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Guidelines and Instructions

Performing Arts Directory

Application Deadline: March 15

All Kentucky Arts Council grants and programs for FY2011 (for activities occurring between July 1, 2010 thru June 30, 2011) are currently under review. Guidelines and Instructions posted are for reference only and are subject to change. New "Applications" and "Guidelines and Instructions" will be posted once the review process has been completed.

Application to this program must be made via Kentucky Arts Services OnLine (KASOL). The Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) strongly encourages you to read and understand the Performing Arts Directory guidelines and each step of the application process before accessing the application at www.culturegrants-ky.org.

Program Purpose

The purpose of the Performing Arts Directory is to promote, showcase and provide professional development opportunities to a diverse selection of Kentucky's finest contemporary and traditional performing artists.

Goals

• To provide performing arts venues with access to experienced, professional performing artists
  
  
• To provide training for artists to better market themselves as professional performing artists
  
  
• To support the artistic growth of outstanding professional artists

Performance Expectations

Your application will be reviewed using the following performance expectations:

1. Artistic Excellence (60%)

• Excellence and individuality of artists' current work

2. Performance Experience (30%)

• Performance experience within or outside of Kentucky

3. Marketing Capacity (10%)

• Effective communication and marketing materials and/or plans for creating such materials

Program Description

The Performing Arts Directory is an adjudicated roster of Kentucky professional performing artists who have an established performance/touring history. The Directory is used by in-state and out-of-state presenters and others as a resource for identifying artists for performance bookings and projects. Additionally, the Kentucky Arts Council promotes performers from the Directory in various performance venues throughout the year.

Kentucky presenters interested in booking artists included in the Performing Arts Directory may apply for partial artists' fees through the Kentucky Arts Council's Performing Arts On Tour Grant Program.

All incoming Directory artists are provided with free professional development to enhance their marketing and promotion skills. This mandatory, one-day orientation will be held Wednesday, July 15, 2009, at a Central Kentucky location and will include such topics as Introduction to the Kentucky Arts Council and its services; Making the Most of your Directory Membership; Creating Dynamic Promotional Materials; Effective Showcasing; Working with Presenters; and much more. Returning Directory artists are encouraged, though not required, to attend.

Program Support

The Kentucky Arts Council staff will offer the following support to ensure that the program standards and goals are met:

• The Performing Arts Directory is an online directory and may be accessed at artistdirectory.ky.gov. Each artist selected for this program has their own page through this site that includes a bio, photograph, performance descriptions and booking information.
  
  
• The KAC will provide opportunities for presenting artists from the Performing Arts Directory to in- and out-of-state presenters. Kentucky On Stage, a performer showcase and booking conference, is one such opportunity that takes place each year.
  
  
• The KAC will include artists from the Performing Arts Directory in performing and marketing opportunities in association with other Kentucky Arts Council programs. Kentucky Crafted: The Market includes two days of live performances by artists from the Performing Arts Directory as well as opportunities to sell CD's, DVD's through wholesale outlets and to the general public.
  
  
• Through various programs of the KAC, artists selected for the Performing Arts Directory may receive assistance to attend special performance and marketing opportunities such as the Performing Arts Exchange sponsored by the Southern Arts Federation.

Who May Apply

Professional artists, age 21 or older, may apply, including individual artists, companies or groups in dance, theatre, music, storytelling or other performing disciplines. Performers who have been approved for inclusion in the Performing Arts Directory twice, consecutively, are not required to re-jury and will be grandfathered in annually. An assessment process will be in place to determine continued participation. All other performers are required to reapply every two years.

Directory artists who experience a change in status (such as switching from a group to a solo act or vice versa) must reapply. If you are uncertain as to whether or not you need to reapply to the Directory, please contact the program director.

Performers whose repertoire consists primarily of covers of contemporary music or songs that are not in the public domain are not eligible to apply.

Applicants must have been full-time Kentucky residents for at least six months prior to the application deadline, and remain full-time residents for the program participation period. For proof of residency, applicants must submit a copy of two of the following at the time of application:

• Kentucky drivers license which includes the date issued and expiration date
• State of Kentucky identification card which includes the date issued and expiration date
• Voter registration card with the seal of the County Clerk’s office
• Kentucky state income tax forms for the most recent year

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, or lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence or have permission from the Department of Homeland Security to work permanently in the U.S.

How to Apply

To access and complete the Performing Arts Directory application, please go to www.culturegrants-ky.org.

Program Timeline

Application deadline	March 15, 2009
Deadline for submission of paper copy of the application and attachments	Within 7 Calendar days of March 15, 2009
Review of applications by panel	April, 2009
KAC board reviews panel recommendations	June, 2009
Applicant notification	As soon as possible after board meeting

Application

Completed application forms must be submitted via Kentucky Arts Services OnLine (KASOL) by the deadline. Upon online submission, applicants will receive a confirmation e-mail with the application PDF attached. If you do not receive a confirmation, contact the KAC immediately. Print and sign the PDF and mail/deliver it to the KAC along with the required work samples in accordance with the guidelines. The PDF and materials must be received in the KAC office within seven calendar days of the deadline date. KAC offices will be open until 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday (EST). If the application deadline date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a state/federal holiday, the deadline date will be the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or a state/federal holiday. If the KAC does not receive these items by close of business on the seventh day, your application will be considered ineligible.

Following the deadline, each application will be reviewed by the program director, who may contact the applicant if clarification is needed. Applicants will be notified by e-mail or letter of their status in the application/panel process.

Supporting Materials

Biographies, work samples and promotional materials are required for this program. They must be submitted in accordance with the following instructions:

Biographies

Biographies are an important part of the panel review. The biography tells the panelists who you are, where you are from, your performance style, group members’ names and instruments (if applicable), venues in which you have performed, other performers with whom you have performed, important projects in which you have been involved and any other relevant information. This can be written for an individual or for a group collectively. You may include the biography in your press kits.

Work Samples

Work samples are the primary means by which panelists assess artistic and professional quality. Please consider your choice of work samples carefully in relation to the program’s Performance Expectations. Be sure to also describe important points about the quality, scope and depth of your work in the application narrative.

Do not submit masters or one-of-a-kind recordings.

Work samples and support materials will not be returned.

Work samples should support the selected discipline or medium. Applicants must submit work completed within the past three calendar years (e.g., for the application deadline of March 15, 2009 - eligible work should have been created between January 1, 2006 and March 15, 2009.)

All work samples will be mailed to the Kentucky Arts Council with the completed and signed application PDF. Please note: Label each CD and/or DVD with the artist's name, KASOL application #, and the title and running time of each piece.

Dance and Theatre: Submit up to three (3) different samples of performance work. Performances may consist of individual pieces or a series. The three samples may be combined onto one DVD if chapters are provided. Three (3) copies of this DVD must be submitted. If chapters are not provided the work samples must be submitted on three separate DVDs. Three sets must be submitted for a total of nine DVDs. Samples may be completed works or excerpts of no more than ten minutes.

Music: Submit up to three (3) different work samples compiled on one CD. Three (3) copies of this CD must be submitted. Samples may be completed works or excerpts of no more than ten minutes and should demonstrate proficiency in the proposed art form.

Storytelling: Storytelling: Submit up to three (3) different samples on either CD or DVD, following the same requirements for dance, theatre and music. Three (3) copies of this CD or DVD must be submitted.

Required Promotional Materials

All required promotional and marketing materials are reviewed by the panelists and are considered in the selection process for the Performing Arts Directory. Materials are also used by the Kentucky Arts Council and others for promotional and marketing purposes. Please note the following suggestions regarding promotional packets and the requirements regarding promotional photographs:

Photographs

Photographs are very important and should always be of the highest quality possible. If performers want their photographs to be used in promotion, then the photographs must be of publishable and reproducible quality. When artists are selected for the Kentucky Arts Council's Performing Arts Directory, artists' photographs are used in the online Directory and at many times through the year on signs, flyers, ads and brochures. Poor quality photographs reflect poorly on the professionalism of the artist and will result in reduced scores from the panelists reviewing applications.

There are many opportunities for using both color and black and white photographs. It is suggested that performers have color as well as black and white photos available for promotional use.

For detailed instructions on preparation, formatting and submission of digital images, see Image Preparation.

Press Kits

Applicants to the Performing Arts Directory must submit three (3) copies of a press kit. The following suggestions are made to help you prepare materials that are generally contained in a standard press kit. These materials don't have to be expensively produced, but they should be clean copies, neatly assembled in a folder and easy to read. A press kit usually contains the following elements:

• Demo recording: Attractively packaged CD or DVD with a listing of the contents. The demo provides an opportunity for the presenter to hear or see your performance material.
  
  
• Photographs: One or more high-quality publicity photographs of the artist or group. At least one photograph should be a performance shot. (See more details listed below about requirements for photographs).
  
  
• Biography: Details about you and/or your group. Include information about your performance style, where you have performed, with whom you have performed and/or important projects in which you have been involved. The biography should include any information that will be relevant to a presenter seeking performers. This can be written for an individual performer or for a group collectively and may be the same as your required application biography.
  
  
• Marketing Copy: No more than 200-words in length, the marketing copy should be written in the third person (for example, John Smith is a seasoned veteran of the bluegrass stage. His lively concerts have taken him across the country from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon.) It should include a description of the artist/group and the type of performance(s) offered for bookings through the Directory. Note: If selected for the program, this text will be used in your Performing Arts Directory entry.
  
  
• Touring History: Include information on where and when you have performed. Give presenters an idea of the range of venues where you have performed and the length of time that you have been performing. If you have been performing for many years, discuss that and then provide details about some of the most important venues in the past two to three years. Letters of recommendation from venues at which you have performed may also be included here. Click here for instructions on formatting your Touring History. (http://artscouncil.ky.gov/prog3/pad_TouringHistory.htm.)
  
  
• Press clippings: Use copies of feature stories, reviews, and any other material that has been reported about you or your group. You can also include quotes from venues and/or fans.
  
  
• Contact information: Your booking contact’s name, phone number, e-mail address, mailing address, fax and Web site address should be listed on all your materials.
  
  
• Business card.

Optional Application Materials

• Applicants may also submit additional supporting materials such as performance programs, reviews or any other relevant information that will help give the panel an understanding of the artist, group or performances. Please be sure that each item has your name clearly marked.
  
  
• Letters of support from previous presenters or others who have booked you for performances may also be submitted. Please make sure that letters of support or other photocopied materials are on standard-size (8 1/2" x 11"), single-sided, white paper only.

If selected for the Performing Arts Directory, the above materials may be used on the KAC Web site and in other promotional materials.

Artist Selection

A panel of professional performers and presenters, knowledgeable about contemporary and traditional performing arts, will review all applications according to the performance expectations. Please be aware that panelists include people from inside and outside Kentucky, who may be unfamiliar with Kentucky's organizations and artists.

Appeals

There are no appeals in this category.

For More Information

The Kentucky Arts Council welcomes all questions regarding this program. For more information, please contact:

Tamara Coffey
Individual Artist Program Director
502-564-3757 Ext. 479
E-mail: Tamara.Coffey@ky.gov

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