Applications due Monday, January 27 February 24, 2025
2024 Chancellor’s Arts Initiative Grant Recipients
Ten Chancellor’s Arts Initiative Grants were awarded to support projects that advance the arts and arts-related scholarship at UCLA.
Overview
Purpose
The purpose of Chancellor's Arts Initiative funding is to support UCLA faculty’s arts-based research and creative activities, recognizing and supporting the value of activities in the arts for the university, Los Angeles communities, and beyond. Any arts-related focus is acceptable, and proposals that present a detailed vision of meaningful collaboration interdepartmentally, with colleagues across campus, or with diverse local community partners and beyond are appreciated, but not required.
Recipients of Chancellor's Arts Initiative funding will continue to be featured on the Go Arts Portal, a digital platform designed to bring together the university’s arts organizations with the goal of articulating and amplifying the power of the arts to elevate and enrich lives. Through storytelling, programming, and advocacy, Go Arts deepens connections both across campus and with local and global communities.
The 2025 Chancellor's Arts Initiative will be administered through a partnership between the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts (CCoA) and the UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities (ORCA). Funding for the 2025 Chancellor’s Arts Initiative has been generously provided by:
- UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities
- UCLA School of Arts and Architecture
- UCLA College Division of Humanities
- UCLA College Division of Social Sciences
- UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
- UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television
Background
The Arts Initiative was established in 2006 as an annual program designed to foster the advancement of the arts and arts-related scholarship at UCLA. To date, more than one hundred projects across the arts and humanities have been supported by Arts Initiative funding. In 2020, the Chancellor's Council on the Arts was established to connect and mobilize UCLA' s diverse artistic communities, drawing upon their strengths in areas such as visual and performing arts, theater, film and television, creative writing, digital arts and media, architecture and urban design, dance, music, humanistic research on the arts, public arts curation and presentation, K-12 arts education, community arts, and international programs in the arts and arts policy.
The mission of the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts is to center the arts in the heart of UCLA’s identity and purpose, knowing that the arts enable human connections, motivate and celebrate creativity and curiosity as they nourish communities and foster a more just, equitable and sustainable society.
Information about previous recipients of awards from the Chancellor's Arts Initiative can be found on the Go Arts Portal.
Eligibility
PI Eligibility
Each application must have a single Principal Investigator (PI) who personally participates in the project to a significant degree and has primary responsibility for the execution and administration of the project.
The PI must have a ladder-rank faculty affiliation with one of the units affiliated with the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts (CCoA).
- Ladder rank faculty are faculty holding tenured titles or non-tenured titles in a series in which tenure may be conferred. For this program, ladder-rank faculty refers to those appointed in the Professor series.
- The units affiliated with the Chancellor's Council on the Arts are:
- Herb Alpert School of Music
- School of the Arts and Architecture
- School of Theater, Film and Television
- College Division of Humanities
- College Division of Social Sciences
- International Institute
- Institute of American Cultures
Contributors to the project who are not eligible to serve as the PI (including, but not limited to, lecturers, adjuncts, other non-senate faculty (including academic administrators), visiting faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and individuals without UCLA appointments) may serve as Co-PIs or team members.
Individuals may serve as the PI on only one submission to this program, but may serve as a Co-PI or team member on other submissions.
Previous Awardee Eligibility
Arts Initiative Awardees
Preference will be given to proposals from faculty not previously funded through this program.
Prior recipients of funding through the Chancellor’s Arts Initiative may apply for funding for a different project, provided they do not have an active award through the program (i.e. a project for which the grant period has not ended).
Awardees of Other ORCA Funding
PIs or co-PIs with current or completed funding from other ORCA seed funding mechanisms, including the ORCA Acceleration Grants (OAG), Racial and Social Justice Seed Grants (RSJ), and Latinx Studies Seed Grants (LSS), may not apply for additional funding for the same project, but may apply for funding for a different project.
Eligibility Questions?
If you have questions about eligibility, please contact orcafunding@conet.ucla.edu prior to submitting an application.
Award Information
Award Amount
A total of approximately $130K in funding is available.
Arts Initiative grants typically range from $5K-10K, with most awards made in the amount of $10K. Applicants may request up to $15K, but awards above $10K will only be considered for applications with strong justification for the impact of the additional funding.
Reviewers may elect to provide partial funding to a project. Applicants are encouraged to make their budget breakdowns and justifications clear and comprehensible to help reviewers determine partial funding amounts, if needed.
Period of Performance
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by Spring Quarter 2025.
Awardees should plan for all funds to be used by June 30, 2026. The award period will run through September 30, 2026 to accommodate unexpected delays. After this date, any unused project funds must be returned unless an extension has been granted.
Award Disbursement
Award funds will be transferred to a UCLA account for the awardee.
Award funds are to be used in accordance with the submitted budget.
Award funds must be used in compliance with all university policies and procedures.
Extension Requests
No-cost extensions to the grant period will be considered on a case-by-case basis and should include a clear explanation for why the work could not be completed during the initial grant period.
Any request for a no-cost extension should be submitted as far as possible in advance of the end of the award period.
Awardee Requirements
The grantee will make themselves available to the Go Arts Strategic Communications team to develop a story for the Go Arts Portal and support any other relevant promotional and/or media relations opportunities.
A final report and project documentation must be submitted after the completion of the grant. Program staff will contact awardees with additional information regarding reporting requirements and documentation prior to the completion of the grant period.
Awardees may be asked to serve as reviewers for future cycles of the Chancellor’s Arts Initiative and/or other ORCA internal funding programs.
Budget Information
Use of Funds
Funds must be used for direct research and/or creative activity costs such as materials, supplies, personnel (including staff and student salaries), and travel to the extent that such expenses are directly related to the proposed project.
Proposed activities and expenditures must comply with all applicable university policies and procedures.
Allowable Expenses
The following are allowable expenses:
- Materials and supplies directly related to conducting the proposed research/creative activity
- Travel, accommodations, and honoraria (for campus visitors/project collaborators)
- Personnel, including staff/student research assistants and fee remissions
- Proposals may include compensating non-UCLA affiliated personnel, especially members of the local community. An explanation of why this person’s expertise or service is critical for the success of the project should be included in the project narrative and/or budget justification.
- Event-related expenses (e.g. venue and equipment rental, receptions, staffing, technology, office supplies)
- Expenses related to community outreach, documentation, and empowerment (publicity, structured feedback, surveys, oral histories, documentation of community arts practices, archiving of event/project outcomes, compensation of community partners)
Unallowable Expenses
The following are unallowable expenses:
- UCLA-based faculty/PI salaries or support (including teaching buy-outs or summer ninths)
- Departmental overhead costs (indirect costs)
Application Submission
Applications must be submitted by Monday, January 27 February 24, 2025 at 11:59 pm PT
All applications must be submitted through the Arts Initiative application portal. Applicants should access the application using the “UCLA Login” option, which will prompt the user to login using their single sign-on credentials.
Application Materials
Application Form
The application form is divided into the following sections and will request the information listed below to be entered into the appropriate field.
PI (Principal Investigator) Information
- Biographical information (Name, email, title, school/division, department)
- Eligibility confirmation (see eligibility criteria above)
- Previous Arts Initiative funding (if applicable) - Project title, award year, and approximate amount awarded for any Arts Initiative funding from the past six years (2019 or later)
Co-PI Information (Optional)
- Biographical information (Name, email, title, school/division, department)
- NOTE: An application may have up to four Co-PIs. Individuals listed should include those who will personally participate in the project to a significant degree. In certain instances, a Co-PI may also have some responsibility for the execution and/or administration of the project.
Application Information
- Project title (15 words maximum / Suitable for use in award announcement)
- Abstract (150 words max / Suitable for use in award announcement)
- Requested funding amount
Application Uploads
Two documents must be uploaded to the application form.
Project Description/Proposal
In a single pdf document, please include the following information (with section headings):
- Working Project Title
- Project Description (500 words max)
- Project Impact (150 words max)
- Activities and Timeline (500 words max) - Provide a brief description of the proposed activities with a timeline. (NOTE: Awardees should plan for all project activities to be completed and funds to be used by June 30, 2026.)
- Alignment with UCLA Priorities (500 words max): Provide a brief description of how the proposed activities align with the program’s interest in projects that advance excellent and original work, promoting the university’s commitment to generating new knowledge and new understanding. In addition, describe how the proposed project contributes to one or more of the university’s larger commitments to sustainability, anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion, engagement in Los Angeles or globally, and other university initiatives.
- Additional Participants and Partners: List the names/affiliations of any key participants/partners who are not listed as Co-PIs.
CVs/Biosketches/Other Equivalents
- There are no formatting requirements, as practices may vary across disciplines. In general, this document should make it evident to reviewers that the PI and any Co-PIs possess the qualifications to carry out the proposed project.
- Provide a version of this document for the PI and any Co-PIs.
- This document is not required for other key collaborators, but may be included if the information would be important for the reviewers to have.
- If multiple CVs/Biosketches/Other equivalents are to be included, they should be combined into a single pdf for upload.
Budget Form
Applicants will enter their budget information in the final section of the application.
All budget items should be listed in one of the four budget categories:
- Staff/Student Personnel
- Travel
- Research / Creative Activity Expenses
- Other Expenses
For each budget category in which there are costs, applicants should provide the requested amount, a breakdown/description of the costs, and a justification for why the costs are necessary to complete the proposed project.
- When preparing the budget, applicants should keep in mind the following:
- Allowable/unallowable expenses for this program (see "Award Information" tab for details).
- Arts Initiative grants typically range from $5-10K, with most awards made in the amount of $10K. Applicants may request up to $15K, but awards above $10K will only be considered for applications with strong justification for the impact of the additional funding.
- Reviewers may elect to provide partial funding to a project. Clear budget information and justifications can help reviewers to determine possible partial funding amounts.
Application Review
Initial Screening
Program staff will conduct an initial screen of applications to confirm eligibility and completeness. Applicants will be contacted if there are any questions.
Review Criteria
The review committee will use the following criteria to evaluate all proposals. Each criterion will be weighted as indicated by the percentage in the parentheses.
Contribution to UCLA's Priorities (30%)
- Does the proposed project advance excellent and original work, promoting the university’s commitment to generating new knowledge and new understanding?
- Does the proposed project contribute to one or more of the university’s larger commitments to sustainability, anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion, engagement in Los Angeles or globally, and other university initiatives?
Reach/Impact (20%)
- Does the proposed project have relevance and impact within (and potentially outside) its given field?
- Do the PI, Co-PI(s), or Co-Investigators have plans for publication, exhibition, or other avenues of knowledge transfer to the public?
Community Engagement/Partnership (10%)
- Does the proposed project present a detailed vision of meaningful collaboration with diverse community partners or interdepartmentally with cross-campus colleagues?
Public Awareness/Promoting Arts at UCLA (10%)
- Does the proposed project increase public awareness of the arts at UCLA in a way that is consistent with its scope?
- Does the project have outreach, marketing, or communication plans to bring awareness to art and the project's success and efforts?
- How will the project help to effectively highlight arts at UCLA?
Leadership Qualifications (10%)
- Do the PI and any Co-PIs/Co-Investigators possess the qualifications to carry out the proposed activities collaboratively with equity, diversity and inclusion in mind?
Project Feasibility (10%)
- Are the project activities, scope, budget, and timeline in alignment with the project description and outcomes?
Budget (10%)
- Does the proposal have adequate justification for funding for the requested items?
- Is there clear and accurate documentation and itemization for the expenses?
- Has other funding been secured (or sought)? (NOTE: Additional internal/external funding in addition to the Arts Initiative grant is not required. However, if Arts Initiative funding would not be sufficient to complete the project, there should be an indication of potential sources for the additional funding.)
Overview
Purpose
The purpose of Chancellor's Arts Initiative funding is to support UCLA faculty’s arts-based research and creative activities, recognizing and supporting the value of activities in the arts for the university, Los Angeles communities, and beyond. Any arts-related focus is acceptable, and proposals that present a detailed vision of meaningful collaboration interdepartmentally, with colleagues across campus, or with diverse local community partners and beyond are appreciated, but not required.
Recipients of Chancellor's Arts Initiative funding will continue to be featured on the Go Arts Portal, a digital platform designed to bring together the university’s arts organizations with the goal of articulating and amplifying the power of the arts to elevate and enrich lives. Through storytelling, programming, and advocacy, Go Arts deepens connections both across campus and with local and global communities.
The 2025 Chancellor's Arts Initiative will be administered through a partnership between the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts (CCoA) and the UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities (ORCA). Funding for the 2025 Chancellor’s Arts Initiative has been generously provided by:
- UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities
- UCLA School of Arts and Architecture
- UCLA College Division of Humanities
- UCLA College Division of Social Sciences
- UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
- UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television
Background
The Arts Initiative was established in 2006 as an annual program designed to foster the advancement of the arts and arts-related scholarship at UCLA. To date, more than one hundred projects across the arts and humanities have been supported by Arts Initiative funding. In 2020, the Chancellor's Council on the Arts was established to connect and mobilize UCLA' s diverse artistic communities, drawing upon their strengths in areas such as visual and performing arts, theater, film and television, creative writing, digital arts and media, architecture and urban design, dance, music, humanistic research on the arts, public arts curation and presentation, K-12 arts education, community arts, and international programs in the arts and arts policy.
The mission of the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts is to center the arts in the heart of UCLA’s identity and purpose, knowing that the arts enable human connections, motivate and celebrate creativity and curiosity as they nourish communities and foster a more just, equitable and sustainable society.
Information about previous recipients of awards from the Chancellor's Arts Initiative can be found on the Go Arts Portal.
Eligibility
PI Eligibility
Each application must have a single Principal Investigator (PI) who personally participates in the project to a significant degree and has primary responsibility for the execution and administration of the project.
The PI must have a ladder-rank faculty affiliation with one of the units affiliated with the Chancellor’s Council on the Arts (CCoA).
- Ladder rank faculty are faculty holding tenured titles or non-tenured titles in a series in which tenure may be conferred. For this program, ladder-rank faculty refers to those appointed in the Professor series.
- The units affiliated with the Chancellor's Council on the Arts are:
- Herb Alpert School of Music
- School of the Arts and Architecture
- School of Theater, Film and Television
- College Division of Humanities
- College Division of Social Sciences
- International Institute
- Institute of American Cultures
Contributors to the project who are not eligible to serve as the PI (including, but not limited to, lecturers, adjuncts, other non-senate faculty (including academic administrators), visiting faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and individuals without UCLA appointments) may serve as Co-PIs or team members.
Individuals may serve as the PI on only one submission to this program, but may serve as a Co-PI or team member on other submissions.
Previous Awardee Eligibility
Arts Initiative Awardees
Preference will be given to proposals from faculty not previously funded through this program.
Prior recipients of funding through the Chancellor’s Arts Initiative may apply for funding for a different project, provided they do not have an active award through the program (i.e. a project for which the grant period has not ended).
Awardees of Other ORCA Funding
PIs or co-PIs with current or completed funding from other ORCA seed funding mechanisms, including the ORCA Acceleration Grants (OAG), Racial and Social Justice Seed Grants (RSJ), and Latinx Studies Seed Grants (LSS), may not apply for additional funding for the same project, but may apply for funding for a different project.
Eligibility Questions?
If you have questions about eligibility, please contact orcafunding@conet.ucla.edu prior to submitting an application.
Award Information
Award Amount
A total of approximately $130K in funding is available.
Arts Initiative grants typically range from $5K-10K, with most awards made in the amount of $10K. Applicants may request up to $15K, but awards above $10K will only be considered for applications with strong justification for the impact of the additional funding.
Reviewers may elect to provide partial funding to a project. Applicants are encouraged to make their budget breakdowns and justifications clear and comprehensible to help reviewers determine partial funding amounts, if needed.
Period of Performance
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by Spring Quarter 2025.
Awardees should plan for all funds to be used by June 30, 2026. The award period will run through September 30, 2026 to accommodate unexpected delays. After this date, any unused project funds must be returned unless an extension has been granted.
Award Disbursement
Award funds will be transferred to a UCLA account for the awardee.
Award funds are to be used in accordance with the submitted budget.
Award funds must be used in compliance with all university policies and procedures.
Extension Requests
No-cost extensions to the grant period will be considered on a case-by-case basis and should include a clear explanation for why the work could not be completed during the initial grant period.
Any request for a no-cost extension should be submitted as far as possible in advance of the end of the award period.
Awardee Requirements
The grantee will make themselves available to the Go Arts Strategic Communications team to develop a story for the Go Arts Portal and support any other relevant promotional and/or media relations opportunities.
A final report and project documentation must be submitted after the completion of the grant. Program staff will contact awardees with additional information regarding reporting requirements and documentation prior to the completion of the grant period.
Awardees may be asked to serve as reviewers for future cycles of the Chancellor’s Arts Initiative and/or other ORCA internal funding programs.
Budget Information
Use of Funds
Funds must be used for direct research and/or creative activity costs such as materials, supplies, personnel (including staff and student salaries), and travel to the extent that such expenses are directly related to the proposed project.
Proposed activities and expenditures must comply with all applicable university policies and procedures.
Allowable Expenses
The following are allowable expenses:
- Materials and supplies directly related to conducting the proposed research/creative activity
- Travel, accommodations, and honoraria (for campus visitors/project collaborators)
- Personnel, including staff/student research assistants and fee remissions
- Proposals may include compensating non-UCLA affiliated personnel, especially members of the local community. An explanation of why this person’s expertise or service is critical for the success of the project should be included in the project narrative and/or budget justification.
- Event-related expenses (e.g. venue and equipment rental, receptions, staffing, technology, office supplies)
- Expenses related to community outreach, documentation, and empowerment (publicity, structured feedback, surveys, oral histories, documentation of community arts practices, archiving of event/project outcomes, compensation of community partners)
Unallowable Expenses
The following are unallowable expenses:
- UCLA-based faculty/PI salaries or support (including teaching buy-outs or summer ninths)
- Departmental overhead costs (indirect costs)
Application Submission
Applications must be submitted by Monday, January 27 February 24, 2025 at 11:59 pm PT
All applications must be submitted through the Arts Initiative application portal. Applicants should access the application using the “UCLA Login” option, which will prompt the user to login using their single sign-on credentials.
Application Materials
Application Form
The application form is divided into the following sections and will request the information listed below to be entered into the appropriate field.
PI (Principal Investigator) Information
- Biographical information (Name, email, title, school/division, department)
- Eligibility confirmation (see eligibility criteria above)
- Previous Arts Initiative funding (if applicable) - Project title, award year, and approximate amount awarded for any Arts Initiative funding from the past six years (2019 or later)
Co-PI Information (Optional)
- Biographical information (Name, email, title, school/division, department)
- NOTE: An application may have up to four Co-PIs. Individuals listed should include those who will personally participate in the project to a significant degree. In certain instances, a Co-PI may also have some responsibility for the execution and/or administration of the project.
Application Information
- Project title (15 words maximum / Suitable for use in award announcement)
- Abstract (150 words max / Suitable for use in award announcement)
- Requested funding amount
Application Uploads
Two documents must be uploaded to the application form.
Project Description/Proposal
In a single pdf document, please include the following information (with section headings):
- Working Project Title
- Project Description (500 words max)
- Project Impact (150 words max)
- Activities and Timeline (500 words max) - Provide a brief description of the proposed activities with a timeline. (NOTE: Awardees should plan for all project activities to be completed and funds to be used by June 30, 2026.)
- Alignment with UCLA Priorities (500 words max): Provide a brief description of how the proposed activities align with the program’s interest in projects that advance excellent and original work, promoting the university’s commitment to generating new knowledge and new understanding. In addition, describe how the proposed project contributes to one or more of the university’s larger commitments to sustainability, anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion, engagement in Los Angeles or globally, and other university initiatives.
- Additional Participants and Partners: List the names/affiliations of any key participants/partners who are not listed as Co-PIs.
CVs/Biosketches/Other Equivalents
- There are no formatting requirements, as practices may vary across disciplines. In general, this document should make it evident to reviewers that the PI and any Co-PIs possess the qualifications to carry out the proposed project.
- Provide a version of this document for the PI and any Co-PIs.
- This document is not required for other key collaborators, but may be included if the information would be important for the reviewers to have.
- If multiple CVs/Biosketches/Other equivalents are to be included, they should be combined into a single pdf for upload.
Budget Form
Applicants will enter their budget information in the final section of the application.
All budget items should be listed in one of the four budget categories:
- Staff/Student Personnel
- Travel
- Research / Creative Activity Expenses
- Other Expenses
For each budget category in which there are costs, applicants should provide the requested amount, a breakdown/description of the costs, and a justification for why the costs are necessary to complete the proposed project.
- When preparing the budget, applicants should keep in mind the following:
- Allowable/unallowable expenses for this program (see "Award Information" tab for details).
- Arts Initiative grants typically range from $5-10K, with most awards made in the amount of $10K. Applicants may request up to $15K, but awards above $10K will only be considered for applications with strong justification for the impact of the additional funding.
- Reviewers may elect to provide partial funding to a project. Clear budget information and justifications can help reviewers to determine possible partial funding amounts.
Application Review
Initial Screening
Program staff will conduct an initial screen of applications to confirm eligibility and completeness. Applicants will be contacted if there are any questions.
Review Criteria
The review committee will use the following criteria to evaluate all proposals. Each criterion will be weighted as indicated by the percentage in the parentheses.
Contribution to UCLA's Priorities (30%)
- Does the proposed project advance excellent and original work, promoting the university’s commitment to generating new knowledge and new understanding?
- Does the proposed project contribute to one or more of the university’s larger commitments to sustainability, anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion, engagement in Los Angeles or globally, and other university initiatives?
Reach/Impact (20%)
- Does the proposed project have relevance and impact within (and potentially outside) its given field?
- Do the PI, Co-PI(s), or Co-Investigators have plans for publication, exhibition, or other avenues of knowledge transfer to the public?
Community Engagement/Partnership (10%)
- Does the proposed project present a detailed vision of meaningful collaboration with diverse community partners or interdepartmentally with cross-campus colleagues?
Public Awareness/Promoting Arts at UCLA (10%)
- Does the proposed project increase public awareness of the arts at UCLA in a way that is consistent with its scope?
- Does the project have outreach, marketing, or communication plans to bring awareness to art and the project's success and efforts?
- How will the project help to effectively highlight arts at UCLA?
Leadership Qualifications (10%)
- Do the PI and any Co-PIs/Co-Investigators possess the qualifications to carry out the proposed activities collaboratively with equity, diversity and inclusion in mind?
Project Feasibility (10%)
- Are the project activities, scope, budget, and timeline in alignment with the project description and outcomes?
Budget (10%)
- Does the proposal have adequate justification for funding for the requested items?
- Is there clear and accurate documentation and itemization for the expenses?
- Has other funding been secured (or sought)? (NOTE: Additional internal/external funding in addition to the Arts Initiative grant is not required. However, if Arts Initiative funding would not be sufficient to complete the project, there should be an indication of potential sources for the additional funding.)
For questions about the UCLA Chancellor's Arts Initiative, please email orcafunding@conet.ucla.edu.
