Tips for Writing a VSA Program Site Proposal 2024-2025

The Office of Accessibility and VSA seeks arts, education, and cultural organizations to provide accessible, arts-based education experiences to students with disabilities, pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Organizations are invited to submit proposals to implement VSA Programs. Read more about the proposal process.

Deadline to apply: March 13, 2024

Tips Webinar Recording

Download a PDF copy of the slides, presented during our Tips for Writing a VSA Program Site Proposal 2024-2025 Webinar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions and answers were taken from our live webinar on Monday, February 12, 2024. Text has been condensed and edited to for maximum clarity.

Q1: If the staff member who would be the project lead has a special education certification from a different state but her qualifications in our state are not up to date, would that satisfy the requirement, or would we need to get her qualifications up to date before applying?

A1: You do not have to get somebody re-certified, we just need to know that they've had that certification in the past--that they've held that credential, or degree. Just make sure that it's mentioned in the bio section of the proposal.

Q2: What is the age limit for student participants?

A2: We are looking at programs that are pre-K through grade 12. Students may be up to age 22 (or even 23 in some states) if they are receiving special education services under IDEA. So depending on your state and the students are receiving special education services, it could be up to age 22.

Q3: A line in the RFP reads, 'Contractor must have at least three years experience operating an arts education program.' What credentials are needed to be considered an arts education program?

A3: We don't have credentials that are necessarily for operating an arts education program. In this question we want to know what experience your organization has in arts education programming, rather than the credentials of an individual staff member. If you are a brand new organization, you should reach out to Stephanie Litvak (contact at bottom of page) to discuss further.

Q4: Can a fiscally sponsored nonprofit be eligible to apply?

A4: Yes. A fiscally sponsored nonprofit is eligible to apply, but we need to know who your fiscal sponsor is, because should you be offered a contract, that contract will need to be in the name of your fiscal sponsor.

Q5: Will proposals be accepted from an organization that received an award last year?

A5: Yes. If you have been a VSA Program Site before - doesn't matter which program--you may apply again if you're eligible for everything else that's listed in the particular RFP. And if you are a contractor currently working in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, we do have the requirement that you have to be in good standing. This won't affect you being able to apply and receive an offer. But when it comes time to actually be under contract, we'll need to make sure that your current contract has gone well and there hasn't been something that would prevent us from wanting to contract with you again for 2024-2025.

Q6: We are hoping to invite a teaching artist to facilitate programming but are not 100% certain that this artist will be able to participate. If needed, would we be able to hire a different artist than the one named the original application?

A6: We know things change. Your teaching artists availability, or even the schools or other community groups that you're hoping to serve might change over time. And this might happen from the time that you write the proposal to when we're ready to offer contracts, or even during the course of your contract period. So that said, you can update your proposal at any point in time--we like to know what's happening. You can always send us an email saying, "Hey, this is the new teaching artist. This other person ended up not being available."

Q7: As a presenting venue, can we use the contract fee to pay a touring company?

A7: No. This is one of the unallowable costs because it has to do with presenting. You may not use the contract fee to pay for a touring company to come to your venue to present a show that students will then come to view. Touring, paying directors, paying actors, paying for transporting a show to your venue cannot use the contract fee. Ideally, when we're looking at the VSA Performing Arts Access Program, we're making an assumption that you're going to be adding kids with disabilities to come to be part of your already organized season. You're just opening up the show, or making sure that, students with disabilities come to shows that are already scheduled.