News Releases - 2007
561 arts organizations to receive $33 million in largest-ever Canada Council grant competition
Ottawa, April 16, 2007 – More than 560 arts organizations across the country will receive grants totaling $33 million as a result of a special competition aimed at strengthening their current operations by enhancing their artistic, administrative or audience development activities.
The Canada Council for the Arts announced today the results of the Supplementary Operating Funds Initiative, a one-time-only program created as a result of the federal government’s decision in the May 2006 budget to provide a total of $50 million in additional funding to the Canada Council for the 2006‑07 and 2007‑08 fiscal years. Of the $50 million in new funding, $33 million was earmarked to supplement operating grants for arts organizations over two years and $17 million is being given in grants to individual artists and initiatives related to public access to the arts: $7 million in 2006‑07 and $10 million in 2007‑08. In addition to the new money, the Council used other revenues to permanently increase funding for project grants (available to artists and organizations) by $1.5 million annually, beginning in 2006‑2007.
Supplementary Operating Funds Initiative
A wide range of organizations in every region of the country will receive supplementary funding, including symphony orchestras, theatre, dance, new music and opera companies, art galleries, art museums and artist-run centres, book publishers, arts and literary magazines and organizations involved in the production of film, video, new media and interdisciplinary work.
“The innovative proposals we received truly reflect the dynamism and creativity of Canadian arts organizations,” said Canada Council Director Robert Sirman. “The demand far exceeded the funds available and clearly demonstrates the potential benefit to all Canadians of increasing public investment in the arts.”
Under the Supplementary Operating Funds Initiative, arts organizations were asked to submit proposals on how they could use the supplementary funds to enhance their work in one or more of three areas: artistic development, audience development or administration. The deadline for submitting applications was December 15, 2006. Of 937 eligible arts organizations, 858 submitted applications, and 561 will receive supplementary grants.
Organizations were also asked to provide information on how they would document the results and the impact of their initiatives. They are required to provide interim and final reports including this information over the next 18 months.Of the $33 million available for the competition, $20 million was targeted toward “key” arts institutions, in general, those organizations which have a significant institutional infrastructure and impact above and beyond the communities or provinces in which they are located. They also tend to have the largest budgets within their disciplines, have the strongest presence within and outside the arts community and generate significant levels of employment for artists and arts professionals.
“We hope that with more resources, these organizations can provide stronger leadership in their milieu and have an even greater impact regionally, nationally and internationally,” added Mr. Sirman. “At the same time, we are also providing supplementary funding to many smaller organizations in all areas of the country, which will benefit not only the organizations themselves, but also artists, audiences and the communities in which they are located.”
A full list of grants awarded through the Supplementary Operating Funds Initiative, as well as additional information about the distribution of the new Canada Council funding, are available on the Grant Programs page. Examples include:
Dance
· A grant of $434,500 to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet aimed at improving the company’s artistic work by hiring more guest teachers, to bring in assistants for their choreographers and to present a special evening of work by the legendary Russian choreographer George Balanchine.
· A grant of $325,000 to Alberta Ballet, which will allow the company to create a new program of works that are suited to a smaller theatre venue. The grant will also help them purchase and introduce new software for ticketing, customer service and contact management.
· A $55,000 grant to the Montreal-based Compagnie de Danse Par B.L.eux, to allow it to hire a short-term project manager to coordinate the development of a centre for research, creation and learning in Quebec’s Eastern Townships.
· A $22,000 grant to Fujiwara Dance Inventions, a Toronto-based company which combines contemporary dance with the Japanese form of dance known as butoh. The grant will enable the company to have a dedicated space in which to hold rehearsals.
Media Arts
· A grant of $75,000 to Nunavut Independent Television to help it enlarge the audience for indigenous media arts, especially for and by Inuit youth in five remote communities.
· A grant of $50,000 to the Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver to purchase a High Definition video projector to improve the quality of the screenings of its own programs and for the numerous groups and artists who use its facilities to present their work.
· A grant of $30,000 to the Centre for Art Tapes in Halifax, an artist-run centre that supports artists working with electronic media, such as video, audio and new media. The grants will help the Centre create an on-line “virtual space” to exhibit digital artworks.
Music
· A grant of $2.2 million to the Canadian Opera Company, which will allow it to develop and expand the operatic repertoire by building and presenting new world-class opera productions that are relevant, thought-provoking and innovative, investing in Canadian artists and expanding education and programming activities.
· A grant of $371,000 to Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, to invest in such core artistic areas as tour development, recording, 21st century recording distribution networks, the training of young artists, and young audience development and educational projects.
· A grant of $65,000 to the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, which will allow it to reach new audiences in rural Manitoba and across the country. Activities include both regional and national touring, outreach to high school students, the production of audio program notes for the visually impaired and distributing new music through iTunes.
· A grant of $28,000 to Musique Multi-Montréal, an organization which showcases musicians from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. The grant will help the organization link culturally diverse Quebec artists with presenters in North America and around the world, providing greater opportunities for audiences to experience the work of some of the finest artists in classical and traditional world music from over 75 different musical cultures.
Theatre
· A grant of $1 million to the Stratford Festival, to carry out two artistic projects that focus on creating Canadian works and developing Canadian artists.
· A grant of $235,000 to the Quebec City company Ex-Machina. The grant will help the company develop a final version of Lipsynch, an unprecedented theatrical project that will have an impact on several aspects of their activities.
· A grant of $60,000 to the De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Company, an Aboriginal company located at Wikwemikong and Manitowaning, Manitoulin Island. The grant will help the company develop its audience across the entire island, focusing on the official opening of its new facilities.
· A grant of $22,000 to the Ottawa French-language theatre company Le Théâtre de la Vieille 17, to help it develop ties with international markets and with audiences of children ages 4-8.
Visual Arts
· A grant of $450,000 to the Vancouver Art Gallery, to offer its audiences expanded access to Asian Pacific contemporary art and to deepen the Gallery’s connection to Lower Mainland Asian communities.
· A grant of $275,000 to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, to enable it to collaborate with the Daniel Langlois Foundation, resulting in a major international exhibition of digital art.
· A grant of $175,000 to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, for the development of new interpretive strategies for contemporary art programming, based on the use of blogs, digital audio programs and podcasting from its web site.
· A grant of $25,000 to the Owens Art Gallery in Sackville, NB, to support a major initiative entitled the Digital Owens, whereby core functions of the gallery will be replicated on-line.
Writing and Publishing
· A grant of $200,000 to McClelland & Stewart to allow it to rejuvenate its acclaimed New Canadian Library series by digitizing some titles and transforming the balance into a modernized trade paperback format.
· A grant of $85,000 to children’s publisher Les éditions de la courte échelle, to allow it to conduct market research and make inroads into markets where it sees potential for expansion.
· A grant of $38,000 to the Regroupement des éditeurs canadiens-français to hire a consultant to help the association and its members refine their marketing strategies. Fifteen French-language publishers in Moncton, Ottawa, Sudbury, Toronto, Winnipeg and Regina will benefit from this initiative.
· A grant of $35,000 to Drawn & Quarterly, a Montreal-based publisher of graphic novels, which will enhance its presence in the local community by operating a “public space” for activities related to the publication of its books.
· A grant of $30,000 to the Vancouver-based literary magazine Geist, to allow it to renew and expand its online presence and promote its editorial content to new and untapped audiences. It will collaborate with the web-based literary magazine TheTyee.ca by commissioning new work and providing cultural and literary content to TheTyee.ca.
Inter-arts
· A grant of $40,000 to Vancouver’s Public Dreams Society, which promotes public participation in the arts by creating artistic events that involve the broader public and promote healthy neighbourhoods. The grant will help the organization hire a fundraiser to generate increased resources in the period leading up to the Vancouver Olympics.
· A grant of $25,000 to Common Weal Community Arts in Regina, an organization which brings together artists and the broader community to collaborate on artistic projects. The grant will help Common Weal strengthen its artistic programming and human resources.
· A grant of $25,000 to Les Productions Recto-Verso in Quebec City, an organization which creates productions combining theatre, multi-media and other art forms. The organization will use the additional funding to broaden its audience beyond Quebec by implementing new outreach and promotional strategies.
Grants to individual artists and initiatives related to public access to the arts
In 2006‑2007, the Council allocated approximately $7 million (of the $17 million set aside for individual artists and public access to the arts) to fund more than 300 individual artists and about 350 initiatives aimed at increasing public access to the arts, including tours, exhibitions, literary readings and dissemination projects. Part of this money was awarded to artists and organizations that had been highly recommended by peer assessment committees in 2006‑07, but had not received grants due to lack of funds. A portion of these funds were also used to “top up” grants from successful applicants whose requests could only be partially funded.
In 2007‑08, the balance of $10 million will be used to increase the program budgets for individual artists and public access initiatives in all disciplines.