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ACME tightens grant rules, sets award ranges and launches panel recruitment
Summary
ACME announced structured award ranges and minimums for Thrive and Elevate, clarified fiscal‑sponsorship and anti‑duplication rules, set July 7–Aug 18 application dates, and asked the public to recruit hundreds of panelists for evaluation panels.
ACME staff told the Arts Commission that they will introduce clearer award tiers, eligibility definitions and a major panelist recruitment drive ahead of a July 7 grant launch.
Laura Odegaard, acting division manager for ACME’s cultural affairs and investments division, described guideline enhancements intended to increase transparency and predictability across Thrive, Elevate, Nexus and other funding programs. Key changes include minimum award amounts and structured award ranges (for example, Thrive tiers tied to annual operating expenses with stated award levels), new requirements that arts groups provide an EIN, stronger anti‑duplication rules to prevent aliases or multiple applications for a single project, and expanded scoring rubrics with tiebreaker questions to guide panelists.
Odegaard said Thrive applicants with creative space and annual expenses of $125,000 or more would be eligible for $125,000 per year (a two‑year award of $250,000 total), with smaller tiers for lower operating budgets; Elevate will have a $15,000 minimum award. She said the full scoring rubrics and guidelines will be posted on the ACME website within a week, and the updated application window runs July 7 to Aug. 18, with panel review in October and award announcements in November.
Staff also described operational supports for applicants: virtual and in‑person workshops, weekly open office hours, one‑on‑one booking links, and a program of ACME ambassadors and localized workshops. To run the panel process, staff estimated needing roughly 322 panelists (based on more than 1,000 anticipated applications and seven panelists per panel) and asked commissioners and community members to publicize the panelist recruitment form.
Commissioners asked about verification of reported annual expenses for individual artists (staff said it is an honor system with attestations and the risk of future ineligibility for fraud) and translation and accessibility of guideline materials (staff said the guidelines will be translated to Spanish and outreach will include social posts and newsletters). Staff also agreed to provide a spreadsheet and supplemental materials in response to commissioners’ requests related to the MOHA/fiscal‑sponsorship discussion.
