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ARTISTS:
CALL FOR YOUR NEWS
May 16 - June 13, 2020
DEADLINE: Tues. May 12 

Send your news to: Meri@culturalalliancefc.org
DEADLINE: Tues. May 12, noon, at latest. 
  • Please include all group shows, awards, publications etc.
  • Please send links to images - on a website, Facebook, Instagram. 
  • We welcome your comments on the pieces you are exhibiting, publishing, virtually performing etc.
  • We're happy to answer your questions or field responses.
Reminder: Deadline Today
NEW CT OFFICE OF THE ARTS 
EMERGENCY GRANTS FOR ARTISTS
The Connecticut Artists Relief Fund  provides $500 grants to some 120
individual artists and teaching artists who live in the state and whose creative practices and incomes are being adversely impacted by the safety measures put into place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.  The grant is partly funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts Guía de Instrucciones en Español.
The Connecticut Artists Respond Grant helps artists translate and present their art virtually. Individual or collaborative artists who create, or have   created, projects that respond to the needs of the times by presenting arts activities, classes or other creative experiences online, at no cost to the public, will be eligible for $1,000 (individual) or $2,000 (collaborative) grants. Guía de Instrucciones en Español.
Relief Grant applications will be vetted to confirm eligibility and then the 150 recipients will be selected by a random process. You will need to complete an application form showing how much income you have lost. The Artists Respond Grant is a project grant, designed to pay artists for their own time and for necessary materials and tools to produce virtual programs. See this bi-lingual Powerpoint presentation made by the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County for its information session presented on Zoom, in partnership with Rene Soto and Santiago Cabrera, April 24.  For specific questions, artists may contact Tamara Dimitri at tamara.dimitri@ct.gov and teaching artists may contact Bonnie Koba at bonnie.koba@ct.gov.​
#CAFCArtistoftheDay - Please Join In!
We invite you all to submit an image of work you have created in the last 8 weeks, plus a short statement about what in the current crisis situation may have triggered the work. Email me the image, technical detail and statement to me at david@culturalalliancefc.orgCheck #CAFCArtistoftheDay each day on our FacebookInstagram and Twitter pages. Please "like" and "share." Thank you!
The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County (CAFC) is delighted to announce its VIRTUAL INNOVATION CHALLENGE, open to artist members of the CAFC and their collaborators.

Recognizing the challenge of the current crisis of viral infection and social isolation, and how it affects the creation of current forms of artistic expression, CAFC, in partnership with Beechwood Arts & Innovation, and with help from an anonymous donor, seeks  to support solutions to this situation.

The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County offers the VIRTUAL INNOVATION CHALLENGE as an incentive for artists, musicians and performers, working across all media, to create innovative, interactive, virtual programs, and new virtual methods of engagement, that can generate income and provide possible new forms for sustainability. 

Programs can build on existing forms, such as exhibits, talks, lectures, classes, dance/theater/music experiences, etc., but must have an innovative/new element and must clearly provide opportunities to generate income. 

Submitted work will be judged, and awarded points, on its ability to: 
  • be innovative in its presentation, clearly showing the use of art and digital formats in a new way; 
  • be interactive - engaging its audience in ways that includes feedback and interactivity with its audience; and 
  • incorporate an ability to generate income for the artist(s). 
Applicants complete a simple application form submitting the URL where the work can be seen and, in addition to contact information, a statement of up to 250 words explaining: 
  • WHAT the program is (2-3 sentences max) 
  • HOW it works/key elements (5-6 bullets) and
  • WHY it is innovative, interactive and can generate income (2-3 sentences). 
Artists may develop and submit their work using any digital platform that has a URL. Judges will typically review 5-10 minutes of submitted work; artists are asked to indicate the 5-minute section of the work they want the judges to view, although they may view longer sections of the work. 

Applicants must be a current member of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County. Non-members may join the Cultural Alliance before submitting an application. Collaborations are encouraged; only the applicant need be a CAFC member. 

We are offering prizes of $2,000, $1250 and $750 for the top three submissions as judged by a jury of practitioners in the field. Jurors are: 
Holly Danger (Danger Gallery); 
Cheryl Williams (CBS News and CAFC Board). 

The winning works will be shown in a special presentation of Beechwood’s interactive virtual The WE Events

Complete the application form at https://bit.ly/cafcVIC.
DEADLINE: June 30, 2020 (11:59pm) 

Note: should the artist(s) submitting this work receive a Connecticut Artists Respond Grant from the CT Office of the Arts (see below), they should be clear that a condition of that grant is that the submitted proposal be for a project or event that is free of charge for its audience, so that particular iteration of the project should not be submitted for this contest, where ability to generate income is one of the judging criteria. However, another version of the event/performance/presentation that does include a way of generating income may be submitted. 

Questions? Email virtualchallenge@culturalalliancefc.org, or call 203-256-2329. 

The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County wishes to thank an anonymous donor for making this contest possible.
Gate Lodge at Mathews Park, 301 West Ave, Norwalk, CT 06850, United States
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