For Artists and Organizations
Join the Arts Education Artist Registry
Artists in Schools & Communities
Artist Registry Guidelines
CONTENTS
- Get the Application
- Programs
- Goals
- Registry Qualifications
- Time Commitment
- Residency Planning
- Professional Development
- Criteria for Evaluating Applications
- How to Apply
- What to Submit
- Click here to search the Registry
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The Arts and Education program supports a wide range of residencies by professional working artists and local or regional arts organizations (touring or locally based).
The Arts and Education program has three options, which provide participatory experiences in arts learning that increase or strengthen participants' knowledge and skills in the arts.
- Artist Visits: The artist comes for one to four days with no more than four hours of contact time per day.
- Short-term residencies: These last one to four weeks, or a total of 5 to
20 days over a longer period of time.
Long-term residencies: These are residencies of five weeks or longer, up to one year. - Special projects: This funding broadly supports the creation of projects that establish, expand, or advance both school curriculum and educational arts programming. (Workshops or mentoring for teachers would be great.) Projects that support and encourage the community's lifelong learning, appreciation, and enjoyment of the arts are also funded. Special projects often are sponsored by partnerships between schools, local and or regional arts institutions and organizations, arts agencies, tribes, and/or civic groups.
Activities are hands-on and process-oriented so it's important for the artist to be able to clearly communicate the concepts and skills of the chosen art form and to relate well to people in a variety of educational settings.
Montana Arts Council's Operational Blueprint for 2008-2013
A FRAMEWORK FOR ARTS EDUCATION
Provide access to high quality arts education in order to develop the full creative potential of all Montanans.
Arts Education Frame #1: Life-long Learning
Outcome We Want: All Montanans regardless of potential barriers find access to arts education opportunities, contributing to life-long learning and creative expression. Potential barriers include geographic, physical, emotional, age, economic, intellectual and cultural.
Arts Education Frame #2: K-12
Outcome We Want: All Montana K-12 students have the opportunity to study a curriculum that enables them to achieve the Montana Board of Public Education's Standards for Arts, thereby providing all the arts for all the students in all the schools.
One must be a practicing artist working within one's craft on a professional level, with substantial experience working in arts education, or an arts organization offering fully developed workshops for children or adults.
The workshops offered during Montana Arts Council sponsored residencies or visits must be hands-on and process-oriented workshops for groups of 30 or less that teach the fundamental knowledge and skills of the art form.
To apply to the program, you must complete a residency funded by the Montana Arts Council's Artist in Schools and Communities grant program and receive a positive evaluation.
Please note that experience is not limited to traditional school settings. For example, teaching an arts program through a local organization such as the YWCA, passing on traditional arts such as beadwork or Celtic singing, or working within the community in other ways would also qualify. The artist's past experience doing short-term or long-term residencies may also be something the sponsors consider.
Within the first two years of being accepted artists must attend a professional development workshop offered by the Montana Arts Council or substitute an equivalent workshop.
An Artist Visit program—one to four days.
Short-term residencies—one to four weeks.
Long-term residencies last five weeks or longer, up to one year.
For all residencies four hours of contact time is considered a full day. Each classroom visit would last approximately 45 to 60 minutes, and the actual length of the classes would be set according to the needs and ages of the students. This translates into roughly 20 hours per week for instruction. Residencies need not take place on consecutive days.
For special projects, the artist or arts organization will work out specific timelines for completion directly with each sponsor.
The schedule is fairly flexible depending on the needs of the sponsor. However, the artist/arts organization and the local organization must agree on the residency goals and schedule in advance. It is essential to establish these goals and the schedule prior to submission of the sponsor's grant application to the Arts Council.
The artists and arts organizations should work with communities and schools in meaningful pre-residency planning, appropriate to the length of the residency. Naturally, longer residencies require more extensive pre-planning than do short encounters. The Arts Council also strongly suggests that the visiting artist or arts organization provide the schools and community organizations with pre- and post-residency ideas and materials. Think about how to help prepare the students and participants for the visit and how they can make the most of what they've been taught, after the artist or arts organization leaves. Consider these materials as effective marketing tools for the artist and arts organization that will leave a positive lasting impression in the sponsor's mind.
For those artists and arts organizations working in the schools, please discuss meaningful curriculum connections with the teachers during your planning meetings. A class may be following a particular thematic unit or they may be at a specific point in the curriculum that you can integrate into your residency activities.
Think about how you can connect your residency activities to the Montana Standards For Arts. The Arts Standards as well as the standards for all the other subject areas are available online at http://www.opi.state.mt.us/standards/index.html You may request a hard copy from the Office of Public Instruction, PO Box 202501, Helena, MT 59620-2501 (406)444-3114.
Professional development for the teachers is an important part of residencies lasting one week or longer. It can be in any format agreed upon by the artist or arts organization and the sponsor. This can take the form of workshops, informal discussions during lunch, or mentoring in the classroom.
Professional development for artist, folklorists and arts organizations is a priority. It is important to be adept at classroom instruction, community involvement and effective teacher training. The Montana Arts Council offers periodic required professional development for Registry artists. If you are new to the program you may work with an experienced residency artist as a mentor. Contact Beck McLaughlin to discuss the possibility of a mentor to guide you through the process, 1-800-282-3092. You may attend any residency as an observer and gain advice on planning your workshop activities, materials and evaluation.
Criteria for Evaluating Applications
- Artistic excellence
- Experience as a practicing artist, folklorist or performing company on a professional level
- High quality communication and teaching skills necessary to:
- Share ideas clearly and concisely
- Actively engage participants in the creative process
- Provide creative ideas for residency plans, and the ability to implement them
- Arts education experience, fieldwork or prior residency activity
- The strength and diversity of one's references
For all applications, please submit work and writing that best reflects the above criteria.
Registry applications submitted to the Montana Arts Council will be converted to hypertext for the Artist Registry. Where possible, please submit materials electronically by email (bemclaughlin@mt.gov), a CD or a floppy disk. This will speed the process of placing your materials online. Once you are accepted, potential sponsors will review materials online and contact you directly to obtain more information and to discuss terms. They are also encouraged to contact the references that you have supplied. It is important to include as references, people who are familiar with your work as an artist-in-residence. Make sure people you submit as references are aware that potential sponsors may contact them.
Grant Applications From Sponsors:
There is no deadline. The Montana Arts Council or its designees will
review applications on an ongoing basis. Completed applications,
including budget and schedule must be submitted at least six weeks
before the visit, residency or special project is to begin. If the
request is for $2000 or more the application must be received at
least three months before the scheduled starting date. Applications
for long-term residencies, regardless of amount, must be received
at least three months before the scheduled starting date. Funding
is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Guidelines for
sponsors and the application are available at
http://art.mt.gov/schools/schools_aiscguidelines.asp
Arts Council assistance:
The Arts Council will provide assistance facilitating situations that
may arise between the artists/arts organizations working with sponsors.
Please be assured that the Arts Council values enormously the artists
and arts organizations involved in this program, and we are here to assist
in any way needed.
The Montana Arts Council's online Artist Registry contains complete information about artists available for residencies in Montana. There is a page for each artist or organization in the Artists in Schools and Communities section of the Montana Arts Council web site. The page includes a photo, bio, sample workshop description, an artist statement, artist fees, contact information for three references and work samples. Please visit the online Registry at http://art.mt.gov/schools/artedmenu.asp before applying for listing in the Registry. This will help you develop the information you wish to make available to teachers, schools and other potential sponsors. A paper listing containing artist contact information and discipline is available to sponsors upon request.
All Disciplines:
- The completed application, including answers to all the questions, signed by the applicant
- Current one-page narrative bio (not resume)
- Complete contact information for three references: Two should be from schools, community organizations, or institutions, or from other sources which may include traditional gatherings, pow-wows, or religious gathering places, at which the applicant has presented classes, workshops, or a similar presentation; and one should be able to speak to the applicant's rapport with children if one works with young people.
- One endorsement quotation (optional, and with attribution of the source of the quote and their organization and title)
- A photograph of the applicant (which will appear on the Artists Registry)
Please find the appropriate artistic discipline below and follow the instructions for supplying specific support materials. All support materials should reflect one's best work. Please submit work samples of the highest quality. Original artwork will not be accepted. The Montana Arts Council accepts no liability for the loss or damage of original or one-of-a-kind materials and cannot be responsible for original artwork submitted under the Arts and Education application process.
The sponsors will be informed that they should contact the artist or arts organization directly for additional work samples, reviews, etc.
Specifics for Each Discipline
Folk / Traditional Arts
Please contact Beck McLaughlin, Education Director, for specific
items to submit, phone 800-282-3092 or email bemclaughlin@mt.gov.
Literature
- Fiction and creative nonfiction—One writing sample, maximum 3 pages
- Playwriting—two reviews, if the applicant has them; if not, please substitute one letter addressing the quality of applicant's work which will appear with the information on the Artists Registry. The Arts Council realizes that an adequate writing sample for a play needs to be significantly longer, typically 10-20 pages, so the sponsor will contact the writer directly to obtain this sample.
- Poetry—Maximum 2 pages
All material should be single-spaced, printed only on one side of page, and pages should be numbered. The applicant's name, title of the story, novel, play, poem, or identifying title of the piece should appear at the top of every page. If possible, please submit literature work samples by email (bemclaughlin@mt.gov), a CD or a floppy disk.
Performing Arts
Two reviews, if the applicant has them, if not, please substitute a letter addressing the quality of applicant's work, which will appear with the information on the Artists Registry. If you would like to include an audio clip, please submit a CD.
Sponsors will be strongly encouraged to request a video or audiotape, where appropriate. Consequently, please be prepared to respond promptly and professionally if a sponsor makes such a request.
Visual Arts, Design Arts, Crafts, Photography, Media Arts
- Crafts, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture—Three 35mm color slides or 4 x 6 color photographs of work
- Media/filmmaking—Three 35mm color slides or 4 x 6 color photographs of work or 30-second video clip (call for format)
Instructions for all slides and photographs submitted: The submission should be well photographed. When surface or texture is important or if the work is 3-dimensional, the slide or photograph should show that detail. For slides, the image should be labeled with an "X" in the lower left-hand corner when holding it right-side-up with the correct left-to-right orientation. For all slides and photographs, the applicant's name and identifying information (including title of the piece if applicable) should appear on the back. If the images are available in digital form please submit them by email (bemclaughlin@mt.gov), CD, or floppy disk.
