News

Annual Grant Panel Reviews Begin March 28

By Hal Partlow, Associate Director of Grants –

GrantsAs 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 represent a specific artistic discipline or grant program. Panel composition ideally represents cultural and geographic diversity.

As customary, we begin panel reviews with Major Cultural Institution grants. On Tuesday, March 28, the organizations that will be reviewed are:

  • Belcourt Theatre
  • First Center for the Visual Arts
  • Nashville’s Children’s Theatre
  • ArtsBuild
  • Opera Memphis
  • National Storytelling Association dba International Storytelling Center
  • Ballet Memphis
  • ArtsMemphis

On Wednesday, March 29, the organizations include:

  • Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art
  • Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission
  • Nashville Repertory Theatre
  • Knoxville Museum of Art
  • National Ornamental Metal Museum
  • Knoxville Opera Company
  • Memphis Orchestral Society, Inc.
  • Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

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, if asked. A call-in option available to representatives who can not 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.

Fiscal Year 2018 Advisory Panel Meeting Dates

Panel (Category) Meeting Date
Major Cultural Institution (MCI) Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Major Cultural Institution (MCI) Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Dance (APS & PS) Thursday, March 30, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Literary (APS & PS) Thursday, March 30, 2017 – 1:00 p.m.
Arts Education Teacher Training (AE-TT) Friday, March 31, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Inter-Arts (APS & PS) Monday, April 3, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Music (APS & PS) Tuesday, April 4, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Rural Arts Project Support I  for arts organizations (RAPS) Wednesday, April 5, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Rural Arts Project Support II for non-arts organizations (RAPS) Thursday, April 6, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Arts Education Community Learning (AE-CL) Friday, April 7, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Theater (APS & PS) Wednesday, April 19, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Community Arts (APS & PS) Thursday, April 20, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Funds for At Risk Youth (FAY) Friday, April 21, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Arts Access (AA) Monday, April 24, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Visual Arts, Craft, Media and Design (APS & PS) Tuesday, April 25, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Folklife (APS & PS) Wednesday, April 26, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.