Jackson Free Press

The Mississippi Arts Commission offers an expanded version of its Minigrants program, coined Rapid Response Grants, to quickly assist with the evolving needs of artists and art organizations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual artists and organizations are encouraged to apply, with applications closing Friday, July 17, at 11:59 p.m.

Eligible individual artists may apply for up to $500 to host virtual demonstrations, to purchase art supplies, to create promotional materials, to pursue professional development, or to adapt their artistic works to online platforms such as digital portfolios or gallery tours.

Artist Minigrant applications are judged based on the artistic excellence of the applicant’s work and the degree to which the proposed project will help the applicant to create or adapt their artistic work. To determine artistic excellence, MAC considers the originality and vision of the work, the applied mastery of their discipline and the technique or process used to create the work.

To be eligible, individual artists must be professional artists, meaning that at least part of their annual income comes from artistic work and that they consider artistic endeavors as a career, maintain a high level of artistic quality and make a significant time investment in artistic disciplines through practice, performance or production.

Applicants must also be 18 years old or older, but they may not be full-time students. They must be permanent, legal residents of Mississippi at the time of application and throughout the grant period. Applicants may be required to show proof of residence such as a driver’s license, proof of domicile, or homestead or utility bills.

Individual artists are required to send in a narrative describing themselves as an artist and how this Rapid Response Minigrant will assist them. Artists should also be prepared to submit the following information through the eGRANT application system: a current artistic résumé, documentation that supports the funding request and work samples that have been created within the last three years.

Those with questions about the Minigrant program, or who want to determine the eligibility of their projects, may contact one of the following MAC Program Staff members, based on your artistic discipline: visual arts and fine art crafts, Wilburn Smith, 601-359-6030, [email protected]; performing arts, Leslie Barker, [email protected]; literary arts, Kristen Brandt, [email protected]; and folk and traditional and film/media arts, Maria Zeringue, [email protected].

For more information concerning individual artists, visit here.

Art organizations may apply for up to $1,000 in grant assistance for similar reasons as individual artists. Funds may also be used to hire MAC roster artists or to pursue organizational professional development such as hiring a consultant or attending training for emergency response and future preparedness, strategic planning or other adaptive organizational pursuits.

To be eligible, organizations must be based in Mississippi, must be incorporated in Mississippi as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, or be a unit of local government, such as a school, library or another county or municipal agency. Units of local government may be required to provide documentation of their status as a government agency.

Applications should be complete, including all required information and materials. Incomplete applications will not be considered for funding. Please be prepared to submit the following information through the eGRANT system:

Organizations must submit a Dun & Bradstreet, or DUNS, number; budget itemization, if needed to show additional information on the project; and biographies (no more than a half page each) of the key artistic and administrative personnel working on the project, both paid and volunteer. They must also submit a list of their board of directors, indicating their ethnic make-up and members with disabilities. Public schools should submit a list of the current members of their school board. Governmental entities should submit a list of their municipal or county level governing boards.

The art organizations who are applying to MAC for the first time or whose last application was more than three years ago must submit a copy of their official IRS 501(c)3 determination letter. Public schools, libraries and other agencies of local government are exempt from this requirement.

Learn more about Rapid Response Grants for organizations here.