Winners vs. Losers: Indianapolis Arts Prize Uses "American Idol" Format

INDIANAPOLIS STAR
By Will Higgins

INDIANA---It was a grant-making process like none Indianapolis had seen before, it was a game show for hipsters, it was an event. Applying for an arts grant to a nonprofit foundation can be a heartbreakingly laborious undertaking, involving the filling out of numerous forms, the crafting of mission statements and essays and on and on and on. The 5x5 events skip all that, in exchange for pressure, and some drama. Five people had been selected from some four dozen applicants to present their ideas for what would enhance city life. A handful of judges, along with the audience, would vote for the winner. Once they took the stage, the five contestants each had exactly five minutes to sell their plan. They were allowed to show no more than five slides. The winner would walk away with $10,000 cash. The CICF, together with the Efroymson Family Fund and the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation, put up $60,000 ($20,000 each) for the unusual, game-show-ish grants-giving. [link]