Grant / Residency Opportunity – A Social Practice Initiative of Living Resources and Grand Central Art Center
Living Resources & Grand Central Art Center Partnership
Developing Sustainable Practices within Affordable Housing Communities
A SOCIAL PRACTICE INITIATIVE
CALL TO CREATIVES
PROJECT SUMMARY
Living Resources, a program of a California-based nonprofit organization, has teamed up with Grand Central Art Center (GCAC), a unit of the College of the Arts at California State University, Fullerton, in enlisting community-driven “Creatives” (artists, architects, social activists) to respond to a “Call” for proposals.
Specifically, the Creatives selected will be awarded a one-year opportunity to engage the residents in one of two affordable housing communities in Southern California and Phoenix, AZ to ignite social change through sustainable practices and programs. The Creatives selected – individual and or collective groups, will be given housing (or a housing stipend), a working stipend, and a small budget to execute their projects.
THE COMMUNITIES
The communities in which applications will be accepted for are as follows:
Warwick Square Apartments, Santa Ana, Calif., a 500 unit family property where residents’ household income is less than 60% of median income adjusted for family size
Whispering Pines Apartments, Phoenix, AZ, a 325 unit family property whose residents’ household income is less than 80% of median income adjusted for family size
WHAT IS LIVING RESOURCES?
Living Resources is an outreach program developed and funded by a nonprofit organization founded to promote the preservation and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing for low-income households. Living Resources provides support – financial or otherwise, to underserved individuals or other nonprofit organizations serving those in need.
WHAT IS GRAND CENTRAL ART CENTER?
Grand Central Art Center, a unit of California State University, Fullerton’s College of the Arts, is the result of a unique partnership between the university and the city of Santa Ana. Located ten miles south of the main campus in the heart of downtown Santa Ana, the art center is a mixed residential, commercial and educational complex. Grand Central Art Center is dedicated to the investigation and promotion of contemporary art and visual culture: regionally, nationally, and internationally through unique collaborations among artists, students, and the community. The art center is a 45,000 square-foot, half-city block deep and full city-block long, three-level structure with apartments, live/studio spaces for college of the arts graduate students, the Grand Central Gallery, the Project room, the Grand Central Theater, the Gypsy Den Cafí©, an Education Gallery, classrooms, and studio and living spaces dedicated to the center’s international artist-in-residence program.
More information on GCAC can be found at: http://grandcentralartcenter.wordpress.com/
HOW WE CAME TOGETHER
A partnership between Living Resources and the GCAC germinated from a collaboration in which Living Resources funded an artist in residency program at GCAC, as well as have seeded other community-based artistic efforts to stimulate social change in many Southern California communities.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are looking for Creatives who seek to bring low-income people together at two affordable housing communities, in which the nonprofit is part owner, to share ideas and experiences, and stimulate social change within their communities. The Creatives role is to live and/or spend significant amounts of time with the people living there, get to know them, listen and lead the effort to stimulate change using their specific skillset and Social Practice approaches. Living Resources and GCAC seek a similar outcome – the Creatives leave the community a better place to live, with people more active in assuring the continuation of this positive change.
WHAT IS SOCIAL CHANGE?
In sociology, the term social change refers to any significant alteration in behavior patterns and cultural values. This type of change may have a lasting effect on a society’s culture that has undergone transformation. We are looking for Creatives to live within the community in an affordable housing apartment complex and ignite change within that community making it a better place to live, getting people involved, and leaving a lasting impression for generations to come.
What exactly the Creative and that community are seeking to change and how this is accomplished is where we turn to you, the applicant, to lay out a framework for specific projects and approaches to accomplishing your goals over a one year period of time. This framework would also include methods for measuring this impact during your residency and once you have concluded your time.
WHAT DOES THE RESIDENCY INCLUDE?
This is a one-year residency in which the Creative is provided housing at no cost, a stipend of $10,000, and a small project budget of $2,000 for the year. The Creative may also choose to work part of the time from an onsite resource center, as well have access to the property management staff onsite and the resource center coordinator’s time.
DEMOGRAPHICS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMUNITIES
Information related to each affordable housing community is available upon request. Send email to: grandcentral@fullerton.edu
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?
Creatives must be:
• Individual artists or artist collectives
• A U.S. citizen or a permanent legal resident
• At least 25 years old
• A working artist with at least five years of professional experience
• Undergo a background (and credit check for living in residence at one of the affordable housing communities*)
• And have never committed a felony.
*To be eligible to live at the Santa Ana site, artists must qualify for affordable housing. Artists can still do a project at the Santa Ana and not qualify for affordable housing, as it is not a requirement of the grant to live on site. The Phoenix site doesn’t have the same affordable housing qualifying requirement for living on site.
AWARD CALENDAR
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 – The Call will be released.
Friday, May 23, 2014 – Applications due, 11:59 p.m. PST.
Friday, June 27, 2014 – Awards Made.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE SUBMITTED TO APPLY?€ƒ
Living Resources & Grand Central Art Center Partnership
Developing Sustainable Practices within Affordable Housing Communities
A SOCIAL PRACTICE INITIATIVE
Call to Creatives
APPLICATION
Full Name(s)
Collaborative Information (if relevant)
Address
Phone Alternative Phone
Email Address
Website
Other Contact Information
On a separate document, please provide responses to the following questions.
Please describe your creative interests.
1. Please select which community you would like to work with.
Warwick Square Apartments (Family Affordable Housing Community; 500 units)
780 Lyon Street; Santa Ana, CA 92705
Whispering Pines Apartments (Family Affordable Housing Community; 325 units)
2601 North 36th Street; Phoenix, AZ 85008
2. What type of social change do you hope to bring about in that respective community? And, what are your goals of the proposed project? (Please provide a minimum of one page description on this question.)
3. How do you plan to go about at engaging the community to foster their interest and participation?
4. What plan do you have to bring about this change?
5. How do you plan to measure your impact on the community during your residency and what tools might you suggest post-residency?
6. What makes you qualified and the right person to be selected to initiate social change in this community?
7. Please describe some of your past work engaging community and/or leading social change.
8. What sets you apart from other applicants for this project?
9. Please provide samples of your work, if relevant.
10. Please attach a copy of your resume or CV.
11. Please provide three professional references.
WHEN IS THE APPLICATION DUE AND WHERE SHOULD IT BE SENT?
Applications should be submitted to arrive no later than 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, May 23, 2014.
Submissions will be accepted through email (.PDF format only):
grandcentral@fullerton.edu
or by mail to the following address:
Grand Central Art Center
Attn: John D. Spiak
125 N. Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92701
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to email any questions you may still have to the ATTN OF: John D. Spiak / grandcentral@fullerton.edu