CCI Partnership Grants
Creative County Initiative Partnership Grants 2023-25
Subvenciones de Asociación de Creative County Initiative 2023-25
Collaboration grants to bring arts, culture and creativity central to community life, strengthen the creative ecosystem in and across community(ies), and catalyze community connections in Essex County.
Subsidios de colaboración para llevar las artes, la cultura y la creatividad al centro de la vida comunitaria, fortalecer el ecosistema creativo en y entre las comunidades y catalizar las conexiones comunitarias en el condado de Essex.
OVERVIEW | Visión general
ECCF’s Creative County Initiative (CCI) is pleased to open its collaborative grant-making program that fosters public art, placemaking, and other creative projects to engage and build community across Essex County while strengthening the region’s creative ecosystem. We understand the power of partnerships in the creative sector and believe funding for community-focused public art, creative placemaking, and other special projects can engage and transform a neighborhood, a community, or a region.
In its 2023-25 grant cycle, CCI will provide funding up to $25,000 for projects to be completed by December 31, 2025. There is no match requirement, but grantees are strongly encouraged to seek additional funding as needed. Funding is limited, therefore we anticipate this grant program being highly competitive.
There will be a two-stage review process beginning with a Letter of Interest from which a selection of applicants will be invited to submit a Full Application.
See here for descriptions of past grantees.
See here for a pdf of the LOI questions.
Creative County Initiative (CCI) de ECCF se complace en abrir su programa colaborativo de concesión de subsidios que fomenta el arte público, la creación de lugares y otros proyectos creativos para involucrar y construir una comunidad en todo el condado de Essex al tiempo que fortalece el ecosistema creativo de la región. Entendemos el poder de las asociaciones en el sector creativo y creemos que la financiación para el arte público centrado en la comunidad, la creación de lugares creativos y otros proyectos especiales pueden involucrar y transformar un vecindario, una comunidad o una región.
En su ciclo de subsidios 2023-25, CCI proporcionará fondos de hasta $ 25,000 para proyectos que se completarán antes del 31 de diciembre de 2025. No hay ningún requisito de igualación, pero se recomienda encarecidamente a los concesionarios que busquen fondos adicionales según sea necesario. La financiación es limitada, por lo tanto, anticipamos que este programa de subsidios será altamente competitivo.
Habrá un proceso de revisión de dos etapas que comenzará con una Carta de Interés de la cual se invitará a una selección de solicitantes a presentar una Solicitud Completa.
Consulte aquí las descripciones de los beneficiarios anteriores.
FUNDING CRITERIA | Criterios de financiación
Funding will be provided to a lead 501c3 applicant (grantee partner or established nonprofit serving as fiscal sponsor) representing a partnership comprised of at least:
- One artist, designer, creative entrepreneur, creative economy business, arts or culture organization, or non-arts organization substantially engaged in arts and culture.
- One designated representative from a town or city administration, department, commission or agency; and
- One designated partner from the commercial business sector. This may be a for-profit business, corporation, or business group (Chamber of Commerce, Merchants Group, Main Streets).
All partners must commit time, talent, or resources to the project design, development, promotion, and implementation. A lead partner must be identified who will commit to:
- coordinate and lead the collaboration team, and
- ensure that project milestones are established and met.
Projects in all creative genres are encouraged including but not limited to visual art, theatre, dance, music, literary arts, humanities, public art, social practice and creative placemaking.
Project proposals from all Essex County subregions, communities, and organizations are encouraged.
The CCI grants review committee will look for proposals designed to meet some of these goals:
- Foster collaboration across and within communities
- Build relationships among arts, culture, business, municipal, and philanthropic stakeholders
- Support the creative economy
- Create opportunities in the creative workforce
- Broaden the understanding of the role of arts in society
- Inspire pride of place
- Promote social justice through arts and culture
- Prioritize and advance diversity, equity, inclusion and access to culture
- Elevate shared history or heritage
- Activate space for public use/engagement, including addressing community discourse
- Invest in next generation of creative youth
- Demonstrate new, innovative paradigms of creativity or design
- Ignite community engagement
- Bring an existing project or program to a new level of community engagement or sustainability
- Build nonprofit capacity and sustainability
- Potentially create replicable models, best practices, tools and templates
- Address urgent community/social issues through the arts (see Animating Democracy Aesthetic Attributes of Art for Social Change)
ECCF/CCI will give special review to those proposals by BIPOC-led organizations who closely represent the communities they are serve. In addition, ECCF/CCI will prioritize new collaborations over existing grantees.
CCI grantees will receive technical, promotional, and partnership support from ECCF/CCI throughout the course of the project.
CCI grantee partners will be expected to:
- Demonstrate a commitment to dedicated collaborative work among all partners
- Participate in periodic site visits and regular communications with CCI Program Director
- Collect and report on measurements of success in an interim and a final report.
- Secure and include in full application all necessary approvals for project implementation from all relevant stakeholders
- Create a comprehensive plan to communicate project milestones
- Utilize the CreativeCounty.org communications portal, social media, and other media outlets to promote the project’s events and content.
- Include ECCF/CCI in public communications when promoting the grant-funded project.
- Submit a written or verbal final report, outlining project achievements, lessons learned, next steps toward organizational capacity, and visual documentation of the project.
CCI grantees will be strongly encouraged to participate in CCI-sponsored trainings and convenings as relevant to grantee partners. Such trainings and convenings are provided by CCI as a resource intended to build grantee capacity for self-sustainability.
Los fondos se proporcionarán a un solicitante líder de 501c3 (socio concesionario o organización sin fines de lucro establecida que actúe como patrocinador fiscal) que represente a una asociación compuesta por al menos:
- Un artista, diseñador, empresario creativo, empresa de economía creativa, organización artística o cultural, o unaorganización no artística sustancialmente dedicada a las artes y la
- Un representante designado de la administración de un pueblo o ciudad, departamento, comisión o agencia; y
- Un socio designado del sector comercial Esto puede ser un negocio, corporación o grupo empresarial con fines de lucro (Cámara de Comercio, Grupo de Comerciantes, Calles Principales).
Todos los socios deben dedicar tiempo, talento o recursos al diseño, desarrollo, promoción e implementación del proyecto. Se debe identificar un socio principal que se comprometa a:
- coordinar y liderar el equipo de colaboración, y
- asegurarse de que los hitos del proyecto se establecen y se
Se fomentan proyectos en todos los géneros creativos, incluidos, entre otros, artes visuales, teatro, danza, música, artes literarias, humanidades, arte público, práctica social y creación creativa de lugares.
Se alientan las propuestas de proyectos de todas las subregiones, comunidades y organizaciones del condado de Essex.
El comité de revisión de subsidios de CCI buscará propuestas diseñadas para cumplir con algunos de estos objetivos:
- Fomentar la colaboración entre y dentro de las comunidades
- Construir relaciones entre las artes, la cultura, los negocios, los municipios y accionistas filantrópicos
- Apoyar la economía creativa
- Crear oportunidades en la fuerza laboral creativa
- Ampliar la comprensión del papel de las artes en la sociedad
- Inspirar orgullo de lugar
- Promover la justicia social a través de las artes y la cultura
- Priorizar y avanzar la diversidad, la equidad, la inclusión y el acceso a la cultura
- Elevar la historia o el patrimonio compartido
- Activar el espacio para el uso/participacion público, incluyendo el discurso comunitario
- Invertir en la próxima generación de jóvenes creativos
- Demostrar nuevos e innovadores paradigmas de creatividad o diseño
- Encender la participación de la comunidad
- Llevar un proyecto o programa existente a un nuevo nivel de participación comunitaria o sostenibilidad
- Desarrollar la capacidad y la sostenibilidad de las organizaciones sin fines de lucro
- Crear potencialmente modelos replicables, mejores prácticas, herramientas y plantillas
Dirigir con urgencia los problemas comunitarios/sociales a través de las artes (ver Animating Democracy Aesthetic Attributes of Art for Social Change)ECCF / CCI dará una revisión especial a las propuestas de las organizaciones dirigidas por BIPOC que representan estrechamente a las comunidades a las que sirven. Además, ECCF/CCI priorizará las nuevas colaboraciones sobre los beneficiarios existentes.
Los beneficiarios de CCI recibirán apoyo técnico, promocional y de asociación de ECCF / CCI durante todo el transcurso del proyecto.
Se espera que los socios beneficiarios de CCI:
- Demostrar un compromiso con el trabajo colaborativo dedicado entre todos los
- Participar en visitas periódicas al sitio y comunicaciones regulares con el Director del Programa de
- Recopile e informar sobre las mediciones de éxito en un informe provisional y reporte
- Asegurar y incluir una aplicación completa con todas las aprobaciones necesarias para la implementación del proyecto de todos los accionistas
- Crear un plan integral para comunicar los hitos del
Utilice el portal de comunicaciones CreativeCounty.org, las redes sociales y otros medios de comunicación para promover los eventos y el contenido del proyecto.
- Incluir ECCF / CCI en las comunicaciones públicas al promover el proyecto financiado por los subsidios.
- Presente un informe final escrito o verbal, describiendo los logros del proyecto, las lecciones aprendidas, los próximos pasos hacia la capacidad organizativa y la documentación visual del
Se alentará encarecidamente a los concesionarios de CCI a participar en capacitaciones y reuniones patrocinadas por CCI según sea relevante para los socios concesionarios. Dichas capacitaciones y reuniones son proporcionadas por CCI como un recurso destinado a desarrollar la capacidad del concesionario para la autosostenibilidad.
APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCESS | Proceso de Solicitud y Revisión
11.1.22: Grant portal open
11.18.22 12-1pm: Info Session, Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89473314155
12.15.22, 5PM: Letter of Interest due online
12.15-12.31.22: ECCF staff, together with ECCF's CCI Grants Committee, will review all Letters of Interest and invite a selection of the projects for site visits and to submit full applications.
2.15.23, 5PM: Full application due online
2.15-2.31.23: ECCF staff, together with ECCF's CCI Grants Committee, will review all full applications, conduct site visits, and make grant recommendations to the ECCF Board of Trustees for approval.
3.1.23: Funding announcements and initial grant payment (half of grant award)
11.1.22: Portal de subsidio abierto
12.15.22, 5PM: Carta de Interés debe presentarse en línea
12.15-12.31.22: El personal de ECCF, junto con el Comité de Subsidios de CCI de ECCF, revisará todas las cartas de interés e invitará a una selección de los proyectos para visitas al sitio y presentar solicitudes completas.
2.15.23, 5PM: La solicitud completa debe presentarse en línea
2.15-2.31.23: El personal de ECCF, junto con el Comité de Subsidios de CCI de ECCF, revisará todas las solicitudes completas, realizará visitas al sitio y hará recomendaciones de subsidios a la Junta de Fideicomisarios de ECCF para su aprobación.
3.1.23: Anuncios de financiación y pago inicial del subsidio (mitad del subsidio concedida)
PROJECT TIMELINE AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS | Cronograma del Proyecto y Requisitos de Presentación de Informes
1.1.24: Interim Report due
2.1.24: Second grant payment (remaining half of grant award) upon receipt of satisfactory Interim Report
12.31.25: Projects to be completed
1.30.26: Final Report due
1.1.24: Informe provisional pendiente
2.1.24: Segundo pago del subsidio (mitad restante del subsidio) tras la recepción de un informe provisional satisfactorio
12.31.25: Proyectos pendientes de realización
1.30.26: Informe final pendiente
HOW TO APPLY | Cómo Aplicar
Proposals must be submitted through ECCF's Application Portal. Applicants needing a login for ECCF’s application portal, please read our Grant Application Process page for information and access to the application portal.
For more information, assistance with the application process, or to discuss a program idea please contact:
Karen Ristuben
Program Director, Creative County Initiative
Essex County Community Foundation
175 Andover Street, Suite 101 Danvers, MA 01923
Tel: 978-758-1210
Email: k.ristuben@eccf.org
For technical assistance with the grant portal, please contact:
Patti McCullough at p.mccullough@eccf.org
Las propuestas deben enviarse a través del Portal de Solicitud de ECCF. Los solicitantes que necesiten un inicio de sesión para el portal de solicitud de ECCF, porfavor lea nuestra página Proceso de Solicitud del subsidio para obtener información y acceso al portal de solicitud.
Para obtener más información, asistencia con el proceso de solicitud o para discutir una idea de programa, comuníquese con:
Karen Ristuben
Director del Programa, Creative County Initiative
Essex County Community Foundation
175 Andover Street, Suite 101 Danvers, MA 01923
Teléfono: 978-758-1210
Correo electrónico: k.ristuben@eccf.org
Para obtener asistencia técnica con el portal del subsidio, por favor comuníquese con:
Patti McCullough p.mccullough@eccf.org
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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
The Ultimate Guide to Artist Publicity
w/ Ariel Hyatt & Maya Azucena
Thursday, March 10, 2022 | 2-4 p.m.
Learn how to generate press and land publicity! In this workshop, participants will identify the basic materials needed for a solid press kit and ways to set themselves apart, including generating a succinct press pitch, graphics, and brand. Participants will have a chance to draft their own effective pitch (the foundation of your PR) to catch the eye of bloggers and journalists alike, as well as learn how to avoid common mistakes when sending out a pitch. Next we’ll discuss how to use an international lens for marketing, research and select media outlets to target and how to design a manageable timeline for generating publicity. Finally, participants will explore what to do with any publicity they receive, and how to leverage those successes to achieve broader career goals. Over 25 years Ariel Hyatt, founder of Cyber PR Music, has executed public relations campaigns for over 5,000 artists and published multiple books on PR, marketing & social media for artists. Award-winning musician, singer, and songwriter Maya Azucena has performed across the world in over forty countries and collaborated with Marcus Miller, Brass Against, Jason Miles, among others.
Suitable for artists of all disciplines.
Open to artists across Massachusetts.
This workshop will also be recorded! If you’re unable to attend the live session, you can still register via Zoom and, if approved, we’ll send you a link to access the recording after the workshop is complete.
The Business of Writing: How to Successfully Research and Submit to Literary Journals, Publishers, and Agents w/ Kristina Marie Darling
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 | 2-4 p.m.
This workshop will take writers through the basics of writing convincing and persuasive pitches, as well as submission etiquette and best practices for presenting your writing to decision-makers in your field. It will address such topics as crafting cover letters, writing compelling queries, how to research opportunities for your career development, strategies for building an audience for your work, and ways to improve the odds for your submissions. Participants will leave the workshop with a packet of resources for discovering opportunities in their chosen genre, as well as examples of successful pitches and submissions, and next steps relative to their goals and career point. Poet, essayist and critic Kristina Marie Darling is the author of 35 books of poetry and literary criticism and is the Editor-in-Chief at Tupelo Press.
Best suited for writers of all genres.
Presented in partnership with the Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative
Open to artists in Essex County (MA), with select additional slots for rural artists in Connecticut & Rhode Island.
This workshop will also be recorded! If you’re unable to attend the live session, you can still register via Zoom and, if approved, we’ll send you a link to access the recording after the workshop is complete.
Social Practice Art: Toward Individual Healing, Community Dialogue and Social Change
w/ Nancy Marks
Thursday, March 24, 2022 | 2-3:30 p.m.
Using The Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions through Art and Storytelling as a model, this workshop will explore how to plan and execute a project that uses art to promote dialogue and community response. Participants will explore how to identify an important issue, build relationships, work with a community partner, run a workshop for community participants, and use the art created to promote dialogue and move a community advocacy agenda forward. Nancy will take participants through the successes and learning moments of her ongoing Opioid Project, including how and why it evolved. Following this overview, participants will brainstorm their own ideas/goals to create a project that uses art and storytelling as a vehicle for bringing voices into a community to create change and/or amplify an issue. Nancy Marks is a public health activist, community organizer, and visual artist who has been making art for over 25 years. In 2016, she co-founded The Opioid Project as a way to weave the strands of art, healing and community change.
Presented in partnership with the Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative and Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
About The Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions through Art and Storytelling: The Opioid Project was created as a response to the escalating epidemic. The Opioid Project’s main goals: support individuals affected by opioid use disorder; increase public awareness about substance use disorder and addiction; decrease stigma by fostering and creating space for community dialogue; and contribute to policy change to increase access to mental health services and substance use treatment.
Best suited for artists interested in social issues and community-based creative work.
Open to artists in Essex County and Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
This workshop will also be recorded! If you’re unable to attend the live session, you can still register via Zoom and, if approved, we’ll send you a link to access the recording after the workshop is complete.
Decolonizing Your Creative Practice Retreat: Urgency w/ Haus of Glitter
Saturdays, March 26 & April 9, 2022 | 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Presented in partnership with the Barr Foundation’s Creative Commonwealth Initiative.
In this two-part virtual retreat, participants are invited to join the Haus of Glitter Performance Lab to unravel and heal from urgency, a symptom of white supremacy culture, both in our creative practice and in the ways we move through the world. Nurturing our mission to shift the energetic center of the universe towards collective liberation, this series is an invitation to slow down, listen and transform with us. Using the creative practices that ground our work, participants will explore urgency as it shows up in ideology, in institutions, in interpersonal relationships, and from within.
Credit: Stephanie Alvarez Ewens
Alternating between whole-group creative experiences and reflection in breakout affinity spaces for white allies and for BIPOC, this series seeks to rehearse what an equitable distribution of energy can look like in anti-racist work for artists, arts leadership, arts educators and arts activists. While there will be opportunities for blended discussion, BIPOC participants can trust that there will always be a BIPOC-only discussion group, led by a BIPOC facilitator, available for all discussions throughout this two-part workshop. The Haus of Glitter is a community of artists, educators, counselors/therapists, performers, and healers dedicated to using art, play, and processes of mindful creation as tools for equity and justice. Please be prepared (and dress accordingly) for a virtual yoga + meditation offering for the first hour of each session.
Suitable for all creatives in any discipline.
Open to artists across Massachusetts.
In order to create a safer space where difficult questions can be tackled, this workshop WILL NOT be recorded. You will need to attend the live workshop in order to participate in this offering.
Portfolio Power / The Artist Portfolio w/ Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez
Wednesday, April 6, 2022 | 2-4 p.m.
Our portfolios represent our vision and most compelling work. The quality and effectiveness of a professional portfolio is crucial, whether you are seeking an art related job, applying for a grant, trying to get a show at a gallery or seeking gallery representation. In this workshop, participants will learn best practices for creating and presenting a portfolio that has a lasting impression while being accessible. Taking away guidelines and industry tips, participants will leave inspired with practical solutions on how to present their work with impact. Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator with over 20 years of work as a curator, cultural manager, grant panelist, judge, guest lecturer, and portfolio reviewer.
Suitable for artists in all disciplines (although most examples will be based in the visual and performance art field).
Credit: Iaritza Menjivar
Presented in partnership with the Mass Cultural Council.
Open to artists across Massachusetts.
This workshop will also be recorded! If you’re unable to attend the live session, you can still register via Zoom and, if approved, we’ll send you a link to access the recording after the workshop is complete.
Level Up Your Virtual Presence w/ Todd Reynolds
Friday, April 8, 2022 | 2-4 p.m.
Whether we like it or not, it’s time to admit that the internet is now the artist’s stage. In this foundational course, digital musician Todd Reynolds will help creatives of all types understand the technological tools and techniques of crafting an engaging online presence without having to pay for an in-house tech expert. Whether a performer, visual artist, speaker, or writer, participants will take away essential video and lighting techniques that lead to a more professional presence on camera, solutions to achieving affordable, pro-sounding audio, and the secrets to projecting confidence when appearing and performing online. Todd Reynolds, violinist, composer, educator and technologist, is one of the founding fathers of the hybrid-musician movement and one of the most active and versatile proponents of what he calls ‘present music’ – music created in the ‘now’. In North Adams, where he makes his home, he’s well known as a member of Bang on a Can and a long-time collaborator with MASS MoCA.
Best suited for artists showing and performing work online.
Open to artists in Essex County (MA), with select additional slots for rural artists in Connecticut & Rhode Island.
Presented in partnership with the Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative.
This workshop will also be recorded! If you’re unable to attend the live session, you can still register via Zoom and, if approved, we’ll send you a link to access the recording after the workshop is complete.
Taking Collective Action to Build Community and Fight Racism w/ Daniel Park & Deen Rawlins
April 13, 23, 27 & May 4, 2022 | 6-9 p.m.
(with 10am – 2:30pm on Saturday)
White Supremacy is the air that we breathe and present in every aspect of cultural production. This intentional, BIPOC-only affinity group and structured conversation aims to support a community of practice and bolster the work BIPOC artists are already doing to name and interrupt white supremacy in their own artistic practice and sector, while providing a “Brave Space” for discussion. Participants will leave this intensive with a network of activist peers, tools, strategies, and concrete next steps to intentionally build liberatory practices into their own creative practice, including both the creation and performance of artistic work. Daniel Park is a queer, bi-racial, theatre and performance artist whose work combines live performance and game design to create hybrid experiences that explore the boundaries of human agency. Deen Rawlins is an artist-educator who builds workshops that are interactive, accessible, and grounded in a trauma-informed approach.
For BIPOC artists in all disciplines.
Open to artists across Massachusetts.
The cohort for this small-group intensive is selected based on a brief form of interest that is not yet available. If you are interested in participating in this series, email us at assetsforartists@massmoca.org, and we will share the form with you when it’s available.
The Art of Submission for Festivals, Museums and Beyond w/ Catherine T. Morris
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 | 2-3:30 p.m.
Ever dream of having your art or music featured at a festival, museum or large public event? It’s important to be prepared and have the right mix of content that makes your work stand out. From your artist statement and resume, to building rapport with curators and event producers, this workshop will provide some best practices to prepare, package, and submit your work and helpful tips to get you in front of the right audiences. Over the last 20 years, mother, entrepreneur, and visionary Catherine T. Morris has focused her time and energy on creating platforms for BIPOC artists, producing shows, as well as mobilizing and engaging local audiences to experience the arts through a holistic lens.
Presented in partnership with the Mass Cultural Council.
Best suited for visual and performing artists.
Open to artists across Massachusetts.
This workshop will also be recorded! If you’re unable to attend the live session, you can still register via Zoom and, if approved, we’ll send you a link to access the recording after the workshop is complete.
Our Massachusetts programming is made possible in partnership with the Barr Foundation, the City of Boston, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts’ ValleyCreates Initiative, Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative, Greater Worcester Community Foundation’s Creative Worcester Initiative, the Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Fund (Bank of America, N.A.,Trustee), and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation.