NEWS FROM TCA:
MARCH 2022
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Introducing the 2022 class of Young Masters-- scroll down for full details! |
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15 Texas Students Selected for 2022 Young Masters Grants
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The Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) and the Texas Cultural Trust (TCT) are proud to announce the 2022 class of Young Masters. Young Masters is a grant program that provides exemplary art students in grades 8-11 with the financial help they need to pursue advanced study in the areas of visual arts, literary arts, music, theater, dance, musical theater, folk & traditional arts, and media arts. This year’s promising young students come from 12 cities and together display a variety of artistic talents.
The state’s most talented young artists receive the title of “Young Master” and are awarded grants of $5,000 per year to further their studies in their chosen arts disciplines. Students are eligible to receive the grant for two years, but they must submit a report and updated application. This gifted group of 15 students represents the eleventh class of Young Masters. Since the program’s inception in 2002, the TCT and TCA have named 184 Young Masters, awarding over $1.2 million to aspiring artists from across the state. The Young Masters were selected by a citizen panel of experts from across the state based on artistic excellence, level of commitment and quality of their proposed plan of action.
In order to be considered for the Young Masters grant, students must be legal U.S. residents living in Texas and participating in a school-based program, a summer institute, or a specialized course of study or receiving private lessons from a qualified professional instructor. They must also maintain passing grades in all academic areas. TCA and the Trust congratulate these young artists for their accomplishments and look forward to celebrating them at an awards ceremony and star-studded concert on May 10 at Austin’s ZACH Theatre.
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TCA Can Help! New Federal Changes to Affect TCA Grant Applicants |
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The federal government is transitioning between using DUNS numbers to the SAM UEI as a unique entity identifier for institutions. This will affect all TCA grant applicants. We strongly urge that you address this transition and get your SAM UEI immediately and enter it into TCA’s online grants system by March 31.
The SAM UEI is issued at no cost through the federal System for Award Management website (SAM.gov). Once the SAM UIE is assigned to your organization, it’s yours for good, as long as your organization stays in good standing with the federal government. It is always free to use SAM.gov and Grants.gov.
The SAM UEI is a unique 12-character identifier (a combination of letters and numbers) assigned to all entities (public and private companies, institutions, or organizations) that are required to register to do business with the federal government.
Once you have your SAM UEI, you need to update your Organization Information in TCA’s Fluxx grants system. In order to change the Organization Information in Fluxx, you must be a moderator for your organization.
1. Go to the Organization Information Screen in Fluxx.
2. Click the edit button found in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Below where your DUNS number is shown there is a field for you to enter your new SAM UEI.
There are three categories that organizations are currently in:
For each case, TCA has developed a handout (with pictures!) to walk you through the process you need to follow to get your SAM UEI. Click through to get yours.
If you need help getting your SAM UEI, TCA staff can meet with you virtually in March. First, make sure you have your organization’s DUNS number, the name it registered under for the DUNS, and the organization’s physical address. If your organization does not have a DUNS number, here is how to get it. To request an appointment with a TCA staffer for SAM UEI help, go to this link.
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2022 Texas Poetry Out Loud Competition Event March 10 |
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The 2022 Texas Poetry Out Loud finals event will be held virtually at 6 PM Central on March 10, 2022. The Poetry Out Loud recitation contest is a national project of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. High school students memorize poems and perform them in competition. In the Texas state finals, 24 high school students from across the state are competing for a chance to represent the state in the virtual national competition in May for a pool of $50,000 in scholarships for students and cash awards for schools.
This year’s virtual competition will recognize each school winner and feature recorded recitations of the top five finalists. The students, each having won their school competition first, are evaluated on qualities such as articulation, evidence of understanding, accuracy and overall performance. The March 10 event will be hosted by internationally renowned Texas poet Naomi Shihab Nye, who is also the national Young People’s Poet Laureate for 2019-2021. The judges for the competition are Texas poets and performers.
The 2022 Texas state champion will receive $200 and will represent Texas at the national level. Additionally, their school will receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books and materials. The Texas runner up will receive $100, while their school will receive $200 for the purchase of poetry books and materials. To join us for the live event, please register in advance at:
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TCA Grants & Program Updates |
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New Grants Approved
On March 3, TCA Commissioners approved funding of 330 grants in the third funding round for fiscal year 2022. The grants total over $830,000 and will go to nonprofits, units of government, and artists in 89 Texas cities. These grants include the second of two funding rounds for the Arts Respond Project program; the quarterly Arts Respond Performance Support program; and the quarterly Commission Initiatives and Designated Funding program. TCA's full list of fiscal year 2022 grants is here.
Arts Respond Project grants fund arts-based projects that address one of the priority areas of economic development, education, health and human services, natural resources and agriculture, or public safety and criminal justice. For the second round of these grants in fiscal year 2022, applications from 199 arts organizations in 51 cities will receive funding, for a total of $588,946.
Arts Respond Performance Support grants provide partial support to help applicants host an artist from the Texas Touring Roster in their community—in person, or via interactive live-stream during social distancing. The 108 grants for this quarter total $130,763 and will go to 83 organizations and units of government in 53 Texas cities.
The Commission Initiatives and Designated Funding program for this quarter distributed $40,000 to support rural tours by eight artists and groups on the Texas Touring Roster. Each artist will give six free public performances that will serve designated rural counties between now and August 31, 2022. This grant program will also distribute a total of $75,000 in grant funds to the fifteen newly designated Young Masters.
Upcoming TCA Deadlines
TCA has upcoming deadlines for an update form and a grant program application. As always, the TCA staff is happy to discuss your goals and eligibility to determine which programs are right for you. You may also request that a TCA staff member review your application and provide feedback. Ideally, these requests would be made at least two weeks before the application deadline.
Grant Program: Arts Create
This program provides multi-year operational support to arts organizations with established cash budgets over $50,000. 2022 is the “off” year for this multi-year program. TCA will not be taking new applications. Current Arts Create grant recipients will fill out a required update form and submit it by their March 1 or March 15 deadline. The update form is available now, and grantees have been notified by email.
Grant Program: Arts Respond Performance Support
This program provides professional artist fees to Texas nonprofits, schools, colleges, and units of government for hiring an artist from the Texas Touring Roster to do a performance. These applications are funded based on a percentage of contracted fees. TCA has oriented the artists on the 2020-2022 Texas Touring Roster and is allowing presenters to hire them for live streaming interactive arts activities while social distancing is still in place. If you are hiring them for a planned in-person event, we encourage you and the artist to discuss a contingency plan in case that event cannot be held as anticipated, and to outline that plan in the performance contract. Please let us know if you have questions about the plan you are considering.
Activity dates must occur: between June 15, 2022 and August 31, 2022
Application deadline: midnight on May 2, 2022
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Get the Plate that Supports the Arts |
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Get TCA’s State of the Arts license plate at http://tinyurl.com/TXartsLP. The plate looks great on all kinds of vehicles, shows Texas pride and support of the arts, and costs a mere $30 a year in addition to vehicle registration. $22 of the $30 fee goes into TCA’s grants budget! TCA is grateful to the many Texas drivers who purchase the State of the Arts license plate, and to the wonderful arts organizations that help promote it to their patrons.
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Texas Touring Roster Artist Rural Tours |
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In our continuing efforts to provide more quality performances and arts opportunities in rural areas of the state, TCA has selected eight Texas Touring Roster artists and groups to provide free performances in rural counties between now and August 31 (TCA pays each artist a flat fee for the performances directly.). Each artist or group provides six performances in an assigned area, and the performances are hosted by local nonprofits, units of government, or schools. In the summer, these tours often serve youth summer reading programs in libraries. Hosts are reminded that any Texas nonprofit or unit of government (including a school or library) is eligible to apply for a Performance Support grant for up to half of a Texas Touring Roster artist’s fee.
Austin singer/songwriter Bob Livingston will conduct a tour centered on Winkler County, with additional performances in Crane, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Loving, and/or Reeves counties. Bilingual storyteller Carolina Storyteller will focus on rural counties in the Rio Grande Valley, including Kenedy County. Lewisville percussionist Mark Shelton’s tour will take him to Hemphill County, with additional work in Gray, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, and/or Wheeler counties. Montopolis Productions will present a short children’s film with live musical accompaniment in Trinity County, and serve other audiences in nearby Austin, Grimes, Houston, Madison, and/or Washington counties. Musician SaulPaul will head to the Del Rio area to serve audiences in Kinney County and nearby rural counties. Margaret Clauder will entertain children north of Lubbock, including in Floyd County. Aztex, featuring accordionist Joel Guzman and singer Sarah Fox, will tour rural central Texas counties, including Burnet County. Dallas storyteller Elizabeth Ellis will head east to serve audiences in Wood County and beyond to Camp, Franklin, Rains, Red River, and/or Titus counties. If you’re in or near these counties, keep a look out for free performances. We’ll share more specifics in future newsletters. Special thanks to the fantastic artists conducting rural tours on TCA’s behalf this year.
Photo of SaulPaul by Jeremy Jones.
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Closing the Digital Divide in Texas |
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Do you-- or your community-- need more broadband? A new State initiative is being developed, and they're asking for your input.
Over the next two months, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will embark on a statewide listening tour to hear from Texans about internet access and to collect valuable input that will be used to develop the state’s first broadband plan. This information will help the newly established Broadband Development Office determine how to close the digital divide in Texas.
The Comptroller’s Broadband Listening Tour will consist of 12 public forums held at different locations around the state, starting March 1. These events are free, and everyone is encouraged to attend to share their thoughts on the current state of broadband services in Texas.
If you are unable to attend an in-person event, you also can share your feedback by filling out the online survey by May 5, 2022.
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Texas Commission on the Arts
920 Colorado Street
Austin, TX 78701
512-463-5535
800-252-9415
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