Out-of-School Community-Based Arts Education Programs

Out-of-School Community-Based Arts Education Programs

The William Penn Foundation (WPF) would like to support efforts that provide young people with hands-on arts education led by skilled teaching artists. Programs must exclusively serve children between ages 5 and 18. In particular, we are most interested in prioritizing support for projects that are culturally relevant and make it possible for youth to engage as leaders and drivers of their own learning experiences.

We are requesting proposals for 1-3-year projects to connect young people in the greater Philadelphia region with out-of-school arts education opportunities within their communities. The arts education opportunities should be driven by the young people’s own creativity and interests and support their personal development and growth. These programs will primarily connect to youth outside of school time and offer opportunities to pursue arts learning at any point during the year, including the summer. It is not required that the youth will participate year-round, but that the opportunity to engage with arts learning outside of school partnership is available to them year round. After reviewing proposals, WPF will conduct site visits and gather additional information from a limited number of organizations.

Organizations that propose projects in partnership with other applicants will be considered on their individual merits. However, the Foundation recognizes that making significant progress on the objective is difficult and believes that the most competitive proposals are likely to be those that include robust partnerships that leverage complementary strengths, resources, and expertise.

Furthermore, the Foundation recognizes that there are many different tactics or approaches that could be used to advance the objective stated above. All proposals that meet the review criteria are encouraged.

Objective

This specific Request for Proposals (RFP) was created to help organizations to advance the following objective:

• Provide access to high-quality, hands-on arts education programs (in-school and in community settings, during the school day and during out-of-school time) that are designed to actively engage and benefit school-aged young people.

The Foundation recognizes that there are many ways that organizations and communities can contribute to advancing this objective. With that understanding, there are few limitations on the program design or applicants’ approach to arts education. A program may focus on any or multiple arts disciplines as long as it is designed to advance opportunities for youth across the Philadelphia region to have access to equitable, inclusive, and high-quality, hands-on arts learning led by skilled teaching artists and arts educators.

Regardless of the approach, all applicants should describe a compelling explanation for how their proposed work will advance the objective above. This RFP seeks project proposals that will advance this objective and make tangible improvements in the quality of life for residents of Philadelphia.

Funding

WPF has a total of $3 million available to advance this objective at this time. There is no minimum or maximum that organizations may request, however, the most competitive inquiries will have total grant requests under $600,000. The grant amount requested should be proportionate with the contribution that the project will make to the overall objective.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• Applicants must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)3 public charities or operate under a public charity fiduciary.
• Applicants must have a history of offering at least 2 consecutive years of arts education programs in the Philadelphia region.
• Eligible organizations include:
  • Arts education organizations:
  • community art schools, community youth arts organizations, creative youth development organizations, and arts and education collaboratives that work to make high-quality arts education accessible for Philadelphia youth.
  • Arts and culture organizations:
  • arts and culture organizations with dedicated high-quality arts education program committed to advancing arts access for Philadelphia youth.
• The majority of our funding will be awarded to projects in the City of Philadelphia.
  • However, projects in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, and the City of Camden, NJ will also be considered.
• Programs should teach dance, design, folk and traditional arts, creative writing/spoken word, media arts, music, opera, theater arts, visual arts, or any combination of these artistic disciplines.

Ineligibility

• The Foundation will not fund a program/project that is currently supported through a William Penn Foundation grant.
• Standalone field trips and ticketed performances are not eligible.