- Welcome. On behalf of everyone at the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, I'd like to welcome you to the grant Information Webinar for the Arts Impact for Individuals Program. The information in this webinar is for fiscal year 2024, which runs from July, 2023 to June, 2024. My name is Scott Artley. I am a program director at MRAC. I use he/him pronouns, but using they them also makes me smile. I'm the primary MRAC staff contact for the Arts Impact for Individuals program. If you need anything related to this program, I encourage you to reach out to me. My email is S-C-O-T-T@M-R-A-C.org. My phone number is 651-523-6384. This slide has a headshot of me, a white, queer, and disabled masculine-leaning person with buzzed bald hair and a short orange beard, black round glasses and a gold hoop nostril piercing. I'm smiling slightly in front of a colorful abstract painting. Today I am speaking on screen from my home office, which also serves as a corner of my living room and an occasional personal, workout gymnasium, although probably not super frequently. So we all work from home at MRAC. I'm glad you to welcome you to mine. I was an applicant and a panelist prior to working at MRAC with experience as a leader of both non-profit and non-traditional arts organizations. And I'm also an individual artist and cultural producer. So this means I know what it's like to be in your shoes and I use that experience to help you as best I can. Accessibility for people with disabilities is very important to MRAC and I wanted to outline how we've made and designed this experience with accessibility principles in mind. So on the left is the updated symbol for disability access from the accessible icon project. It shows a person actively moving forward using a wheelchair. So let's talk about some of those accessibility elements we've built into the webinar. First, this webinar is recorded and it's also available at any time and it allows you some more control of the experience than something presented live. You can speed up or slow down the playback speed of this webinar. There are edited captions in English available on YouTube. Those captions are auto translated into other languages on YouTube as well. You can choose the language that works best for you. I'll be doing verbal description of images. You've already heard a little bit of that as I was describing some of my visual and the wheelchair icon on the accessibility icon on the slide here. You can also download the slide deck PDF. It's available on the website for this grant program. And then also I'm glad to be joined by our interpreters to make this accessible to for folks who prefer to work in American Sign Language. So we create these webinars to introduce the ideas of the grant guidelines in a format other than a long written document. You can think of this as a guide to the guidelines. It's a way to understand its key components. In this webinar, I will cover the public art funding system in Minnesota. We'll talk about the focus of the grant program. Then we'll talk about who is eligible to apply, then how grant award determinations are made. We'll talk about important dates, talk about how to apply, and then we'll discuss some additional application resources to help you prepare an application. Then we're gonna go into the thick of it with some application content, what actually appears in the application that you will be providing. And then we will talk about what happens if you receive an award. On this slide on the right side is an exclamation point in a red triangle, and this indicates that there's a really important point I wanna make sure we get across, which is that ultimately you need to read and understand the guidelines to submit an eligible application. Again, this is a guide to the guidelines this webinar, and it's important for you to read and understand those guidelines. I'm gonna give a quick overview of the Minnesota State Arts funding system and how MRAC fits into it. On the left, there is a photo of two Minnesotans seated in a park, holding a drawing between them. On the left is James Curry, who is a black man wearing a blue shirt and Tom Nguyen is on the right. He's an Asian man with glasses also wearing a blue shirt. This photo was taken by Kim Ly Curry and we put it here to put faces on the Minnesota taxpayers of Minnesota and show you an image of a previous year's arts impact for individuals grant program grantee and an arts individuals arts impact for individuals project in action. So starting on the left of this slide, thanks to those taxpayers of Minnesota like you who generate funding through paying sales tax, the Minnesota legislature decides how funds for the arts are available through the what's called the appropriation. So that's within the typical state budget process. And then we also have a special fund as part of the Arts and Cultural fund of the Minnesota Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment. That logo is in the middle image on the screen. The legacy amendment was a special amendment to the state constitution passed by voters of Minnesota in 2008. That increased sales tax by a small percent with some of that money going to the arts. A portion of those funds are allocated to the Minnesota State Arts Board to distribute. Their logo is on the right. They are a state agency, so a portion of those state dollars are then distributed to 11 regional arts councils. MRAC is one of those 11 regional arts councils and we are a separate 501c3 non-profit organization. We're not a state agency. We receive public dollars to distribute as we see fit, as long as it aligns with state requirements. On this slide on the left, there is a map of Minnesota split up into 11 Geographic regions. On the right is Region 11, the Twin Cities Metro MRAC's service region. The counties that are outlined here are Carver, Hennepin, Anoka, Ramsey, Washington, Dakota, and Scott Counties. Thank you to the interpreter for all of that finger spelling, I appreciate it. The MRAC region makes up about half the population of the state and receive. We receive about 40% of the funding allocated to all of those 11 regional arts councils in our previous fiscal year. That was about $4 million that MRAC received. I also want to acknowledge that this Geographic region is the traditional ancestral, contemporary and future lands of the Dakota people and Ojibwe people. So the arts impact for individuals grant program provides up to $5,000 for artistic projects in Minnesota led by individuals who identify as BIPOC, disabled and or LGBTQIA2+. Proposed projects could include, connecting Minnesotans with participation in arts and cultural experiences, integrating artists and or artistic engagement to accomplish a community's non-arts goals and or providing Minnesotans with opportunities for arts learning and passing along cultural expressive traditions. I wanna emphasize how this program is focused on creating access to the arts for Minnesotans or engaging with Minnesota communities through artistic endeavors. And I'd also like to emphasize that this grant program does not require you to focus on engaging only in your community or only the communities listed here. As long as you identify with at least one of these identities, you're welcome to create access to the arts with any audience or community in mind, but you do not want to have. But in any case, you're gonna wanna have a clear understanding of that community to craft a strong proposal. Let's talk more about that first bullet point led by individuals who identify as any of the following. I use some letters to describe those identities and I wanna define what we mean by them. BIPOC, B-I-P-C, sorry. B-I-P-O-C means black, indigenous and or person of color. Disabled means a person with a disability or disabilities. and LGBTQIA2+ It's an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual or agender and two spirit. We also sometimes get questions from folks about whether they count as some of these identities. It's a question I always turn back to the applicant to decide for themselves. Ultimately, MRAC has no interest or business really delineating the boundaries of how someone identifies. We also use these terms knowing they are imperfect but have chosen them to represent a complex community of individuals underrepresented in MRAC grant making. So let's next drill down into what we mean about that second bullet point about the focus of the grant program. Projects must be focused on creating access to the arts for Minnesotans and or engaging with Minnesota communities through artistic endeavors. Provided some examples in a previous slide, but let's talk first about what community members means. So community members rather than the applicant must be the primary beneficiary of project activities. Additionally, at least three Minnesotans other than the artist must participate in the project. Finally, projects primarily focused on developing the applicant's own needs and creative interests are not a good fit with this program. The previous year's Arts impact for individuals awards announcement demonstrates the types of projects awarded in the grant program historically. Great grant awards in this program are made only to the individual applicant and that individual applicant must have primary responsibility for managing the proposed project, entities such as nonprofits, for-profits, schools, and fiscally sponsored organizations may not apply in this program. While this grant program may be appropriate for individuals who are connected to organizations, it is designed to support projects working outside of traditional organizational structures. Projects may be in partnership with an organization, but projects managed by an entity other than the applicant such as a 501c3 non-profit or organization or an LLC should instead review MRAC's flexible support grant program. Individuals do not need prior experience to in the arts or to identify as an artist to apply. Additionally, applicants must be at least 18 years old on the deadline date. Individuals must also have a primary residential address in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott or Washington Counties. Again, thank you for finger spelling all of those county names. You must also be a United States citizen or an individual who has attained permanent residence status in the United States. Awardees must also continue to reside in the region for the entirety of the project period. If a grantee moves away during the grant period, MRAC may have to recall the grant funds. I'd like to emphasize that the residential eligibility is for the applicant. The project that you propose can take place anywhere within the Geographic boundaries of Minnesota. This is a slide for past MRAC grantees to take special note applicants with overdue final reports at the time of application in the Arts Impact for Individuals program or the Next Step Fund may not apply. So overdue final reports, you still have a final report coming in and it's still pending and it's not overdue, that's fine. But if it's an overdue final report on the deadline day, make sure that you take care of that well ahead of the deadline. Grantees with an open arts impact for individuals grant may also be ineligible in this round. So let's talk to see if you are eligible this year if that applies to you. If for whatever reason there are other MRAC grants in which you are named that are still open, I also suggest that you and I connect. You might be wondering how grant award determinations are made. At MRAC we engage a group of peers who we call panelists. On this slide is a photo by Anna Min of five people of varying racial and gender expressions sitting at a table intensively reviewing thick binders of paper. Panelists are volunteers. We train to review applications and individually score proposals. Their scores are then combined into rankings. Grant funds are awarded based on these panel rankings and the MRAC board approved budget allocations, prioritizing underrepresented applicants and grantees. The MRAC Board of Directors awards as many applications as possible until the allotted funds run out. There is 400,000 available for this program in fiscal year 2024, which means around 80 awards. In the previous two years, approximately 50% of eligible applicants were successfully funded. So please note despite the photo that I have here, which I really just included because we hadn't had a photo in a minute in this presentation, I know it's important to have some visual interest to keep your attention. So despite this photo, which is from the past, all applications will be reviewed by panelists through an online rating system where they will also leave comments. No in-person panels are scheduled. I just thought it was a great photo. Thanks Anna Min. So here are some important dates related to this grant program. Applicant assistance begins on September 6th, 2023 by now when I post this, that will have already passed. The application deadline is October 23rd, 2023 at 11:59 PM. Please note that MRAC staff assistance ends at 5:00 PM Central Standard Time on deadline day and MRAC does not accept late applications. The eligibility review period by MRAC staff begins October 24th, 2023. Applicants should be sure to check their email regularly as MRAC staff may reach out with questions or request additional information. I went on to the next slide too quickly. The panel review will begin January 18th and run through February 16th, 2024. Staff send out grant notifications via email to applicants on April 1st, 2024 and it won't be an April Fool's joke, I promise you. The eligible funding period is April 1st, 2024 to May 31st, 2025. So all grant funded expenses must be incurred and grant funded project activities must take place between these dates where there's gonna be more information on the initial eligibility check question 10 for guidance, which might not mean anything to you right now, but it will soon. We will talk about this a little bit more in the proposal or in this presentation later. Now let's talk about the logistics how to apply. MRAC uses an online grant making platform designed and managed by submittable to accept and manage applications. For help related to technical aspects of using submittable, please visit the applicant help center to find how to instructions and connect with technical support staff. The MRAC website includes lots of resources and the page related to arts impact for individuals, which is available at M-R-A-C.O-R-G/grants/arts-impact-individuals. So on that page you will find guidelines in both English and Spanish and application template as an editable word document so you can work on your application outside of the grant interface if you wish. And then a panel scoring guide, which again I'll talk about a little bit later in this presentation. We really enjoy working with applicants. It's honestly the favorite part of the process for me. I love meeting you folks and learning about what you're doing and all the amazing ways you're changing the world through art and I encourage you to connect with MRAC staff for help navigating the process. My colleagues Sagirah will also be helping in this process and we'll find so much joy in doing so. So you could look forward to connecting with either of us. MRAC staff, so we will be hosting two live virtual question and answer sessions on Zoom during the application period. These are informal drop-ins Zoom sessions to answer brief questions in a large group setting. Pre-registration for the virtual Q&A session is required. The session will not be recorded however. Staff are also available for brief one-on-one phone or video meetings to review eligibility and discuss project ideas. For more details and to register for the Q&A session or to request a meeting, please visit that Arts Impact for Individuals program page that I linked earlier. We strongly encourage you to request a meeting with us to discuss your specific situation. If you are new to MRAC, if you haven't worked with MRAC before, reach out, lemme say hi to you and we'll get you going and make sure you're on the right track. Also, if you have an in progress MRAC grant or if you have have some significant connection to a group or organizations that is funded by or seeking support in another MRAC grant program, if for example you are the founder of the organization, it'd be a good idea for us to chat just to talk about how to make it an individual arts project rather than an organizational arts project making that clear. As I noted earlier, MRAC is committed to accessibility. So first I wanna talk about language accessibility. Applicants for whom English is a learned language or is not their preferred language, who wish to work in another language other than English, can work with MRAC staff to adapt our processes to ensure you have an equal opportunity to submit an application. On this slide is an image of a closeup screenshot of the MRAC website homepage showing a blue disability icon on the left side and a gray icon at the top titled EN on the upper side. This tool, the EN button, will automatically translate our website content into Spanish. Applicants, I may be clear about this because this is a really cool thing that I don't know a lot of granters do. We encourage you to apply in your preferred language. MRAC can contract an interpreter and or a translator to assist during the application process. Meaning we will pay somebody to professionally translate the application that you provide in English in a language that is not English. I'm really proud that we do that and I would really love to see some application submit it that way. And you can get assistance from us with a translator that again we would provide so that you and I could have a really excellent phone call or video call using your preferred language. If you're interested in in that kind of process, I'd encourage you to connect as soon as possible to ensure that we have time to secure those services. Next, I'll discuss disability accessibility. If a disability presents a barrier to our processes, please connect with us to begin a conversation about how to make sure you have an equal opportunity to apply to this MRAC grant program. I'll point out some accessibility features MRAC that we provide. MRAC has a website plugin that includes tools to make information more accessible to people with disabilities. On the left is a screenshot that includes that accessibility tools widget, which is the blue icon that can be expanded with a menu of options about that may make it more accessible to you. MRAC requests that all applicants apply online using the submittable grant application platform. Applicants with disabilities wishing to use other means to apply can work with MRAC staff to adapt our typical process to make sure that you have an equal opportunity to submit an application. To begin a conversation about how we can help, please contact me, Scott Artley at least one week prior to the deadline for assistance. Truly would be happy whether it's because of language or disability to find a way that works best for you to apply. So back to submittable where you'll be submitting your application when you create an account in submittable, you can begin working on your application. There are two forms and submittal that you'll submittable that you'll need to submit to apply. First, the initial eligibility check form confirms the key details of your proposed project that they appear eligible. By passing that initial eligibility check, you'll get access to the proposal form. So that part two which will gather remaining information including the narrative and budgets that will be shown to panelists. I'm only gonna give a kind of a bird's eye overview of these application forms. So it's important to read everything in the guidelines. There's gonna be questions there that you'll get other assistance. You know there's gonna be more detail in those guidelines that will help you fill out the application. Again, always feel to reach out to us with any questions or get other assistance. Here are some tips that I'd like you to keep in mind as you prepare your application. First, you will type your application into text boxes online in the grant application form and submittable. You can also paste text from another document. Text box boxes include maximum character counts, which are inclusive of letters, numbers, spaces, and paragraph breaks. So there's no formatting bold or italics. You'll also notice that you may find that you do not need all of the characters allotted as you prepare your application. Not it's a maximum character count, not a requirement to fill that whole space if it doesn't make sense for what you are applying for. Submittable will auto save your work every few minutes and there is also a save button at the bottom of each form. Some applicants may wish to work in another document and paste it into your once your answers are complete and we provide an application template on the arts impact for individuals program page. On the right side of this slide is an exclamation point that we have seen before. It's a red triangle that appeared in a previous slide indicating another important slide. So for this one I wanna emphasize some key points. Do not include hyperlinks in narrative text boxes as the panel review will be limited to the content of your application. Narratives with hyperlinks will not be reviewed by panelists. Applicants may not change or edit their applications after the deadline. Next applications that are incomplete, if they're, for example, missing information to a required field, those may be deemed ineligible. Make sure you're filling out all of the application. Individuals may only submit one application per round. MRAC takes data privacy very seriously. If you'd like to learn more about this, the ways your data may be used, you can review pages 10 through 11 of the guidelines for details. I also encourage you to reach out with any questions. Data privacy is really important in this day and age and I wanna make sure that you feel good about what you provide to MRAC. Please be aware that due to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, the full text of all submitted grant applications may be subject to the public inspection upon request. Each field that you will fill out is noted with its privacy level. Fields are made available to panelists as they review us and score applications those are public information. Fields that are not made available to panelists are used by MRAC staff for various reasons, whether that's to manage the grant programs, that's why we like collect your contact information. We also use it to confirm eligibility when we take things like your residential address. And then we also gather data to evaluate the grant program's goals, which is why we request demographic details and some data required by the state of Minnesota. An expanded request for public inspection may include this information. Again, if you have any concerns, let's talk about it. It's not a common thing for folks to request to see an application. It is possible and I wanted to include it just so that was clear. But again, it's very unlikely. The application asks for general eligibility in the program. Basically that you identify as one of those identities we noted earlier and then allows you to provide more specific information later if requested. So that first initial Eligibility check will ask you, "Hey, do you have one of these identities?" And you'll say, "Yes." And then you'll be able to access the full form where you can provide more information about those identities if you wish, but it is not required to do so. So let's get a little bit more detail on these forms in submittable. For the first part, that again is the initial eligibility check which has two sections, individual eligibility and Project eligibility. The initial eligibility check will help you determine if the circumstances and the project idea fit within the program's requirements. Please note that you must successfully pass this initial eligibility check to access the second part of the application, which is that proposal form. This is meant to avoid an applicant investing valuable time and energy into completing an application that would not otherwise proceed in the process. If the Eligibility check determines your circumstances or your project are not eligible, please thoroughly review the grant program guidelines and the informational webinar this, this thing to identify the relevant eligibility issues. If you need further assistance or believe there's been a mistake of some kind, please reach out and we can chat more about it. Maybe there's a solution that we can find together. This eligibility check is an initial automated determination. Final eligibility determinations depend on a variety of factors are made only after a full application is submitted. We've already gone over individual eligibility in previous slides, so I'll just move on to speak on the project eligibility section of this form and talk a little bit about what's in those forms. Some key important points. There's a question that asked is the project you proposed distinct from the project described in any open or pending MRAC grants? That means a project or program can only be funded by one MRAC grant. Project activities or expenses that are included in in open or pending MRAC grant-funded project are ineligible. So if it appears in an open grant that has been awarded or one that's pending, so one that has been submitted to MRAC, those expenses and activities are ineligible. If you're not sure if your proposed project is distinct, please reach out to me to discuss further. And if you can't, for whatever reason, if you're unsure, submit an application and we'll determine whether it is eligible to receive proceed. Another question ask, will all grant funded expenses be incurred and grant funded project activities take place between April 1st, 2024 and May 31st, 2025? The activities and expenses described in the grant application must clearly fall between April 1st, 2024, May 31st, 2025. That means that all grant funded expenses must be incurred and spent during this time. That includes any activities or expenses or reimbursements out of this timeframe. So if you include any activities, expenses, reimbursements outside of this timeframe, those may de be deemed ineligible or your whole application may be deemed ineligible. To be clear about what we mean by incurred expenses. So those are expenses that are confirmed debts or firm promises to pay, whether or not cash has yet changed hands. So for example, performing artist fees, those would be an incurred expense at the time an artist contract is signed. Even if the payment happens later, even if you'll hand over a check three months from now, if you have signed a contract with an artist, that means that that is the date that it became incurred. There's also a question about affirming some legal restrictions are not part of your application. So projects are ineligible if they do this list of kind of complicated things that are very unlikely. First, do not uphold applicable federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and ordinances. Basically they follow the law. They are not eligible projects if they attempt to influence local, state, or federal legislation or an appropriation. Also ineligible if they support activities that are essentially for the religious socialization of the participants or audience. And they are ineligible if they discriminate against persons or groups. So you will check a box that says, "Yep, that's not something part of my project and I affirm that." If that is true for you. So more key points about eligibility here's probably the longest list in this entire application, but they're really important points so I wanted to make sure that I highlighted them. So this is presented as a list in the application form to confirm that you understand these points, you'll check another box that says, "Yes, I understand these points." Projects are ineligible if grant funds support any of these things. So again, these are all ineligible. Projects that are managed by another individual or entity other than the applicant. Projects and activities designed to raise funds or re-grant or donate funds on behalf of another person, organization or cause. MRAC funds cannot be donated to another organization or person. These dollars also cannot be substituting other state dollars. This includes requests in which any portion of the project will be used to pay an artist or an arts organizations to provide essentially the same services that an ongoing teacher, teaching staff, or art specialist previously provided or would be expected to provide in a school setting. This also means requests in which the project will replace discontinued or non-existent arts programs that should be fulfilling the state's arts curriculum requirements in schools. Unrealized income, also ineligible, that means non-cash expenses such as scholarships and in-kind support. Development of endowments, also ineligible. Debt reduction and building cash reserves, expenses to purchase alcoholic beverages or pay associated costs. The purchase of real estate property expenses for capital improvements such as facilities improvements to commercial or residential properties. So no capital improvements to commercial or residential properties. And then capital equipment purchases in excess of 25% of the grant award. Applicants may request up to 25% of the amount you request from MRAC for capital equipment purchase purchases directly related to and necessary for the project or program. And finally, ineligible are programs, project, activities and or expenses that are included in other open or pending MRAC grant which talked about just a moment ago. Part two is the proposal form which has four sections. The first is is individual profile. This asks for things like your name, your pronouns, your contact information. Next is demographic information. So in that first part, one form, you've already identified that you hold at least one of the identities eligible for these funds and disclosing those further details, like I said, not required. However, helping it helps us a lot when you identify. Sharing with us how you identify helps us understand more specifically how funds are reaching or maybe not reaching particular communities. Remember, this information is not made available to panelists. So if you wish to share how you identify, then you should do so in the narrative sections. Next is the proposal narrative. This is the section that panelists will review-- will use to review--your application. I'm gonna get back to this in a second. I know that's a section lots of people have questions about. So we will go into it in depth. And then the final section is additional information, which is additional information exactly that. That's gonna include mostly data questions that we're provide that we're required to provide to the Minnesota State Arts Board to comply with our public funding requirements. The proposal narrative section includes written responses that provide information for panelists to understand and score your application. This is going to be the primary area. Will you share information that panelists will use to score and rate your application and provide comments on your application. So I'm not gonna drill down into every question that's asked in the narrative sections because you having read and understood those guidelines, we'll be thinking deeply about them as you prepare your application, but it's important to answer every question posed. So I won't cover everything, but make sure you're answering every question posed. In general, the individual background section asks for information about you, generally. This is context that helps panelists understand what brings you to this work and what goals drive you. Project name and project description are the sort of quick setup for the proposal. Think about those as your headline and your flash summary that helps panelists prepare to read more about your project. Then there is the project or program narrative section. This is where you'll go into more detail about the What, the Where, the When, and the Why of the activities you're gonna be proposing. Remember to keep this focused on the specific project you are proposing, meaning you need to help panelists tie a direct line from why you have selected these specific expenses that you'll put into the budget and why these are essential ingredients for creating access to the arts. Next, is the access to the arts narrative section, which is where you will help panelists understand the community or the communities that will benefit from the activities you described and how they will participate in a way that responds to their needs and interests. Finally, the budget section. I know budgets are not everyone's favorite. I used to think that I hated budgets, but turns out budgets are such a wonderful tool to explain what you're planning on doing in a different and very linear way. So the budget is a plan for how you will spend the grant funds. We call it the "grant spending plan" in the application. You'll enter this information into a table provided in the application. So it's a literal kind of spreadsheet in the application form, please note you will only include expenses that are covered by this MRAC grant. Please refer back to the initial eligibility check to make sure you're not including any of those ineligible expenses that I talked about. You will also be only including up to $5,000 in expenses because again, MRAC grant up to $5,000. We can only cover $5,000 of your expenses. Think about which ones will fit best into your budget to help you tell the story of what you're planning to do. I want to talk about character counts. I'm quite a character. Let's talk about character counts. Character counts are are scary to some folks and I'll explain more about how we're approaching it for this application. So each section has a maximum character count. For example, in individual background, the maximum is 1500 characters. If you enter more than that maximum, you will get an error message and you will not be able to submit the application. So 1500 characters maximum for each. For this section, within each section there are specific questions and you should be sure to answer each of those questions may even be helpful for you to number your responses to make it clear for panelists. For each of those questions, I provided a suggested character count. You can think about this as a suggestion of how much real estate you should consider allotting to each question. For example, in the individual background section, I suggest spending about half of the space available on each question. Each individual and every project will have different details and may need more or less information about specific components of the application to provide panels with enough information to understand and score it. So a broad example, let's say a proposal describes where the project is located by saying it's in a community center where community already gathers and can easily access the arts activity presented. In another proposal however, you may need to explain more. So describing maybe three sites of where activities will take place and why and how those sites were chosen. In that case, it may be appropriate to trim back a different section to describe location since it's such a key component of how the project creates access to the arts. So there's flexibility within each section to focus where you think that will be best focused. As you prepare your application and decide where the details are important to emphasize, keep focused on the north star, what is the north star of the panel review criteria. Stronger proposals will help panelists understand how your goals and your arts programming align with your project and the community. Panelists will be scoring based on two criteria, project or program design and access to the arts. Under project and program design, panelists are asked to select a score that describes how the proposed project or programs design aligns with or advances the applicant's goals or objectives related to creating access to the arts. I've highlighted here aligns with or advances the applicant's goals or objectives about creating access to the arts. The second criterion is access to the arts. So we ask panelists to select a score that describes the the degree you believe the applicant has created a project or program that will create meaningful access to the arts. And I wanna emphasize here, create meaningful access to the arts. And I think I should have double stressed the word meaningful. So create meaningful access to the arts. To submit your application, click that submit form button in submittable. You'll receive an automated email response from submittable confirming the submission to avoid technology and connection errors, which I will tell you happen at nearly every round. Do your best to submit well ahead of that 11:59 PM deadline date and time. Again, if you need assistance submitting in another format, please contact us well before the deadline, after the submission, applicant should check their email regularly. MRAC may reach out with questions or request additional information. Regardless of the outcome, okay, this is where I come back to having been an applicant. Regardless of the outcome, it's a really significant accomplishment to submit an application and I wanna make sure that you spend time celebrating that accomplishment. When I was running an organization that was kind of a strange, funny organization, whenever we submitted grant application, we all stopped whatever we were doing, pulled off our spreadsheets, pulled off our marketing copy and we all threw our hands in the air and cheered like we were Muppets. And that's silly, I know, but this is really hard work and celebrating each step of the way is how I kept going. So I encourage you to find ways to celebrate it every step of this process. Speaking of celebration, let's say you get an award, yay. Hands up in the air again, like a Muppet. This is another opportunity for celebration. There's a photo here that's cropped of celebratory fireworks over water. There's a credit to Harri Hedman. This is a picture from Finland apparently. Thank you Wikicommons. So here are the next steps. If you are awarded a grant award, grantees must submit a W9 and will receive a 1099 miscellaneous income form from us dated in 2024. So what does this mean? Grant checks will be made out to you as an individual, not to an organization, other entity. And it means that this grant award may be considered taxable income for you. Payment plans are available from MRAC. We will develop a payment plan specific to you that minimizes disruption to disability benefits and other social safety net programs. So we don't want that to be a reason why you don't apply. As you promote your project, you will need to use the appropriate language and logos and all the promotion of funded activities. We saw some of those logos earlier. Also be sure to communicate project changes. We know things change from your application to your actual production of whatever activities you're doing, it's important to communicate project changes, especially significant ones so that we can make sure that they follow grant guidelines. You will also be expected to submit a final report, which has you sort of track reporting back on information that we ask you to track along the way, like how you actually spent the money, attendance, numbers, addresses, and you're required to report back on all of this. That final report is gonna be due two months after your proposal end date. So you get a little period of rest after you finish your activities and then you'll submit the final report two months later. This all of this is a general heads up to set some expectations of what will be expected of you if you are awarded a grant and your grant notification will email will include links and information about these requirements. It'll be a reminder once you actually get a grant. So with that, that's the end of what I have to present today. Thank you so much for your interest. I hope we get to connect through the process. Each and one of you is doing really important work for the community and honestly I see part of my role is to cheerlead to tell you that you're amazing. So I wanna say now you're amazing. Thanks for joining us for this experience and hopefully we'll connect soon.