Request for Applications: Creative Communities Projects Program (Canada)

The City of Toronto supports this program through a funding allocation approved annually by Toronto City Council. Creative Communities projects create a powerful sense of inclusion, understanding and the possibility of self-expression among participants. Projects can involve one or more art practices, such as music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and storytelling, but the collaborative involvement of professional artists with community members is required.

Categories

• Applicants may apply in one of two categories:
  • Arts Engagement: Projects in this category engage the community through their art form, work with community members to encourage maximum participation in the arts practice and the art making, and recognize that the process of collaboration is as important as resulting artistic products. Examples include:
    • Arts programs in neighbourhoods and communities that help overcome barriers to participation in the arts. Examples of possible barriers are age, physical ability, health status, geography, or economic and socio-cultural barriers.
    • Artists’ collectives partnering with a community organization to undertake a project or residency. Applications relying on host-artist partnerships may include a Letter of Agreement between the host organization and the artist.
  • Arts Community Development: Projects in this category develop artistic communities through the development of art practices, art forms and/or emerging artistic voices. Eligible applications must define their artistic community and terms of engagement with one or more art forms. Examples include:
    • An arts organization or collective seeking to work with an artist who practices an ethnically specific, culturally diverse, or traditional art form, to increase their artistic skills, knowledge, range of creative expression and build a community of practice, with the aim to engage a broader community upon completion of the project.
    • An artists’ collective that is part of a specific cultural community seeking to work with artists who have experience working with that community to create and present work in one or more artistic disciplines, with the aim to develop emerging or under-represented artistic voices of community members and/or address issues relevant to their community.
    • An arts organization or collective may hold an arts festival or event that celebrates a specific community. However, simply identifying as a community-based event does not of itself make the project eligible. The event must include participatory arts activities in which members of the community are engaged by Toronto-based professional artists.

Funding Information

• The maximum grant available in this program is $15,000. Applicants may receive less than the full amount requested. TAC will fund 100% of the project budget up to $8,000. For requests to TAC over $8,000:
  • the budget must show revenue from other sources
  • the TAC contribution may not exceed 50% of the project budget
  • in-kind contributions may not exceed 25% of the project budget.

Eligible Projects

• Eligible projects must:
  • highlight co-creative processes between artists and communities
  • offer skill building experiences that can lead to presentation or exhibition opportunities for participants
  • increase access to arts activity for the broader community.

Eligibility Criteria

• The project for which the funding is requested must take place in the City of Toronto. Eligible applicants include:
  • Professional artists: A professional artist is someone who has developed their skills through training and/or practice; is recognized as such by artists working in the same artistic tradition; actively practices her/his/their art; seeks payment for her/his/their work; and has a history of public presentation.
  • Artist Collectives: A collective is defined as two or more artists working together under a group name, either on a single project or on an ongoing basis. For collectives of two artists, both must be City of Toronto residents. For collectives of more than two artists, the majority of members must be City of Toronto residents.
  • Incorporated non-profit organizations.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Projects that have been completed prior to the announcement of results. Toronto Arts Council does not fund retroactively
• Funding cannot be used to support an organization’s ongoing staff or faculty salaries. Where a portion of permanent staff or administrative resources are dedicated to the project, you may estimate the value of these resources and include a detailed breakdown in the budget as in-kind revenue
• This program does not support schools, tuition-funded training programs, curriculum-based programs, or research projects. Projects with a school as the venue cannot take place during school hours
• Organizations or collectives that receive Operating funding from TAC
• Educational and religious institutions, unless there is a clear separation at both the program and budget level between their regular activities (i.e. religious/congregation activities or educational/student body activities) and their arts activities
• Schools that are part of Ontario’s public or private education system
• Individual artists
• Costs related to equipment purchase, capital projects (e.g. building purchases, renovations, etc.), film/video production, archiving, publishing, awards and award ceremonies, art therapy, fundraising events/projects and deficit reduction are not covered by these grants. Costs related to activities occurring outside of the City of Toronto are also not covered (e.g. touring, travel, etc.)
• Arts-based research initiatives or arts enrichment programs for students.

For more information, visit Toronto Arts Council.