MAP Fund (Multi-Arts Production Fund)
Contact information:
73 Spring Street, Suite 401
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-226-1677
Website: http://mapfund.org/
Type of foundation: Independent
Types of grants: Project
Description: The MAP Fund was launched in 1989 by The Rockefeller Foundation to support innovation and cross-cultural exploration in new works of live performance. In 2001, Creative Capital began administering the program and in 2008, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation became MAP's primary funder, joined by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2010. MAP is keenly interested in supporting artistic experimentation. It seeks applications from artists, ensembles, producers and presenters of a high artistic standard. MAP is particularly interested in supporting work that examines notions of cultural difference or "the other," be that in class, gender, generation, race, religion, sexual orientation or other aspects of diversity.
All projects supported by MAP must contain a live performance. MAP grants support 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.
Sample grants:
- $40,000 to International WOW Company to support Reconstruction, a new interactive performance piece by Josh Fox and International WOW. During Reconstruction, the audience will assist in the greening, or transforming, of a raw space in the South Bronx into a renewable energy performance space that will serve as an artistic hub, a community center, and a model for utilizing renewable energy and technology to reclaim public spaces. In collaboration with noted urban-planning expert and MacArthur “Genius Grant” award recipient, Majora Carter, participants will be transforming the former Spofford Detention Center in the Bronx, which is now an abandoned, unused juvenile facility (2012).
- $40,000 to On the Boards to support Wayfinders, a new performance work by Holcombe Waller. The sung stories, interactive-video spectacle, and the contrast of arranged and improvised musical performances (which are themselves displayed as a kind of navigation) converge to investigate how technology can both illuminate and obscure our awareness of presence, place and trajectory in our everyday lives (2012).
- $35,000 to The Children’s Theatre Company to support OurSpace, a new work for teen audiences created in collaboration with Philadelphia's New Paradise Laboratories. OurSpace will examine online social spaces and how they shape teen self-expression. The physical performance will combine elements of traditional theatrical performance with communications technology such as interactive broadcast devices and projection screens. Participants will send, receive, and project scripted and unscripted messages and images that will impel the action in unpredictable ways (2007).
- $30,000 to Appalshop to support Thousand Kites, a “community play creation process” mirrored in digital space, which will premiere simultaneously in 15-30 prisons and prison communities and broadcast in real time by 100 community radio stations (2005).
- $20,000 to Appalshop to support Thousand Kites, a community-based performance, web, and radio project centered on the United States prison system and created with prisoners, employees and their families (2006).
- $20,000 to Bang on a Can to support Mexican Radio (MAP 2010), an evening length work by composer David Lang. David Lang will create a cycle of songs to be performed by Mexican diva Lila Downs. World-renowned eclectic/electric chamber group, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, provide the musical accompaniment. And Latino public radio DJ, reporter and activist Betto Arcos narrates the evening – a live-audience olde-tyme radio show that relies on a decidedly contemporary and timely global collaboration (2010).
Fit for public broadcasting: The primary focus of the MAP Fund is supporting the creation and production of new live performance work. MAP is explicitly interested in experimentation and has funded several projects that utilize media technologies to reach, engage and interact with audiences. MAP has funded some projects that specifically incorporate radio, as well as social media. The Fund is a good prospect for radio stations interested in artistic experimentation, arts projects that engage communities in new ways, and stations interested in partnering with artists.
Eligibility: Applicants must have 501(c)(3) tax status or have a fiscal sponsor. Organizations and artists must have at least two years of 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 (July 1, 2013). The touring or documentation of work that has already premiered is not eligible for funding. MAP does not support straight adaptations from one medium to another, remounting of past work, traditional restaging of classic works, educational projects, youth programs that do not achieve as high an artistic standard as competing professional works, festivals, or contests.
Deadline: The online letter of inquiry application will open on Tuesday, September 4. The deadline for the online letter of inquiry application is Wednesday October 17, 2012 at 3:00 pm EST. Organizations will be notified in mid-November if a full proposal is requested. The deadline for full proposals (which must be invited) is Monday, December 10, 2012. The grant activities period is July 1, 2013 through June 31, 2015.
How to apply:
There are three stages to the application review process:
- Interested applicants must register on the MAP Fund website for the Online Letter of Inquiry. This is an open call requesting written information about the project and the lead artists involved. Organizations will be notified by email if a full proposal is requested.
- If invited, applicants will submit a full application online. This application must include a complete project budget, statements from lead artists, and work samples, in addition to the information submitted in the LOI. Full applications are reviewed by field evaluators and MAP staff. Based on these scores, a selection moves forward to the on-site peer panel.
- A nationally composed peer panel meets on-site in New York City to review the applications. The panel recommends which proposals will be funded.
Giving range: Up to 40 grants will be awarded, ranging from $10,000 – $45,000. The average grant amount is $25,000. Organizations can request MAP grants of up to approximately 30 percent of the total project budget.
Total giving: MAP awards $1,000,000 in grants annually.
