Project Assistance to Visual Arts and Fine Craft Organizations
Deadlines
15 April and 15 September
Program Description
Project assistance grants are available to Canadian, non-profit organizations and collectives with a mandate in the contemporary visual arts. Grants provide a contribution towards projects that advance knowledge and promote the public enjoyment of the visual arts.
Eligibility
Eligible Applicants
Applicants must be one of the following types:
- incorporated, non-profit Canadian visual arts organizations, including fine craft organizations, museums, public art galleries, exhibition centres, artist-run centres, university art departments, art colleges, fine crafts colleges, service organizations and professional associations, with a primary mandate in the visual arts;
- professional artists’ collectives or curatorial collectives.
- For this program, the Canada Council for the Arts recognizes artists’ collectives as groups composed of at least three artists who are professionally active in one of the fields supported by the Visual Arts Section. Curatorial collectives must be composed of at least three curators who are professionally engaged in work in contemporary visual arts. Each member of a collective must have at least three years of professional practice in their field following basic training and be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
All programs of the Canada Council for the Arts are accessible to Aboriginal arts organizations and arts organizations of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.
Eligible Projects
Grants contribute to the direct costs of project-based activities that advance knowledge and public enjoyment of the contemporary visual arts.
Artists, including artists from outside Canada, whose works are presented or who participate in projects must meet the Canada Council’s definition of a professional artist, which is someone who has specialized training in the field (not necessarily in academic institutions), who is recognized as such by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition), who is committed to devoting more time to the artistic activity, if financially feasible, and who has a history of public presentation in a professional context.
Eligible projects may include:
- Exhibitions and related public presentations, including presentations outside traditional gallery contexts. Assistance requested may include support for curatorial research, installation, presentation, circulation, borrowing and audience development activities connected with the exhibition or event.
- Colloquiums, lecture series and other public forums for the exchange and dissemination of ideas in the contemporary visual arts.
- Publication projects (print or electronic) in the contemporary visual arts, including artists’ books, exhibition catalogues, monographs and anthologies. Publications must be intended for national and/or international distribution.
- Other projects eligible for support from the Japan-Canada Fund or the Artists and Community Collaboration Fund.
Japan-Canada Fund: The Government of Japan has supplied the Canada Council for the Arts with a sum of money to be used “to further strengthen the relations between Canada and Japan.” This gift has led to the establishment of the Japan-Canada Fund, which supports performances, presentations and exhibitions by Japanese artists through programs of activities by established, professional Canadian presenters. It also assists Japan-Canada collaborations, residencies, co-presentations and co-productions that result in a public performance or exhibition in Canada. Requests for support from this Fund are processed through existing Canada Council programs and peer assessment processes.
Artists and Community Collaboration Fund: The Artists and Community Collaboration Fund is a dedicated investment that increases the Canada Council’s commitment to the diverse artistic activities that bring together professional artists and the broader community and that give the arts a stronger presence in everyday life.
All projects supported by the Canada Council through the Visual Arts Section must pay professional fees to participating artists, including exhibition rights, public presentation rights and reproduction rights for the use of works. These fees must meet or exceed the national standard.
Ineligible Projects
- Art museums, public galleries and artist-run centres that receive programming and operating funding from the Canada Council are not eligible to apply to this program, unless they are seeking project support from the Japan-Canada Fund or the Artists and Community Collaboration Fund.
- Colloquiums, lecture series and publications dealing exclusively with fine crafts are not eligible for support from this program. Requests for contributions towards such projects (other than exhibitions and exhibition catalogues) should be directed instead to the Jean A. Chalmers Fund for the Crafts.
- Projects organized by students, and exhibitions presenting student works or works produced in a training or academic context, are not eligible.
- Basic training workshops or art education courses are not eligible (except for Artists and Community Collaboration Fund requests).
- Projects dealing with historical material will be considered for support only if their relevance to contemporary visual art practices is clearly demonstrated.
Other Restrictions
- Retroactive funding, or funding for projects taking place within four months of the deadline, is not available.
- Applicants that have a final report and/or financial accounting overdue from a previous Canada Council grant are not eligible.
- Requests that have been unsuccessful in a competition under this program may be re-submitted to only one further competition under the program.
- A maximum of four requests may be submitted from a single applicant per competition.
Grant Amount
Grants awarded through this program will not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of a project. Successful applicants may receive less than the full amount requested.
Note that recent grants for project assistance have rarely exceeded $15,000.
Assessment of Applications
Assessment Process
The Canada Council for the Arts makes its funding decisions through the peer assessment process. Requests for project assistance grants are assessed by a committee composed of experienced professionals, chosen for their specialized knowledge in the advancement of the contemporary visual arts. They are selected to reflect a broad range of professional experience and thought, and to provide fair representation of gender, generations, regional and cultural diversity, Aboriginal peoples, and both official languages.
Peer assessment committee decisions for this program are final recommendations for approval by the Canada Council.
Assessment Criteria
The committee’s decisions are based on the availability of funds and the general merit of the project in comparison with all other eligible applications, as measured against the following assessment criteria. The relative “weight” given to each of these criteria is indicated in parentheses:
- the project’s contribution to the advancement of knowledge of contemporary visual arts (25 percent);
- the project’s contribution to the Canadian public’s understanding and appreciation of contemporary visual arts (25 percent);
- the artistic merit of the project, including the merit of the professionals and of the artistic work of participating artists and of the art works to be presented (30 percent);
- the administrative merit of the project, including the applicant’s ability to complete the project successfully, the commitment to paying appropriate copyright fees to participating artists and the appropriateness of the budget (20 percent).
Consideration is also given to a project’s potential impact on furthering the current identified priorities of the Canada Council, which include cultural diversity, Aboriginal arts, international exchanges, young artists and young audiences.
Applicants will be notified of the competition results, by letter, approximately four months after the deadline date. Results are not released over the telephone or by email.
Other Programs of Project Assistance
Projects that are not eligible for support from this program may be eligible for submission to one of the following Canada Council programs:
- Jean A. Chalmers Fund for the Crafts;
- Inter-Arts Program;
- Audience and Market Development Travel Assistance;
- Assistance to the Promotion of Architecture.
Please contact the Canada Council for further information on these programs or consult the web site.
Application Form
Project Assistance to Visual Arts and Fine Craft Organizations (pdf, 485 KB)
This form can only be printed and cannot be filled out on-line.
Further Information
This program summary provides an outline of the Project Assistance to Visual Arts and Fine Craft Organizations program. For further details or to obtain an application form, contact Doug Sigurdson, Visual Arts Section Officer.
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or (613) 566-4414, ext. 5268
TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: (613) 565-5194
Fax: (613) 566-4332
Visual Arts Section
Canada Council for the Arts
P.O. Box 1047, 350 Albert Street
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
March 2005