Emerging Artists Grant Nominations (Round 1: 2024)

**ANNOUNCEMENT: Amplifi is closed for the holidays until January 2, 2025, and will be unveiling a new granting process soon after! Please feel free to still submit inquiries, and we will roll you into our new grant process. Happy Holidays!**


We are dedicated to delivering strategic investments that amplify Napa County as a hub for inspiring live performance and innovative cultural experiences. Our Guiding Principals in designing our programs and making decisions about our investments are Creativity, Opportunity, Inclusion, and Collaboration. Our current strategic focus is to Cultivate and Amplify Local Emerging Talent, with an emphasis on music. In 2024 we will be investing $210,000 through invitation-based grants, sponsorships and scholarships to support these strategic initiatives. 

Our Emerging Artists Grants are open to individual artists who demonstrate passion and commitment as an active performer or creator in any genre of music, theater, dance, comedy or spoken word. Grants may be used for course tuition, coaching, trainings, and other any activities to support their development, whether in the art or business of performance. Average grants amounts range between $1,000 - $5,000. Requests for more or less funding will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

Our new invitation-based process is designed to limit your time spent prior to fit assessment, significantly improve likelihood of funding for applicants, increase our connection with awardees, and provide year-round opportunity.  
  If you know of an artist that you believe meets our criteria and could use support, please tell us about them!  
 

CRITERIA
 

  • Grants are open to individuals only (band or troupe members may apply separately) 
  • The artist must demonstrate a significant tie or commitment to Napa County 
  • Specific funded activity must be identified prior to initial funding being released  
  • Recipients must acknowledge the awarded funds in a manner appropriate to the funding level  


DEFINITIONS
 

  • Artist: Refers to both performers and creators (writers, composers, choreographers, directors, creative producers, etc.) working in music, dance, theater, comedy, and spoken word. 
  • Emerging Talent: While this term is flexible our guideline is an artist who is pursuing their discipline professionally, but who has not been billed as a headliner or creator on a regional or national level AND who has 10 or fewer years of professional experience.  


THE PROCESS
   STEP 1: Nominations will be reviewed bi-monthly in the following months: May, July, September, November, January, and March. To be considered for the next month's review window, you must submit by the 10th of the prior month. Nominations received after the 10th will be reviewed in the following cycle.  
   STEP 2: Nominations will be reviewed by staff and our program advisors, if we have further questions, you may be contacted to provide clarifications or more information.  
   STEP 3: Following the initial review, staff may contact the nominee for a one-on-one meeting and/or invite them to submit a scholarship application (may be submitted as a written or video/audio recording).
   STEP 4: Applications are reviewed by staff and the artist will be notified if they have been awarded or declined. Through this invitational process, we hope to avoid declining a project at this stage but if we need to decline for any reason, we will notify the applicant and share our rationale. 

 STEP 5: Artists must successfully demonstrate completion of their funded activities through a mid-cycle check-in and final report. 


Email submissions will not be accepted, however, please contact us if you have questions or issues using our online platform (Submittable).
 

EVALUATION
   We will be evaluating nominations and applications based on their relevance to our current strategic goals and initiatives, guiding principals, as well as the following  

  • Artistic Merit & Demonstrated Commitment: We will evaluate based both on current and potential merit as demonstrated by their experience and performance/work samples relative to their opportunities. We encourage all levels to apply as we will take into consideration their willingness to work, learn, and grow in their craft. 
  • Need & Distance Traveled: Priority may be given to local emerging artists who are the first generation to pursue their discipline professionally and/or from under-represented, under-resourced, and under-served backgrounds and communities 
  • Proposed Activity: The relevance as well as the potential for impact of their funding request on the artist's growth  


QUESTIONS OR HELP? Please contact us at info@napavalleypresents.org.
 

We use Submittable to accept and review our submissions.
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