At $35 I skipped the brown bag lunch but sat down to hear about opportunities for federal funding for museums. The IMLS and the NEA had representatives. Most interesting to me was Christopher Reich's opening statement that there are 122,000 libraries and only 17,000 museums, so the larger budget is on library side. Museums for America grant program has funded exhibit development, programming, audience development, building infrastructure, technology, and the hiring and training of staff. Not all funded projects are new but can be ongoing.
The NEA is the largest funder of arts in the country. The cannot fund bricks & mortar but can fund design & installation. The staff cannot read a draft of an application but will spend time on phone helping applicants through the process. They want us to have the best chance to get a grant.
How awards are decided:
IMLS --Peer review process, 3 reviewers score & comment then applications are ranked on those results. Those most highly ranked go to next tier of peers, director makes final awards working with IMLS staff
NEA—Peer review, 1 tier, recommend those they would like to see funded and the chairman has the ultimate responsibility.
Both agencies are looking for peer review panelists. Honorarium and travel expenses are paid. Becoming a peer reviewer helps you see the sort of things funded.
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I went to this same program a couple years ago at ACM. The woman from IMLS saw my name badge and said "oh you are from the Victoria Gardens Library... I've heard great things about it..." I was shocked! Couldn't remember much else after that.
ReplyDeleteBessie made the same recommendation about serving as an evaluator to get ideas about grant writing. I really should look into this (in my spare time)...