Alliance for Watershed Education grants

The Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE) was formed to create a region-wide constituency of advocates for improved water quality, clean waterways and the preservation of the health of the Delaware River and its tributaries. AWE seeks to commission interdisciplinary high quality original works of art for its network of 23 environmental centers. The art at each center will serve as a focal point to inspire people to explore, enjoy, and engage with the watershed while creating awareness and advocacy for the protection and restoration of the Delaware River Watershed. The outcome centers desire most is that the work highlights the connectivity of the watershed and the 23 centers involved... 

Budget: This application represents the first phase of the commission process with the Request for Qualifications and artist selection. Each finalist artist, or artist team, will be eligible to receive a stipend of $2,000 to develop a thoughtful, creative, environmentally appropriate concept plan and associated budget for the AWE. The intention of the concept plan is to provide a detailed tool for the AWE to seek funding for design development and phased construction implementation, including management of the program in its entirety. The anticipated range for the total project will be $700,000 - 1,000,000 to be determined on successful fundraising.

More info here.

NEH Collaborative Research Grants

NEH Collaborative Research Grants 

Receipt Deadline: December 6, 2017

Collaborative Research grants support groups of two or more scholars engaging in significant and sustained research in the humanities. The program seeks to encourage interdisciplinary work, both within the humanities and beyond.

Projects that include partnerships with researchers from the natural and social sciences are encouraged, but they must remain firmly rooted in the humanities and must employ humanistic methods.

www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants

Prix COAL 2017

"The COAL association is pleased to announce the names of the ten finalists of the COAL Art and Environment Prize 2017! 

The 2017 COAL Award will be awarded on 29 November 2017 by the Ministry of Culture during a ceremony organized at the Museum of Hunting and Nature [in Paris]. The event is part of a day dedicated to Art, Culture and Biodiversity organized at the Museum of Hunting and Nature by the Ministry of Culture, the Museum of Hunting and Nature, COAL, the French Center of Funds and Foundations and the French Agency for Biodiversity. 

In seven editions, the COAL Prize has become the international rendezvous for artists who are taking over the main universal issue of our time: ecology. This year again, nearly 350 artists from 66 countries representing the six continents competed as part of an international call for projects. The ten nominated artists were selected for the aesthetic qualities of their proposals, their relevance to environmental issues, their inventiveness, their ability to transmit and transform, and their social and participatory approach. Together, they demonstrate how creation, in its diversity of forms and actions, is a key force in shaping the future of our societies.

The finalist artists of the 8th edition of the COAL Prize are

• Erich Berger and Mari Keto (Austria, Finland) - INHERITANCE - The Ritual of Measurement
• Isabelle Daëron (France) - Topical - unsafe water 
• Abdessamad El Montassir (Morocco) - Resistance to Nature 
• Anne Fischer (France) - Rising from its Ashes 
• The Valley ( France) - Pietra P. 
• Martin The Chevallier (France) - Scheduled obsolescence 
• The New Ministry of Agriculture (France) - New local products. Diamond Gnetton 
• Mendel (South Africa) - Drowning World 
• Afour Rhizome (South Korea) - This wind you are talking about takes us far from ourselves 
• Anaïs Tondeur (France) - Carbon black

The global ecological crisis now affects all societies, territories and activities, whether through climate change, the scarcity of resources, various types of pollution or the erosion of biodiversity. A global crisis that intertwines with its economic and social consequences. But this crisis is also a cultural crisis. The dominant values ​​and representations, our globalized culture, determine our individual and collective behaviors, and ultimately our collective impacts on the planet. Also, the solutions to this crisis cannot only be political and technical. Culture can be a major player. This is what COAL has been promoting since it was founded in 2008. The COAL Award is aimed at all artists who, throughout the world, witness, imagine and experiment with solutions for the transformation of territories, lifestyles and organizations, and modes of production. Together, they are helping to build a new collective narrative, a new imaginary, common heritage under development, a positive, optimistic and necessary framework for everyone to find the means and the motivation to implement the necessary changes towards a more sustainable and just world."

See the winning artists and learn more here.

Thalie Lab grants

"...the foundation invites visual artists, curators, designers and chefs to submit a project on the theme of deceleration, that explores concepts for the collaborative economy (recycling, textiles, 3D creation, food…) and has a social impact."

The two laureates will receive a production grant up to 10,000 euros depending on the project, workspace and residential accommodation at ThalieLab in Brussels.

SciArt Center Microgrant: "Nature as Muse"

"Nature as Muse" Microgrants

Deadline to apply: June 16th, 2017
Grant award: $200

Grant theme:
The theme of this grant is "Nature as Muse" and is intended for artists, scientists, or transdisciplinary practitioners who draw inspiration from nature in her varied forms, contexts, and scales. This grant aims to help the grantee bring an existing project to completion. 

What we're looking for:
Are you almost done with a large-scale painting related to nature that you need some extra funds to purchase paint for? Are you $200 away from collecting your final specimens for analysis? Is there a piece of equipment that would bring your project or research to the next level? We're looking for applicants that have existing projects that are close to completion but need some help to get there. Preference will be given to trans-, cross-, and multi-disciplinary projects. Such projects include art works that engage science and nature, science research that engages nature and aesthetics, and the like.

More info here.

The Bridge: Experiments in Science and Art, CFP

Are you a performance artist interested in collaborating with a geologist? Are you a programmer looking to interact with an art historian? Are you a poet who wants to work with an expert in the birth of the universe? Are you a microbiologist seeking to visualize your findings with the help of a sculptor?

"The Bridge: Experiments in Science & Art" is now open for applications. This virtual collaborative residency program creates pairs of cross-disciplinary professionals who embark on a fourth month long collaboration of their own devising. In this open call format, we find the best three pairs based on fitness, to help you meet the collaborator of your professional dreams. Each pair - which often span geographies - collaborates to inform each other's work, as well as create something new. With an emphasis on exploring the natural process of collaboration, "The Bridge" residents are not bound by rules or expectations, and are limited only by each collaboration's imagination.

Deadline to apply: July 5, 2017
Residency period: September 1 - December 31, 2017

More info here.

Research support for art/sci intersections

The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS) is dedicated to
fostering and supporting integrative scholarship addressing ultimate
questions at the intersection of the arts, engineering, the
humanities, law, and the formal, natural, and social sciences,
especially those that transcend disciplinary boundaries.
http://ndias.nd.edu/fellowships/residential/

Research Support
The NDIAS offers residential fellowships for periods ranging from
three weeks to a full academic year (fall and spring semesters, August
through May). Fellowships range up to a maximum of $60,000 (gross
amount) per academic year (up to a maximum of $30,000 [gross amount]
per semester) or pro-rated amounts for shorter periods. In addition,
fellows who do not reside in the greater Michiana area are provided
with subsidized visiting faculty housing located adjacent to the
University during their fellowship. Applicants who require additional
support beyond the fellowship stipend should seek supplementary
funding in the form of external grants or sabbatical and other
contributions from their home institutions. When preferable due to
reasons such as faculty retirement contributions, ongoing employment,
or the tracking of external funding, the NDIAS will pay a fellowship
stipend directly to a Fellow’s home institution.

Application Instructions
https://ndias.nd.edu/fellowships/residential/application-instructions/

Culture and Climate Change

Culture and Climate Change is a new UK effort that links art and science to influence society. Their projects include Narratives, Recordings, and Scenarios, like artist residencies.

"Climate change is urgent and important, but also, for many, boring, difficult and confusing. What kinds of stories and other artworks are being created in response to ‘the greatest challenge facing humanity’ — a challenge that is also apparently forgettable?"

"We convene workshops and events that invite contributions from leading researchers, artists, producers, journalists and policymakers."

Partnership for Community Engagement Pilot

This WESTAF program seems like a great, ready-made model for some types of FSML art (Partnership for Community Engagement Pilot).

* * *

WESTAF--the Western States Arts Federation--is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to the creative advancement and preservation of the arts. To accomplish this, WESTAF works in cultural policy, research, and technology.

WESTAF provides other services that may be useful to FSML art programs:

• "Since its launch in 2005, CallforEntry.org (CaFÉ) has grown to become the nation’s leading online call-for-entry application and jury management system. Thanks to a series of significant improvements and an expanding team, CaFÉ now has over 150,000 registered artists and is the only system with an active marketplace of artists who regularly search for and apply to calls through the site. The CaFÉ site consistently hosts more than 120 active calls, with over 60 new calls added each month. Each call receives an average of 220 submissions for juried exhibitions, art competitions, and public art commissions."
• "The Public Art Archive (PAA) database is quickly approaching 10,000 records from almost 1,000 collections around the nation and abroad. As the database grows, the PAA team continues to work on ways to help more of the public discover and learn about public art collections. One big step towards this goal is the Collection Showcase Page feature, which allows administrators with collections in the PAA to develop their own home page as an access point to their collection. Using the showcase page in this way is far less expensive than designing a stand-alone public art site. In addition, because the PAA is heavily used, the public is better able to search for a collection in a locality rather than seeking one out that is often buried in state and local government sites."
• "WESTAF has underwritten Barry’s Blog for 10 years now. The blog was initiated by Barry Hessenius, who, at the time of the blog’s founding, was the recent past executive director of the California Arts Council. WESTAF...invites our Update Notes subscribers to read Barry’s thoughts on 10 years of blogging about the arts by visiting: http://bit.ly/barry10."
• See more services on the WESTAF website.

a2ru Programs, and Groundworks Conference Announcement, November 8-11, 2015

The Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) generates knowledge, advocacy, and resources that enable universities to integrate arts and design practices, fostering highly adaptive creators and thinkers.

"There is a problem with creativity. Companies and governments are very keen to promote it, but they’re not sure what it is or who has it."
"Art should be regarded as a specific kind of cognitive engineering".

The above quotes come from a2ru's extensive Knowledge Base that provides information that enables research universities to adapt effective strategies for integrating arts practice, and to support and inform further original inquiry. They also offer project grants, and request assistance in compiling relevant studies and examples of original research collaborations.

* * *

The 2015 a2ru National Conference takes place November 8-11, 2015 at Virginia Tech. From their webiste:

"GroundWorks: Improving and Supporting Practice in the Third Space" will convene partners and allies to address the next generation of opportunities and challenges facing arts transdisciplinary practice, peer review, infrastructures, and partnerships in research universities.

Registration is open to all.

GOALS & OUTCOMES

• Disseminate and leverage the Mellon Best Practices Guide to improve practice and infrastructure. Develop and test set of shared values and criteria for peer reviewing, critiquing, and understanding research and creative practice in the third space.
• Make progress towards a peer-reviewed aggregator/forum for arts transdisciplinary research and practice.
• Lay groundwork for shared practices guidelines for third space research and practice in S.E.A.D, Arts + Health, and Arts + Social Entrepreneurship endeavors.
• Explore emerging cultural policy platforms through high-impact regional partnerships.

Resources for art/science collaborations

Here's a helpful note from Tracey Bell, ecoorchestra.com via Fred Swanson:

======================

I wanted to share a few resources with you for your future explorations into this topic:

I'm not sure if you have connected with the folks that run the Cultural Programs of the National Academies of Science, but you should reach out to them for sure!

One example of national standards for art+science collaborations might be the evaluative criteria for the NEA's Artworks grant for cross-disciplinary art+science projects.

You could also check out the Americans For the Arts for everything from the economic impact of the arts to models for civic engagement in the arts. Subpages of potential interest to you:

• National Arts Administration and Policy Research Database
• Animating Democracy "As a program of Americans for the Arts, we bring national visibility to arts for change work, build knowledge about quality practice, and create useful resources. By demonstrating the public value of creative work that contributes to social change and fostering synergy across arts and other fields and sectors, we work to make the arts an integral and effective part of solutions to the challenges of communities and toward ensuring a healthy democracy."

With regard to other topics:

The Art and Social Justice movement looks at returning agency to traditionally oppressed or underrepresented groups and giving them the ability to tell their own story through performing arts, writing, or visual arts. Often projects have a connection to land, place, food, the environment. The Art and Social Practice movement , which is similar but not exactly the same, looks at socially engaged art making and often has an connection to the environment and place as an integral part of community life.  A great place to start looking for more information on these topics would be the Open Engagement Conference.  PSU also has an MFA program in Social Practice Art.

And last but not least, here are some examples of social practice/science/art work that I found in my research that might be of interest to you as well:

• City as a Living Laboratory  Includes best practices framework for collaboration between artists and scientists. "Mary Miss / City as Living Laboratory (MM/CaLL) is an initiative spearheaded by artist Mary Miss to establish a platform for artists, working in collaboration with scientists, urban planners, policy makers, and the public, to make sustainability tangible through the arts. CaLL asks: by what means can we foster roles for artists and designers to shape and bring attention to the pressing environmental issues of our times?"
• Highwater Line Performance piece that engages communities in dialogue about rising water levels and climate change and includes a action guide and educational materials. (Sponsored by Eco ArtSpace) 

How do you institutionalize art at field research sites?

Here's one clever and simple idea: give artists a dedicated place to stay while on site. This is a cool project proposal from Stanford, forwarded by Philippe Cohen. The funding was an internal Stanford competitive grant program under the auspices of the Stanford Art Institute.

"What really excites me about this is that it will have the effect of normalizing the presence of artists and art students at Jasper Ridge [Biological Preserve] and set the stage for interactions and collaborations between artists and researchers."

NEH Common Good program

The National Endowment for the Humanities is up to some interesting things.

Here's a note from Eva Caldera, Assistant Chairman for Partnership and Strategic Initiatives (emphasis added):

Our new NEH initiative, The Common Good: Humanities in the Public Square, includes an invitation to the humanities community to examine opportunities for the humanities to contribute to the changing understanding of the relationships between humans and the natural environment. If you or any of your colleagues would like to learn more about the initiative or its grant programs or the work of the Endowment more generally, please feel free to be in touch.

Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change: High Impact Strategies for Philanthropy

Clearly, science influences culture. Field science has had an incredibly powerful and controversial influence in the age of climate change.

Here's an interesting paper on the changing arts funding landscape by Holly Sidford.

It is a call to reach out in unconventional directions, pointing out that, "Current arts grantmaking disregards large segments of cultural practice, and by doing so, it disregards large segments of our society."

This sounds like the same impetus that is driving field science to engage with art from the other direction.

The paper also includes an excellent defense of art:

"Culture and the arts are essential means by which all people explain their experience, shape their identity and imagine the future. In their constancy and their variety, culture and the arts allow us to explore our individual humanity, and to see our society whole. People need the arts to make sense of their lives, to know who they are. But our democracy needs the arts, too. The arts animate civil society. They stretch our imagination. They increase our compassion for others by providing creative ways for us to understand and deal with differences. The arts protect and enrich the liberty, the human dignity and the public discourse that are at the heart of a healthy democracy."

=================

Update: 

"Across sectors, artists and arts organizations are increasingly being called upon to activate the social imagination to bring forth new ways to know and understand an increasingly complex world. Artists are providing a critical lens that educates, provokes, and holds a mirror to society, influencing what gets attention in the public sphere and shaping perspective and opinion. Arts and culture are engaging communities in creative process and social action, broadening who has voice and offering a connecting point to those who have not felt power in the civic realm before."

Trend or Tipping Point: Arts and Social Change Grantmaking is a paper from the Animating Democracy program of Americans for the Arts, by Pam Korza and Barbara Schaffer Bacon.

"Focusing on grantmaking in the United States, the report aims to characterize the nature of support from both private and public sectors. It examines how various grantmakers think about social change in the context of agency goals and what outcomes they are looking for through their support. The report looks at the types of activities and projects that are being funded as well as grantmaking strategies and structures. It documents obstacles and opportunities for greater support, considering both funders who are and are not supporting this work."

Updates from Philippe Cohen

From Philippe Cohen, Jasper Ridge Biological Reserve:

At the 2012 [OBFS] meetings I organized a presentation/poster session for biological field stations to show off what they are doing in terms of art and science. This pdf contains the descriptive materials I received from various field stations that participated in that effort.

...Finally, at Jasper Ridge, we are always open to possibilities and although there is no regular program currently in place, if there are people who are interested we are glad to explore ideas and funding on an ad hoc basis. We are hoping to have our second visiting artist within the year since the first one was so successful.

Questions from Fred Swanson

From Fred Swanson, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest:

I was asked to write an essay to be one of six in a set to appear in Ecosphere (ESA on-line journal) for next year's ESA centennial. Title something like: "Ecology, the Arts, and Humanities: Confluences at Sites of Long-Term, Place-Based Inquiry" (too long, but gives the scope). It's not a book. I'm not an expert, but have been involved with colleagues in pushing the cause in some circles for quite a few years and tracked some of the OBFS action via our Andrews OBFS representative Mark Schulze. I've been working mainly in the LTER and USFS Exp. Forests and Ranges networks because of tighter personal fit in them.

Recent interactions with Art and Mike Lannoo got me wondering about status of the FSMLs - about how many (what fraction of the 270 OBFS sites in round numbers - same for the 120 NAMLs - are these numbers right?) have some arts/humanities action? is there a rough sense of the class vs. residency split (if there is such a thing)? I get the picture that practical motivations of class and student numbers are prime, but just the pleasure and inspiration of it is important too. ??

The paper prep has me viewing the situation as one of lots of highly dispersed action at the ecology-arts-humanities confluence happening at many dozens of sites of long-term inquiry, but it is quite cryptic - not easily located on many site/program webpages, I know of only one webpage that tries to show profiles of many sites (www.ecologicalreflections.com - it's simple, poorly kept-up, incomplete), and there is no overarching system of communication - there's some emerging, grassroots communication in LTER (workshops at the 3-yr All Scientists Meetings) and FSML (the blog you just turned me onto - thank you). Do you see it that way too?...