News From The Office Of The Arts

Current Opportunities

Directory of Teaching Artists 

The Connecticut Office of the Arts is accepting applications for its Directory of Teaching Artists.  Teaching artists are individual practicing artists who specialize in teaching both in the classroom and in the community.  The Directory of Teaching Artists is a reliable resource of high-quality Connecticut teaching artists who have been juried for excellence in their art form and readiness and capacity to work in schools and community settings.

Program Guidelines
Deadline:  Rolling

Artist Fellowship Awards (FY18)

Recognizes the artistic excellence of Connecticut artists of all disciplines.  The program offers grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to help artists pursue new work and achieve specific career goals.

Program Guidelines
Deadline: June 21, 2017

Applicants will be asked to indicate one (1) Broad Category and up to four (4) General Categories to indicate their artistic discipline.

Arts Learning – Access Grants (FY18)
Supports teaching and learning in, about, and through the arts through high-quality arts exploration and discovery experiences.  Focused on PK-12 schools,  This program offers $700 grants to fund exposure to the arts through field trips, school or classroom visits, performance(s), “informance(s)” and/or lecture demonstrations by artists or artist groups or arts venues.

Program Guidelines
Deadline:  Rolling.  Program will close when all funds are expended.
Grant Amount:  $700
Funding Period:  July 1, 2017 – June 20, 2018

Eligible applicant’s place of business must be in Connecticut and be one of the following:

• PK-12 School
• 501C-3 arts organization seeking to provide arts access experience(s) for PK-12 students
• Arts program(s) of 501C-3 non-arts organization seeking to provide arts access experience(s) for PK-12 students

*All grants funds are dependent on state and federal annual appropriations as allotted by the Governor, the Connecticut General Assembly, and the National Endowment for the Arts, therefore, all grant monies are contingent on availability.

DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA TO USE ARTS & CULTURE TO BETTER YOUR COMMUNITY?

The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) is providing the funds to underwrite the participation and travel costs for two (2) individuals from the State of Connecticut to participate in the Creative Community Fellows program of the National Arts Strategies. 

Through its Creative Community Fellows program, National Arts Strategies unites a group of 24 creative change-makers, helping them move their projects forward through transformational tools and networks.  Fellows are curious, open, collaborative and interested in learning new skills and sharing their expertise. They are dedicated to creating healthy neighborhoods and recognize and seize opportunity for change.    

Fellows jump-start the program, which is fully subsidized, by living and learning together for one week in a business incubator-like environment and take monthly online courses in topic areas such as community partnerships, finding capital and support, budgeting and more.

COA is proud to support this program along with  The Kresge Foundation, Bush Foundation, Knight Foundation and the Educational Foundation of America.

  Deadline to apply is Sunday, April 23, 2017 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time

SURVEY:  Are You a READI Artist?

The Connecticut Office of The Arts (COA) is getting READI (Relevance, Equity, Access, Diversity and Inclusion) and your input is important to us!

COA is committed to READI and to supporting and fully engaging diverse members of our artist community in arts policy, practice and decision-making. Changing demographics invite opportunity for responsible and responsive social change by attracting NEW perspectives connecting creative minds, a mutual purpose through arts.  With that said, we are also committed to creating professional development that support artists, specifically artist that are READI.

We would like your input to help inform the development process of a READI track. The READI track will be a two-day conference that COA will be providing as an extension of COA’s Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Schools Summer Institute that many teaching artists attend annually. The READI track is being designed specifically for artists.

Those who have a deeper interest in becoming a teaching artist are also encouraged to attend the entire HOT Schools institute. We will give 3 scholarships to READI artists who are not just interested in attending the READI series but that are also interested in attending the HOT Schools institute in its entirety.

Your input is vital to shaping the workshops, focus points and facilitators that we select.