Actor Mirron Willis wants to produce his play about the ravages of HIV/AIDS within the African-American community. Tony Haney is interested in teaching theatre to disadvantaged children. Michael D. Nye wants to help elementary school kids build self-esteem through improv classes.
Each was among the roughly 100 artists who attended a grant-writing seminar co-sponsored by The Actors' Fund of America and the Screen Actors Guild July 24 at the organizations' Hollywood headquarters. In talking with the actors attending, it became apparent that there is no shortage of creative, community-minded ideas in Los Angeles. Getting the money to make those ideas realities, however, requires a more practical mindset.
Thousands of artists and organizations receive federal-, state-, or city-funded grants to pay for their projects every year. Fortunately, funders of Southland artists and not-for-profit arts organizations are getting an influx of cash, though Congress continues to hamper the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA hasn't fully recovered since its annual budget was slashed 39 percent in 1996, but appropriations for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission's grants nearly doubled this year.
Joe Smoke, cultural grant program director for the city of Los Angeles' Department of Cultural Affairs, told seminar attendees they first have to know what their needs are and which programs will most likely provide for them. He emphasized that 90 percent of the grant-writing process is time spent researching. "The most important part of grant-writing is finding the right match for what you want to do," he said. "There's no sense in you dreaming up a project and then trying to force it onto a funder who doesn't have the same mission as you. Writing grants is really logical, much more than it is about your passion. You can be very, very passionate, but if you're not pragmatic about what you have to offer and what the funder's looking for, then it's not a good match. It's like a bad blind date. You're not going anywhere."
The DCA doled out $3 million to 280 L.A. artists last year, but Smoke noted that the department is still a relatively small funder. It offers grants in two categories: the City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship (COLA) and the Artist-in-Residence program. COLAs are awarded to handful of artists per year to prepare a new solo work. Applicants for this competitive fellowship — more than 400 applied last year — must have at least 15 years of experience in their discipline. AIRs support programs that help the community through roughly 200 hours of service and culminate with a performance or event. Applicants need only two years of experience to apply.
Janine Perron, director of grant programs for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, said LACAC's funds are given to nonprofit organizations, such as nonprofit theatre companies, rather than to individual artists. But in aiding theatres, the grants fund actors working even in 99-Seat theatres. "I think what's wonderful about the work we do here is that we support many, many small-budget theatres.... In '06-'07, 46 of our theatres had budgets under $500,000. That's about 70 percent."
Perron noted that of the 37 new grantees for the 2006-07 fiscal year, 16 are theatres. As announced July 20, LACAC gave a record $4,158,000 to 228 arts organizations thanks to an increase approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Perron said some applicants are looking to fund a specific performance or project but many also apply for help with salaries and day-to-day operations. "We've a very broad perspective of what a project is, because you can come in both for artistic things like commissioning new work but also for artists' fees, core operating [costs], support of rehearsal space, costumes, etc." For example, Theatre@Boston Court will receive $28,800 over two years to increase actors' fees and hire a full-time technical director. New grantee and first-time applicant Black Dahlia Theatre will use its $8,700 grant to pay its resident designers and commission two new plays.
The Dahlia's resident grant writer, Steven Klein, also a staff producer and actor, said grants are part of a strategy to advance the 5-year-old theatre. "For us, it's really about moving the Dahlia from the start-up theatre phase, where it's really the blood, sweat, and tears of our core team," he said. "But now we're getting older and more active. Basically we need to establish the theatre as something that can live and breathe on its own." Klein, who has been working in the nonprofit sector since his teens, said actors and theatres have to be smart about applying for and using grant money. "Grants are exciting, but they're not free money," he cautioned. "They're a strategic tool, and so we wanted to make sure we were using that tool wisely and toward our mission."
The good news for theatres applying for LACAC funds is that a well-written proposal may very well be approved. "The beauty of the Arts Commission is that our aim is to get money into the community, throughout the community, and we have a fairly rigorous process," said Perron. "So most people probably get funded. It's very exciting. It really shows [that] the county... understands the importance of the arts to enrich the lives of people in L.A."
For more information about Los Angeles County Arts Commission grants, visit www.lacountyarts.org. For more information about Los Angeles' Department of Cultural Affairs grants, visit www.culturela.org.