Submit Applications for Touring and Circulation Project – Canada

Grants fund touring presentations and exhibitions in all artistic practices funded by OAC. Tours may also include engagements for audience-building, artist-presenter networking, and market development activities. The program has two categories:

• Category 1 – Tour – Individuals, ad hoc groups, collectives and organizations
• Category 2 – Large-scale tour – Organizations

OAC encourages the development of environmentally sustainable practices in touring and circulation, including slow tours (tours with longer stays at each stop), tours to multiple stops close to one another, and hybrid tours (tours with both virtual and in-person presentation or exhibition).

Priorities

• Tours in which the majority of engagements are at the invitation of a presenter.
• For tours within Ontario: projects that broaden access to artistic work for Ontario audiences in priority group communities.
• For national and international tours: projects that heighten recognition of Ontario artists across Canada or abroad.
• Projects that consider environmentally sustainable approaches to touring and circulation.

Funding Information

• Category 1: Tour
  • Individuals, ad hoc groups, collectives and organizations: maximum $30,000.
• Category 2
  • Large-scale tour – Organizations: minimum $30,001, maximum $60,000.
  • “large-scale” may refer to the number of engagements, the number of people travelling or works being transported, the scale of production, or other logistics that would require a grant over $30,000.
• Due to the number of applications to the program and the limited funds available, grants awarded may be less than requested.

What this Program Funds

• Touring and circulation in all artistic practices supported by OAC, including music, theatre and dance performances, visual arts and craft exhibitions, film and video screenings, and readings.
• School tours within Ontario only.
• Tours that include self-presentation, if there is a strong audience or market development rationale.

Eligibility Criteria

• Category 1: Tour – Individuals, ad hoc groups, collectives and organizations:
  • Professional artists, including curators, who reside in Ontario and work in an artistic practice supported at OAC.
  • ad hoc groups and collectives working in an artistic practice supported at OAC, the majority of whose members reside in Ontario.
  • Ontario-based not-for-profit arts organizations working in an artistic practice supported by OAC.
  • Ontario-based for-profit book and magazine publishers eligible for funding in one of OAC’s publishing programs.
• Category 2: Large-Scale Tour – Organizations:
  • Ontario-based not-for-profit arts organizations  working in an artistic practice supported at OAC.
  • Ontario-based for-profit book and magazine publishers eligible for funding in one of OAC’s publishing programs.
• Applicants must meet program and OAC eligibility criteria at the time of application submission.
• An individual must:
  • Be a professional artist or arts professional.
  • The OAC defines a professional artist or arts professional as someone who has developed skills through training or practice, is recognized by artists working in the same artistic tradition, has a history of public presentation or publication, seeks payment for their work and actively practices their art. Short breaks in artistic work history are acceptable.
  • Be 18 years of age or older.
  • Be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, or have an application pending for permanent resident status and, if requested, be able to provide documentation to verify this.
  • Be a resident of Ontario.
• To establish residency in Ontario, you must have lived in Ontario for at least 12 consecutive months before submitting an application. This applies to new Ontario residents and former Ontario residents returning after frequent or long-term absences.

For more information, visit Ontario Arts Council.