Grants for Individuals & Collectives in Canada

Artists and their work are the foundation of arts community. Working as individuals or collectives, artists pursue work that develops their practice, advances creative thought, contributes to an art form and provides their community with a reflection of itself.

The Edmonton Arts Council’s Individuals & Collectives grant has three distinct streams, each with its own evaluation criteria and assessment process. An individual or collective may only apply to one stream at each deadline and may only receive one grant from the program annually from January to December.

Categories

• Stream 1: Exploration & Experimentation: Stream 1 supports an Individual artist to work on creation, experimentation, or research activities. Examples of work that might fit within Stream 1:
  • An Indigenous musician wishes to research and document their community’s traditions and protocols as they consider how to integrate them into future composition and performance work.
  • A documentary filmmaker is considering the evolving use of land expropriation in western Canada. They are researching the nature of existing laws, and shaping their understanding of the issues surrounding this law to inform a future film project.
  • A choreographer wants to research and explore new movement vocabulary on a dancer in preparation for the development of a new work.
  • A visual artist whose existing practice is focused on encaustic painting wants to experiment with the addition of mud and other found materials into their work.
  • A playwright wishes to spend creative time on the second draft of their current play based on a Middle Ages myth.
• Stream 2: Skills & Career Development: Stream 2 supports receiving mentorship, attending a residency, or other forms of professional development for artists and arts professionals. Examples of work that might fit within the Skills & Career Development stream:
  • A costume designer is receiving mentorship from an international designer known primarily for their work on large-scale period pieces.
  • An Indigenous improv trio plans to learn how to record and shape their own web series. They propose working with a named expert who will teach them the appropriate skills, and include the purchase of some recording equipment.
  • A literary agent and manager wishing to enroll in a conference focusing on methods of maximizing sales on online platforms.
  • A sculptor seeking to incorporate arc welding into their practice wants to take a beginner’s course at NAIT. They include the fees for the course, as well as equipment to continue the work.
  • A collective of dancers plans to attend a week-long residency focusing on new movement techniques and choreographic approaches. They include costs for travel and accommodations.
• Stream 3: Artist-Driven Major Projects: Stream 3 supports artistic projects ready for implementation, production and/​or presentation. This can include support for creation, subsistence, travel and/​or mentorship. Examples of Artist-Driven Major Projects might include:
  • A visual artist plans to 3D print a thousand magpies, each in a slightly different pose, and has permission to install them along the railing of the High Level Bridge for a summer.
  • A collective of capoeira dance artists seek to develop and present a new work designed to be performed as part of a presentation series.
  • An illustrator and writer team collaborate on completing and self-publishing a graphic novel telling the experience of an immigrant family learning to integrate into a Terwillegar neighbourhood.
  • A contemporary string quartet works as a collective to compose, rehearse, and record an album. They include costs for studio time, production/​engineering, mixing and mastering.
  • A game designer seeks funds to prototype character and setting design for their new cooperative game.

Funding Information

• Stream 1: Exploration & Experimentation:
  • Grants in Stream 1 are fixed at $5,000 to support the artist’s living expenses and any additional costs while they pursue their artistic work.
• Stream 2: Skills & Career Development:
  • Applicants may request up to $10,000 based on the anticipated costs of the project, including artist subsistence.
• Stream 3: Artist-Driven Major Projects:
  • Applicants may request up to $25,000 based on the anticipated costs of the project, including artist subsistence.

Eligibility Criteria

• Individuals must:
  • Have an existing and committed practice in any arts discipline (including but not limited to customary and contemporary Indigenous or other cultural work) or have a history of other professional activity in the arts sector.
  • Be 18 years of age or older.
  • Be a resident of Edmonton / amiskwaciy – waskâhikan at the time of the application and for the duration of the project. This includes the City of Edmonton and the Indigenous communities of Enoch Cree Nation, Alexander First Nation, Paul First Nation and Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation (artists may be asked to provide proof of residency).
  • Have a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN) – grants are considered taxable income.
  • An individual or collective may receive one grant from this program annually from January to December.
  • Individuals or collectives who have overdue Edmonton Arts Council final reports will not be eligible.
• Collectives also must:
  • Have a majority of members who are eligible individuals as described above; and
  • Have one individual (the primary applicant) apply on behalf of the collective.
  • The EAC will accept only one submission per applicant, per deadline.
  • An individual may be a part of more than one collective.
  • An individual who is part of more than one collective may not be the primary applicant on more than one application.
• Eligible applicants for an Individuals & Collectives grant who have experienced systemic barriers can receive funding from both Individuals & Collectives and Equity & Access in the same calendar year. This is an effort by the EAC to re-balance historic inequities in these areas.
• However, eligible applicants who apply to both Individuals & Collectives and Equity & Access cannot apply with the same project/​work or receive funding for the same project/​work.

For more information, visit Edmonton Arts Council.