• Use your Program Director: NEA Program Directors are very open to
  getting calls from prospective applicants. They can help you craft your
  proposal to better fit NEA guidelines and are generally strong supporters of
  the field. The directors of Artist Communities, Visual Arts and
  Literature have met with the Alliance and are well aware of what the field
  offers to individual artists. They want to help you be successful, so don’t
  hesitate to contact them. You should contact your
  Program Director or Specialist at least a month before the application deadline.
• Define your project clearly: The NEA is limited to supporting
  projects; however, there are many ways to carve out a portion of your
  regular activities and call it a project. Outreach to a particular
  constituency, support for artists that have never done a residency
  previously, or support for artists from under-represented states are all
  examples of projects.
• Artistic excellence is key: Half of the score attributed to all
  proposals falls into the artistic excellence category. Since most artists’
  communities are applying for support for artists that have not yet been
  selected, other factors must demonstrate artistic excellence. The following
  are ways to communicate this to the panel:
  1. Representative list of alumni, including media in which they work, titles
     of well-known works, and other identifying characteristics.
  2. List of selection panelists -- since they do not know specifically which
     artists will be served, knowing who will select them is an important
     consideration. If you have closed panels, a representative list of past
     panelists could be acceptable.
  3. Fully describe the support given to artists in residence. This includes
     facilities support, technical support, meals, lodging, travel expenses,
     exhibition/presentation opportunities, stipends, etc. If you provide
     stipends, be sure to indicate all other supports offered. A stipend from a
     program where meals and lodging are provided is very different from a
     stipend at a program where nothing is provided.
  4. Submit strong work samples. A tremendous amount of how your application
     will be viewed depends upon the quality and professionalism of the artist
     work samples provided. It is essential that you submit samples of work
     created at your residency center, not simply slides of your facilities.
• Describe opportunities to engage with the public: Be sure to indicate
  whether these opportunities are required or optional, planned ahead or
  scheduled last minute. Managing the expectations of artists in this area is
  key. Anecdotal stories from NEA panelists reviewing the applications about
  the past experiences of their artist friends at your community can easily
  kill the prospects of an otherwise good application.
• Communicate the tangible (or more tangible) results of residency “synergy”:
  Many artists’ communities talk about the synergy that residencies create for
  artists -- between each other, across disciplines, etc. Be sure that if you
  mention this as a benefit of the program you fully describe how this
  manifests itself.
• Position your program within the field of artists’ communities and the
  broader arts community: Panelists are looking for you to explain what makes
  your program unique from all the other applications in front of them. This
  means explaining how you are different from other residency programs, but
  also how what you offer artists is different from “residencies” in schools,
  museums, performing arts centers, etc. The Alliance website is a great tool
  for researching the program details of other artists’ communities, helping
  you to better understand your uniqueness.

Access to Artistic Excellence applications are due mid-March of each year
Guidelines for applications are available online at
www.nea.gov.