Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis

Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis Individual Artists Applications Walkthrough A detailed walkthrough of grants.racstl.org for Artist Support Grant and Artist Fellowship applications. Last updated June 29, 2017 1

Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis Individual Artists Applications Walkthrough RAC s Grant Application Website Introduction Getting Started Completing Your Individual Artists Application Navigating RAC s Grant Application Website Application Outlines 2

RACs Grant Application Website Introduction Individual Artists Applications This document will serve as a walkthrough for the new RAC Grant application website. This walkthrough applies to the Artist Support Grant and Artist Fellowship applications. Before we start, here are a few quick notes: New Login Page grants.racstl.org is the new home for all artist and organization RAC grant applications. Simultaneous Applications You may have multiple types of applications open at the same time under one single login. For instance, you may have an open application for the Artist Support Grant, and one open for the Artist Fellowship at the same time. Save Your Progress You can save your application progress and return to it later. Upload Various Media Types This new system will allow you to upload multiple videos, audio, image, and document files. Note that when sharing lots of images, we still recommend combining them into one slideshow or PDF file. Accessibility You may access the RAC grant application website on any computer or mobile device. Applicants will have the best experience using a desktop or laptop, and using the Google Chrome browser. 3

Getting Started Create an Account Visit grants.racstl.org to create an account.* Scroll down and locate the gray Sign Up button. Complete the form on the next page. Check your email! You ll need to confirm registration before moving forward. Start here! *Note for returning applicants: grants.racstl.org is a completely new system launched in June 2017. All applicants will have to create a new account this year, even if you had an account in the old egrant system. For more info, please contact us. 5

Getting Started Navigation Once signed in, RAC s grant application website displays tasks to lead you through opening and submitting your application. Click Start to begin any task. Before you begin your application, you ll need to complete a quick Applicant Setup task to give us a little more information about yourself, and collect information on your eligibility. Complete the first task! 6

Getting Started The First Task: Applicant Setup The first task will also ask you to provide more information about yourself, and will ask a few questions to help the system determine your eligibility for current applications. The first task should only take a few minutes to complete. Click Next at the bottom of each page to continue through and complete the task. 7

Getting Started The First Task: Complete! You have completed the first task, Applicant Setup, when you see the green COMPLETE status appear. Also note the gray box. You are always welcome to return to this task and edit it in case you need to change your contact info, applicant type, or eligibility. Next up: Now you may select and begin your application! First task completed! Next, scroll down 8

Getting Started Selecting Your RAC Application Scroll down the same page (the home page), and you ll see a new section called Your Applications. At first, you ll see No applications found. It s normal, as you haven t started an application yet. Click the green View Applications button to continue and see what applications you are eligible to apply for. scroll down to here. Click View Applications 9

Getting Started Selecting Your RAC Application On the next page, you can see any current and upcoming applications you are eligible for, based on the information you provided in the Applicant Setup form. Click Apply Now to start your application! Applications with a green Apply Now button are open. Applications that say No longer available will open in the future, and the tentative open dates are displayed under Deadline. Click Apply Now and your application will activate. 10

Completing Applications More Tasks Applications consist of a set of tasks. Tasks types include Completing a question form Uploading one or more documents or multimedia files The final Submit task All tasks are required to submit your final application. And your application has not been submitted until you complete the final Submit task. Your remaining tasks are also listed here. Click Start to work on and submit each task. 12

Completing Applications More Tasks After you submit your application, you can t make any additional changes. Before that, however, you may edit any task, including tasks you have already completed. If you have submitted your application by mistake or discover an error, before the final deadline, please contact the Grants Department. You may edit tasks you have completed (unless you ve already submitted your application!) 13

Completing Applications Uploading Your Detailed Resume/Curriculum Vitae Some tasks require you to complete a form and answer questions. Others require you to upload documents. For the Upload Detailed Resume / Curriculum Vitae task, you must upload your resume from your computer. Your resume must be in a PDF format. After you complete the upload of your resume or curriculum vitae, a new page will load to show you a preview of the document. Click on Back at the top of the page to return to and continue your application. Click Back to return to your application. 14

Completing Applications Uploading Documentation of Your Work RAC s grant application website supports multiple types of media files, include video, audio, images, and office documents. This new system allows artists to upload their work, and allows reviewers to easily focus on your art. Before uploading any samples of your work, you will need to complete the Documentation Type Selection Form task. You may select multiple types of media. If you choose video, you will have the option to include a YouTube/Vimeo link, upload a video file, or both. Click Save & Exit when you are finished. This will take you back to the main application, where you will find new tasks available for you to upload your files. After you complete this form, you ll have new tasks in your application, on the next page. 15

Completing Applications Uploading Documentation of Your Work After you complete the Documentation Type Selection Form, you ll see new tasks appear based on what you selected. Click Start to open up each task. 16

Completing Applications Uploading Documentation of Your Work Keep in mind the following when uploading video, audio, and documents/images: 1. Each task allows for multiple uploads in each category. For example, as pictured to the right, you can see this artist uploaded three music tracks. 2. The restrictions on file types is listed on the task page for that media type. For instance, if you are uploading audio, you will see the types of accepted audio files listed on the Upload Audio task page. Click to preview after upload. 3. Click on the name of the file and the website will take you to a page where you may preview the file and ensure it was what you meant to upload. 4. Click the small gray if you need to delete any attachments. Click Back when finished. 17

Completing Applications The Final Task: Submit Submit is your final task. Just like other tasks, it will display one of three statuses: You cannot submit your application until all other tasks are complete. This shows that you can t submit the application until all other tasks are completed. This shows that all other tasks are completed except submit. You may now submit your application. This shows that you have submitted your application. 18

Completing Applications The Final Task: Submit When all other tasks are complete, the final Submit task will unlock. The gray means that your application is ready to submit. Incomplete here simply means that the submit task is not complete. You re almost done! Click Submit when finished. Note: When you submit your application, you will no longer be able to make changes to your application. You may still view it and download a copy until the end of the application period. When Submit is the only item listed under your progress bar, you re ready to submit. 19

Navigating RAC s Grant Application Website Returning Home If you find yourself on a page you didn t expect to land on and you re not sure where to go, click on Applications or Home. All of these links will take you to the same landing page. 21

Navigating RAC Grants Website Returning Home Once Home, scroll down, and at the bottom of that page, you ll see a list of all active applications. You may click on the application name (in blue), or click Edit to pick up where you left off. Click your name or Edit to pick up your application where you left off. 22

Navigating RAC Grants Website Download a Copy of Your Application At any point during your application, you may download a full copy. We recommend downloading a copy once the application is completed but before you submit. Download your application before you submit. The download create a.zip file copy of everything, including all application responses and attachments. Note: All forms and attachments will download except video files and YouTube/Vimeo link forms. If you download a copy of your application, please keep this in mind so you may keep your records updated accordingly. 23

Application Outlines Artist Fellowship The following is an outline of the questions and tasks you will see in the Artist Fellowship application: Artist Fellowship Narrative: Two questions 1. Please provide an Artist s Statement: An artist s statement is a written document that serves as a basic introduction of you as an artist, explaining why and how you make your art. It may also put your work in the greater context of your field or discipline including your influences. An artist s statement may pertain to a particular body of work or to your entire body of work. 2. Please provide a description of how receiving an Artist Fellowship would benefit you creatively and professionally as an artist at this time in your career. Demographic Information: This information helps RAC learn more about who we serve. Your personal demographic information will not be shared with RAC application reviewers, and is not used to make grantmaking or award decisions. Detailed Resume/Curriculum Vitae: Must be in a PDF format. Documentation of Your Work: Images, video, audio, programs, invitations of your past significant artistic performances, exhibitions, or publication documentation to your application. 25

Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis Individual Artists Application Website Helpful Links Helpful Links RAC grants website login: www.grants.racstl.org Artist Support Grant eligibility: https://racstl.org/grant/artists-support-grants Artist Fellowship eligibility: https://racstl.org/grant/artists-fellowships For support, please contact our grants department: https://racstl.org/explore-grants/contactthe-grants-department 26