Application Guidelines

[Application Guidelines]  [Work Sample Guidelines]  [Work Sample FAQs]  [Fiscal Sponsorship]  

How to Apply

MAP accepts proposals in two stages. 

Stage 1: Online Letter of Inquiry. This is an open call requesting written information about your project and the lead artists involved.

After a review by MAP staff and field evaluators, those proposals that most closely align with the MAP Fund goals are asked to make a full application. 

Stage 2: Full Application (by invitation). Also online, the full application requests a complete project budget, statements from the lead artists, and work samples, in addition to the information submitted in the LOI.

Eligibility Requirements

Letter of Inquiry and Full Applications must come from organizations based in the United States that have current nonprofit federal tax status (501c3). Unincorporated artists or ensembles may apply to MAP through a fiscal sponsor. Learn More About Fiscal Sponsorship. 

Organizations and artists must demonstrate at least 2 years professional experience. 

MAP supports only projects that contain a live performance. 

Eligible projects must not have premiered anywhere in the world before the first date of the current grant activities period (see Application Calendar box). 

The touring or documentation of work that has already premiered is not eligible for funding. 

MAP does not fund projects whose main purpose is educational, for example art-in-the-schools or artistic training programs. 

MAP does not fund general operating expenses. 

MAP does not fund festivals or contests. 

Current employees or board members of Creative Capital, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation or the Rockefeller Foundation, or immediate family members of such persons are not eligible. 

Artists who receive a MAP grant two years in a row are asked to sit out the next year before reapplying.

Allowable Activities

MAP supports most direct costs related to the conception, creation and premiere of a new work. These include but are not limited to commissioning fees and artists' salaries, research costs, rehearsal and workshop expenses, promotion, and audience outreach and production costs up to and including the premiere run of the work.

Number of Awards

Up to 40 grants per annual cycle, ranging from $10,000 to $45,000. The average award amount is $25,000.

Review Criteria

Proposals are evaluated on the basis of the following criteria, which are weighed equally:

• The artistic strength of the proposed project.
• How well a project aligns with the MAP Fund's goal of supporting innovation and experimentation in all traditions and disciplines of live performance, especially work that brings insight to the issue of cultural difference, be that in class, gender, generation, ethnicity, form or tradition.
• The viability of the project, based on the applicant's professional capabilities as demonstrated in their work samples.

Panelists and Evaluators

The MAP Fund is adjudicated by artists and arts professionals, as well as by members of the Creative Capital staff. Panelists and evaluators are paid a small stipend. 

Panel recommendations are subject to approval by the Creative Capital board of directors.

Feedback

Feedback is available only to those applicants who are invited to make a full proposal after the LOI stage. An email with information on how to request feedback will be sent after our full cycle is completed in May.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can an artist without 501(c)3 status apply for a MAP grant?

Yes, through the support of a fiscal sponsor. Artists should check with their state or local arts councils or artist-service organizations in their area to learn about sponsorship opportunities. About fiscal sponsorship. 

Can an organization apply for more than one project?

Yes, as long as the artistic personnel on the projects are entirely separate. 

What's a Lead Artist?

A Lead Artist is the choreographer, playwright, composer, and/or other artistic maker who is leading the creation of the new work according to her or his artistic vision. Lead Artists are those who have envisioned the proposed work, and without whom the work could not exist.

Project support staff or "work for hire" designers or artisans are not considered Lead Artists. 

Artistic directors or executive directors who are not actively, creatively generating the proposed work should not be designated Lead Artists. 

All Lead Artists on a project are required to submit a bio during the LOI phase. If the project is invited to make a full proposal, each lead artist will be asked to submit work samples and a personal statement of intent. 

A Lead Artist must be made aware that she or he is being submitted on a MAP application and must personally write a statement of intent regarding their interest in the project. 

If an artist is submitted for more than one project, the artist will be asked to choose which project she or he wants to move forward. 

The MAP staff is happy to advise on the issue of Lead Artist. Feel free to call us: 212.226.1677. 

How many Lead Artists can an application have?

At least one but no more than three Lead Artists may be named on an application. Please note that "work for hire" designers and artisans, regardless of how skilled, are not usually considered Lead Artists by MAP's definition. If you are considering submitting a designer as a lead artist, it's wise to consult the MAP staff in advance. 

Can a Lead Artist be submitted on more than one MAP grant a year?

No

A Lead Artist must be made aware that she or he is being submitted on a MAP application and must personally write a statement of intent regarding their interest in the project. 

If an artist is submitted for more than one project, the artist will be asked to choose which project she or he wants to move forward. 

Do Lead Artists have to be American citizens?

No. Applicant organizations must be based in the US, but artists may be from anywhere. 

What if my project has more than three Lead Artists?

Choose three whose work best represents the proposed project. Call the MAP office for guidance: 212.226.1677. 

Can an ensemble be considered a Lead Artist?

Yes. Ensemble companies may list the company as a single Lead Artist, and submit up to three work samples representing the group's work. 

Can multiple ensembles apply for one project?

Yes. You may submit up to 3 ensembles as composite Lead Artists, and submit no more than 10-minutes of work sample material for each ensemble. 

What does MAP mean by "ensemble"?

MAP defines ensemble as a group of three or more artists who have been co-creating works together for at least 2 years. 

Does my project have to premiere inside the United States?

No. However, the MAP Fund aims to support and encourage the performance field in the United States, so it is exceptionally rare that a project that exists entirely outside the U.S. will be funded by MAP. 

Can I apply for the same project two years in a row?

Yes. 

Can I know who is on the panel?

Panelists and evaluators names will be announced at the same time the final awardees are announced. Nominate an evaluator or panelist. 

What if I miss the submission deadline?

Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances. 

[Application Guidelines]  [Work Sample Guidelines]  [Work Sample FAQs]  [Fiscal Sponsorship]  

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Goals

MAP works to build a thriving, risk-welcoming contemporary performance field by providing project-specific funding to playwrights, choreographers, directors, composers and performers experimenting in any performance tradition or discipline.

MAP believes that exploration drives human progress, in art as in science and medicine. Sometimes the path of progress is lighted by an act of the imagination on the part of the artist. MAP exists to facilitate these acts and help bring them to their fullest realization.

Within that, MAP has sought especially to support work that brings insight to the issue of cultural difference or the concept of "other," be that it class, gender, generation, ethnicity, or formal consideration. We believe that we learn as much from contrast as we do from likeness.

We hope MAP funding affords artists the deceptively rare freedom to go anywhere their imagination leads. Past grantees include some of the most groundbreaking artists of the last two generations, including playwrights Suzan-Lori Parks and Young Jean Lee, choreographers Bill T. Jones and Tere O'Connor, directors Reza Abdoh and Ibrahim Quarishi, and composers Steve Reich and DJ Spooky, among many others.

Strategy

MAP awards $1 million annually to up to 40 projects. The key features of the program are:

• Maintain an open submission policy: MAP welcomes applications from artists and organizations across the US. By keeping the gates wide open, we hope to discover the freshest ideas and practices in the field, thus continuously seeding new growth, new potential.

   

• Engage panelists and evaluators who are committed to the Fund's ideals of innovation and experimentation: MAP is adjudicated by artists and arts professionals who have demonstrated their own excellence of craft, leadership, and spirit of generosity to their peers. Their guiding role in MAP award selections cannot be overstated - it has allowed MAP to be nimble and responsive to movement in the field, establishing our credibility among applicants and thus encouraging artists to bring their best work forward.

   

• Focus on the creative individual: The MAP application centers on the creative process and is designed to let the peer panel hear directly from artists. Core components are the artist's personally written statement of purpose, biography, and work samples.

   

• Fund the artist's process, as early in the development of a work as possible: The MAP Fund's allowable costs are designed to emphasize the process as well as the product. They include residency costs, research and development expenses, workshop performances, and artist travel and commissioning fees.

   

• Consider every applicant a potential grantee: MAP has developed an end-to-end outreach and assistance program for applicants that includes:
  • In-person information sessions held by MAP in all regions of the country;
  • Online chat sessions in the months before the deadline, answering specific questions from applicants anywhere in the world (chat sessions are then transcribed and posted on the MAP Fund website);
  • A year-round, open-door policy for applicants seeking information about MAP or other funding opportunities;
  • Feedback sessions offered to all declined applicants.
• Be a national presence: MAP believes that an inclusive scope of dialogue is critical to the health of the field and is committed to welcoming applications from every state and region in the country.

   

• Address the issue of grantee career sustainability: In addition to the monetary award, MAP grantees receive training in professional development and strategic planning skills free of cost from the Creative Capital Professional Development Program.

   

History

The Rockefeller Foundation established MAP in 1989. In 2001, Creative Capital began administering the program and in 2008, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation became MAP's primary funder in partnership with Rockefeller. Since 1989, the program has disbursed over 17 million dollars to 737 projects in playwriting, choreography, music composition, and ensemble, site-specific, and community-based performance. Projects have been undertaken in 34 states, and by conservative estimate have touched over two million audience members.

Initially, MAP's guidelines were fairly explicit in inviting works that dealt with ethnic identity or "intercultural representation," as it was termed. Artists, however, quickly expressed the need for a more complex and nuanced understanding of "identity," so MAP broadened its guidelines accordingly. MAP now thinks of diversity in the broadest possible sense, to include issues of class, gender, generation, and ethnicity. Further, MAP supports artists exploring the cultural and political implication of performance forms - for example text and movement derivation, audience-performance relationship, or performance environment.

This early shift turned out to be key to the program's success. It signaled to the field that the Fund intended to be led by the artists. It demonstrated an inherent appreciation of the creative individual in process, and, was in sync with the spirit of questioning that characterizes the work of many of today's artists.

The program is built to absorb the artists' intentions, rather than dictate them. As a result, after eighteen years and having supported two generations of artists, MAP remains as urgent and relevant today as the day it launched.

Evaluation

The MAP Fund has been the subject of two outside evaluations. In 1999, the research firm of Adams and Goldbard undertook a broad assessment of the needs of the performance field and the specific ways in which MAP had or had not met those needs. Their research involved interviews with MAP grantees, panelists, and administrative staff, as well as with field experts who had no formal relationship to the Fund. The report concluded: "MAP is widely perceived as having made great strides toward achieving its initial aims. [It has] taken risks in supporting emerging artists who were later recognized as major contributors to the culture."

In 2007, Creative Capital commissioned Edward Martenson, professor of arts management at Yale School of Drama, to survey all lead artist and organization officials funded since 1989, and undertake one-to-one interviews with 25 selected grantee artists. The survey, sent out to approximately 500 individuals, elicited an astonishing 50 percent response rate. Martenson's report similarly concluded that MAP remains a critical resource in the field.

Supporters

The MAP Fund is generously supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.