: Funding Queens Arts: Artists Work Through Grant Process To Breathe Life Into Their Creations

Queens Community Arts Fund Director Vivian Warfield knows that the Queens Council on the Arts is regranting money to artists and non-profit organizations offering cultural programming.

She knows that grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 are available and that deserving recipients are out there. And so she’s distributing postcards, calling newspapers and updating the Queens Council on the Arts Web site. She’s doing all she can to ensure that the October application deadline doesn’t come and go without the artists of Queens knowing that funding exists.

She meets with people about their dreams.

Information Overload

Warfield arrived at Woodhaven Community Library Tuesday in time to set up the sign-in table with the Council’s various pamphlets and grant writing guide. The evening’s information session, one of 13 offered – and a requirement for all applicants – was scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. By 6 p.m. two people were in attendance; three, including the library employee who was on-hand to translate the session into Spanish.

Warfield took a seat in the nearly empty library basement. She called the library a “cultural gem,” but acknowledged that its early closing time limits her ability to reach people who work into the evening hours.

Warfield leads separate information sessions for individual artists and organizations because application prerequisites differ. In order to be eligible, individual artists must live in Queens and their work must somehow reach the citizens of Queens. Non-profit organizations, however, must be Queens-based, in existence for at least one year and offer cultural activities to Queens residents.

Looking around the room, Warfield welcomed portrait artist Roger Kirkland and Director of the Turkish American Multicultural Educational Foundation Veysel Ucan.

“They have to get here when they get here,” she said of the mixed crowd.

Warfield patiently guided them through the application guidelines. One instruction, that applications must be submitted in 12 point font, gave an attendee pause. Warfield pointed to the manual to explain the size. Well-aware that not everyone owns a computer, she will frequently invite applicants to her office for further assistance.

In addition to providing technical support, Warfield directs artists and organizations toward applying for the appropriate grant. Funding for this regrant program is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. Required documents for the different grants vary, but the Council provides a straightforward application checklist.

“For those who are not savvy, it’s work in the beginning, but it gets easier and easier,” Warfield said.

Winning a grant, Warfield said, frequently catapults artists’ careers and encourages them to apply for larger and more prestigious grants, which can provide for even further exposure.

News that winners can reapply the next year rubbed those present at the information session the wrong way.

“We like to spread the money around,” Warfield assured them.

A Past Winner Speaks

Natalie Green, 34, is the founder of Dance Entropy, a professional modern dance company based in Long Island City. Green moved from Brooklyn to Queens in 2005 because she saw a lack of dance organizations, classes and rehearsal spaces where she was.

She had moved to New York City in 1995 and by 1999 was piecing together a “meager living” as a teacher, performer, choreographer, dance administrator and dance videographer. When she applied for regranting last year, she was no stranger to the application process and had a clear idea of her vision.

“I knew what I was doing and what my plan was,” she said. “It had to involve the community in conjunction with the piece, and so I did community workshops on the theme of shedding.”

Green was awarded regrant funds from the state, which she put toward creating a piece called “The Shedding.” She targeted the immigrant population, bringing dancers and non-dancers into her studio to “find what their limitations [were] and try to get rid of them… In the process we were creating movement.”

“The Shedding” was the featured work in the now annual Greenspace Bloom Festival.

Green says she thought of the $2,500 grant as additional income.

“Being awarded a grant helps a project, but does not fund the entire project budget,” she said. Although Warfield doesn’t like to think of the grant as a cushion, she respects the artist’s struggle to keep up with the cost of living.

Now a seasoned grant writer, Green has advice for prospective grantees.

“It’s a time-consuming affair to be researching and writing grants, when you may not be granted,” she said. “The key is to stay positive, motivated, keep honing your grant writing skills, and artistic work and hopefully your efforts will eventually pay off.”

An Artist With Hope

Jamaica resident Chuk Fowler is a pianist, composer and band leader. Now that he’s retired he has time to look into applying for a QCA grant.

“It’s a necessary evil if you will. Sometimes we feel that there’s a situation between the grantors and the grantees,” Fowler said, adding, “What kind of hoops do they want us to jump through?”

In the past, Fowler has been turned off by the “million and one questions” that applicants are asked. He is gathering courage to apply, however, and plans to attend an upcoming information session.

“I’m committed to getting my work out, so I just have to do whatever I can to accomplish that,” he said. “And hence I’ve challenged myself to do my best to not be intimidated.”

Fowler’s band, Higher Energy, is jazz oriented but its sound drifts into Latin, Brazilian and Funk.

“We believe in the healing power of music and our presentation is big into audience participation,” he said.

Now that he has played weddings, corporate events and private parties, an ultimate artistic dream is beginning to solidify in his head.

“I would like to experience sitting down and having a cup of tea with the experience of having just played – I won’t even say a concert, I’ll say an event – where people wept with joy in their hearts, with warmth and with ready compassion for other people.”

Fowler has yet to attend an information session, but he is confident in his chances.

“Of necessity I’ve got to feel optimistic,” he said. “Why would I even put forth the effort if I didn’t believe in some qualified sense that there was a sense of it happening.”

Still, he knows that the need for funding is perpetual.

“When you receive a grant you can smile,” he said. “But it’s a very precarious situation to be in.”

Peer Panel

Funding decisions are made by what’s called a “peer panel.” The QCA is currently in desperate need for more panelists and has posted an open call on its Web site. Panelists are compensated and asked to attend funded programs throughout the year.

Green served on a QCA panel prior to applying for the grant.

“Being on a panel is an interesting learning experience,” she said. “What makes an effective or weak proposal becomes evident when comparing and discussing the many proposals before you.”

According to Green, panelists must consider how well the proposal is articulated, the impact the project will have on the Queens community and if the community in question is indeed in need of such a program.

The review process takes approximately two months. Once applications are received the QCA must confirm that they are complete before distributing them to the peer panel. Should information be missing, applicants have the opportunity to submit additional materials. Notification letters are mailed out in mid-December and any appeals must be made within seven days of receiving notification of the funding decision.

More To Come

Warfield spends a large portion of her free time attending arts events in Queens, what she calls the “borough of choice.” QCA is required to attend 75 percent of it funded programs. She derives great joy when those funded by QCA go on to receive grants at the state and national level.

Warfield will be leading another 11 information sessions in the weeks to come. She says she always enjoys “grant and funding season” because of the opportunity it affords to bring emerging artists and organizations into the granting “ecosystem.” Warfield, like those she serves, has a natural calling: nurturing creativity.

For more information, go to www.queenscouncilarts.org.