Inter-Arts Office: Project Grants to Organizations
The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to equity and inclusion, and welcomes applications from diverse Aboriginal, cultural and regional communities, including people with disabilities.
Deadline
15 November
If this date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.
Please refer to the Program Guidelines for detailed information.
Program Description
These grants are one-time grants that assist non-profit organizations and artists’ collectives or groups working in the integrated arts, contemporary circus arts or related artist and community collaborative arts to research, create and produce work, to disseminate their work and to develop their own artistic and professional capacities. Proposals to this funding program may also include a combination of these activities.
This program is not intended to duplicate the funding provided through other programs of the Canada Council for the Arts. To be eligible for funding from this program, the proposed activities must be within the definitions of the type of work funded by the Inter-Arts Office and not be eligible in the current funding programs offered by the Canada Council’s Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, or Writing and Publishing sections.
Funded activities must take place after the first of April following the deadline and must be completed within the timeframe stipulated in the grant notification letter, and in accordance with the terms and conditions outlined. Projects can occur either within or outside of Canada.
Definitions
The following definitions apply to the determination of eligibility to this program and in the assessment of applications.
Integrated arts is an approach to artistic practice that combines two or more artistic disciplines to create a new, unified and distinct form. The result is a hybrid in which no single form of art is dominant. While not defined by a particular aesthetic, integrated arts are often characterized by innovative combinations of artistic practices, genres, technology, cultural influences, social engagement and inclusion of diverse perspectives. They can also integrate fields outside of the arts in addition to the artistic disciplines involved.
Contemporary circus art is a form of artistic expression that integrates the mastery of one or more circus techniques recognized and taught by professional circus art schools such as the National Circus School. The practice, discourse and works funded by the Inter-Arts Office are those that lead to the creative evolution of this art form and that use circus techniques in original and innovative artistic concepts.
Artists and community collaboration is an arts process whereby professional artists and community members actively work together as creative partners in collaborative projects. Activities and projects are joint undertakings in which the process of collaborating is equally important to the art created, and where there is shared decision-making and ownership of project results.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this program, applicants must meet the conditions outlined below.
Artists’ collectives and groups must have been in existence for at least two years before the deadline for which they are applying.
Non-profit organizations must have been incorporated as a non-profit organization for at least two years before the deadline for which they are applying.
In addition, both the applicant and the proposed activity must meet all the criteria listed below. They must:
- work in the integrated arts or the contemporary circus arts or related artist and community collaborative arts
- have professional artists (see definition below) as their artistic leaders and core members
- have had at least two verifiable public presentations or publications (for critics and curators) of an integrated arts or contemporary circus art work in a professional context before the program deadline.
The Canada Council defines a professional artist as someone who:
- has specialized training in the artistic field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
- is recognized as a professional by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition)
- is committed to devoting more time to artistic activity, if possible financially.
Activities funded through this program must relate to research, creation, production, dissemination or development in the integrated arts, contemporary circus arts or related artist and community collaborative arts.
Examples of eligible projects include:
- researching new artistic content
- creating, commissioning, producing or presenting new work
- inviting Canadian or international artists for professional artistic developmental activities
- producing knowledge development conferences or professional development activities that result in critical discourse and peer to peer exchange.
As this program is intended to allow applicants to design projects that meet their artistic or organizational goals, other activities or combinations of activities may be eligible.
Grant Amount
The maximum grant amount that you can receive from this program is $25,000.
Further Information
Sue-Ellen Gerritsen, Program Officer
Inter-Arts Office
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 4679
TTY: 1-866-585-5559
Fax: 613-566-4386
September 2011