francisco Arts Commission starting with the Visual Arts Committee of the Commission. This applies to murals, public sculpture, and similar projects. It will be the responsibility of the grantee to build this process into their grant plan and timeline. Please contact the following Public Art Program staff if you have questions: Alyssa Torres at alyssa.torres@sfgov.org for murals; Aleta Lee at aleta.lee@sfgov.org for sculpture or any other type of public art. 

    Panel Evaluation & Scoring Criteria

    APPLICATION REVIEW

    SFAC staff will process applications and send them to panelists for review in advance of the panel meeting. Panelists will convene to discuss applications and observe on- site demonstration lessons taught by the teaching artist applicants in a closed panel meeting, after which recommendations for funding will be made.

    Grants Panelists

    Grant review panelists reflect the diversity of San Francisco; have broad knowledge about the particular artistic discipline, cultural equity and other field issues; and have experience that aligns with the purpose of the specific grant category.

    Funding Recommendations

    Based on an evaluation of the proposals and demonstration lessons, panelists will make recommendations for funding. Grant amounts awarded will be the full $40,000 for first year of residency. Years 2 and 3 are contingent upon positive end-of-year review for the preceding year.

    Scoring Criteria

    Panelists are instructed to use the following scoring criteria that correspond with the noted application questions. Close review may help you focus your application responses. Each section requires a response from both the Teaching Artist and the CBO/School.

    CATEGORY

    POINTS

    SCORING CRITERIA

    APPLICATION QUESTIONS

    Artistic History: Teaching Artist & CBO/School
    (20 points)

    20

    Clear, focused, and compelling responses to artistic history as literary artist/writer and approach/philosophy to teaching.

    Strong rationale about why teaching artist is a good fit for this youth community, and for a year-long, in-depth model.

    Work samples and resume demonstrate depth and breadth of teaching artist’s relevant experience.

    - Describe your artistic history as a literary artist/writer.

    - Describe your philosophy or approach to teaching. Include how your work as a writer informs your teaching and how your teaching informs your work as a writer.

    - Discuss relevant experience and qualifications you have that will support your success and effectiveness as a teaching artist in the proposed community. Include teaching and administrative experience.

    - CBO/school’s mission statement and calendar of youth programming.

     

    - Work samples and resume.

    Quality of Proposed Project: Teaching Artist and CBO/School​(40 points)

    40

    Appropriate, relevant, and concrete content that demonstrates teaching artist’s creative approach and ability to plan and teach the proposed programming at the proposed site.

    Sample unit plan demonstrates expertise with planning creative writing lessons with clear goals, and engaging and developmentally appropriate activities.

     

    - Outline your teaching plan with an approximate timeline.

    -Residency teaching plan outline.

    -Describe special projects or exhibitions you are proposing to promote students’ literary voices at the CBO/school partner site and in the community.

    -Grant plan template.

    - Discuss how collaboration will improve youth outcomes.

     

    - Sample unit plan consisting of three to five lessons you have taught and are targeted to the population you propose to work with.

    Ability to Complete the Project: 

    Teaching Artist and CBO/School

     

    (40 points)

    40

    Clear, focused and compelling description how CBO or school’s partnership is a good fit.

     

    Response indicates robust types and degree of material and staff support for teaching artist.

     

    Teaching demonstration indicates expertise in teaching creative writing lesson tailored to the proposed population.

     

     

    Budget is realistic and notes are clear and well-reasoned. Budget demonstrates applicant’s creativity, relevant experience, and understanding of the teaching artist in residence structure.

    -Discuss some challenges and rewards of working in long-term in-depth residency model.

    -Letter of recommendation.

    - Describe CBO/school’s physical space and other resources that will be offered.

    - Describe ways teaching artist may be included/embedded in community.

    -Letter of CBO/school’s commitment

    -In-person teaching demonstration.

     

    -Budget and budget notes.. 

    Panel Notes

    SFAC staff takes notes on panel comments during deliberations. You may contact sfac.grants@sfgov.org to obtain panel comments.

    Funding recommendations

    Panel recommendations are subject to the approval of the Arts Commission. Typically, recommendations are first reviewed by the Community Investments Committee, then by the full Commission. Meetings of the Commission are public. The agenda will be available on the Arts Commission website at sfartscommission.org 72 hours in advance of the meeting.

    Grant Awards

    Notifications will be emailed. Award notification will include instructions about contracting procedures.

    Print Guidelines (PDF)  APPLY NOW  Print INSTRUCTIONS (WORD DOC) 

     

    What's Coming Up

    Public Meeting

    Executive Committee Meeting

    December 18
    /
    1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

    Hybrid: 401 Van Ness | Rm 125 and Online
    Public Meeting

    Visual Arts Committee Meeting

    December 16
    /
    2:30 PM to 6:00 PM

    Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 408 and Online
    Public Meeting

    Community Investments Committee Meeting

    December 09
    /
    1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

    Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online
    Public Meeting

    Full Arts Commission Meeting

    May 06
    /
    2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

    Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online