Guidelines and full information are below or please email Visionarts@cityoftulsa.org for a fully formatted, downloadable copy.
Independent REVIEW PANEL GUIDE
VISION ARTS 6
Vision Arts 2025 PROGRAM
Thank you for your service to the City of Tulsa Arts Commission. Impartial reviews of proposals received through the VISION Arts program are a vital part of the process through which we aim to fulfill our mission to support arts and cultural organizations while encouraging economic growth throughout Tulsa. The hope of the City of Tulsa Arts Commission is for VISION Arts grants to support a wide range of arts and culture disciplines within the City.
Independent review panel STRUCTURE
By city ordinance, the Vision Arts Independent Review Panel shall consist of the following seats:
· 1 Tulsa Arts Commission liaison who shall act as facilitator for the process. (non-voting)
· 2 City Councilors approved by the City Council
· 2 at-large arts & culture-engaged community representatives selected by the Arts Commission (City of Tulsa residents only)
· 1 representative of the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture (FMAC) or similar entity with tourism or marketing experience that is serving and situated within the City of Tulsa
· 1 member selected by the Tulsa Authority for Economic Opportunity (Partner Tulsa)
Panelist Responsibilities
The responsibility of the reviewer is two-fold:
· To provide expert evaluation of proposals; and
· To recommend ranking of proposals and funding levels to the Tulsa Arts Commission.
PANELIST TASKS
· To provide up-to-date contact information and check emails regularly,
· To attend an introductory training session before adjudication begins,
· To review proposals and complete the individual jurying process in Submittable™ by the due date; and
· To attend an in-person meeting of the VISION Arts Independent Review Panel to make recommendations to the Tulsa Arts Commission on which organizations should be awarded funds and award amounts.
Approximate time commitment
All times are approximate. Some applications will take more, some less time than others.
- Training Session 2 hours
- Individual Adjudication 30 minutes per application. Vision Arts 5 had 34 applicants which was approximated 17 hours of review time
- In-person Meeting 2 hours
- Miscellaneous emails, etc. 2 hours
TOTAL APPROXIMATE TIME COMMITMENT: 26 hours between November and February
KEY DATES
Please review the following dates carefully. Part of your service to the IRP is a commitment to these deadlines.
- September 23, 8:00 am Applications for Tulsa Arts Commission selected members opens
- November 4, 11:59 pm Applications close
- November 11, 4:00 pm TAC selected members chosen, and all other IRP positions seated
- December 2, 6:00 pm Training Session (virtual); IRP members added to Submittable
- January 20, 11:59 pm Submittable reviews due
- January 27, 12:00 pm In-person IRP award meeting
- February 10, 4:00 pm Arts Commission vote on recommendations
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
All potential IRP members should declare any conflicts of interest. No executive, officer, or employee of any applying organization shall serve on the IRP nor anyone who aided an organization in the preparation of their application. Board members may serve; however, they should recuse themselves from discussion and voting on their respective organizations. For conflict-of-interest guidelines, please refer to the City’s Ethics Ordinances (Title 12, Chapter 6 of Tulsa’s Revised Ordinances).
GRANT APPLICATION INFORMATION
Below is a peek at scoring guidelines
PROGRAM AWARDS AND INVESTMENT AMOUNT ESTIMATES
The VISION Arts program will allocate the total funding amount across small and large organization subcategories. Based on the volume of qualified applicants, the Independent Review Panel and Arts Commission may recommend increasing or decreasing the subcategory awards beginning at $5000 up to $50,000, provided, the total program award does not exceed $150,000.
Application Questions & scoring guidance
organizational capacity
This section describes the organization. You will be asked to review the following:
1. Organization Mission Statement
2. Organization Profile and History – maximum of 300 words to describe the organization
3. Organization Tax-Exempt Status
4. Proof of Tax-Exempt Status –IRS determination letter, proof of fiscal sponsorship or another form of proof of tax-exempt status.
5. Organization Form 990 –most recent Form 990 in PDF format.
6. Organization Budget – the current organizational budget in either PDF or Excel format.
This section is worth 10 percent of the overall score. The score for this section based on the following questions:
● How has the organization performed in the past?
● Does the organization have a dedicated infrastructure of employees and/or volunteers?
● Does the organization prove itself historically responsible?
artistic merit & vision arts alignment
NOTE! Artistic Merit is NOT about the reviewer determining whether an artist's submission is good or bad art. Art is subjective and we are not the art police. Here are some concrete ways to evaluate artistic merit:
1. Does this project require or display a level of technical skill?
2. Will this project evoke an emotional impact on the artists and audience?
3. Is this project original and/or innovative?
4. Is this project relevant to the artist's artistic goals?
5. Will this project elicit a strong, thoughtful response from the audience and critics?
This list is not all-inclusive and in no way attempts to curtail your honest reaction and opinion.
This section describes the Vision Arts project in detail. The following should be included:
1. Proposal Title
2. Funding Request – the requested funding amount from $5,000 to $50,000.
- Proposal Summary –in 80 words or less.
- Proposal Narrative –the proposal in more detail in the narrative section. 500 words or less.
- Artistic Merit – This will describe the creative leadership, artists and arts organizations involved in the project. 500 words or less.
- Vision Arts Alignment –This describes, in detail, how the project aligns with the Vision Arts goals and priorities listed on page 4 of the program guide document. 1000 words or less.
This section is worth 40 percent of the overall score. The score for this section based on the following questions:
● Does the project possess creative and artistic merit?
● Does the organization make thoughtful selections of performers or artists?
● Does the project align with one or more of the Vision Arts goals?
● Does the project align with one or more of the Vision Arts priorities?
economic impact
This section measures the project’s economic impact for the City of Tulsa and the State of Oklahoma. The applicant entered values for either attendance-related impact or marketing reach or both. A calculator was provided for attendance-related impact figures. The applicants were asked the following:
1. Marketing Plan – To describe the marketing plan for the project, including marketing strategy, websites, social media, and target audiences. 500 words or less.
2. Attendance –To provide expected attendance for the project
3. To answer one or the other or both of the following sections:
a. Attendance-Related Impact
i. Attendance breakdown – to estimate the percent of attendance that will be from inside Tulsa and the percent of attendance that will be from outside Tulsa. The calculator provides guidance.
ii. Economic Impact Figures – to enter the economic impact calculator results for full-time equivalent jobs, resident household income, local government revenue, and state government revenue.
b. Marketing Reach
i. Expected Marketing Reach – if the primary economic impact will be marketing-related for the organization and/or the cultural sector in Tulsa as a whole, to enter your expected reach.
ii. Reach Measurement – to describe how the organization calculated the expected reach and how they plan to measure the marketing reach for the project. 250 words or less.
This section is worth 30 percent of the overall score. The score for this section of the application based on the following questions:
· Does the organization provide a sound marketing plan that will help achieve the program’s attendance and programmatic goals?
· Does the project have potential for significant economic impact for the Tulsa community? AND/OR
· Does the project have the potential for significant marketing reach, which will build new audiences, drive tourism, and/or reach diverse populations?
· Are the economic impact measures achievable for this project?
· Does the project employ local Tulsans?
maximizing value
This section describes the project in more detail, including the following:
- Opening Date
- Closing Date
- Proposal Venues –list any venues involved in the project, including addresses and details.
- Admission Cost –describe any fees associated with attendance to or viewing of the project.
5. Proposal Budget –upload an itemized project budget in either PDF or Excel format.
6. Financial Support –list any organizations or individuals that are financially committed to supporting the project. 300 words or less. There is the opportunity to upload proof of support documents.
7. Partnerships and Collaborations –list any organizations that will be involved in collaborating on the project. 300 words or less.
8. Accessibility –describe the strategy for ensuring the project addresses physical, language, economic and social accessibility concerns. 500 words or less.
This section is worth 20 percent of the overall score. The score for this section of the application is based on the following questions:
● Do the project logistics demonstrate realistic expectations?
● Is the project budget realistic and responsible?
● Is the project budget legible, clear, and accurate?
● Does the project create multimedia content that can be used to market Tulsa’s arts and culture treasures?
● Does the project leverage public dollars with matching private funds?
● Does the project involve community collaborators, and does it include opportunities for public involvement?
● Does the program take place in an ADA accessible place? Also remember that accessibility refers to many factors such as location, economics, etc.
end-of-cycle report
Grantees will be required to complete a final report within 30 days of the stated program Closing Date. The report will be submitted online, and a link will be provided to all grantees. You will be required to submit photos, videos, links and/or other documents to show proof of performance of your specific project. Grantees must submit end-of-cycle report before final payment is submitted. The written portion of the report will ask for the following:
- Final dates of the project or performance
- Final project statistics including attendance, reach and impact.
- Review and report on each of the goals stated in the “Economic Impact” section of your application.
- A final self-rating and narrative on how your project made a measurable impact, maximized the value of the Vision Arts grant, and created an artistic impact on the community.
FOLLOWING THE PANEL REVIEW PROCESS
· Panel review scores will be averaged to provide a final aggregate score for each proposal resulting in a recommended list for further consideration at the Independent Review Panel meeting.
· We ask for your discretion with respect to the panel review process. Please do not share results or the identities of other panelists.
· All inquiries regarding awards or processes should be directed to the Tulsa Arts Commission liaison.
If you have questions or concerns about a specific proposal, we recommend you contact the Tulsa Arts Commission Liaison at visionarts@cityoftulsa.org.
conflict of interest form
All potential IRP members should declare any conflicts of interest. No executive, officer, or employee of any applying organization nor anyone who aided an organization in the preparation of their application shall serve on the IRP. Board members may serve; however, they should recuse themselves from discussion and voting on their respective organizations. For conflict-of-interest guidelines, please refer to the City’s Ethics Ordinances (Title 12, Chapter 6 of Tulsa’s Revised Ordinances).
This form is available on Submittable.
1. Please list all arts and culture organization boards on which you serve or consult. If you are unsure if an organization qualifies as “arts and culture” list it anyway.
2. Do you serve as an executive, officer, or employee of any of the above-listed organizations?
3. I understand that I must keep confidential all proceedings of the Independent Review Panel.
4. I agree to complete the required tasks by the due dates listed above and to be available for all required meetings.
Vision Arts applying organizations must be nonprofit institutions that promote tourism or have an economic impact within Tulsa through programs, exhibits, and/or performances. Applying organizations must be principally located within the limits of the City of Tulsa and must have 501(c)(3) status or fiscal sponsorship. Informational resources about the Vision Arts grants are available at this website: https://www.cityoftulsa.org/government/departments/department-of-city-experience/design-studio/tulsa-arts/city-arts-opportunities/