Greater New Haven has long boasted an abundance of gifted artists who deserve the financial support to help them soar. The Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists (The Bitsie Fund) seeks to help artists pursue new work or achieve specific creative and career goals. This year, it is with great honor that we announce that the Arts Council of Greater New Haven will official oversee and facilitate the fund and its grant making initiatives. This marks the first year that the fund is managed by our organization, the non-profit where Clark served as executive director for 20 years.

In 2026, The Bitsie Fund will award two $5,000 grants. One is designated for an artist of color. The second is open to all. This grant focuses on individual artists at a significant point in their personal development. Although the impact on the community is a wonderful feature of any project, this grant is not about community development but about individual development. It will support individual artists seeking:

o to tackle a major goal in their artistic development,

o to take a risk on a new direction in their work, or

o to move their career as an artist forward.

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven will consider applications from individual artists practicing in all creative disciplines, including (but not limited to) dance, music, theater, visual arts, design, craft, literary, voice, poetry, playwriting, composition, film and culinary arts. Artists who have created a substantial body of recent work and artists emerging in their field are encouraged to apply.

The Bitsie Fund is a donor-advised fund housed at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. The artist must live in one of the towns served by the Foundation. Towns are listed here: https://www.cfgnh.org/about/overview-facts

*An artist is considered a resident for this opportunity if the artist has been a resident in one or more of the towns served by the Foundation for the past 12 months or more. An artist who receives a grant from The Bitsie Fund must commit to residing within the service area of the Foundation for the duration of the grant period (one year).

Grant Rules and Guidelines:

1. The applying artist must be the primary creator of the original works of art. 

2. Grant recipients allow The Arts Council of Greater New Haven to feature the winning projects on its website and various marketing materials. The Arts Council will make all reasonable efforts to promote among its donors, events related to this project, and if possible, related to future work by awardees. 

3. Grant funds should be expended during the one-year grant period.

4. An annual report will be required at the end of the funding period. The report will describe what the artist has accomplished with the grant and how these accomplishments relate to what was outlined in the original project description. This will include an account of how the award funds were spent including an explanation of any changes from the budget submitted in the application. Any change in budget of $500 or more will need to be approved in advance.

5. Approved uses of funds include, but are not limited to:

-Purchase of materials, equipment, or supplies,

-Compensation for time spent developing a project or creating art

-Hiring others,

-Performance or touring costs,

-Travel to a destination relevant to the proposal,

-Rental of work/studio space or performance space,

-Production expenses, such as costumes, props, lighting or sound,

-Other items necessary for your development as an artist.

6. Your completed grant application must include a) Answers to the narrative questions in writing or via video recording b) your timeline c) your budget. Only proposals that contain all the required material and supporting documents as listed above will be reviewed. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

If you need help uploading materials, please contact thebitsieclarkfund@newhavenarts.org no later than Monday, June 29th for assistance.

When the Arts Council fiscally sponsors a project/organization, we lend them our 501(c)(3) status. This allows them to receive the following benefits: apply for grants that require 501(c)(3) status, have donations be tax exempt, and, receive financial administrative support among other benefits.

Fiscal sponsorship is a contractual relationship between you and the Arts Council. On any funds raised, the Arts Council will receive a 8% administrative cost.

To qualify for this sponsorship, an organization or project must be within the Council’s mission, not be overly burdensome, be feasible in the sole judgment of the Arts Council, and pose no inappropriate risks. The decision to grant fiscal sponsorship may be made based on the project’s fit with our exempt purpose and allocation of our resources.  Some projects will not qualify at all.
 

We have outlined below our exempt purpose. Satisfying the criteria does not guarantee sponsorship of a project. Granting fiscal sponsorship is within the sole discretion of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven – its Executive Director, Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors.  In addition, the Board may choose from time to time to limit the number of sponsored projects to conserve the resources of the Arts Council. 

Exempt Purpose: The purpose of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven is to work within the Greater New Haven area to create cultural opportunities for public participation in and awareness of the arts, to provide artistic nourishment for the population, artists, and the arts in the Greater New Haven area and to develop community support for the arts.
 

List of towns within the Arts Council’s service region: 

Bethany | Branford | Cheshire | East Haven | Guilford | Hamden | Madison | Meriden |  Milford | New Haven | North Branford | North Haven | Orange | Wallingford | West Haven | Woodbridge
 

Application Scope

1. Narrative questions

2. Three (3) Letters of Recommendation: Three letters of recommendation are required for a complete application and should highlight the credibility of the applicant/their organization or collective, the relevancy of the project/organization, how you would benefit from fiscal sponsorship and speak to the impact of your work to the community. Strong letters of recommendation are from organizations/leaders/community members within our service region. These letters should be addressed to Hope Chávez, Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. 

3. A Project/Organization Budget Sheet: You will need to submit a budget that, to the best of your ability, explains the financial breakdown of your project/organization.

• For temporary projects, please provide estimates based on the timeframe of the project. 
• For ongoing, or multi-year projects, please provide annual estimates. 
• Helpful hint: A budget is simply a plan for acquiring and spending funds to achieve specific goals by a certain time. Think of your budget as a tool you can use to identify the financial transactions needed to accomplish your project or organization's goals. Do your best to have the information accurate.  

Fiscal sponsorship lasts for one year and can be renewed on a case-by-case basis. Decisions are typically made within one month.

If you have any questions, you can reach out to Winter Marshall (she/her) at winter@newhavenarts.org.