. ..Fund It...Grants, resources and opportunities for regional communities..              March 2011 Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery holds a biennial Award for Contemporary Textile Art. Entries for the 2011 Award are now open. Professional artists working in any style of textile media are invited to make an entry for consideration within a competitive assessment process. A judging panel consisting of the Wangaratta exhibitions Gallery Director and two respected professionals will select a shortlist of finalists for the Award Exhibition at the Gallery from 4 June to 17 July 2011. The value of the Award in 2011 is $5,000 including GST and this includes the acquisition of the work. Applications close 25 March 2011 For more information please visit  www.wangaratta.vic.gov.au Recognising Women Farmers Grants Recognising Women Farmers grants offer support for activities that will build the leadership and representative capacity of women in primary industries — to strengthen primary industry productivity and build rural, regional and remote community resilience to a changing climate.  Recognising Women Farmers offers support to stage events for women living and working in rural, regional and remote Australia that - Build and share knowledge and experience; Increase access to planning tools and resources; Develop leadership and management skills; Develop programs to increase participation in agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries; Develop skills to contribute more effectively to government and industry decision making and Build networks among rural, regional and remote Australians.  Grants of up to $50,000 (GST exclusive) are available. Applications close 28 March 2011 For more information please visit  http://www.daff.gov.au/climatechange/australias-farming-future/community_networks_and_capacity_building/recognising_women_farmers Art Gallery of NSW | Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes   Archibald Prize Awarded annually to the best portrait, 'preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia’. Valued at $50,000. Wynne Prize Awarded annually for 'the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists’. Valued at $25,000. Sulman Prize Awarded annually for 'the best subject/genre painting and/or murals/mural project’. Valued at $20,000. Please note the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes are non-acquisitive. Applications close 28 March 2011 For more information please visit  http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/about-us/opportunities-for-artists/prizes/ FRRR | Small Grants for Small Rural Communities The FRRR's small grants program for small rural Australian communities offers around $900,000 a year in grants to benefit people in rural and remote communities. Grants of up to $5,000 will be made to not-for-profit organisations for projects and activities that offer clear public benefit for communities living in small rural and remote locations in Australia, contributing to their development in social and community welfare, economic, environmental, health, education or cultural areas. Applications close 31 March 2011 For more information please visit  http://www.frrr.org.au/programsDetail.asp?ProgramID=4 Besen Family Foundation   The Besen Family Foundation has been established to build on the philanthropic tradition which was started by Eva and Marc Besen. The Foundation seeks to encourage, nurture and assist in both the maintaining and also developing of important programs and projects in three broad areas: arts and culture, health and welfare, and Jewish interests. Grants for arts and culture will be directed at innovative and challenging performing and visual arts projects and are open to not-for-profit organisations throughout Australia. Individuals wishing to make an application for a grant from the Foundation are required to make submissions in partnership with a not-for-profit organisation. The organisation will then recommend the project to the Foundation. Grants are available for acquisitions, catalogues, commissions, exhibitions, publications and symposia as well as general funding support. Applications close 1 April 2011 For more information please visit  www.besenfoundation.org.au Museums & Galleries NSW | VIM Small Grants Worth up to $1,500 each, Volunteer Initiated Museums (VIM) Small Grants aim to meet the short-term, collection-based requirements of community museums and keeping places. There are no set categories for funding and applications for a broad range of projects will be considered. Previous VIM Small Grants have funded the purchase of computer cataloguing software, exhibition mannequins and display cases, oral history recording equipment and archival storage items. The VIM Small Grant Program was introduced in 2000 and and has received 447 applications from 170 museums across the state with a total of 293 projects being funded to date. Applications close 4 April 2011 For more information please visit  http://mgnsw.org.au/grants/vim_small_grants/ Funding opportunities for artists and arts organisations in NSW Arts NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts invite you to learn more about grants - and how to apply for them - by attending a free information session coming to a city or regional centre near you.  Representatives from Arts NSW and the Australia Council will be travelling around NSW to meet artists and arts organisations to share information on funding opportunities. These information sessions run for about two hours and cover - what we do/who we are, types of grants available, examples of successful projects, tips for a successful application, further resources, questions and answers. RSVPs are essential. Sydney 5 April 10am -12noon  - Art Gallery of NSW Domain Theatre Art Gallery Rd, Sydney Wagga Wagga 15 April 11am - 1pm  - Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Civic Centre E3 art space, cnr Baylis & Morrow Streets For more information please phone  Arts NSW  (02) 9228 4351 Faces of Griffith Local artists and creative hobbyists are invited to submit a portrait of a community member, it can be of someone who is important to them or someone who plays an active role in the community.  Each portrait should include a 200 word short story detailing why the person in your portrait was chosen.  The exhibition will run from 21 April through to 8 May 2011. Applications close Sunday 17 April 2011 For more information please contact Kristy Brown (02) 6962 5991 Web www.griffithregionalartgallery.com Inaugural NSW Aboriginal Regional Arts Fund Arts NSW is pleased to announce that applications for the inaugural NSW Aboriginal Regional Arts Fund are now open.   The NSW Aboriginal Regional Arts Fund is intended to support arts projects that celebrate and promote Aboriginal cultural identities in regional NSW and, by doing so, make the rich and diverse Aboriginal cultures of regional NSW more visible and accessible. For the purposes of this fund regional NSW includes Newcastle and Wollongong and is defined as the areas or regions outside Greater Sydney.  The objectives of the NSW Aboriginal Regional Arts Fund are to - enable Aboriginal communities in regional NSW to explore and express their cultural identities, promote regional Aboriginal artists, arts and culture in NSW, build local and regional community engagement and awareness of Aboriginal arts, build the capacity and sustainability of Aboriginal arts organisations in regional NSW, increase professional and skills development opportunities for Aboriginal artists living in regional NSW.  Available funding - up to $3,000 for individual professional artists and up to $15,000 for organisations Applications close 5pm Monday 18 April 2011. For more information please visit  http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/index.php/news-and-publications/publications/nsw-aboriginal-regional-arts-fund-guidelines/ The Myer Foundation | Small Grants Program   The priority areas for The Myer Foundation's Small Grants Program are to build capacity of the individual through ensuring professional artists gain access to training, development and mentoring; to develop new works by individual Australian artists and small to medium-sized organisations in the areas of Indigenous arts, regional arts, and experimental and emerging art forms; and to support projects that contribute to a broad understanding of and engagement with the Humanities.  Grants are capped at $30,000 and are generally made for a twelve month period only. Applications close 21 April 2011 For more information please visit  www.myerfoundation.org.au/programs But Wait There's More... Australia Council for the Arts Grants   Music - Skills and Arts Development Grants of up to $10,000 to support skills development for professional artists and arts workers, and projects that foster skills development. Applications close 1 April 2011 Music - International Pathways Grants of up to $20,000 to support international touring by Australian musicians performing predominantly original Australian music. Applications close 4 April 2011 Visual Arts - Fellowships $45,000 over two years to support craftspeople, designers, media artists and visual artists of outstanding ability to enable them to realise ambitious projects and develop their practice to new levels of achievement. Applications close 18 April 2011 Visual Arts - New Work - Emerging  Grants of $10,000 to support the creation of new work by emerging craftspeople, designers, visual artists and arts writers. Applications close 18 April 2011 Visual Arts - New Work - Established Grants of $20,000 to support the creation of new work by established craftspeople, designers, visual artists and arts writers. Applications close 20 April 2011 For more information please visit  http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/grants