Iowa Arts News is a monthly publication of the Iowa Arts Council. If you would like to subscribe, please send us a blank e-mail.
Happy New Year from the Iowa Arts Council!
While it may seem an odd time for this greeting, it’s very much a new year for the Iowa Arts Council. Our state fiscal year 2006 ended June 30, and the new year began July 1. It’s a good time to look back at some of the high points of this very busy year.
A Revolution in the Process
The biggest news from the past fiscal year is the revolution that occurred
in the Iowa Arts Council’s grant-making process for Major and Mini
Grants. Some changes are able to be seen by constituents; others are behind
the scenes, but have as much or more impact.
Most visible is the new eGRANT system, the result of work and planning that began more than three years ago. Our desire was to make it possible for applicants to complete and submit the majority of their grant applications online. From that simple goal came an overhaul of the IAC’s database system a year ago, making it possible for online grant application information to feed directly into the database. Once that foundation was in place, we were able to work with Bromelkamp Company in Minneapolis, Minn., to translate our Major and Mini Grant applications into the eGRANT system. The March, 2006, launch of eGRANT is still settling in – but we are receiving more accurate and complete applications that are much easier for panelists to review.
Behind the scenes, the kaizen process we completed in July, 2005, has given us a new Major Grant review process. Overall, the new process provides a) closer review by more experienced panelists; b) a more positive review experience for panelists; and c) a much faster turnaround between application deadline and notification of grant awards.
Here are the numbers:
• Turnaround time for Major Grants was reduced from 12 weeks
to 4 weeks.
• Staff processing time for Major and Mini Grants
was reduced by an astounding 51 percent.
• And we have cut the number of steps in the Major
Grant review process by 38 percent.
What an accomplishment!
Also, the number of Mini Grant applications received by the IAC has increased by 28 percent over last year – and by an enormous 70 percent since three years ago! We now receive an average of 19 Mini Grant applications each month, as opposed to approximately 11 per month in 2002-03. These monthly application rounds have become much more competitive since funding only allows for six to eight grants awarded each month.
Part of IAC’s story is how our grants span Iowa. Grant applications from the 158 communities shown in this map received awards this year. But the reach goes much further! A grantee in Sioux City, for instance, may use the funds for a touring program that goes to many other communities. Or a project in Fairfield may draw audience members from several surrounding counties.
Beyond the grant-making, there’s been more activity this year. A few highlights:
• After a year of preparation, we’re launching a new, online searchable artist directory that will make finding Iowa artists – including those on our Teaching Artists Roster, Performing Artists Roster, and Folk & Traditional Artists Roster –much easier.
• In January, we hired a new Arts Education/Community Programs Coordinator, Dawn Martinez Oropeza, who hit the ground running by making connections with education and community arts programs across Iowa.
• The revised and updated version of Iowa Folklife: Our People, Communities and Traditions, a curriculum resource, is now online, with downloadable lessons, video, audio and more.
• Our new online store, www.buyiowaart.com, has completed its first year of operation. Artwork, music and books by Iowa artists have been purchased by buyers in 18 states!
• Folklorist Riki Saltzman’s documentation of Iowa place-based foods brought a new grant to IAC from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to develop web-based fact sheets that promote Iowa foods grounded in place, culture and heritage.
• Through our first 10 in-depth site visits to major arts organization partners across Iowa, we have strengthened bonds, met stakeholders, and learned so much about both the incredible artistry and the great challenges faced daily by talented and passionate artists and administrators across the state.
• Subscriptions to Iowa Arts News, the IAC’s monthly
e-newsletter, have more than doubled since the new format
launched in March, 2005.
