Longing for the day ...

Grant funding - knockbacks and new tracks ...

OK, so I applied for some government grants to support the Tetrafasi Project late last year. I asked for about $40k each from Arts Queensland and The Australia Council. That's a lot to ask for straight up! The AQ grant was to pay for the services of James North to produce the set of recordings, and the OzCo grant was to pay for the services of the musicians who will play on them.

I deliberately applied in this way because there are less Queensland applicants and thus I figured I'm more likely to get that one. It's essential, whereas I can probably persuade a few mates to play on the things for love and a cut of the proceeds. I'd rather not, though ... musos deserve to get paid and I want to do the right thing!

In any case, last last year I received rejections from both and asked for feedback on each. OzCo sent me a form email saying the application had been ranked in the lowest third of applications and had scored worst on "Artistic Merit". Predictable ... at least they pointed me to a different grant for which I can apply.

However, today the wonderful Alyssa from Arts Queensland rang me to discuss the application for about 20 minutes. In summary, she said this:

1. The assessment panel loved the innovation and said the project had "high potential".
2. They wanted heaps more detail on the workshops, how they would improve the output of participants, the extent of the reach ... and so on.
3. They wanted a marketing plan attached
4. They wanted to see the criteria by which the songs had been chosen (fair point!)
5. They wanted "demonstrated demand for this" from industry via the Letters of Support
6. They wanted more details on the project's legacy

Plenty to work with there! I had wanted to supply lots of this but had been deterred by the small spaces on hte forms. Did not think of attaching stuff as additional supporting documents! (Tips for beginners)

So, I will try again with Arts Qld and will also apply for the PPCA/OzCo grant, which looks perfectly suited, though the amount is a little low. Something is better than nothing, right?

Need to completely re-draft the schedules, budget, etc ... and find additional support from industry ... not much of a challenge at all, really ... thanks, Alyssa!