Seniors Partnering with Artists Citywide (SPARC) is a community arts engagement program that places artists-in-residence at senior centers across the five boroughs of New York City. Artists who are excited to work with the local aging community to deliver arts programs are invited to submit an application by no later than 5pm September 30, 2011.

Q & A Information Session:

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 5:30pm

Department of Cultural Affairs, 31 Chambers Street, 10007

QCA SPARC Application

SPARC Partnering Senior Centers

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

SPARC, Seniors Partnering with Artists Citywide, is a community arts engagement program that places artists-in-residence at senior centers across the five boroughs of New York City. The program provides selected artists with access to workspace in senior centers and a stipend in exchange for the creation and delivery of arts programming for seniors. Selected artists will engage participating seniors in an art project or series of cultural programs over the course of the residency, which will also include a public program component – a series of exhibits, open houses or other cultural interactions open to the surrounding community.

This initiative seeks to connect artists with seniors in senior centers and aims to positively impact the well-being of seniors through arts-based activities. Senior centers seek to place artists who are sensitive to the needs of seniors and who are interested in engaging their communities. Each senior center is unique and offers access to different types of spaces, resources and communities. Selected artists will work with the senior center where they are placed to arrange workspace, as well as to further refine project goals.

SPARC is a collaboration among the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), the Department for the Aging (DFTA) and the City’s five local arts councils situated in each borough – Brooklyn Arts Council, Bronx Council on the Arts, Council on the Arts and Humanities of Staten Island, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Queens Council on the Arts. It was developed as part of Age-Friendly NYC, a citywide effort to make the City more livable for seniors, and previously ran as a successful pilot called Space for Art. The program is supported, in part, by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) is proud to be part of this new program on behalf of the borough of Queens. QCA will accept applications from artists for residencies at participating senior centers in Queens.

HOW SPARC WORKS

In exchange for the creation and delivery of arts programming at a senior center during the residency period, SPARC artists-in-residence will receive a stipend in the amount of $1,500, access to senior center workspace and at least $500 of materials/supplies of their choosing from Materials for the Arts. Individual artists can apply directly to participate in the program without a fiscal sponsor. SPARC expects to fund 50 artist residencies at senior centers across the five boroughs of New York City

APPLICATION ASSISTANCE

Get an overview of SPARC and learn about the components of a well-prepared application. Q & A Information Session:
Tuesday September 20th 2011, 5:30PM
Department of Cultural Affairs, 31 Chambers Street, 10007

APPLICATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

All components of the application must be received by email to Queens Council on the Arts at qca@queenscouncilarts.org no later than 5PM on Friday, September 30, 2011. No paper applications will be accepted. Applicants will be notified of their application status and, if applicable, which senior center they will work with, by the end of November 2011. Residencies are expected to take place between January 2012 and July 2012.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Applications will be accepted from individual artists. Applicants must meet the following criteria to apply:
• Artists must be 18 years of age of older and a resident of New York City
• Artists must be interested in working with a senior center in QUEENS*
• Artists cannot apply or receive funds on behalf of a non-profit organization or a for-profit entity
• Artists cannot be currently enrolled full-time in a degree-granting institution

* Artists who are eligible NYC residents can apply to work in a center in any borough. Artists interested in working with a senior center located in a borough other than Queens must contact the local arts council of that borough.

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY

Applications will be accepted for projects in any artistic discipline. Projects must meet the following requirements:
• Project must be cultural in nature, but may be in any artistic discipline
• Project must include an interactive component for the senior participants at the center where the residency is held (i.e., activities such as workshops, classes, projects created by seniors or in collaboration with seniors, etc.)
• Project must include a public program component for the public to experience and engage with the arts at the senior center (i.e., activities such as a series of exhibits, open houses, performances, readings or other cultural interactions open to the surrounding community). The public program activities must be promoted and available to the general public; projects that are intended to be experienced solely online will not be considered
• Project activities must take place between January 2012 and July 2012
• Project activities are expected to include 40 – 60 contact hours committed to activity with the seniors during the residency period
• Project activities, including the public component, must take place at the senior center (unless otherwise agreed to with the senior center director)

SELECTION PROCESS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA

QCA will review all artist applications and recommend selected applicants to senior centers in which they have expressed interest. Based on the arts council recommendations and senior center feedback, a panel comprised of representatives from the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Department for the Aging, and each of the five local borough arts councils will review the recommended applicant proposals and make the final selections. An interview between recommended artists and senior center directors may be required prior to final selection.

Selected proposals will be those which are received by the deadline, responsive to the application, meet all eligibility requirements, and present a project of the highest quality and feasibility.

Additional evaluation criteria will include (in no particular order):
• Artistic merit and artistic excellence of the proposed senior engagement project
• Clarity and detail in the project proposal
• Quality of the applicant’s prior work
• Potential impact on senior participants and senior center
• Potential impact on surrounding community
• Project feasibility, taking into consideration budget, timeline, available resources, and stated goals

Prior experience as a teaching artist, artist-in-residence, and/or working with seniors is a plus.

RESIDENCY AWARD REQUIREMENTS

The residency award is a contract for arts services; selected artists may be subject to the following requirements:
• Sign and return residency contract
• Include funding credit and logos on all marketing and event materials, print and electronic
• Submit event notification 2 – 4 weeks before your event(s) (a representative of QCA , DFTA or DCA may be present to monitor your project)
• Track artists contact hours with participating seniors and other evaluative data, as requested
• Submit final report on a timely basis after completion of all project activities

Artists who do not comply with the above requirements will jeopardize their funding status and future grant consideration.

FACILITIES

The participating senior centers have identified program space for SPARC activities. In some (but not all) senior centers, semi-private workspace, storage space and/or specialized equipment may be available for use by the artist-in-residence. It is important to note that, due to senior center operating hours and program schedules, artists may have limited access to the workspace and facilities. Please see descriptions of participating Queens senior center facilities on the attached facilities list for more information. Unless otherwise noted, spaces listed are not private (i.e., when artist(s) are not in the space it will be in use by others, thus leaving projects or supplies overnight or for long periods of time may not be permitted).

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested artists must submit the following application materials as described below via email to qca@queenscouncilarts.org with “SPARC Application” in the subject line.

Including the following material:
• Cover sheet. Please fill out the attached cover sheet completely and attach to each copy of your submitted proposal.
• Proposal (500 words). Provide a statement describing your proposed project including:
(1) A description of the arts programming you propose to do at the senior center and how you plan to engage participating seniors;
(2) How you envision utilizing the designated space, taking into consideration the limited access. If you will make use of available equipment, please indicate your level of proficiency. If you desire dedicated senior center space for artist studio time to pursue your own work apart from residency activities with seniors, please indicate the amount of time and type of space desired (if you do not need dedicated space for your own use, indicate none needed);
(3) A description of the public program component of your project and an explanation of how you would engage the senior center and surrounding community; and
(4) A proposed schedule of project activities and estimated contact hours working directly with seniors.
• Interest/Experience Working with Seniors (250 words). Provide a statement describing your interest in this opportunity including:
(1) Your interest in working with seniors and/or in senior centers; and
(2) Any prior experience or training working with seniors and/or as a teaching artist generally.
• Artist Statement (250 words). Provide a statement pertaining to the submitted work samples.
• Resume or CV. Provide a resume or CV, highlighting any teaching experience, community involvement and/or work with seniors. Indicate foreign language skills, if any.
• References. Provide the name, phone number and email of two professional references.
Please submit one:
• Work Sample. Provide a digital link to 5-10 digital images of recent works for visual artists or 2-4 minutes of video for performance artists. For literary projects, submit samples no longer than 5-10 pages of scripts, poetry, prose or other relevant materials as a PDF or MS word document.
• Work Sample List. Provide a list of submitted work, including title, date, materials and dimensions, or running times. Include 1-2 sentence descriptions as needed.

The most competitive applications will be those that include all materials as described above and propose a project of sustained engagement during the residency period that will involve the artist, participating seniors, senior center and surrounding community.

Submit your application and digital supplemental materials to QCA at qca@queenscouncilarts.org before the application deadline: 5PM, Friday, September 30, 2011.

You must include SPARC Application in the subject line.

If you have questions, please contact:
Lynn Lobell
347.505.3015 or
llobell@queenscouncilarts.org with SPARC included in the subject line.