The Illinois Arts Council Agency’s Arts-in-Education Short-term Teaching Artist Residency program (STARTS) provides support to eligible Illinois not-for-profit organizations, schools, and school districts for short-term residencies focused on hands-on learning experiences (in-person or virtual) conducted by Illinois artists, companies, or ensembles.
Donor Name: Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA)
State: Illinois
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: Ongoing
Size of the Grant: $ 250-$4,500
Details:
Examples of programs
- An elementary school engages a dance artist for four weeks to conduct 45 minute weekly sessions with each third grade classroom to integrate movement with their study of migration.
- A theater artist works after school for two hours twice a week over five weeks with a language arts teacher to rehearse and direct a community performance of a one-act play written by students.
- A public librarian engages a poet for six weeks to conduct a weekly writing workshop for senior adults which culminates in a public reading of their work.
- A visual artist is brought in by a community center to work with a group of local teenagers for a total of 30 hours over a five-week period to research and design a mural to celebrate the town’s history.
Program Priorities
The IACA is committed to advancing equity and access in the arts, through programming and grant opportunities for all Illinoisans, and programming that makes special efforts to reach statewide underserved audiences including but not limited to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) and rural communities, persons with physical and intellectual disabilities, persons with limited access to the arts, older individuals, and persons with low income.
Grant Amount
Request amounts are calculated based on the information entered in the Budget form of the application. Minimum request amount is $250 for any type of residency. Maximum total request amount is $4,500 for any type of residency.
All applicants are eligible to request 75% of the applicable residency costs and may increase that percentage when the following conditions are met:
- Add 5% if it is the first time the applicant has worked with the artist, company, or group.
- Add 5% if the artist will provide a professional development or teacher training session for residency staff and/or community members.
- This item must be listed as part of the artist contract.
- Add 5% if the artist’s home-base is at least 100 miles from the residency site.
- Additional percentages can be added up to, but not exceed, the $4,500 request limit.
Eligibility Requirements
- Applicants must be tax-exempt (501c3) organizations registered as not-for-profit corporations in good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State, or units of government (i.e., a school, school district, park district, library, etc.) or institutions of higher education. (The Council supports college and university arts programs if they benefit and are accessible to the general public. Those events which are normally considered a part of regular or academic programs will not be funded.)
- The artist, ensemble, or company selected to conduct the residency must be based in Illinois; individual artists must be Illinois residents; companies and ensembles must claim Illinois as their home base of operations with the majority of its members residing in Illinois.
- Applicant must submit all requested application materials a minimum of eight weeks before the project start date as identified in the application.
For more information, visit Short-term Teaching Artist Residency Program.
