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Assistance to Practitioners, Critics and Curators of Architecture

UNDER REVIEW 

Guidelines and application forms for this program will be available in early February 2010.

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Deadline

1 March

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Program Description

This program provides grants to professional Canadian practitioners, critics, curators and competition advisors in architecture, and to Canadian architectural firms, for the public presentation of works of architecture, landscape architecture and urban studies. 

The grants support special projects that promote contemporary, Canadian works of architecture to a broad and diverse public. Projects must lead to the production of books, exhibitions, architectural competitions, films and videos, television programs, radio programs, multimedia programs, series of articles or lectures, or other public events, with a minimum content of 50 percent contemporary, Canadian works of architecture. 

The purpose of the program is to give the public the opportunity to:

  • better understand the role of architecture in helping to shape a rich physical, social and cultural environment in Canada, and
  • better appreciate the artistic values of contemporary, Canadian buildings, landscapes and the urban environment.

For this program, works of architecture include buildings, landscapes and places, as well as works of critical and (or) design research on architecture, landscape architecture or the urban environment.

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Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

Canadian architectural professionals (practitioners, critics, curators and competition advisors) and Canadian architectural firms (architecture, landscape architecture and urban design firms) are eligible for this program.

To apply to this program as an individual, you must be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. If you are a Canadian citizen, you do not need to be a resident of Canada when you apply.

You must have completed your basic training and a minimum of three years of professional practice.

You must have produced an independent body of work that has been recognized by your peers. That means that works by practitioners (architects, architectural designers and landscape architects) -- including built works and (or) design research -- must have been the subject of at least three articles, one publication or one public exhibition. Critics must have at least three publications to their credit; and curators must have produced at least three exhibitions or publications. Competition advisors must have organized or advised for at least one professional, architectural competition, and meet the requirements set in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s guidelines, for the type of competition being pursued.

This Canada Council for the Arts program is accessible to Aboriginal artists and artists of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.

Eligible Projects

Projects are expected to be part of a collaborative arrangement between practitioners, critics, curators or competition advisors on the one hand and a production and distribution organization on the other.

You must include a written commitment from the organization that will produce the media program, publication, exhibition, competition, program or event.

For practitioners, these grants support the commissioning of texts, photographs, films, models and other forms of documentation of their built projects and design research.

For critics and curators, the grants support research, writing and other critical and (or) curatorial work about contemporary Canadian works of architecture, including buildings, landscapes, places, and critical and design research. 

For competition advisors, grants support the research and writing of a competition brief, call for submissions and other advisory work related to an architectural competition. Only building competitions (endorsed and limited) and ideas competitions (open or limited), as defined by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, are eligible. (See the competition categories chart at  www.raic.org/architecture_architects/architectural_competitions/index_e.htm).

Ineligible Projects

These grants do not support:

  • the design and construction of buildings or landscape architecture 
  • graphic or industrial design, visual art installations or the teaching of architecture
  • the pursuit of advanced studies
  • research into the history of architecture before 1945
  • design or development of computer programs
  • production of portfolios or any other material that is not intended for public dissemination by a recognized organization.

Other Restrictions

You may apply for only one Canada Council for the Arts grant to professional artists (with the exception of travel grants and prizes) in any fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). You may not receive more than two Canada Council grants in any 48-month period.

You may receive a maximum of two consecutive grants for the same project. To be eligible to do so, you must be working on a major project spread over several years (such as a book or a major exhibition) and each grant must support a distinct segment of the project. If the Canada Council awards a grant for the first phase of a project, there is no guarantee that it will support the project’s second phase.

Different practitioners, critics and curators may submit separate applications to carry out separate parts of the same project, either in a single competition or in consecutive competitions.

If an architectural firm submits an application to this grant program, associates to the firm may not apply to the same competition as individuals.

You may apply to the Canada Council Ronald J. Thom Award or Prix de Rome as well as to this program. However, if you win either of these awards, your application to the Assistance to Practitioners, Critics and Curators of Architecture program will be automatically withdrawn from the competition.

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Grant Amount

Amount Available

Grants range from $5,000 to $20,000. You must round your budget request to the nearest hundred.

You must submit a separate project budget for each request. Grants are not intended to cover all the costs associated with approved projects, and you may not be awarded the full amount requested.

Retroactive funding is not available. In other words, you cannot use grant funds to cover any expenses that have occurred before the competition deadline.

Eligible and Ineligible Expenses

Eligible expenses include:

  • the commissioning of photographs, models, videos, films and texts about contemporary Canadian buildings, landscapes, places, or design and (or) critical research
  • studies, analysis and documentation relating to a competition
  • professional fees
  • transportation costs directly related to the project.

The following are not eligible: capital expenses and basic equipment purchases.

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Further Information

Sarah Gelbard
Program Officer
Visual Arts Section
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. 5270

TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: 613-565-5194

Fax: 613-566-4332

January 2009