GENERAL INFORMATION: The Sarasota County Arts Council has established this fellowship program to honor annually distinguished individual artists living and/or working in Sarasota County. Awards will be given on the basis of artistic excellence and community outreach.

The John Ringling Fund awards program supports the Arts Council's mission to create an environment where the arts flourish. This fellowship program is designed to support artists who express and maintain the spirit of the John Ringling Towers, where the visual, performing, and applied arts were all celebrated. The Arts Council is a nonprofit, membership-based organization offering programs that seek to ensure Sarasota County's reputation as the pre-eminent arts community in Florida. The Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, Inc., and the Community Foundation of Sarasota manage the assets of John Ringling Fund in cooperation with the Sarasota County Arts Council's board of directors.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The John Ringling Fund Individual Artist Fellowship program is designed to recognize practicing, professional, creative artists residing or working in Sarasota County through monetary fellowship awards. The program provides support for artists of exceptional talent and demonstrated ability, to continue to produce artistic work.

REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS

• The Sarasota County Arts Council reserves the right to retain audio/visual materials of applicants recommended for fellowship awards and honorable mention recognition for promotional purposes.
• Remove all artist credits and bylines from all actual work.
• Upon request, and the inclusion of a self-addressed, self-stamped envelope (SASE) with the application packet, the Arts Council will return audio/visual materials, one copy of written work sample(s), and/or any other original support materials contained in the applicant file. If an envelope is not sent, materials will not be returned.
• English translations are to be provided by the applicant if the application, support materials, or sample(s) of work are in another language.
• Fellowship awards are up to $5,000 each. In addition , Honorable Mention recognition of up to $1,000 each may be awarded at the discretion of the review panel.
• The Sarasota County Arts Council reserves the right, based on peer panel recommendations to award fellowships in any artistic discipline—even if award is duplicated within the same discipline.
• An applicant may not receive a fellowship award more than once every five years. Therefore, recipients of a John Ringling Artists’ Fellowship must wait four years before they are eligible to submit an application again.
• Artists who have received honorable mention recognition may apply to the program in any subsequent year.

ELIGIBILITY
For purposes of eligibility to apply to the program, a “professional creative artist” is defined as a person who creates, on an ongoing basis, original works of art within an artistic discipline, and is pursuing it as a means of livelihood or the highest level of professional recognition.

To be eligible for a fellowship the applicant must:

• Submit a complete application and sample(s) of work, on or before the postmark deadline. (See application process/checklist)
• Reside or work in Sarasota County.
• Be a professional, creative artist at least 18 years of age.
• Not be enrolled in any undergraduate or graduate degree-seeking program during the fellowship period.
• Not be an individual serving as a review panelist within the same discipline.
• Applicants are eligible to submit only one application and only one artist may apply to the fellowship program even if there is collaboration with one or more artists.
• If collaborative works are submitted, the role of the applicant in the creation of the work should be explained in the artist's statement.
• Works in progress are acceptable. A brief goal statement related to a work in progress may be provided in the artist's statement.

DEADLINE
Applications must be postmarked or checked in at the Arts Council by September 15, 2005. Please refer to mailing and delivery instructions for details.

REVIEW CRITERIA
Submissions will be judged by the following criteria:

• Degree of artistic excellence in the submitted body of work.
• Strong connection to community outreach or aesthetic enhancement in the community
• All slides, disks or videos/films of the applicant's work submitted for review should have been produced within the last three years prior to the application date. Please comply with this condition to prevent disqualification.

REVIEW PANEL
The review panel will consist of no less than four persons. Standard rules concerning conflicts of interest will apply. A member of the Arts Council's board will be appointed as the non-voting chair. The panel will meet jointly to review all applications. Applications will be reviewed based on the quality and consistency in the body of work, as well as professional achievements. The Arts Council's board shall have final approval of the fellowship awards.

CONDITIONS

• Funds must be spent on activities related to the advancement of the Fellowship recipient's artistic career.
• A final accounting (final report) of the expenditures will be required by September 30, 2006 outlining what this grant helped you achieve this year
• The artistic work proposed by an applicant must be produced and/or presented to the public, in Sarasota County, within two years of receipt of the award.
• Failure to adhere to these conditions will result in a requirement to return the Fellowship monies to the Arts Council.
• An acknowledgement of this award is encouraged when artistic work is presented which was supported by this award.

APPLICATION PROCESS/CHECKLIST
On or before the September 15, 2005, deadline, applicants must submit the appropriate items listed below on the checklist.
(Please follow the checklist carefully; incomplete applications will not be accepted for consideration.)

• A completed John Ringling Fund Artists’ Fellowship Award Application 2005 signed by the artist.

Visual Art

If applicable, up to 10 slides or a disk of 10 works representing an overview of work.

• Please submit slides in an 8 x 11-inch clear vinyl slide sheet with top openings for insertion of slides.
• Slides must be of good quality and represent the work clearly.
• Submit one additional detailed slide if surface or texture is important.
• Mark your slides with the work's title, and number the series from 1-10.
• Indicate front of slide and top direction with arrow in upper right-hand corner.

Music/Dance and Movement/Film/Video artists

• One Video tape (VHS maximum 10 minutes in length) or CD/DVD which may include multiple work samples.

Audiocassettes should be cued (maximum 10 minutes in length).

Literary Artists

• Poets may submit five samples of their work.
• Fiction writers/Playwrights/Screenwriters may submit a complete manuscript or work in progress.
• The names of applicants must be obscured on all submissions

All Applicants

• A corresponding identification sheetlisting submissions typed or clearly printed on a single 8 1/2 x 11-inch page labeled with your name and address. For each work on this list, indicate title of work, date of work, medium, and dimension, when applicable.
• A resume that should include exhibitions, commissions and/or educational background.
• Up to five support materials, such as letters of recommendation from professionals in the field, catalogs, programs, press clippings, reviews. The selection panel will only see these materials as secondary review material for the artists who reach the final round.
• A one page statementaboutthework‘s artistic importance, impact and intent.
• An 8 1/2" x 11" (or larger) self-addressed envelope for return of materials submitted, stamped, not metered. Slides, disks and videos/films will be returned to those applicants who do not receive an award.

Incomplete applications will not be accepted. Do not include more than the required material.

Always maintain a copy of the completed application packet, including sample(s) of work and support materials, for your records.

FUNDS DISTRIBUTION
The Arts Council distributes 5% of the principal of the John Ringling Fund balance annually to artists and historic preservation organizations, less a grant administration fee to the Sarasota County Arts Council of 10% of such annual amount.

MAILING & DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS
Application form, identification sheet, artist statement, slide sheet or disk, and support materials must be sent via certified mail, return receipt requested or a suitable express mail or package service on or before September 15, 2005. Late applications cannot be accepted.

Mail or hand-deliver to:
John Ringling Fund for Artists and Historic Preservation
Artists’ Fellowships
Sarasota County Arts Council
1226 North Tamiami Trail, Suite 300
Sarasota, FL 34236

Attn: Beth Kloker
Director of Grants Administration
Phone: 365-5118 ext. 303
Email: bkloker@sarasota-arts.org
Office Hours: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday

LIABILITY: The Sarasota County Arts Council will make every effort to take the greatest care possible in handling the artist's work. However, the Arts Council is not responsible for loss or damage to slides, disks, and/or audiocassettes and support material. Please send only slide, disk or video copies for each work. Donot send originals. The Sarasota County Arts Council reserves the right to revise the guidelines and application form. Application formats may not be altered or manipulated in any way. Funding for the John Ringling Fund for Artists’ Fellowship program is contingent upon approval of applicable budgets.

For more information, contact:
Beth Kloker
Director of Grants Administration
Phone: 365-5118, Ext. 303
Email: bkloker@sarasota-arts.org
Office Hours: 9AM-5PM, Monday - Friday

Download Application

Download 2005 Guidelines and Application Requirements in a Word Document

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