Application Guidelines
Guideline Quick Browse
RECEIPT DEADLINE: April 15, 2008
Date posted: January 7, 2008
CFDA No. 45.168
Applications for Picturing America℠ will be accepted here between January 7, 2008, and April 15, 2008.
Program Resources
These guidelines explain the initiative and what information you will need to prepare an online application.
Questions?
Contact the American Library Association (ALA) staff at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5045, or publicprograms@ala.org. You can also contact the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) at 202-606-8337 or picturingamerica@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Type of Award
Successful applicants will receive a set of 20 laminated posters printed on both sides with artwork. A teachers resource book is included with the poster set. Additional educational resources will be available on the NEH Web site.
Description of the Initiative
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is collaborating with the American Library Association (ALA) to present a new initiative called Picturing America, part of NEH’s We the People program. This initiative introduces students and the general public to some of America’s art treasures and is designed to promote the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture in K-12 schools and public libraries. Public, private, parochial, and charter schools and home school consortia (K-12) and public libraries in the United States and its territories are invited to apply for a set of 20 laminated posters (approximately 24” x 36”) with reproductions on each side. A teachers resource book is included with the poster set. Additional educational resources will be available on the NEH Web site.
The Picturing America Images
Images reproduced on each side of the 20 Picturing America posters are:
Poster 1-A: Anasazi pottery, c. 1100; Sikyátki bowl, ca. 1350-1700; Louisa Keyser (Datsolalee, Washoe), Beacon Lights basket, 1904-1905; María Montoya Martínez and Julian Martínez, Jar, ca. 1939; Carl Toolak, Baleen basket (Inupiaq, AK), 1940; Caesar Johnson, Gullah rice fanner basket, c. 1960.
Poster 1-B: Mission Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Acuña, 1755, San Antonio, TX, architecture and fresco.
Poster 2-A: John Singleton Copley, Paul Revere, 1768, oil painting.
Poster 2-B: Paul Revere, Jr., Teapot, 1796; Thomas William Brown, tea service, c. 1840-1850; Gene Theobald, “Diament” teapot, 1928.
Poster 3-A: Grant Wood, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931, oil painting.
Poster 3-B: Gilbert Stuart, George Washington (Lansdowne portrait), 1796, oil painting.
Poster 4-A: Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851, oil painting.
Poster 4-B: Hiram Powers, Benjamin Franklin, 1862, marble sculpture.
Poster 5-A: Thomas Cole, View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, 1836, oil painting.
Poster 5-B: N.C. Wyeth, cover illustration for The Last of the Mohicans, 1919, book illustration.
Poster 6-A: John James Audubon; Robert Havell, engraver, American Flamingo, 1838, engraving.
Poster 6-B: George Catlin, Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa-Mandan, 1861/1869, oil painting.
Poster 7-A: Thomas Cole (largely) and others, Ohio State Capitol, 1838-1861, architecture.
Poster 7-B: George Caleb Bingham, The County Election, 1852, oil painting.
Poster 8-A: Albert Bierstadt, Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California, 1865, oil painting.
Poster 8-B: Black Hawk, “Sans-Arc Lakota” Ledger Book, 1880-1881, ink and pencil drawings.
Poster 9-A: Winslow Homer, The Veteran in a New Field, 1865, oil painting.
Poster 9-B: Alexander Gardner, Abraham Lincoln, February 5, 1865, photograph.
Poster 10-A: Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Gould Shaw and the Fifty-Fourth Regiment Memorial, Beacon and Park Streets, Boston, MA, 1897, bronze sculpture.
Poster 10-B: Hannah Greenlee (began) and her daughter, Emm (finished), Crazy Quilt, 1896; Susan Nokes McCord, Grandmother’s Fan Quilt, 1900; Amish quilts, ca. 1900-ca. 1940.
Poster 11-A: Thomas Eakins, John Biglin in a Single Scull, ca. 1873, watercolor painting.
Poster 11-B: James McNeill Whistler, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, 1876-1877, interior decoration.
Poster 12-A: John Singer Sargent, Portrait of a Boy, 1890, oil painting.
Poster 12-B: Childe Hassam, Allies Day, May 1917, 1917, oil painting.
Poster 13-A: Walker Evans, Brooklyn Bridge, 1929, photograph.
Poster 13-B: Louis Comfort Tiffany, Autumn Landscape—The River of Life, 1923-1924, stained glass window.
Poster 14-A: Mary Cassatt, The Boating Party, 1893/94, oil painting.
Poster 14-B: Joseph Stella, The Brooklyn Bridge, ca. 1919, oil painting.
Poster 15-A: Charles Sheeler, American Landscape, 1930, oil painting.
Poster 15-B: William Van Alen, Chrysler Building, New York, NY, 1928-1930, architecture.
Poster 16-A: Edward Hopper, House by the Railroad, 1925, oil painting.
Poster 16-B: Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater (Kaufmann House), Mill Run, PA, 1935-1939, architecture.
Poster 17-A: Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series, no. 57, 1940-1941, tempera painting.
Poster 17-B: Romare Bearden, The Dove, 1964, collage.
Poster 18-A: Thomas Hart Benton, The Sources of Country Music, 1975, acrylic painting.
Poster 18-B: Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936, photograph.
Poster 19-A: Norman Rockwell, Freedom of Speech, Saturday Evening Post, 1943, oil painting.
Poster 19-B: James Karales, Selma-to-Montgomery March for Voting Rights in 1965, photograph.
Poster 20-A: Richard Diebenkorn, Cityscape I, 1963, oil painting.
Poster 20-B: Martin Puryear, Ladder for Booker T. Washington, 1996, wood sculpture.
Display of Images
In return for receiving the Picturing America posters and teachers resource book, schools are required to encourage teachers to use the posters in the classroom. Schools and libraries are required to keep as many of the posters as possible on continual exhibit in classrooms or public locations in the school or public library during the September 2008 through May 2009 grant term, and to retain the posters for future display and educational use.
Award Information
Picturing America grants will be awarded to eligible schools and public libraries. The schools and public libraries selected will receive on or about September 4, 2008, a set of 20 laminated posters (approximately 24” x 36”) with reproductions on each side. They will also receive a teachers resource book. No cost sharing is required.
Eligibility
Applications will be accepted from all K-12 public, private, parochial, and charter schools and home school consortia and public libraries in the United States and its territories. Multiple schools within a school system or school district or multiple libraries within a library system may apply for the Picturing America posters and teachers resource book. One application is permitted from each home school consortium.
Individuals and organizations other than K-12 schools, home school consortia, and public libraries are not eligible to apply. NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
How to Prepare and Submit an Application
Please review the Frequently Asked Questions before filling out an application. To access the application form, click HERE. Submissions will be accepted online between January 7, 2008, and April 15, 2008.
Getting Started
There are six main steps you need to complete in order to apply for Picturing America:
- REGISTER
- CHOOSE WHETHER TO APPLY FOR A SINGLE SCHOOL OR LIBRARY OR MULTIPLE SCHOOLS OR LIBRARIES.
- COMPLETE APPLICANT INFORMATION.
- COMPLETE RECIPIENT SCHOOL OR LIBRARY INFORMATION.
- COMPLETE COLLECTION USE QUESTIONS.
- REVIEW AND EDIT YOUR APPLICATION.
- LIST AUTHORIZING OFFICIAL AND CERTIFY AUTHORIZATION.
- SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION.
1. REGISTER
Register Now: To access the application, you must first register to create an application account. To complete the registration process, you will be asked to enter your email address, choose a 6–12 character password, and provide the information outlined below:
- 1.A—Indicate whether you are applying for a single school or library or multiple schools or libraries.
- 1.B—Complete the Applicant Information.
Log In: If you have already registered for a Picturing America application account, please log in with your e–mail address and password.
1.A – ARE YOU APPLYING FOR ONE SCHOOL OR LIBRARY OR ON BEHALF OF MULTIPLE SCHOOLS OR LIBRARIES?
- Application for one school or library
Most applicants are individual schools or public libraries, where the Project Director is a teacher or librarian applying to receive the Picturing America collection for the school or public library in which he or she works. - Application on behalf of multiple schools or libraries
The applicant might also be the central office of a school district, the central library in a public library system, or a single school or library in a community applying on behalf of multiple sites to conduct a district–, system–, or community–wide project. In such cases, each school or library will receive its own Picturing America collection based on an application filed by a central coordinator (the Project Director). The central coordinating office must submit an application that includes a shipping address for each Recipient School or Library (i.e., each site that is to receive the Picturing America collection). As a Project Director applying on behalf of multiple sites, you may apply for an unlimited number of Recipient Schools or Libraries in your district, system or community.
1.B – COMPLETE APPLICANT INFORMATION.
The Project Director is the person completing the online form.
- For a single school or library application, the Project Director is usually a teacher or librarian.
- In an application for multiple schools or libraries, the Project Director is usually someone in the central office of a school district, library system, or other coordinating organization.
On the Applicant and Project Director Information screen, all information is required:
- Name of Applicant Organization (school, public library, or other applicant organization)
- First name of Project Director
- Last name of Project Director
- Address, City, State or Territory, and Zip Code of Project Director
- Telephone number of Project Director
- Email address for Project Director that will be valid until at least May 31, 2009
- Select a password (between 6 and 12 characters long, letters and numbers only).
- Are you applying on behalf of multiple schools or libraries? Check Yes or No.
- If you check the “Yes” box, you will be asked to provide the name of the applicant organization—i.e., the school district, library system, or other entity that has authority to apply on behalf of the Recipient Schools or Libraries listed in your application. (Examples: District of Columbia Public Libraries, Alliance Regional Library, Miami–Dade County Public Schools.)
- Select REGISTER to register in the application system and save your Applicant Information. After clicking the “Register” button, you will be able to return to the application at any time and log in using your e–mail address and password. This will allow you to edit, save, and return to your application as needed prior to the April 15 submission deadline.
2. COMPLETE RECIPIENT SCHOOL OR LIBRARY INFORMATION.
Enter the shipping information for the Recipient School or Library. If this school or library is selected to receive the Picturing America collection, materials will be shipped directly to this address. All information is required.
- Enter the name of the Recipient School or Library
- Select Recipient School or Library Type from the menu.
- If the Recipient is a School, you will be asked to select a response from the “School Level” pull–down menu.
- If the Recipient is a Public Library, you will be asked to select a response from the “Population Served” pull–down menu.
- Enter a valid Shipping Address for the Recipient School or Library. Do not use a P.O. number.
- Enter the name of a local contact person, to whose attention the books should be addressed.
- Select “Save & Proceed.”
Note for Multiple School or Library Applicants: Once you have entered the Recipient School or Library Information for one site, you can add more Recipient Schools or Libraries, using the “Save & Add Another Site” button. Only those who answered “Yes” to the question “Are you applying on behalf of multiple schools or libraries?” during Registration will see the “Add Another Site” option.
3. COMPLETE THE COLLECTION USE QUESTIONS.
The Collection Use area of the application requires you to indicate in which courses the Picturing America collection will be used (select from American History, Social Studies, Language Arts or Literature, Art, Science or Mathematics, Library or Media Center, or Other). Public library applicants should select “Not Applicable-Applicant is a Public Library.”
You must also indicate that your school or library agrees to use, display, and retain the images.
4. REVIEW AND EDIT YOUR APPLICATION.
The Review and Edit page summarizes all the information you have entered, including your Applicant Information, Recipient School or Library Information, and Collection Use Question responses. From this page you can:
- review and edit each section,
- save the entire application and log out of the system, or
- move ahead to certify and submit your application.
5. CERTIFY AUTHORIZATION TO SUBMIT APPLICATION.
An application for Picturing America is an application for an award from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an agency of the Federal Government. ALA is required by law to ask applicants to identify for each application a Certifying Official, who is authorized to apply on behalf of the organization.
- For individual schools or libraries, this will be the person authorized to submit applications for funding on behalf of the school or library. Depending on the institution, this could be the school principal, director of the library, another administrator, or a member of an appointed or elected board.
- For applicants applying on behalf of multiple schools or libraries, this will be a person authorized to submit applications for funding on behalf of the whole school district or library system.
To complete this section, you must enter all of the following information:
- First and last name of the Certifying Official
- Title of the Certifying Official
- Email address for the Certifying Official
- Telephone number for the Certifying Official
Check the “Certification” box to indicate acceptance by the Certifying Official of the following language:
“By checking this box and submitting this application, the authorized representative for the applicant organization certifies that all statements contained herein are true and correct to the best of his or her knowledge and belief; and that the applicant organization is neither presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in this transaction by any federal department or agency.”
6. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
Once you have completed all parts of your application, you may submit it at any time by selecting the “Submit Application” button. All applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. C.S.T. on April 15, 2008. Applications submitted after that time will be considered ineligible.
Note that once you have submitted your application:
- you can no longer make changes in your application,
- your application will be submitted for review,
- you should print your application summary page for your files, and
- you will receive a confirmation e–mail with a plain text version of your application.
Application deadlines
Your online application must be submitted (i.e. you must click the “submit” button) by April 15, 2008, 11:59 p.m. C.S.T. Remember, once you have submitted your application, you will no longer be able to make changes in it. Upon submission of the application, an email message acknowledging receipt of your application will be sent to you.
Late applications will not be reviewed.
Application Review
Selection criteria
Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
Will the school or library use the Picturing America collection in its curriculum or to conduct public programs?
Will the school or library keep as much of the Picturing America collection on display as possible during the grant term (September 2008 through May 2009)?
Will the school or library retain the Picturing America materials as part of its permanent collection for future educational programming and use?
Is the application clear and complete?
Review Process
Each application will be assessed by the staff of ALA and NEH. The Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities will make the final decision.
Award Administration Information
Application Deadline: April 15, 2008
Grant Notification: May 30, 2008
Posters Shipped to Grantees: On or about September 4, 2008
Grant Period: 2008–2009 School Year
Final Report Due: May 29, 2009
Award notices
Applicants will be notified via email and/or letter by May 30, 2008, of the outcome of their applications.
Use of posters
Schools are required to encourage the use of the posters by teachers in the classroom. Schools and public libraries are required to keep as many of the Picturing America posters as possible on continual exhibit in classrooms or public locations in the school or library during the September 2008 – May 2009 grant term and to retain the posters for future display and educational use. Schools and libraries must add the posters and teachers resource book to their permanent library or audio/visual collections. No sales are permitted.
Reporting requirements
Award recipients will be required to submit a one-page final performance report to the American Library Association by May 29, 2009.
Points of Contact
If you have questions about the initiative, contact:
National Endowment for the Humanities
We the People Program
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Room 511
Washington, DC 20506
(202) 606-8337
www.neh.gov
picturingamerica@neh.gov
American Library Association
Public Programs Office
1-800-545-2433, ext. 5045
publicprograms@ala.org
Other Information
Privacy Policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.
Application Completion Time
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates the average time to complete this application is one hour per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application. Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Director of the Office of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, DC 20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, DC 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.
