2024-25 Community Development Investments

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Formerly known as the Seed Fund Tier 4 Grant, this award is intended to be a more substantial investment in an already ongoing project or initiative that centers the Flow Arts and helps to promote the mission of Fund the Flow Arts.

Our mission is to:

  • Advance the prop manipulation-based Flow Arts
  • Foster local Flow Arts communities
  • Cultivate the global community of Flow Arts practitioners.

Funding can range from $10,001 – $20,000. In order to be eligible for this grant, the project or activity must already be underway and be able to demonstrate community engagement, momentum, and sound management.

Application Process:

Please submit a Letter of Intent to info@fundtheflowarts.org that describes your project. Please be sure to include in this letter:

  • How long the activity has been running;
  • How it serves the mission of Fund the Flow Arts;
  • The community it serves – this can be based on geographic location or identity or other factors;
  • A short description of what the funds will be used for/how the investment can benefit the community you serve and your organization or project;
  • Put Community Development Investment LOI and the name of your project in your subject line.

All letters will be reviewed by the Board members and subject-matter experts drawn from the community.

The projects deemed the best able to help Fund the Flow Arts fulfill its mission will be invited to submit a full-proposal. This proposal will include an application form with detailed questions, as well as a project budget, marketing plan, and resumes of the project leadership and key personnel. An interview with project leadership will also be required. You do not need to submit proposal materials with your initial Letter of Intent.

 

The timeline is as follows:

  • Letters of Intent accepted from October 31, 2024 – December 31, 2024. Please do not submit your letter before October 31.
  • Full proposals will be invited in January with a due date of March 15, 2025.
  • Awards will be announced in May 2025.

2024-25 Seed Fund Grant Proposal Guidelines :: Tiers 1-3

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About the Fund

Fund the Flow Arts is a US-based nonprofit established in 2011 to present and promote the Flow Arts. Our mission is to:

  • Advance the prop manipulation-based Flow Arts
  • Foster local Flow Arts communities
  • Cultivate the global community of Flow Arts practitioners.

The purpose of the Seed Fund is to support projects that will help fulfill this mission. We are offering tiered grant amounts. In your proposal, please provide the requested information for the tier to which you are applying.


Project Eligibility for the 2024-2025 Grant Cycle

  • For the 2024-2025 grant cycle, we will be funding projects in the Teaching/Outreach and Flow Arts Education and Training Resource Development categories.
  • Examples of eligible projects include after-school programs, workshop series, or the creation of resource material for educators, therapists, or other professions to incorporate flow arts into their work. Guides on fire safety, or best practices for working with people with disabilities, would also be examples of resources. These examples are not prescriptive nor exhaustive!
  • Projects in the Events/Gatherings and Performance/Presentation categories will be funded in the 2025-2026 cycle.
  • Projects that have the potential for wider reach beyond your personal community will be more competitive. Partnerships with other nonprofit organizations, businesses, or other community entities such as libraries, schools, park districts or merchants associations (just as examples) would be a plus.
  • Exclusions: Product development is not eligible for funding, e.g., the creation of new flow props or start-up funds for a company to make flow props intended for retail sale.
  • Projects that include Circus or Burlesque performance are eligible only if the Flow Arts are the central feature and the main point of the project.
  • For this round, grants are available to recipients who can receive US funds only (US citizens, permanent residents/ authorized to work in the US.). We hope to be able to support international projects and applicants in future rounds.

    We will be distributing a total of $50,000.

 

Previously funded projects have included:

  • Full Moon Jam Foundation for their Winter Workshop Flow Jam Series, a monthly series of free workshops and open jams.
  • Being a Bridge for continued work bringing American Sign Language interpreters to flow festivals for accessibility and advocacy for Deaf/Disabled flow artists.
  • The Flow Nexus for a mobile educational space comprised of a library of flow tools and decorative environment based out of the Emerald Village Observatory in San Diego.
  • Photonix, a student-run organization at the University of Michigan, a performance group dedicated to showcasing the Flow Arts.

 

GRANT TIERS AND PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

For requests up to $1,000 :: click here to apply

  1. Please describe your project. Let us know what the activity is, and how it will help fulfill the Fund’s mission and promote/support the Flow Arts community. Also specify when and where the project will take place.
  2. What is your history with organizing this, or similar, projects? If working with children in grades K-12, please tell us about your history with working with school districts, incorporating required curricula, and working with kids.
  3. Do you anticipate receiving funding from other sources? If yes, please let us know what they are.
  4. Will the project involve partnerships with other individuals and organizations? If so, please list them and specify their roles in the project.
  5. Will you be using a fiscal sponsor for this project? If so, please provide information about the sponsor and their history of similar or related work.
  6. Please let us know what the received funds will be used for. (e.g., teacher stipends, sound system, props, etc.). The total should equal your request amount.
  7. If full or partial funding from the Seed Fund is not received, will you be able to carry out the project anyway?

 

For requests between $1,001 – $5,000 :: click here to apply

  1. Please describe your project. Let us know what the activity is, and how it will help fulfill the Fund’s mission and promote/support the Flow Arts community. Also specify when and where the project will take place.
  2. What is your history with organizing this, or similar, projects? If working with children in grades K-12, please tell us about your history with working with school districts, incorporating required curricula, and working with kids.
  3. Will the project involve partnerships with other individuals or organizations? If so, please list them and specify their roles in the project.
  4. Will you be using a fiscal sponsor for this project? If so, please provide information about the sponsor and their history of any similar or related work.
  5. Do you anticipate receiving funding from other sources?
  6. Please let us know what you’d spend the funds on (total should equal your request amount).
    If full or partial funding from the Seed Fund is not received, will you be able to carry out the project anyway?

Example expense breakout for $5,000 request. Please note the items listed here are examples only, and not necessarily what your project will need.

1. Artist/Teacher Fees$3,000
2. Venue Rental$500
3. Gear$300
4. Marketing/Promotion$750
5. Permits$200
6. Photographer$250
Total Equals Request Amount:$5,000

__________________________________________

                                                                                

For requests between $5,001 – $10,000 :: click here to apply

  1. Please describe your project. Let us know what the activity is, and how it will help fulfill the Fund’s mission and promote/support the Flow Arts community. Let us know when and where the project will take place.
  2. What is your history with organizing this, or similar, projects? If working with children in grades K-12, please tell us about your history with working with school districts, incorporating required curricula, and working with kids.
  3. Will the project involve partnerships with other individuals or organizations? If so, please list them and specify their roles in the project.
  4. Please provide a timeline for the implementation of your project, including all deliverables.
  5. Please describe your promotional/outreach strategy. If applying for a resource, please share the distribution plan for the resource you create.
  6. Will you be using a fiscal sponsor for this project? If so, please provide information about the sponsor and their history of any similar or related work.
  7. Please list your other sources of funding e.g., ticket sales, merchandise sales, individual contributions, grants from other sources. Please note that for this tier, other sources of funding are required.
  8. Please let us know what you’d spend the funds on (total should equal your request amount). Please refer to example above for how to do this.
  9. If full or partial funding from the Seed Fund is not received, will you be able to carry out the project anyway?

Example expense breakout for $12,000 request. Please note the items listed here are examples only, and not necessarily what your project will need.

Teacher and Performer Fees$6,000
Administrative Fees$3,000
Marketing and Promotion$2,000
Videographer$1,000
Total equals Request Amount:$12,000

  __________________________________________

 

Review Process:

 Applications will be reviewed by a panel of community members.

 

Application Period:

  • October 1 – December 31, 2024
  • Deadline: December 31, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Pacific
  • Awards announced no later than March 17, 2025

  

REVIEW CRITERIA

Criterion Maximum points

Fulfillment of FFA’s mission and service to Flow Arts Community25
History of similar work20
Community support as evidenced by partnerships and other funding sources25
Soundness of implementation plan15
Soundness of budget15
Total100

Grant recipients will be expected to have periodical check-ins to update the Fund on the progress of their project, as well as provide written and/or visual documentation. By the end of the grant cycle, we hope to have a compelling story to tell about your project.

2024-25 Seed Fund Program Adjustments

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The Board of Fund the Flow Arts learned a great deal in the process of inviting, evaluating and awarding the 2023-2024 Seed Fund Grants. Having metabolized these learnings, the following adjustments are being made as of the 2024-2025 grant cycle.

SEED FUND

Seed Fund Awards will be made for Tiers 1 – 3 only. These Tiers are:

  • Tier 1: up to $1,000
  • Tier 2: $1,001 – $5,000
  • Tier 3: $5,001 – $10,000

What had been known as Tier 4, for grants that range from $10,001 – $20,000, will be awarded in a separate process, noted below.

Project types will alternate year by year. The project categories are:

  • Events/Flow jams
  • Teaching/Outreach
  • Performance/Presentation
  • Resource/ Research

In 2024-2025, the next cycle, we will consider applications for the Teaching/Outreach and Resource categories.
In 2025-2026 we will consider Events/Flowjams and Performance/Presentation.

The plan is for the categories to alternate year by year. Please refer to the Seed Fund Proposal Guidelines for the specifics on the application process and requirements. The Guidelines for the next round will be available October 1.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENTS

Previously known as the Seed Fund’s Tier 4 grants, these awards are intended to be more substantial investments in ongoing, continuing projects. The awards will range from $10,001 – $20,000. These grants will be run as a separate program from the Seed Fund. Applicants will express their interest in a brief Letter of Intent which simply describes the project. From these LOIs, full proposals will be invited from the most promising or potentially impactful projects. Please refer to the Community Development Investment Proposal Guidelines for the specifics of the application process and requirements. These guidelines will be available October 1.

APPLICATION WORKSHOPS

Beginning with the 2024/2025 grant cycle, Fund the Flow Arts will offer application workshops to explain the guidelines, expectations, and offer tips and answer questions from interested applicants. These will be held virtually on the following dates:

  • Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 5 p.m. PDT / 7 p.m. Central / 8 p.m. Eastern
  • Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at 7 p.m. PDT / 9 p.m. Central / 10 p.m. Eastern

These sessions will be recorded and available to view after they take place. These sessions will be free on Zoom or Google Meet, but we will ask for RSVPs. Please keep an eye out on our social media or website, fundtheflowarts.org, for details closer to the dates.

As always, thank you for all the flow awesomeness you put out into the world! We look forward to seeing you at one of the Application Workshops, and if you have any questions, please email flowarts@gmail.com

Announcing 2023-24 Seed Fund grant recipients

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We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023-24 Seed Fund grants. We received 166 applications – over 3 times the number of applications compared to the previous round!
The total amount requested was $909,291 and we voted to raise the funding by over $25,000 to fund a total of 25 projects spreading across 15 states.

  • Tier 1 :: 10 grants awarded = $9,800
  • Tier 2 :: 10 grants awarded = $31,739
  • Tier 3 :: 3 grants awarded = $17,390
  • Tier 4 :: 2 grants awarded = $20,000
    Total = $78.929

Congratulation to this year’s recipients!

Winter Workshop Flow Jam Series, IL
To support Chicago’s Full Moon Jam Foundation’s series of monthly, indoor events during the winter.
$12,000

Being a Bridge, CA
To support safety, accessibility, and inclusion for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Flow Artists at events.
$ 8,000

The Flow Nexus, CA
To support a mobile educational space comprised of a library of flow tools and flow dojo, as well as workshops and a video series.
$6,000

Flow Arts Show at the 77th Annual IJA Festival, WI
To support the production of a Flow Show at the International Jugglers’ Association’s annual festival in Green Bay, WI.
$6,000

Eastside Spin Jam, WA
To support a flow arts meet-up and workshops in Bellevue, WA
$5,390

Eastside Showcase, WA
Eastside Showcase at the Northwest Arts Center in Bellevue, WA
$5,000

Open Burns, Washington DC
Monthly flow and fire event and workshops presented by Astraea Burners, for predominantly LGBTQIA+ members in the Washington, DC area.
$5,000

Photonix, MI
To support a student-run Flow Arts organization and performance group at the University of Michigan.
$4,500

Cascade Juggling Festival, WA
Joint project of Cascade Jugglers of Seattle and The Bellingham Circus Guild.
$4,500

Lebanon Flow Arts Family – Friday Flow Night, OR
An all-inclusive Flow Arts Group serving the semi-rural communities in the Willamette Valley, OR.
$2,500

Sierra Flow Society Flow Jam, CA
To support monthly flow jams and free workshops at a local venue.
$2,500

Spread the Flow, FL
To support a series of free entry, sober flow jams and workshops in Central and South Florida.
$2,500

Madison Circus Space PROPosal, WI
To create a library of flow arts props for use by community members at the Madison Circus Space in Madison.
$1,842

Santa Fe Flow Jam, NM
A regular flow jam for the Flow Arts community of Santa Fe, NM
$1,820

Tahoe Flow Arts & Fitness, CA
To help provide props and instruction at a Flow Arts & fitness studio in Tahoe Vista.
$1,577

StuyFlow, NY
A student-led high school club in Stuyvesant High School in New York that practices the flow arts, performs in the school’s annual shows that operates under the principles of Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Responsibility (PLURR).
$1,000

Flow Dojo
A flow arts collective in Boise, ID whose mission is to make the flow arts more visible, accessible, and affordable to broader audiences within their community and the greater Pacific Northwest.
$1,000

Albuquerque Flow and Fire Group, NM
A bi-weekly meet-up to practice fire and flow in a safe, supportive environment in Albuquerque.
$1,000

Flow Arts in the Park, NC
A flow arts community in Charlotte to present workshops and an open flow space at the Feel Good Fest.
$1,000

Flow Arts at the LEAF festival, NC
Workshops and flow arts props for a festival in Black Mountain
$1,000

Flow Art Gatherings, VA
Monthly flow arts gathering in Richmond
$1,000

Flow Arts festival at Looking Glass Studio, MI
A multi-prop flow arts festival in Warren.
$1,000

Flow Workshops, IA
Flow Arts workshops at Cirque Wonderland Studios in West Des Moines
$1,000

Indoor winter flow meet-ups, OH
Indoor flow space during the winter months.
$900

Flow for the Fifties and Beyond, CA
An online, global flow arts education and practice venue for people over age 40.
$900

2023-24 Seed Fund Grant Proposal Guidelines

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Fund the Flow Arts is a US-based nonprofit established in 2011 to present and promote the Flow Arts. Our mission is to:

  • Advance the prop manipulation-based Flow Arts
  • Foster local Flow Arts communities
  • Cultivate the global community of Flow Arts practitioners.

The purpose of the Seed Fund is to support projects that will help fulfill this mission. We will be distributing a total of $50,000 in this round, and are offering tiered grant amounts. In your proposal, please provide the requested information for the tier to which you are applying.

For this round, grants are available to U.S. based recipients only. We hope to be able to support international projects in future rounds.

Previously funded projects have included:

  • Critical Mass Dance Company for their new dance theater performance piece. CDMC is a blacklight dance theater company that supports community health, women’s leadership and social change through dance education programs and performances.
  • Enrico Vinholi for continued work on technology that generates music from the movement of staves.
  • Kate Riegle Van West for the second round of her Poi and Aging research.
  • Kevin Gao for efforts to bring the flow arts as a form of therapy to Burmese refugees living in Boston, MA.
  • Paul Hull for the support of a dedicated venue for flow arts exploration, outreach and engagement in Nashville, TN.
  • The Philadelphia Spin Coalition for a new program “SpinCo Together” that seeks to provide positive impact through movement arts and interactive performance to individuals experiencing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and intellectual disabilities..

Please scroll to:

  • view application requirements
  • access application forms for the various tiers
  • view review process and criteria

Deadline for submissions is 31 December 2023, 11:59pm PST. We wish you the best and look forward to seeing your project proposals!

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GRANT TIERS AND PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Tier 1: For requests up to $1,000

Tier 2: For requests between $1,001 – $5,000

  • Submit completed Tier 2 application form.
  • Example of how to answer question 7. You don’t have to make a graph/chart, just a simple list in the form will be fine.
  • Example expense breakout for $5,000 request:

Tier 3: For requests between $5,001 – $10,000

  • Submit completed Tier 3 application form
  • For this tier, other sources of funding are required. You will list these in question 7.
  • Example of how to answer question 8. You don’t have to make a graph/chart, just a simple list in the form will be fine.
  • Example expense breakout for $10,000 request:

Tier 4: $10,000 – $20,000

  • Submit completed Tier 4 application form
  • For this tier, a detailed budget for the project, including any other funds raised in addition to Seed Fund support*, is required. Include donations and grants, as well as projected ticket or other revenue. In your budget, please breakout the specific expenses Seed Fund funding will cover. Please see the example budget form below for an idea of how to conceptualize a project budget.
    *Please note that for this tier, other sources of funding are required.
  • For this tier, resumes of the project leaders including both administrative and artistic roles, are required.
  • For this tier, an interview with Fund the Flow Arts representatives is required. Someone will contact you to set this up upon receipt of your application.
  • Example Project Budget:
  • Note on use of funds: The Seed Fund grant will be used to support the following line items:

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Review Process:

  • Applications will be reviewed by the board and a panel of community members.
  • Application Period: October 1 – December 31, 2023
  • Deadline: December 31, 2023, 11:59 p.m. PST
  • Awards announced by March 15, 2024

Review Criteria:

2016 Seed Fund Grants

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Fund Mission

Fund the Flow Arts (FFA) is dedicated to advancing the prop manipulation-based Flow Arts, to raise the profile of the artform, encourage innovative artistic progress and scientific inquiry into the benefits and uses of the artform, and to cultivate a global community of Flow Arts practitioners. In pursuit of these goals, we engage in activities that support emerging and established Flow Arts communities, present and showcase the artform to the general public, make the artform accessible to a wide range of people and advance the evolution of the Flow Arts disciplines in technique and artistry.

About the Seed Fund

The Seed Fund is an effort to provide stimulus to projects whose missions and goals are aligned with those of FFA, creating community around or promoting knowledge of the artform to the general public. Our aim is to make small contributions of up to $1,000 to support projects either by giving them the seed funds they need to begin work, or as a stimulus to reach a new threshold of activity.

Some examples of projects that would qualify for funding:

  • Promotion/creation of social spaces, resources, and activities for Flow Artists
  • Creation of a Flow Arts based theater or dance show
  • Community outreach efforts, including after school programs, or enrichment activities for youth, retirees etc.
  • Efforts to integrate flow arts with innovative technologies
  • Scientific studies or research centered on the Flow Arts

As the Seed Fund is meant to be used for projects that will expand the community, we will not be funding projects that will only see use at private events or benefit small groups of people exclusively. Additionally at this time, we are not funding projects based outside the United States (exception: if your project is sponsored by a US-based institution or will have benefits that will be shared domestically, i.e. research projects with publishable results).

Some examples of projects that would not qualify for funding:

  • Creation of any materials for performances at private parties or events (no gogo dancers or performances at private parties or events, including Burning Man)
  • Promotion of a troupe for the purpose of getting hired for private parties or events
  • Performances by troupes or companies based in non-US countries
  • Creation of technology or resources intended to be used/exhibited among a closed group of people.

There are probably many projects we haven’t thought of. Projects can take a variety of forms – we look forward to seeing the reaches of your creativity!

Process

Application period: September 21, 2016 – October 21, 2016.
Project period: 2016-2017

Submit a completed proposal by the closing date of October 21.

Awards will be determined by the board of Fund the Flow Arts as well as a committee comprised of Flow Arts community members, who will remain anonymous until after the awards are announced.

Grant recipients will be announced early November. Recipients will have their projects promoted via Fund the Flow Art’s social media and website, along with a plaque honoring them as a Seed Fund Grant Recipient.

Grant recipients will be expected to have quarterly check-ins to update the Fund on the progress of their project, as well as provide written and/or visual documentation. By the end of the grant cycle, we hope to have a compelling story to tell about your project.

 

Inaugural Seed Fund recipients announced!

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We are pleased to announce the seven recipients of the Seed Fund Pilot Program!

“Do Stuff with Things” Podcast series on object manipulation and its communities around the world ($500)
Richard Hartnell, Noel Yee, Brian Thompson and Bri Crabtree (Oakland, CA, USA)

Hoops to gift to women in recovery from chemical/alcohol addiction ($500)
Charity Edwards (Knoxville, TN. USA)

Comprehensive web and video resource on physical conditioning and injury prevention ($800)
Nick Woolsey (Halifax,Canada)

Spanish-language tutorials providing instructions on various flow arts ($1000)
Fede Fourcade (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Toybox: a box on wheels containing various toys to be brought to fairs, festivals and schools to promote and teach spinning at these events/venues ($1000)
Melanie Troutman (Portland, OR, USA)

London Fire Expo: a free public fire performance in London ($1000)
Emily Morgan (London, UK)

Fahrenheit Festival: a fire and flow arts festival to serve the US mid-Atlantic region ($1000)
Kimberly Berk and Gregory Goldmacher (Warrington, PA, USA)

Congratulations to all who secured funding for their projects, and deep gratitude to everyone who applied for this first round of seed grants. We received over 30 applications from nine countries around the world, including countries from Asia, North and South America, Europe and Oceania.

The variety and scope of the projects were broad and very inspiring, and we look forward to raising funds and enabling more projects that serve the Flow Arts to happen in the future.

The Seed Fund was established in 2011 as a program of US non-profit Fund the Flow Arts to provide small grants to projects and that serve the non-profit’s mission of advancing the prop manipulation-based Flow Arts, fostering local Flow Arts communities and cultivating a global community of Flow Arts practitioners.

The judging panel comprised the Fund’s four current Board members: Khan Wong, Prisna Nuengsigkapian, Lily Rasel, and Sean von Stade; and Sandra Sommerville (Canada) and Shireen Press (Portland,OR), individuals who have been actively serving the flow arts and hooping communities for many years.

Seed Fund Pilot Program

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Two of the main goals of Fund the Flow Arts are spreading knowledge of the Flow Arts to the general public, and deepening the artistry of Flow Arts practitioners. With these in mind, we are pleased to announce the pilot year of the Seed Fund – a grant program that will award small amounts (up to $1,000) for projects that meet these goals.

What makes this a pilot program? It’s the first time we are offering this program, and this initial run is a “proof of concept” for our grantmaking. We are testing our application procedures, seeing what kind of project ideas are generated, and seeing how the field of flow arts works with a formal grants process. What we learn through this process will help us shape and grow this program in the future, and help us learn how to most effectively serve our community.

Most likely, not every proposal will be funded. During the evaluation process, we’ll be looking at those projects that have the highest potential for the broadest public impact.

The application deadline is 14 November 2011 and the process is very simple: download the PDF or Word version of the form (“Save As” to your computer), answer the questions (you can type right in the text fields) and return by email to flowarts@gmail.com. You can either attach the completed form to the email or copy and paste your responses into the body of the email. (The submit button isn’t working properly.)

We hope to announce award recipients before Thanksgiving. Good luck!

> Click here to download the Seed Fund Application (pdf)

> Click here to download the Seed Fund Application (word)