Staten Island Arts News - January 5, 2023

Happy new year, Staten Islanders! We are excited to kick off 2023 with a new workshop series, GrantsLab, and the remainder of our Regrants info sessions in advance of the Jan 31, 2023 application deadline. We hope you will engage with all that SIA has to offer our community members as an attendee or an applicant. Keep reading to learn more!

Announcing our new workshop series, GrantsLab!

Staten Island Arts is excited to launch our new workshop series this month! GrantsLab is a space where you can freely experiment with your project idea with other artists and learn tips from the SIA team on how to write a clear grant proposal and budget sheet. These workshops will be spaces to listen and learn so please come ready to participate in the conversation. Whether you’re a returning artist or an artist thinking about applying for a Staten Island Arts grant for the first time, these workshops are for you!

GrantsLab will have four Zoom workshops throughout January leading up to the grants deadline, January 31, 2023. Links to RSVP for each individual session can be found here. A Zoom link will be sent out prior to the information sessions start - please RSVP one business day in advance. Keep reading to learn more about each workshop.

Session #1: Coming up with an Idea (Weds, Jan 11th, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm)

In this opening session, you’ll hear from past SIA grantees from different grant categories and mediums - humanities and cultural studies, digital and interactive media, literary, performing, and visual arts, crafts, and folk arts - sharing their projects and what inspired them to create them. These projects will range from small-scale to large-scale, independently worked on or collectively worked on and short to long-term. Participating grantees include:

- Kelly Vilar, CEO of Staten Island Urban Center, curator, film producer and social justice-centered multimedia artist (2021 NYSCA Future Culture Creative Placemaking grantee)

- Najah Abdul-Qawiyy, art therapist, poet, painter, geek, and educator (2021 NYSCA Encore grantee)

- Jodi DaReal, Jodi DaReal, Comic book illustrator (2021 DCLA Premiere grantee)

Come prepared to listen and learn from past grantees, and ready to discuss your ideas!

Session #2: Mindfulness in Writing (Tues, Jan 17th, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm)

You’ll spend some time with an artist learning about mindful writing and working on activities to get your creative juices flowing. The Mindfulness session will be led by Christopher Ferreiras, Remote English Educator with Sanidas Academy and entrepreneur.

Come prepared with your idea and a draft of your project proposal to this workshop.
Session #3: Writing the Grant (Thurs, Jan 19th, 6:00pm - 8:00pm)

This session will focus on how to get your idea on paper. Dr. Lisa Sloan, Executive Director of the Pride Center and SIA Executive Director, Pia Agrawal will be leading sessions on how to write a clear and detailed grant proposal and create a project budget from scratch. 

Come with a notebook, pen, or marker to keep track of your ideas and build upon them! 
Session #4: Open hours (Weds, Jan 25th, 6:30pm - 8:00pm)

During this last session of GrantsLab, you’ll have the opportunity to ask last-minute questions to Gena Mimozo, SIA Deputy Director and Grants Administrator, about your grant. The latter half of the session will be dedicated to demystifying the grant process.
RSVP for any of all of the sessions here!

Upcoming Regrants deadline and information sessions

You've got ideas. We've got money. Let's do this.

Staten Island Arts regrants cycle is still open for applications in the 2023 Project Grants. Through this competitive process, individual artists, unincorporated collectives, and small-budget non-profit organizations are eligible to receive public money for cultural activities made available through the generosity of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. Staten Island Arts’ grant funding is available for artists who are both Staten Island residents and creating projects on Staten Island during 2023. 

Read on to learn more about individual grant categories, deadlines, and educational opportunities.

Grant Categories

- DCLA Premier Grants are for first-time applicants, both artists and arts organizations. Individual artists, art groups and nonprofit organizations that have never received a Staten Island Arts project grant may submit requests from $750 to $3,000.

- DCLA Art Fund Grants support individual artists, unincorporated art collectives that have previously received a Staten Island Arts project grant. Applicants may submit requests from $750 to $5,000.

- NYSCA Encore Grants support Staten Island incorporated 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that present programming of artistic merit and cultural significance. Applicants may submit requests from $500 to $5,000.

- The NYSCA Future Culture Creative Placemaking Grant will support Staten Island-based individual artists creating new work in a community setting that connects places and people on Staten Island’s North Shore. An essential element of this funding is community engagement; partnerships are encouraged. Awards made in this category will not exceed $2,500. 

- NYSCA Arts Bring Change (ABC) Regrants support local cultural organizations and/or individual artists working in partnership with K-12 public schools and are focused on the interdisciplinary or integrated study of the arts and non-arts subjects. Awards in this category will not exceed $2,500.

Deadlines and Eligibility

- Application information is available at statenislandarts.org

- Applications must be completed & submitted online by January 31, 2023, 11:59pm

- All applications are digital; no paper applications or hard copy work accepted 

- All artistic cultural disciplines—humanities and cultural studies, digital and interactive media, literary, performing and visual arts, crafts, folk arts—are considered.
Free Online Information Sessions

SIA is providing online information sessions to help potential applicants understand the process. Attending an information session is a requirement for all first-time applicants, and we encourage all to attend as a refresher. Visit our website for the schedule of remaining information sessions for this cycle. A Zoom link will be sent out prior to the information sessions start - please RSVP one business day in advance. 

If you've got additional questions, Deputy Director Gena Mimozo is here to help at 718-447-3329 x1003 and [email protected].

Upcoming Events

Check out our Events Calendar for a full listing of upcoming SIA programs!

The Culture Calendar is a community-driven cultural events and opportunities list. While focused on Staten Island, we welcome relevant submissions from cultural producers working on citywide and national opportunities. Click here to view current listings, or add your own.