Rubys: Artist Project Grants

The Rubys were established in 2013 by GBCA with lead funding from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation to provide project-based funding for individual artists. The program supports both emerging and established artists committed to their art forms. Grants enable individual artists to create or complete a project that will be presented to the general public of the greater Baltimore region through a performance, presentation, screening, exhibition, or reading. Grantees must submit a timeline that includes a public component within 12 months of the grant award start date. Artists may apply for a phase of a larger project provided the phase includes a public component within 12 months.

The 2014 current round focuses on Performing Arts and Media Arts. Performing Arts includes dance, music, theater, musical theater, opera, puppetry, performance art, playwriting, spoken word, storytelling, and traditional/folk art. Media Arts includes film, audio and video projects, animation, computer graphics, sound art, digital arts, screenplay, and teleplay. Applicants may request up to a maximum of $10,000. Artists may submit only one application during each funding round.

Eligibility requires: residency in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, Carroll County, Harford County, or Howard County; U.S. citizenship or permanent legal residency; age 21 or older; and active pursuit of the discipline for more than three years. Organizations, full-time students, and current board members, committee members, staff, or consultants for GBCA, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, or their immediate family members are not eligible. Selection criteria include artistic merit of work samples, artistic vision and potential impact of the proposed project, and feasibility based on project budget and available support. A grant review panel of field experts will make recommendations for final approval by GBCA. Required application materials include project description (maximum 400 words), project timeline, project budget, resume/CV (maximum 3 pages), and work samples from the last three years. Work sample formats allowed: Performing Arts may submit up to three video and/or audio files, up to 10 image files, and playwrights may submit up to three document files; Media Arts may submit up to three video and/or audio files and up to three document files for scriptwriters. Entry fee is $25.00.