Q: My project involves technology that will be projected virtually through a phone or tablet and a physical Portal/Sculpture. Does this type of project qualify for the Grant?
A: You may apply for a grant that can cover a physical public art project in an accessible, exterior space. In addition, allowable costs include equipment purchases at no more than five hundred dollars ($500) which may cover additional costs to realize your project. You may also use QR codes in your project.
However, an unallowable cost is project sustaining and/or maintaining equipment and/or technology purchases. This means project and technology must be self-sustaining. For example, no software or monthly subscriptions.
If your project involves the public using their own phones or tablets to interact with the portal/sculpture, that is allowable. Please include all details of maintenance including how the technology will be digitally accessed and maintained.
Q: What should I do if I select a project site that is also on Federal Land?
A: Reach out early to Andrew Lewis at the Office of Planning/Historic Preservation contact for the PABC Grant.
Also reach out to the National Park Service if needed as soon as possible, as the Park Service needs ample time to process requests. The National Park Service has their own permitting and approval requirements and may also need to do additional review if the site is a National Historic Landmark.
If the project is in a Cemetery, please contact Andrew Lewis and cc Anne O. Brockett. (contact information below)
Anne O. Brockett, Architectural Historian • DC Office of Planning/Historic Preservation Office, [email protected]
From the RFA
To inquire about the historic preservation status of your potential site, please contact Andrew Lewis at the DC Historic Preservation Office at [email protected] with a copy to [email protected]
If there is any ground disturbance with the proposed project, copy Ruth Trocolli [email protected] District Archaeologist. (Ground disturbance means that the project is anchored into the ground in a way that will require any digging or the project rests on the ground and does not require digging.) To review any level of ground disturbance, the timeframe is generally thirty (30) days from the date of receipt. Applicants are encouraged to submit review requests up to forty-five (45) days prior to the grant application deadline.
Q: Is there a separate place to submit the organization’s public art program's work samples as well as a place for our selected artist's work samples? Or should the work samples submitted be a combination of both? Does the 4-year limit apply to both the artist's work samples and the public art program's work samples?
A: You can submit your Organization’s past work samples. In the uploads make sure to clearly identify your organization’s work and the Lead Artist’s work
Regarding work samples, in the Work Sample Narrative describe how and why the artistic content of the work sample(s) best represents your selected lead artist’s practice. Include the artist’s approach to site-specific public art projects, community engagement, and their ability to translate their artistic discipline to the intended audience. Include how the work sample(s) represent the applicant's body of work and originality within the discipline(s). Consider the project goals listed in the RFA in your response. Include how the work sample(s) represents the applicant's body of work and originality within the discipline(s).
All work samples, whether from the artist or organization must have been created within the last four years. Older work samples will not be accepted.
Q: We are considering a project design that may be connected to the 250th Anniversary . Will this need to be presented to the Commemorative Works Committee as part of PABC requirements?
A. If the project falls under the description of the Commemorative Works Committee purview it will need to go, if the project will be up for more than a year.
Any project with over a year exhibition schedule that is defined as a "Commemorative work”—any statue, monument, sculpture, streetscape or landscape feature, including a garden or memorial grove, or other structure, which is located on public space and which is designed to perpetuate in a permanent manner the memory of an individual, group, event, or other significant element of international, national, or local culture or history. "Public space” i s any public street, alley, circle, bridge, building, park, other public place or property owned by or under the administrative control or jurisdiction of the District of Columbia and comes under the jurisdiction of the Commemorative Works Committee.
The theme of the 250th Anniversary may be considered an event so you should confer with the Commemorative Works Committee.
Follow this link for more information https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/page_content/attachments/Commemorative%20Works%20Amendment%20Act%20of%202000.pdf
Q: Should the organizational budget be submitted for FY25 or FY26?
A: It should be the most recently completed fiscal year.
Q: Our project's proposed location is a median along the public right-of-way that our BID manages through our Ambassador and Operations teams. Will the "Site Owner Support Letter" be required for this location and if so, what is sufficient?
A. Yes, I would start with Property Quest to determine ownership but this sounds like DDOT will need to provide the letter.
Q: Are we allowed to fund staff time for this project?
A: Yes, you are allowed to fund documented staff time and/or contract staff. Time funded through PABC must relate directly to public art-related staff, administrative staff, or project management staff.