Project Assistance: Visual Arts Organizations (Canada)

BC Arts Council grant programs supports a wide variety of practices within the visual arts, including (but not limited to):

• Independent critical and curatorial practice.
• Studio-based practices, such as drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.
• Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and other visual arts practices, such as installation, video art, performance art, and public art.
• Contemporary and traditional craft practices, such as beading, carving, ceramics, and weaving.
• Community-engaged practices led by arts and cultural practitioners.

Grant Amounts

• Maximum request amount is $25,000.

Eligible Activities

Examples of eligible activities include but are not limited to:

• Exhibitions, including development and installation.
• Publications, documentation and dissemination of artistic works and exhibitions.
• Skill development for artists, including workshops, artists’ residencies, and activities that develop the arts sector.
• Exploration of new artistic or curatorial practices, including practice-based research, collaboration, experimentation, and creative development.
• Audience development, collaborations, exchanges, and activities that creatively engage communities.

Who Can Apply?

• Designated Priority Groups 
  • The BC Arts Council has committed to targeted investment in underserved and equity-deserving organizations and the development of equity support initiatives, including a policy to support designated priority groups. These identified groups will be the focus of BC Arts Council strategic measures, through dedicated programs, funding prioritization processes, partnerships, and outreach.
  • The BC Arts Council’s designated priority groups include applicants and arts and cultural practitioners who are:
    • Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit) Peoples
    • Deaf or experience disability
    • Black or people of colour
    • Located in areas outside greater Vancouver or the capital region
• Visual Arts Organization Eligibility
  • To be eligible, organizations must be:
    • A professional visual arts organization registered and in good standing as a nonprofit society or community service co-op in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application with:
      • The majority of key staff (paid or volunteer) and board members based in B.C.
      • Creative control and decision making for programming and engagement primarily maintained within the organization and by leadership based in B.C.
      • A purpose or mandate dedicated to arts and culture programming and activities. or
      • A purpose or mandate to provide services to the arts and culture sector in B.C.
      • Operations and activities that reflect this dedicated purpose or mandate.
  • An Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) community organization registered and in good standing as a non-profit society or community service co-op in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application with:
    • The majority of key staff (paid or volunteer) and board members based in B.C.
    • A commitment to offering regular arts and culture activities.
    • An Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) government in B.C. that offers regular arts and culture activities.
  • A professional visual arts organization operated by a public post-secondary institution in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application, that:
    • Holds a dedicated programming space and has at least one dedicated staff person in an artistic, curatorial, or administrative leadership position who is responsible for programming and engagement.
    • Offers ongoing public programming by arts and cultural practitioners, the majority of which is not programming of faculty or student works.
• Arts or Curatorial Collective Applicants 
  • To be eligible, an Arts or Curatorial Collective must:
    • Be established and readily identified as a collective of a minimum of 3 independent artists, curators, or arts and cultural practitioners who are active in their field of practice and who meet the criteria below. NOTE: The collective may include additional members who do not meet the criteria below as long as at least 3 eligible core members have been identified and meet the following:
      • Have a minimum of two years of practice in their field following basic training, with roles that hold creative control of projects.
      • Have a demonstrated body of previous work as an individual practitioner, including at least one public presentation of work for which an artist fee or equivalent was received.
      • Have a demonstrated history of creating or presenting work as a collective and have a clear commitment to a current practice. At a minimum, the collective must have:
        • A demonstrated body of previous work by current members of the collective.
        • At least one public presentation of work by the current collective, for which artist fees or equivalent were received.
  • An eligible Arts or Curatorial Collective must also:
    • Engage skilled artistic, curatorial, and administrative leadership for project or service delivery.
    • Not be applying on behalf of the activities of a for-profit business.
    • Fairly compensate artists, arts and cultural practitioners, technicians, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. Compensation must align with project and community contexts and industry standards within the field of practice.
    • Follow international intellectual property rights standards and cultural ownership protocols.

For more information, visit British Council Arts Council.