The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), on behalf of the Mayor and the City of Baltimore, is excited to announce the Creative Baltimore Grant for FY 2025. Through this grant opportunity, BOPA grants funds to qualified artists and arts and cultural organizations based in Baltimore City. The Creative Baltimore Fund is a grant made annually by the City of Baltimore. The annual allocation from the City’s general fund is administered by the Baltimore City Arts Council. The Creative Baltimore has two primary grant programs:  
 

• General Operating Support (GOS) provides core support for established arts or cultural organizations that benefit the public and are artistically or culturally vibrant. 
• Mayor’s Individual Artist Award – Project/Practice Support (PS) provides support for artists individual practice or program that promote public access and encourage the breadth of arts and/or cultural programming in our community. 

This application form is for the Mayor’s Individual Artist Award’s Project/Practice Support (PS). You may view a pdf preview of the application questions here.

Key Dates
    Application Opens: Wednesday, October 23, 2024
    Applicant Office Hours:  Sundays 12pm-1pm and Wednesdays from 6pm-7pm via Zoom (details below)
    Application Deadline: Monday, December 2, 2024 at 11:59pm
    Panel Review: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 – Monday, December 9, 2024 

(NOTE: there may be a "due diligence" process where a BOPA team member reaches out to applicants during this period to clarify any information in the application that may not be clear or needs verification before making a final scoring decision).
    Award Notifications: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
    Mandatory Site Visit: To be scheduled between February 2025 – June 2025  
    Mid-Year Report: Monday, June 2, 2025
    Final Report: Monday, December 1, 2025
 

PROJECT/PRACTICE SUPPORT program for FY25
   The purpose of the Creative Baltimore Fund Individual Artist Project/Practice Support grant program is to promote public access and encourage the breadth of arts and/or cultural programming in our community by supporting Baltimore City-based projects and/or creative processes. Projects are intended to promote the health and vitality of artist's individual practices and provide accessibility to arts and culture throughout Baltimore’s diverse neighborhoods Projects should promote active community participation and a process of discovery in art and culture.  

Grant Award
   The Mayor’s Individual Artist Project Support grant will award 10 artists with $3,000 grant awards. 100% of funds will be disbursed upon contract signing & processing.

Eligibility Criteria - Who May Apply
   To be eligible for the FY24 Project Support grant program, applicant individuals must meet each of the following criteria:  
    • Individual and/or groups of practicing professional artists 18 years of age or older organizing projects in Baltimore City with experience or background that demonstrates their ability to administer a community arts project or demonstrate a need to develop or enhance their artistry through a creative process.  
    • Have a permanent and viable base of operations in Baltimore City for at least one year prior to the grant application deadline.  
    • Have produced or presented arts / cultural program(s) open to the public within the previous two years prior to the grant application deadline.  
    • Provide the required financial documentation in the application.  

Who May NOT Apply
  The following individuals are not eligible to apply to the FY25 Project/Practice Support grant program (this list is not meant to be exhaustive):  

• Units of government; religious institutions without a separate 501c3 organization that specifically administers non-sectarian public programming; individuals who are not in good standing with BOPA and/or in compliance with previous grants.  
• Additionally, organizations receiving a General Operating Support grant from BOPA are NOT eligible to receive Project Support funding in the same grant cycle.  

Allowable Expenses 

• Studio or exhibition space rentals; 
• Cost of equipment/materials/supplies; 
• Costs for related vending (marketing collateral, photography of work, etc.) 
• Research/ creative process related work 

Unallowable Expenses 

• Partner organizations 
• Funds to support a guest artist in collaboration 
• Rental of a studio, recording, or exhibition space outside of Baltimore City 
• Religious ceremonies or events advancing or inhibiting a particular religious ideology; 
• Fundraising or advocacy of specific political causes or candidates; 
• Capital improvements (facilities and equipment); agent’s fees for programs contracted through commercial agencies; and travel outside of the United States. 

How to Apply
  Applications must be submitted via Submittable, which is a free platform. The application form consists of questions related to: contact information, programming experience, mission/vision, artistic discipline and pedagogy, and use of grant funds. There are also attachment fields, such as previous years programming budget and work samples/portfolio.
  The following materials are required and should be submitted with the completed application. Fields to upload each document are provided. Video, Audio and PDF documents are allowable submission formats.  

• Individual Artist Resume 
• Individual Artist List of Work 
• Project/ Practice Budget 

Panel Review
    All BOPA grant programs are adjudicated using panels of arts and culture professionals from the region who evaluate and score applications. Panelists are not BOPA employees or board members and are recruited through an application process or volunteer database.   

Rubric
    A panel review team will consider the following factors when scoring applications:  

• Artistic and/or cultural and programmatic merit 
• Accessibility to under-served communities and a wide range of audiences 
• Programmatic quality 
• Budget 

Office Hours Sessions
  Office hours are free, and open to any member of the public who is interested in applying for the grant. Office hours are structured to serve as application help or question-and-answer opportunities. All sessions are held via Zoom and hosted by Twi McCallum, Community Engagement Manager. 

Sunday, November 3 from 12pm-1pm 

Tuesday, November 5 from 6pm-7pm 

Sunday, November 10 from 12pm-1pm 

Tuesday, November 12 from 6pm-7pm 

Sunday, November 17 from 12pm-1pm 

Tuesday, November 19 from 6pm-7pm 

Sunday, November 24 from 12pm-1pm 

Tuesday, November 25 from 6pm-7pm 

Sunday, December 1 from 12pm-1pm 

ZOOM LINK FOR SUNDAY SESSIONS: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81747158864 

ZOOM LINK FOR TUESDAY SESSIONS: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84554597560 

Mandatory Site Visits & Reporting 

Community engagement, data collection, and reporting are a core component to BOPA’s overall mission and our grantmaking efforts. All awarded grantees will be required to schedule an in-person site visit and/or virtual meeting prior to the mid-year reporting deadline. The site visit is meant to be an opportunity to give BOPA staff an opportunity to learn about your work firsthand. Site visits can include a tour of a facility, and invite to an event, or an invite to a staff meeting, just as an example, for any tasks or work that was funded by the grant. Site visit information will be communicated upon contract signing.  

Mid-year reports will be provided via Submittable or another digital platform. This report should document any work done between January 2025 – June 2025, including program information, expenses, and an opportunity to share a timeline for programming through December 2025. 

Staff 

BOPA grant programs are administered by professional staff responsible for ensuring an objective, equitable and transparent grant-making process that meets BOPA’s mission and core values. BOPA staff members provide pertinent and uniform information to the public regarding the grant application process and ensure that program guidelines and requirements are applied consistently. Employees of BOPA are not eligible to apply for this grant. 

Ownership of Intellectual Property 

BOPA does not own, collect royalties on or hold copyrights to artistic products resulting from its grants, nor will it take any action on behalf of the grantee (cultural partner) to protect the grantee’s intellectual property rights. BOPA does, however, have legal authority to reproduce and use submitted documentation (electronically and in print) of such artistic products for educational, promotional, official, or noncommercial purposes.  

Questions 

For additional information on the General Operating Support FY25 application please contact: Twi McCallum, Community Engagement Manager, tmccallum@promotionandarts.org. News, updates, and technical assistance workshops will be posted on the BOPA website, Facebook page, Instagram page, and distributed through BOPA’s email distribution list. Interested applicants are encouraged to sign up at www.promotionandarts.org to receive notifications.