Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts Program Updates

January 15, 2010

Governor Rendell has announced a mid-year spending freeze in order to address a more than $250 million revenue shortfall; leaving the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) unable to release $1 million of its $11 million grants budget.   

A freeze of $1 million means that as a Program Stream grantee it would be prudent to prepare for about another 15% reduction in what you were expecting to receive this year.    

There is no information at this point beyond the Governor’s announcement and it is unlikely that any of us will learn more until later in the month.  I will send you all additional information as soon as I have it.   

Nevertheless, it is important to stay current with your Program Stream applications in order to remain eligible for future funding.  

The 2010-2011 Program Stream guidelines are available on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ website at http://www.pacouncilonthearts.org/pca.cfm?id=23&level=Third.  Please review either the Full or Interim guidelines (whichever is applicable) prior to completing the form. The Program Stream eGRANT is currently available at http://pca.egrant.org.  

To fulfill the requirements of your application, you must enter your most recently completed fiscal year data into your Pennsylvania Cultural Data Profile (PACDP) at http://www.pacdp.org.  It’s best to complete your PACDP first as data entered into this form will assist you in completing sections of your Program Stream application.   

If this is your first time completing the PACDP, an online training video entitled Walk Through the Data Profile (25 minutes in length) is available at http://www.pacdp.org/training.aspx.  If you need more specific PACDP help, please call the help desk at 1-866-21-PACDP or 1-866-217-2237.     

The postmark deadline for submission is Friday, February 12, 2010. 

Note: The application has been revised and will take additional time to complete this year.

December 16, 2009

Check Ceremony - Save the Date - January 21, 2010
Please join the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, PECO, and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance as we celebrate the 2009-10 Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts Awardees. This year's check presentation ceremony will be held on:

Thursday, January 21, 2010
5:30 – 7:30pm
African American Museum in Philadelphia
701 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
 

December 11, 2009
Project Stream
Project Stream grant award packets were mailed on Friday, December 11, 2009. Grant award agreements are to be completed in eGRANT and mailed to the Cultural Alliance by Friday, December 18, 2009.

Program Stream
Program Stream grant award agreement packets were mailed directly from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ office on November 17, 2009.

Grant award agreements were to be completed in eGRANT and mailed to the Cultural Alliance’s office by Friday, December 11, 2009.
 

November 13, 2009
PROGRAM STREAM UPDATE
Program Stream decisions have been made by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA). All grantee organizations received a decrease this year. The baseline decrease for all organizations is 14 percent.

In addition to the 14% decrease:

• Organizations that submitted a FULL application for 2009-2010, which received a low assessment score, are decreased at a higher percentage: maximum of 30% + 14% for a total maximum of 44%.


• Organizations that have a higher percentage of award to fiscal size (above the curve) are decreased at a higher percentage: maximum of 20% + 14% for a total maximum of 34%.

The PCA has decided to mail Grant Award Agreement packets to the grantees directly this year. At this time, packets are expected to go out by Monday, November 16, 2009.
 

November 2, 2009
This is an update on the status of the Cultural Alliance's Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) grant programs.

As you know, Pennsylvania's budget impasse lasted for 101 days. During that time, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) and its granting programs were threatened with elimination. Thanks to your many visits, letters, and telephone calls to legislators, the budget was passed with an $11 million appropriation for grants-to-the-arts through PCA. This means, there is money for 2009-2010 Program Stream recipients and for 2010-2011 Project Stream.

This also means that support for the arts comes at a 28% reduction from the previous year and with an extended timeline for grant award payments. We are aware of the financial burden this places on your organizations and arts programs. As your Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) partner, we cannot speed up the grant payment timeline, but we can try to assist you by offering updates when there is new information and by helping you to develop contingency plans to the extent possible.

Program Stream
The PCA’s Council convened last week to approve the use of the appropriated funds. It typically takes 4 to 6 weeks for Program Stream grant awards to be processed following the Council meeting.

Project Stream
In mid-September, we were informed by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that the funding for Project Stream had not been processed and we, therefore, did not have money on hand to make Project Stream awards in our region. Also in September, the PCA submitted a waiver request to the Budget Office to process the remaining funds from FY2008-2009.

In the first week of October, the PCA learned that the waiver request would be approved contingent on consent by the Legislature. By October 13th, it was estimated that it would take 4 to 6 weeks for the Budget Office to process the award check.

Next Steps
Right now, we are tentatively planning for a check presentation ceremony in January 2010. At that point, it will be 4 months into your granting period. Many of you may wish to change the scope of the activities you were planning to be funded by your grant. If this is the case, you must notify the Cultural Alliance in writing. Full information about this process will be included with your grant award agreement.