Annual Grant Review Panels Continue Through April

By Hal Partlow, Associate Director of Grants –

As part of the annual grant review process each year, advisory panels are held so that citizens from across Tennessee can provide expert guidance in evaluating grant applications. They help enable the Tennessee Arts Commission to make informed decisions in awarding grants and technical assistance recommendations to applicants. Advisory panels may represent a specific artistic discipline or grant program. Panel composition ideally represents cultural and geographic diversity and multiple professional perspectives.

Panel meetings are open to the public. Click here for directions and parking. 

While not mandatory, it is strongly recommended for a representative of the organization to be present at the time of review to respond to panelist questions. A call-in option is available to representatives who cannot attend in person. Panelists are asked to assign ratings for each evaluation criteria. They may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the application and give constructive comments. Apart from running the panel meeting and keeping the discussions consistent with review criteria, Commission staff members do not take an active role in the review process and do not score applications. Staff will calculate the average score for each application, and prepare a list of all applications ranked from the highest to lowest score.

Funding recommendations are based on the final ratings and rankings of all applications and the availability of funds. This is a competitive process, and all funding recommendations are presented to the Commission board members for final approval.

The fiscal year 2020 advisory panel review meeting dates are listed below. Note that all times are CENTRAL TIME. A detailed schedule will be sent to all applicants.