FINDING FUNDING

Depending on how ambitious your project is, you might need some money to see it to fruition. This cash could be used for all sorts of things, from paying musicians to commissioning artists or composers to building sets and designing costumes. This sort of thing can get expensive quickly, so it be impossible for you to pay for the whole thing out of pocket. Luckily, many schools offer funding programs for creative projects.

The process of finding and applying to these programs can be a bit daunting at first, but it is important to get started on it early. This is because the amount of funding you receive will be integral to planning your project -- how ambitiously you can think, what you can budget for, and so on. In this section, I will explain how to find and apply for funding for your project, using my own experience as a case study for how the process might play out.

A). Finding...

The first step to securing investments for your project is, well, finding someone to provide them. Most schools will have funding programs for creative projects through any number of offices or programs, but they can sometimes be tricky to find. I ended up using two different funds for my project, but I didn't know of either of them before beginning the planning process. The first place to seek help is your teacher. They will have an idea of what funding programs exist in your school, and will probably end up having to write you a letter of recommendation anyway. Professor Lyman pointed me in the direction of the EXCEL (Excellence in Entrepreneurship, Career Empowerment & Leadership) Lab, which offered a fund for student projects called the Enterprise Fund. This fund ended up being a major source of money for my recital. Many schools have entrepreneurship offices like this for students, and many of them have some sort of funding program. Put these on your radar!

It is also important to ask around your social circle for recommendations. There are likely countless offices and programs at your school which could potentially fund your project. There is no way that your teacher will know about all of them, especially if you go to a larger public school like the University of Michigan. Other music students need funding too, and many of them will be able to show you programs that they themselves have experiences applying for. For example, a friend of mine tipped me off about the ArtsEngine Grant at the Duderstadt Center. Since they had applied for (and received) it before, they were able to walk me through the application process. This help ended up streamlining the process for me, and I ended up receiving funding from ArtsEngine after only one application attempt.

B). Applying...

In general, the funds that you might try and use will require both an application and a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. They also will likely have specific criteria that they will want your applications to meet in order to receive funding. These could include a preference for interdisciplinary projects, or projects that have a community impact. They could even specify the use of a specific venue or resource. These criteria could be anything, and they will vary depending on the fund in question. Make sure you read up on what the fund is looking for before you apply! This will save you a ton of extra work and heartbreak; nothing is worse than needlessly applying for something that you don't even qualify for (as you might be able to tell, my job search hasn't been going particularly well...)

THE GRANT NARRATIVE:

Most, if not all, funding sources will ask you to explain your project in detail so that they can have a better idea of what they might be investing in. Depending on the fund, they may ask you to explain how your project fits with the criteria that the specific fund is looking for in their investments. The EXCEL Enterprise Grant, for example, wanted me to explain how my project would have a positive impact on the SMTD, or greater University of Michigan, community. The ArtsEngine fund, on the other hand, was more interested in hearing about the interdisciplinary nature of my project, and how I planned to incorporate technical elements. In any case, the most important thing you can do when writing your grant narrative is to make sure that you understand what they want from the projects they invest in. Once you understand this, you can successfully pitch your project to the specific sensibilities of the fund in question.

For reference, here are my successful grant narratives for the EXCEL Enterprise Fund and the ArtsEngine Grant.

1). EXCEL Enterprise Grant Narrative: (note section on community impact)

Primary Applicant: Jacob Sugarman, Bassoon Performance

This is a reapplication for the EXCEL grant program, after consultation with EXCEL staff. “…no new word from God” is an interdisciplinary narrative performance that will feature the work of both currently enrolled and non-student musicians and visual artists. It will be presented in the Duerderstadt video studio, and will be presented as a senior recital for the BM in Bassoon Performance degree. Collaborations will include live performances of commissioned musical works and visual elements including minimalist set design, dynamic lighting, and video projection. The project will feature original musical works from composers _________ projections from visual artists _________, and set design/digital fabrication by_____. I have already secured a $1,000 grant from ArtsEngine which will go towards the rental/moving costs of a piano into the Duderstadt Video Studio. An EXCEL grant would be utilized to pay for commission fees of my non-student collaborators ($400) and for the digital fabrication costs of set constructions ($600) (see budget below.)

The performance is based on a loose conceptual story of the creation and swift destruction of an uncontrollable Earth by an exasperated God, designed and written by myself (with input from my many collaborators) as a theatrical text. Altogether, “…no new word from God” is a hybrid of live theatre and musical performance, telling its story through a convergence of spoken/sung word, musical context, and visual elements. The visual elements will be presented through projections onto both a large screen across the width of the studio (representing the perspective of God) and projections onto smaller box-like constructions which will be representative of man.

It is my goal for this project to serve as a reminder of the possibilities surrounding senior recitals at University of Michigan, given its unique resources and the collaborative possibilities afforded by its many top academic and artistic programs. Through this project, I hope to demonstrate to the SMTD community that because of these advantages senior recitals at the University of Michigan can reach beyond traditional repertoires, venues, and mediums, and that such recitals provide extraordinary opportunities for students to bend convention and express the modern, interdisciplinary skills and interests that the University of Michigan cultivates. Over my four years at Michigan, I have noticed a lack of senior recitals that truly take advantage of these possibilities, and I want to make sure as many people as possible realize them.

I already have an extensive schedule for the creation of this performance which I have communicated to the composers, visual artists, and performers involved. From September to late October the composers will compete rough drafts of their works, which will be made available for the visual artists no later than October 31st. This will allow cohesion between the visual and musical aspects of the performance (prior to that date the visual artists will begin to collect footage based on rough narrative concepts.) From late October to late December, the composers will finalize their pieces, which will be made available to the visual artists upon completion. From December to February, the pieces will be rehearsed and the visual artists will finalize their work. Finally, from February to April, rehearsals will continue, including technical rehearsals with the finished visuals in the video studio itself. During this period, digital fabrication of set design elements will also begin.

I have an extensive history with creation and performance of this type, having created both a musical short film, an operetta, and six improvised musical theatre performances in venues around Ann Arbor. An EXCEL grant would support the professional development of these skills by allowing me to exercise my passion for artistic production at a higher level than ever before. Additionally, it would support the professional development of each of my collaborators. This project is truly interdisciplinary insofar as my collaborators have all been in constant dialogue with myself and one another surrounding the narrative and overall design of this performance. Such an experience in interdisciplinary collaboration is invaluable for any modern artist. At the same time, the professional benefit that these composers and visual artists are receiving by having their works professionally recorded by the Duderstadt Video Center staff cannot be understated. Thank you for your consideration, and I truly appreciate all the work that the EXCEL office does to support student development.

2). ArtsEngine Grant Narrative: (note expanded section on tech and interdisciplinary nature of the planned event)

Primary Applicant: Jacob Sugarman, Bassoon Performance

“...no new word from God” is an interdisciplinary narrative performance that will feature the work of multiple University of Michigan students and be presented in the Duerderstadt video studio. It will be presented as a senior recital for the BM in Bassoon Performance degree, and will feature numerous collaborations between present and former University of Michigan students. These collaborations will include live performances of commissioned musical works and visual elements including minimalist set design, dynamic lighting, and video projection. The project will feature original musical works from composers ____ (among others) and multimedia set design from visual artists ____. The performance is based on a loose conceptual story of the creation and swift destruction of an uncontrollable Earth by an exasperated God, designed and written by myself (with input from my many collaborators) as a theatrical text. Altogether, “...no new word from God” is a hybrid of live theatre and musical performance, telling its story through a convergence of spoken/sung word, musical context, and visual elements. The visual elements will be presented through projections onto both a large screen across the width of the studio (representing the perspective of God) and projections onto smaller box-like constructions which will be representative of man.

I already have an extensive schedule for the creation of this performance which I have communicated to the composers, visual artists, and performers involved. From September to late October the composers will compete rough drafts of their works, which will be made available for the visual artists no later than October 31st. This will allow cohesion between the visual and musical aspects of the performance (prior to that date the visual artists will begin to collect footage based on rough narrative concepts.) From late October to late December, the composers will finalize their pieces, which will be made available to the visual artists upon completion. From December to February, the pieces will be rehearsed and the visual artists will finalize their work. Finally, from February to April, rehearsals will continue, including technical rehearsals with the finished visuals in the video studio itself. During this period, digital fabrication of set design elements will also begin.

I have an extensive history with creation and performance of this type, having created both a musical short film, an operetta, and six improvised musical theatre performances in venues around Ann Arbor. An ArtsEngine grant would allow me to compensate the work of my visual artists and composers. Furthermore, it would go towards costs associated with digital fabrication of set design elements and projection surfaces. Finally, it would go toward the costly process of moving a grand piano into the Duderstadt video studio. Importantly, I will also be applying for an EXCEL grant to help cover these expenses (hopefully along with an ArtsEngine award.) I want to push the limits of what a senior recital can be – of what stories can be told, and of what experiences can be provided in a degree recital. With the help of ArtsEngine, I hope to realize this ambitious vision.

THE BUDGET:

After completing your grant narrative, you will need to draw up a budget for your project. This will be extremely helpful to you, not only in your application to any grant programs, but for the planning of your project in general. Budgeting is a great way to figure out exactly how you are going to create the artistic vision you have for your project, how much it might cost, and whether or not you might need to scale back, or, become even more ambitious.

One of the biggest reasons I had to reapply to the EXCEL Enterprise Fund was because my initial budget was so barebones. Grant programs care a LOT about your budget. How professionally it ends up looking will be interpreted by the fund as determinative of how seriously your project is being produced. Here are a few general tips about creating the best budget possible.

1). Spend a lot of time thinking about what you want for your project, and do your best to estimate how much it will cost. This is really tricky, especially if you are doing an interdisciplinary project that includes aspects like set design or costuming; stuff you aren't very familiar with. It might help to ask your collaborators for help in figuring out the budget for their sections of the project, since they will likely have more specialized knowledge of the cost of their craft than you will. Regardless, do your best. I ended up doing research on Amazon and theatre production websites to estimate set design and costuming costs, calling a few piano rental businesses to estimate the cost of that process, and talking with my composers to come to an agreement about commission fees.

2). Use Microsoft Excel, or some other spreadsheet software. This makes your budget look a lot more professional, and has the added benefit of making the process of calculating total costs and things like that much easier. The EXCEL office at the University of Michigan has a handy template to help with this: try it out, it helped me a ton with the process.

THE LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION:

This part should be simple, assuming your already have your private instructor on board with the project. Just ask away! If you have not yet talked to your teacher about your plans, or if your project is not being done for school credit, look at the tips discussed in section one of this website.

WAITING/REVISING:

After you have completed your applications, just wait and see! You should hear back within a few weeks. Many schools funding programs like the two I applied for have multiple rounds of funding, so don't feel like it is the end of the world if your project isn't accepted for funding the first time through the process. Like I said above, I had to apply to the EXCEL Enterprise Fund twice due to problems with my initial grant narrative and budget. I was, however, ultimately awarded money from it after meeting with someone from the EXCEL office and getting feedback on my first application. Doing something like this, meeting with a member of the fund for feedback on your rejected application, is a great thing to do before reapplying.

Once you know how much funding you will receive, you will be able to revise your budget to take your new sources of funding into account. This will allow you to see if you have money to add new elements you were not initially considering, or if you do not have enough funding and need to either cut things or apply to more funding programs.