AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

This e-mail serves to alert you that the deadline for NEA FY 2009 Access
to Artistic Excellence applications is August 11, 2008. The earliest
start date for projects is June 1, 2009. Note: This is a long e-mail -
you may wish to print it for easier reference.

Access to Artistic Excellence encourages and supports artistic
creativity, preserves our diverse cultural heritage, and makes the arts
more widely available in communities throughout the country. While
projects in this category may focus on just one of these areas, the Arts
Endowment recognizes that many of the most effective projects encompass
both artistic excellence and enhanced access.

Eligible projects under the August deadline include:
* Performing arts events, readings, screenings, broadcasts, and visual
arts exhibitions.
* Artist residencies and artist commissions.
* Documentation and conservation of public and monumental art.
* Subgranting for programming activities on behalf of a local arts
agency's constituents. To be eligible, a local arts agency must be a
unit of city or county government or designated to operate on behalf of
its local government.

In order to apply, your organization must complete/update Grants.gov
registration, download the appropriate free software, and complete the
application process. Helpful instructions and hints are listed below.

FIRST - COMPLETE/UPDATE REGISTRATION
You should allow at least two weeks for the one-time registration
process; do not wait until right before the August 11, 2008 deadline.
Registration is a five-step process that must be completed, in sequence,
before you will be able to submit an application through Grants.gov. A
link to the instructions for registration can be found at:
http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/grantsgovChecklist.html

You will not be able to submit an application until all five steps of
your registration are completed. If you have already registered with
Grants.gov, verify that your registration with Grants.gov is up-to-date
before you apply. Your organization's registration with the Central
Contractor Registry (CCR) - part of the Grants.gov registration process
- must be renewed every year or it will expire. You can check your
registration status by entering your DUNS number at "Search CCR " at
www.ccr.gov.

Consult Grants.gov if you need additional information on renewing your
registration. If you have problems registering, call the Grants.gov help
desk at 1-800-518-4726, e-mail support@grants.gov, or consult the
Customer Support material posted on their Web site www.grants.gov. The
help desk is available Monday thru Friday 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. ET. We
recommend you call and confirm that your registration is 100% complete
prior to submitting an application.

SECOND - DOWNLOAD THE APPROPIATE FREE SOFTWARE.
You must have Adobe Reader (version 8.1.1 or higher), a small, free
software program, installed on your computer before you download, open,
or work on your application. Earlier versions of Adobe Reader or other
Adobe products will lead to errors and prevent you from submitting your
application. If more than one computer will be involved in the
preparation of the application package, ensure that the same version of
Adobe Reader is used.

Grants.gov is compatible with most operating systems including Macintosh
(MAC OS X). Grants.gov supports the use of MAC OS 10.4.3 or higher to
complete Adobe Reader application packages. If you have a MAC operating
system that is 10.4.3 or higher, you must download or ensure you have
the Grants.gov compatible version of Adobe Reader 8.1.1 (or higher) to
submit a Grants.gov application package. MAC users with earlier
operating systems (less than 10.4.3) may still be able to submit an
Adobe Reader application package; however, Grants.gov does not guarantee
a successful submission while using the earlier MAC operating system
versions. NOTE - Mac OS 10.4.3 was released in 2005. In other words,
applicants do not need the latest software/computer, but will need to
have updated their Mac OS within the last three years.

THIRD - DOWNLOAD AND COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION PACKAGE
Locate Local Arts Agencies at:
http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/index.html#
Select the appropriate funding opportunity and deadline for your
project, download your application package and follow the step-by-step
instructions outlined in our guidelines to complete and submit your
application.

FOURTH - APPLY EARLY.
If you encounter any technical issues, you will have an opportunity to
correct them and resubmit. The NEA will not accept applications after
the August 11th deadline. Within 24 - 48 hours after you submit your
application you will receive two emails; the first will confirm receipt
and the second will either confirm validation and provide a tracking
number or reject your application due to errors identified by the
Grants.gov system prior to transmission to the National Endowment for
the Arts.

To track the status of your application package:

* Go to http://www.grants.gov .
* Click on the Applicants Login link in the blue box on the right side
of the page.
* Login to the system using your AOR user ID and password.
* Click on the "Check Application Status" link at the top left of your
screen.
* Enter your Grants.gov Tracking Number when prompted

If you have questions about the content of your application, you may
contact Dinah I. Walls at 202/682-5586 or by email at wallsd@arts.gov .

Sincerely,

Dinah I. Walls, Specialist
wallsd@arts.gov
Local Arts Agencies
1100 Penn Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506
Phone: 202/682-5586
Fax: 202/682-5602
http://www.nea.gov

This was posted on the LA Culture Net Yahoo! Groups listserv.