No, the artist-applicant must live in Pinellas County. The application will require that proof of residence be uploaded. Organizations can have headquarters outside of Pinellas County as long as they actively serve Pinellas County residents.
Placemaking is about building community, not necessarily about physical spaces. It can be communications, social media, performances, connectivity – anything that helps build a sense of community. Placemaking is the process of creating quality places where people want to live, work, play and learn. Placemaking means creating places and focusing on transforming public spaces to strengthen the connections between people and these places.
Four key components to placemaking include theme (the Sunshine State, the City of the Arts, etc.), active transportation, gateway and signage (wayfinding), and amenities.
Placemaking shows people just how powerful their collective vision can be. It helps them to re-imagine everyday spaces, and to see anew the potential of parks, downtowns, waterfronts, plazas, neighborhoods, streets, markets, campuses, and public buildings.
Placemaking addresses:
Accessibility – Can people access the space? Is it easy to get to?
Comfort – Do people want to stay? Is the space clean and safe (e.g., hygiene, lighting, security?)
Sociability – Can people interact in the space?
Activities – Do people have reason to visit?
Creative Pinellas wants to take placemaking to the next level – to change the way people think about addressing community issues. It is not just about comfort and accessibility, it is seeking solutions to systemic community problems, using art as a catalyst.
Transformational Projects are designed to support a work in progress or a bold new idea that will result in measurable solutions to identified community problems.
We encourage you to apply if you are an artist who:
Has an art for social change project or opportunity that impacts a larger group, audience, or community, has a project supported by or in collaboration with a Change Partner – a cultural or social service organization already delivering high-quality services – that is a part of the project in some way, is a resident of Pinellas County.
A Change Partner is a non-profit collaborator in Transformative Projects. For this grant, artists must partner with a non-profit cultural organization or a social service organization that is already delivering high-quality programs and services.
Beyond Placemaking supports projects that advance access and cultural equity, foster change and transformation, and demonstrate responsiveness and impact. Successful projects are transformative, collaborative, and provide tangible outcomes in the areas of health & wellbeing (including behavioral health), education, community engagement, making art more accessible, environmental activities and action, the creative economy and placemaking.
A tangible outcome for this project grant would be one that has been actualized, and can be measured, monitored and controlled. The “deliverables”. Examples: How many? How much? What program initiatives were created?
Intangible outcomes” are “soft benefits” – those that are impossible to quantify, like satisfaction or happiness.
Art for social change is art with a vision and an intention, and the ability to make positive change. It is an artistic or creative cultural practice that can be traditional or nontraditional. It is interactive, engaging people in the world they are a part of.
Art with a vision impacts people in many ways. It can:
Raise consciousness, alter how we think about ourselves, our society, or our culture, create a vision of a more just world, be a tool or strategy for organizing and movement-building, preserve or reclaim traditional cultural practices using your artistic practice as a form of resistance or empowerment, create space for expression and build a sense of community, shift or transform the perception of justice, equality, and/or accountability, value healing practices focused on strengthening communities, not just individuals, engage and utilize a reciprocal process — where there is simultaneous teaching and learning, and the consent for engagement is mutual, as is the benefit for yourself as an artist and the community.
Organizations are already out working in the community. They have access to people who will benefit from the creative work you are doing as an artist, and they already have the infrastructure to enable you to fulfill your project. The organization can support you with resources such as a meeting room with tables and chairs, staff advisors, knowledge, and information about the community they serve. They can leverage the work that you do and continue it on after the project period, making the project sustainable. They can collaborate with you in ways that can amplify its impact. And you, as an artist, can amplify their impact and assist in the work they are doing in the community. They can also help provide resources to continue your project into the future. A win-win.
The details of how you work with the nonprofit organization you are partnering with are up to you and the organization. Our expectation is that the project is in alignment with the organization’s mission. So, if their mission is providing services to the visually impaired, then your project will address a need of or service to the visually impaired. If their mission is to create a safer environment, then your project will focus on the environment.
Some organizations may want/need you to pay them if you are using their facilities. Others may simply be happy to provide you access to their resources because your project is assisting them or even expanding their ability to deliver on their mission.
The purpose of connecting with an organization is to help make the project a success. It is up to you and the organization to determine how best to do that.
Artists may propose a project that is developed or presented by a team although the application must be submitted by a single artist. The background/resumes of collaborators may be described in the project description and uploaded as support materials.
For this grant, an artist must collaborate with a non-profit organization, even if there is a team of artists.
Professional artist Grant Recipients must assign expenses to specific categories in the application form and spend grant funds in those categories. They may adjust specific expenses if the project is adjusted, but the expenses must still be in the same category.
For example: If an artist plans to do a mural project on an outdoor wall at a community center and it has budgeted a fee for the artist and some funds to pay for materials to prepare the wall plus materials for the mural but the community center requires the mural to be done indoors, the funds for wall prep materials and scaffolding, if no longer needed, must be reallocated to other materials. If necessary, the grantee must notify Creative Pinellas of the changes to the project and the reason, and request approval to shift funds to another category. The grantee may also pay themself within the Artistic Fee category. This may be for project management, design, artmaking, teaching or other functions necessary to complete the project.
A list of allowable and ineligible expenses is included in the guidelines
If you are a contractor, generally, yes. If you are a full-time employee, it would most likely be a conflict of interest.
Grant Recipients will receive awards in three disbursements. Within approximately fifteen days of the beginning of project activities, as indicated in the Project Timeline, and receipt of all signed and required documents, the recipient may submit a payment request for $4,000).
The second payment of $3,000 may be requested upon completion of the mid-term report. The remaining grant award of $3,000 will be remitted following:
(1) the completion of all required activities and submission of a Final Report with all expenses and documentation to Creative Pinellas no later than 30 days following the end of the grant period January 30, 2025,
(2) review and approval by Creative Pinellas of the final report and all required documentation. If the report is not received by January 30, 2025, the Recipient forfeits the balance of the award.
If changes to the report are requested by Creative Pinellas, those changes must be addressed no later than 10 days from the date of that request or the Recipient will forfeit the balance of the award. If awarded the Grant Bonus, a separate contract and payment will be provided.
For Interim and Final grant payments, Grant Recipients must submit their Interim or Final reports along with detailed expenses.
Grant Recipients must maintain a system that details the expenses that are charged to specific categories of the grant budget. A spreadsheet with columns for each budget category will work fine. It should identify the entity that was paid, the amount, the date, and a very brief entry for what was provided. Creative Pinellas will review all accounting before releasing grant funds.
Grant Recipients do not have to submit copies of receipts or invoices, but all records must be retained for three years.
Grant Recipients can develop their own methods of evaluating and measuring the impact of their work on their target audiences. They are encouraged to plan these strategies as part of the earliest planning and drafting of the Beyond Placemaking application and their project. Expenses to implement evaluation and measurement may be included in the project budget if they are identified early. The evaluation strategies must correspond to the goals of the project.
One way to approach this planning is to ask the questions “What transformative change are we trying to achieve and how will we know we have achieved it? What would we like our audience to know, or how would we hope they react to our programs?” Simple measurement strategies allow respondents to express what they learned; how they feel about their experiences with your organization; if they would return; if they would invite or refer friends to have these experiences; or other similar questions.
Some of the frequently used strategies are audience surveys, both on paper and online, before and after questionnaires, particularly for education programs that have more than one session, volunteer person-to-person questions, interviews with participants, leaders, or others involved in the project. Interactive methods such as message boards, post-it notes on walls using tokens to vote are also options.
The grantee must notify Creative Pinellas as soon as a change is needed. Because this is for sub-granting, Creative Pinellas is responsible for fulfilling its award agreement with the NEA. Any changes to a subgrantee will affect the whole.
The organization will be asked to attest that they are partnering with the artist on this project and to respond to a brief survey at the end of the project.
If you received an offer for a grant that includes Federal dollars, your project may be subject to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and/or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The National Endowment for the Arts, will conduct a review of your project to ensure that it is in compliance with NHPA/NEPA. The Grant Recipient’s activities shall have no significant environmental impact (re The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969).
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 applies to any Federal Funds that support activities that have the potential to impact any structure eligible for or on the National Register of Historic Places, adjacent to a structure that is eligible or on the National Register of Historic Places or located in a historic district. Any such activities must be reported and may require additional documentation.
Prior to project activities, the Grant Recipient will submit an NHPA/NEPA questionnaire, approval is required by the NEA. (From will be available via the online application).
