Lesson 2 (Older Students): It's gonna take some funds

Objectives: Help students develop an understanding of how funding for the arts is developed. Give students the opportunity to practice writing proposal style.

Procedure

Assess prior knowledge of students' exposure to and understanding of dance performances, especially classical forms.

Explain to students that Chamroeun wants to pass on his tradition, but needs funding to do so. One way to get help is to compete for a grant of money to help do your art. Students will work in two-person teams to write a grant proposal to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to fund Chamroeun to teach a class.

In preparation, students will:

1. read an actual, sample proposal written for another art form (e.g. visual arts). Sources of proposals may be area foundations, local arts organizations, or local arts councils

2. research another dance form, (e.g. Yoruba dance forms, Israeli folk dance, tap, ballet, etc.) using library materials including video and/or online resources, to find commonalities and analogous elements with classical Cambodian dance as performed here.

Students will be provided the following format for their proposal (i.e., they will need to answer these questions):

1. Rationale: Why does Chamroeun need to teach a class?

2. Objectives: What will be the benefit(s) to Chamroeun, his students, the Cambodian community, and the general community in Philadelphia if he teaches Cambodian dance?

3. Program design: Describe the class and related activities. This will involve problem-solving around issues of providing adequate rehearsal facilities, publicity for outreach, transportation for students, costuming, music, etc.

4. Budget: How much will the program cost? Consider all possible and necessary items and show the break-down of all costs.

5. Provide two visuals - such as charts, maps, drawings, photos - which further explain the project, e.g., a diagram of the performance space, a drawing of costumes or stage sets, a photo of students demonstrating dance positions.

Tell students to assume their proposal has made it past the first round of reviews, but that the reviewing panel has some additional questions they would like answered. They must attach essay responses to the following questions to their report:

• We already funded Asian dance last year. Why do we need to fund it again this year? Why doesn't Chamroeun find an independent source of funding?

• We prefer to fund more popular forms of art: things which most people are familiar with and will engage in. Cambodian dance seems too specialized. Why should we fund it?

Assessment

The actual proposal will serve as a product in the assessment process

Students will be grouped into proposal review teams. They will read several proposals, including their own, and score them based on the format which they were presented with. Students in each team will be asked: "If you worked for the PCA, who would you fund?"

Students will respond in writing to one other proposal, identifying the two strongest points and explaining why they were chosen and identifying the two weakest points and how they could be improved.

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