We had a great turnout last night at Fort Lauderdale’s Cinema Paradiso, our first of 4 Community Q & A sessions on the Knight Arts Challenge that are taking place this week around South Florida.  We wanted to share what’s on people’s minds ahead of the March 4 application deadline, and some tips and insights that Matt Haggman, previous winners and I shared. Several people asked how to make their application stand out. Here’s the advice we offered:

• Make the title catchy, not necessarily descriptive.
• Use your 150 words to get to the point – what’s unique about your project?
• Don’t write your proposal in isolation. Share it with friends for their input. Make sure they understand what you’re trying to convey.
• Present the idea as personal and show your passion, but stay away from the words “I want to.” Ideas should put the community first.
•  If you’re an individual artist seeking funds for a project, remember it has to be in service to the community. Ask yourself, how will this engage South Florida? Will my project make South Florida a better place to live?

Willie Stewart, a previous challenge winner, gave the best tip of the night: “Be honest and sincere, and the Knight Foundation will feel it.” Here are few other quick questions – and our answers:

• How many ideas can I submit? As many as you like!
• Can the project be nationwide? As long as it follows the three rules, which includes that the project takes place in or benefits South Florida.
• How provocative can the program be?  Be provocative. Be creative. We are not the thought police.

We have three more Community Q & A sessions this week. The schedule is below. Hope to see you there.

• North Central Dade: 7 p.m. Feb. 19: Opa-locka City Hall, 780 Fisherman St., Second Floor
• Downtown Miami: 7 p.m. Feb. 20: Cannonball, Downtown Miami, 1035 N. Miami Ave., Suite 200
• South Dade: 7 p.m., Feb. 21: South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, 10950 SW 211 St.

Thanks again to all of our hosts for these gatherings: Broward County Cultural Division, WPBT, Business for the Arts of Broward, Arts and Cultural Center of Hollywood, the Opa-locka CDC, Hot 105, WEDR, M Ensemble, Urgent Inc., Miami Children’s Initiative, Miami-Dade County Division of Cultural Affairs, Miami New Times, Cannonball, Miami Light Project, Sweat Records, Bass Museum of Art, Bas Fisher Invitational, Karen Peterson Dancers and ArtSouth.