Iber Exchange

About

Mid Atlantic Arts believes in the power of the arts to promote a greater understanding of other cultures.  Iber Exchange is a grant program designed to increase availability of international music programming throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and to promote a greater understanding of other cultures through the performing arts. Iber (pronounced “EE-burr”) Exchange provides fee support grants to nonprofit presenters located in the mid-Atlantic region that contract artists as part of the Iber Exchange program in collaboration with the Ibermúsicas organization.

All funded engagements are required to include a public performance and a community engagement activity that creates interaction between audiences and visiting artists. An emphasis is placed on funding engagements in communities where opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.

Mid Atlantic Arts recognizes that international touring is most cost-effective for presenters and artists when multiple presenters collaborate to bring an artist to various communities in one trip. This program offers the opportunity for both presenters and artists to receive funding to facilitate collaborative cultural exchange.

Iber Exchange is a program of Mid Atlantic Arts in collaboration with Ibermúsicas and made possible through the generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Regional Touring Program.

About Ibermúsicas

Ibermúsicas is a multilateral governmental organization dedicated to supporting the diversity and growth of the Iberoamerican music sector. Members include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay. Ibermúsicas provides grants to support the mobility and development of musicians in their member countries.

Support for Iber Exchange is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts in collaboration with Ibermúsicas.

National Endowment for the Arts logo
Mid Atlantic Arts Logo. The words Mid Atlantic are stacked in a teal blue next to a larger scale word Arts in white in a bright yellow circle.
Ibermuscias logo

For Presenters

Program Guidelines

Program Guidelines as a Word doc (Opens in a new tab)
Program Guidelines as a PDF (Opens in a new tab)

Want to learn more?
Iber Exchange Webinar for Presenters in the Mid-Atlantic
July 12th, 2023, 1:30 – 2:30 PM ET | View a recording of the webinar

This webinar provides background information for presenters on the Mid Atlantic Arts grant program Iber Exchange. After viewing, you’ll have a clear understanding of the program guidelines, timeline, and requirements for funding.

To receive deadline reminders and program updates, please sign up for our newsletter.

How It Works

This initiative is a partnership grant program featuring cross-cultural collaboration between artists and presenters. It includes two phases, the Touring Roster Selection Phase, and the Presenter Grant Support Phase. Presenters in the Mid Atlantic Arts grantmaking region can join the program in either phase. Take part in the Touring Roster Selection Phase to support artists you are interested in booking so they can be considered for the Iber Exchange roster. Presenters can also choose to wait for the second phase and join tours of the selected roster artists as explained below.

Touring Artist Roster Selection Process

  • Ibermúsicas will conduct an open call for artist applications between June 1 and October 2, 2023.
  • Artists must be based in Ibermúsicas’ member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay) to apply for funding and meet Ibermúsicas’ eligibility criteria.
  • Nonprofit presenters in Mid Atlantic Arts’ region interested in inviting an international music ensemble or solo musician from one of the countries listed above should provide a letter of invitation to the artist so that artists can apply directly to Ibermúsicas. The letter should include the presenter’s name, contact information, public performance and community engagement date(s) between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, as well as the negotiated inclusive fee. Artists must apply to Ibermúsicas for support by October 2, 2023.
    • Interested in supporting an artist? Ibermúsicas has a catalogue of music artists and ensembles from their member countries. Review the catalogue here.
  • Applications submitted by artists to Ibermúsicas will then go through a panel process to select the artists that will make up the touring roster. Artists will be selected for the touring roster in December 2023 and will receive grant support directly from Ibermúsicas to defray visa costs.

Presenter Grant Support

  • Artists selected for the Iber Exchange touring roster through the Ibermúsicas open call will tour through Mid Atlantic Arts’ grantmaking region between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. Eligible presenters who provided letters of invitation to these selected artists when they applied to Ibermúsicas will be eligible for grant support from Mid Atlantic Arts.
  • Details on artists selected for the roster will also be promoted starting in January 2024 so that additional presenters interested in joining the tours can do so with grant support, should funds allow.
  • Fee subsidy grants from Mid Atlantic Arts will vary and may support:
    • A fee subsidy up to 50% of the negotiated artist fee for the engagement
    • Plus when flights are required between engagements within the Mid Atlantic Arts grantmaking region, up to 50% of artist flight or boat costs covered by the presenter are also eligible for support.
  • Grants must be matched on a 1:1 basis. Additional details in the program guidelines.
  • The total grant amount toward the artist fee subsidy and other eligible expenses is not to exceed $5,000 (or $7,000 for the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico). Grants will generally range between $1,500 – $4,000 per presenter.

All presenters interested in receiving grant subsidies and forming part of selected tours must submit an offer letter to the tour agent by April 15, 2024. After submitting the letter, presenters must fill out an online form that requests details about their organization and the engagement, including planned artist-involved community engagement.

Presenter Eligibility

In order to receive fee support grants, a presenting organization must:

  • Be based anywhere in the Mid Atlantic Arts’ grantmaking region: the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Virginia, West Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
  • Be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or a unit of state or local government. Units of state or local government must provide a document on official letterhead to confirm status as a government entity. Fiscal sponsorship is not permitted for this program.
  • Be in good standing with Mid Atlantic Arts, with no overdue or outstanding required reports and/or grant documents.
  • For this program, a presenter is defined as an organization that regularly schedules and engages professional artists to perform before general audiences in its community and manages the related performance logistics as an ongoing and significant component of their organization’s activity.
  • We encourage the participation of presenters from a variety of eligible organizations including: organizations that serve populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by ethnicity, economics, geography, or disability; organizations with small and medium-sized budgets; organizations from rural or urban communities; and organizations that may be receiving funding from Mid Atlantic Arts for the first time.
  • Presenters will be selected on the strength of their proposed activity engagement as well as compelling outreach to their community.

Engagement Requirements

In order to receive fee support grants a presenting organization must:

  • Enter into a contract with an Ibermúsicas-selected artist for at least one public performance and at least one community engagement activity that builds appreciation for the performance or art form and provides the public with opportunities for direct interaction with the visiting artists. Presenters will be selected on the strength of their proposed activity engagement as well as compelling outreach to their community. Community engagement activities may include, but are not limited to, master classes, lecture-demonstrations, workshops, and pre- or post-performance discussions. The activity offered must involve the featured artist(s). Presenters must discuss the community engagement activity and the artist’s involvement and include these activities in their negotiations. Presenters must provide details on community engagement plans before being confirmed for a grant award.

For Artists

Iber Exchange is a collaborative program with Mid Atlantic Arts providing grant funding to presenting organizations in the Mid Atlantic Arts jurisdiction, and Ibermúsicas providing grant funding to musicians based in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, or Uruguay. Musicians residing in these countries and interested in applying for grant support should visit Ibermúsicas to apply. For U.S. artists interested in receiving grant support for performance engagements in Ibermúsicas countries, please review the USArtists International grant program.

Se encuentran habilitados a participar de esta convocatoria músicas y músicos, agrupaciones, ensambles, etc. de todos los géneros musicales que pertenezcan por nacionalidad o por residencia certificada a: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, España, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Portugal o Uruguay. Para descargar las bases y postular, visite Ibermúsicas. Para los artistas estadounidenses que quieran recibir ayudas para actuaciones en los países miembros de Ibermúsicas, visiten la página de USArtists International.

2024-2025 Artist Roster

The 2024-2025 artist roster is currently in development. See the program guidelines for details.

2023-2024 Tours

Alejandro Brittes Quartet

Three males musicians site on boxes in a semicircle. They all ear shades of black with accents. To the left a bass lays on the floor. The center musician holds an accordion. The man to the right has an acoustic guitar. Behind them standing center is a woman with a flute.

Alejandro Brittes is an Argentine accordionist and composer in the chamamé genre, a tradition named a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage tradition. The Alejandro Brittes Quartet will be presented by:

Caña Dulce y Caña Brava

Five musicians in bright blue, yellow, orange, and white traditional dress stand in an ornate courtyard holding traditional instruments.

Caña Dulce y Caña Brava is a music and poetry group in the son jarocho genre from Veracruz, Mexico, highlighting feminine voices in a traditionally-masculine musical tradition. Caña Dulce y Caña Brava will be presented by:

La Banda Morisca

Six musicians in casual and traditional dress stand on a rocky outcropping with a city all in white behind them against a bright blue sky. They hold a mix of modern and traditional instruments.

La Banda Morisca blends Andalusian cultural heritage and music in the Maghreb and the Middle East, from flamenco music to Andalusian rock. La Banda Morisca will be presented by:

Images (top to bottom): Alejandro Brittes Quartet. Credit: Courtesy of the artist; Caña Dulce y Caña Brava. Credit: Courtesy of the artist; La Banda Morisca. Credit: Courtesy of the artist.

Manage Your Grant

Changes in Project Proposal

Any changes in the content, schedule, or budget of your project as proposed must be submitted in writing for approval prior to being implemented. Requested changes must be submitted to Jamie Melius, Grants Manager, at jmelius@midatlanticarts.org. 

Funding Acknowledgement and Crediting 

Acknowledgement and Crediting requirements were included as Section 7 of the Grant Award Agreement. 
 
Grantees must clearly acknowledge support from Mid Atlantic Arts through use of both the credit language and logo as outlined below. Use of the Mid Atlantic Arts logo does not replace the credit language. Copies of the required crediting materials must be submitted as part of the final report. 

Credit and Logo Usage Details 

The following statement, and where space permits, the logos of Mid Atlantic Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts MUST appear in all programs, websites and press releases produced by the funded organization or its agents in relation to the funded project. In addition, the following statement and logo should be included whenever possible, either jointly or separately as necessary, in all flyers and postcards, email communications, season brochures, social media posts and calendars, and any other print or electronic promotional and publicity materials produced by the funded organization or its agents in relation to the funded project. 

This statement must be used in its entirety and cannot be altered in any way:

This engagement of [ARTIST] is made possible in part through the Iber Exchange program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts in collaboration with Ibermúsicas. 
 
Download Mid Atlantic Arts Logo 
Download National Endowment for the Arts logo 

Website Link 
Grantees are required to include a link to the Mid Atlantic Arts website at  https://www.midatlanticarts.org when crediting Mid Atlantic Arts on their website. This link must remain active during the entire length of your grant period with Mid Atlantic Arts. You are requested, but not required, to embed the link in Mid Atlantic’s logo.

Virtual Engagement Guidance 

Mid Atlantic Arts continues to take a flexible approach to our program policies at this time. While we believe that live, in-person performances are hard to replace, we are also open to adaptive approaches that will ensure continued access to these arts experiences. Therefore, we are glad to announce the following policy for virtual engagements as an option for our grantees to fulfill their public performance and community engagement activity requirements. 
 
Please read the full guidance document to understand the requirements of presenting your funded engagement as a virtual presentation. We have also included links to a few resources that may help you guide your decisions around virtual presentation. 
 
Mid Atlantic Arts Virtual Engagement Guide as a PDF (link opens in a new window) 
Mid Atlantic Arts Virtual Engagement Guide as an accessible Word document (Click link to download) 

Final Reports 

Final report requirements and instructions are included as Section 8 of the Grant Award Agreement. 

Grantees are required to submit a final report which is due thirty (30) days after the end of the grant period on record as listed in the Grant Award Agreement. 

Final reports are to be completed online using the Mid Atlantic Arts’ grant portal at  https://midatlanticarts.smartsimple.com. 

The SmartSimple account used to submit the application for the grant must be used to complete the final report. If you do not remember your login and/or password, please use the “Forgot Password?” link on the SmartSimple portal page, below the purple “Log In” button, to reset your password. 

For questions about your grant and the crediting or final reporting requirements, contact Jamie Melius, Grants Manager, at  jmelius@midatlanticarts.org.