Call for Proposals by The U.S. Embassy in Armenia: 2022 Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation

The U.S. Embassy in Armenia announces a call for proposals for the 2022 Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). Proposals for projects that meet one or more of the following criteria will receive consideration: 

 

AFCP supports preservation projects in the following categories, pending available funding:

 

A CULTURAL SITE OR SITES - Conservation of an ancient or historic building, preservation of an archaeological site, or documentation of cultural sites in a region for preservation purposes.

 

AN OBJECT OR COLLECTION OF OBJECTS - Conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects; needs assessment of a collection with respect to its condition and strategies for improving its state of conservation; inventory of a collection for conservation and protection purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections; or specialized training in the care and preservation of collections.

 

FORMS OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION - Documentation and audiovisual recordings of traditional music and dance forms for broad dissemination as a means of teaching and further preserving them, or support for training in the preservation of traditional applied arts or crafts in danger of extinction. All submitted applications must be in English. Applicants may propose project periods of up to 60 months [five years]; projects must begin after September 30, 2022 and conclude no later than September 30, 2027. Funding instrument type: Grant. Funding amount: $10,000 per project (minimum) to $500,000 per project (maximum).

 

WHO CAN APPLY: Reputable and accountable non-commercial entities, such as nongovernmental organizations, museums, state non-profit organizations, or similar institutions and organizations that are able to demonstrate that they have the requisite experience and capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage. We encourage proposals that include non-U.S. government cost-sharing (including in-kind). Please keep fluctuations in exchange rates in mind when calculating project costs.

 

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS There is no application form. Please provide the requested information in word format as attachments.

 

Project proposals must include the following:

 

• Project basics, including title, project dates, and AFCP focus area;

 

• Project applicant information, including contact information;

 

• Project location;

 

• Official permission to undertake the project;

 

• Purpose and summary of objectives and desired results;

 

• Description of activities and tasks in chronological order;

 

• Project timeframe or schedule that lists the major project phases and milestones with target dates for achieving them;

 

• Resumes of the project director and professional staff;

 

• Statement of Importance highlighting the historic, architectural, artistic, or cultural (non-religious) values of the cultural site, collection, or form of traditional expression;

 

• Statement of Urgency indicating the severity of the situation and explaining why the project must take place now;

 

• Statement of Sustainability outlining the steps or measures that will be taken to maintain the site, object, or collection in good condition after the AFCP-supported project is complete; or, in the case of forms of traditional cultural expression, to preserve and disseminate the documentation, knowledge, or skills gained from the project;

 

• Detailed Project Budget, demarcated in one-year budget periods (2019, 2020, 2021, etc.), that lists all costs in separate categories (Personnel, Fringe Benefits, Travel [including Per Diem], Equipment, Supplies, Contractual, Other Direct Costs, Indirect Costs, Cost Sharing); indicates funds from other sources; and gives a justification for any anticipated international travel costs;

 

• Budget Narrative explaining line-by-line how costs are estimated (quantity x unit cost, annual salary x percentage of time spent on project, etc.) and unique budget line items;

 

• Attachments and Supporting Documents including: At a minimum and REQUIRED, five (5) high quality digital images (JPEGs) or audiovisual files that convey the nature and condition of the site, object, or form of expression and, in the case of a site or object, show the urgency or need for the proposed project (collapsing wall, water damage, worn fabric, broken handle, etc.), any historic structure reports, conservation needs assessments, and other planning documents compiled in preparation for the proposed project.

 

 

NOTA BENE:

 

-- AFCP does not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or embassies; or to past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous AFCP awards.

 

-- AFCP will NOT support the following activities or costs, and applications involving any of the activities or costs below will be deemed ineligible:

 

− Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of application;

 

− Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.);

 

− Preservation of hominid or human remains;

 

− Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.);

 

− Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.);

 

− Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use;

 

− Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes;

 

− Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;

 

− Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums;

 

− Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example);

 

− Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes;

 

− Creation of new or the modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances;

 

− Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;

 

− Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another;

 

− Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason;

 

− Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation or documentation effort;

 

− Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies;

 

− Costs of fund-raising campaigns;

 

− Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees;

 

− Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award

 

− International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;

 

− Travel or study outside the host country for professional development;

 

− Projects costing less than $10,000;

 

Please submit your applications to: [email protected] by the deadline, November 19, 2021. For questions that have not been covered in this announcement please contact the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy at: [email protected].