ArtReach Grants to support Youth Arts Initiatives

Deadline: 1-Feb-21

ArtReach’s funding program is designed to support youth arts initiatives in Toronto that foster the engagement of youth 13-29 and provide high-quality arts opportunities.

ArtReach aims to support innovative youth arts projects that may not be supported elsewhere. ArtReach is about access, reducing barriers, and increasing opportunities for youth, individual artists, and organizations/ collectives to create or continue quality arts projects or programming. New and emerging art forms will be considered, and are encouraged.

ArtReach embraces a broad definition of art and looks to support emerging, popular, and traditional art forms. This includes but is not limited to: music creation/ recording/ production, dance, drama/ theatre/ performing arts, creative writing, poetry, spoken word, carnival and circus, Indigenous arts, film and video, TV, radio, podcasting, culinary arts, photography, digital media, multimedia, visual arts, comic or zine-making, graffiti and street art, graphic design, textiles, storytelling, fashion design, crafts, aesthetics, etc.

Funding Information

Individual artists, groups of artists, unincorporated organizations, nonprofits, and charitable organizations may apply for community project grants at the following funding levels. Make sure applicants budget accurately reflects what they need to complete their activities from start to finish.
Apply for a $5,000 Pilot Project if…
- Applicant want to try out a new idea; OR
- Applicant want to run a smaller-scale project (short timeline, reduced number of participants); OR
- This is the first time applicants are coordinating and leading a program.
Apply for a $10,000 Phase One Project if…
- This is the first time applicants have run this specific program, but have previous experience coordinating or leading programming; OR
- Applicant want to want to keep an existing program running; OR
- Applicant wants to run a larger-scale project (longer timeline, higher number of participants).
Applicant may ONLY apply for a $15,000 Phase Two Project if…
- Applicant project was successfully funded by ArtReach in the past; AND
- Applicants are expanding the previously funded project by at least one of the following measures:
  - Increasing timelines;
  - Increasing the number of participants served;
  - Reaching a new, underserved community;
  - Adding new employment opportunities for young people;
  - Teaching a more advanced level of arts practice.

Project Eligibility

The initiatives ArtReach fund must:

Support meaningful engagement of Toronto youth (13-29) who have experienced exclusion from active participation in quality arts opportunities.
Serve youth living in Toronto, with priority for those who identify as belonging to an under-served community.
Be offered by individual artists under 30 or groups/ organizations lead by youth under 30 in Toronto.
Encourage creative expression through quality arts opportunities and foster meaningful youth engagement in project design, implementation and evaluation.
Promote social inclusion and provide opportunities for youth to develop leadership skills, build their personal and professional capacity, and access opportunities within their communities.
Not be a project who’s primary activities are religious or political in nature.
Provide opportunities for youth to benefit from both the intrinsic (e.g. personal enjoyment, creative expression) and instrumental value (e.g. community engagement, skills development, social change) of the arts.
Offer an ongoing skill-building series (like a workshop series or intensive) that engages the same group of participants for each session. Drop-in style programming, personal projects, and one-time events not eligible for ArtReach funding.

Eligibility Criteria

ArtReach’s funding mandate is to support projects being carried out by individual youth and youth-led groups and organizations, where leadership positions and decision-making responsibilities are held by young people 13-29 years of age.
ArtReach’s main point of contact should be the young person leading the project, and young people must lead the application process and project management activities. ArtReach recognize that there are many models for youth-led projects (including those that include administrative partners and adult mentors). In applicants’ application please describe model in detail.
ArtReach will fund:
- Youth-led groups, collectives, or not-for-profit organizations;
- Individual young artists;
- Youth groups that are housed within a larger not-for-profit or charitable organizations;
- Adult applicants providing arts training opportunities to youth facing severe barriers.

Application Process

STEP 1 READ: Read ArtReach’s Granting Program Guidelines
- This document has information on eligibility, who can apply, available funds, allowable expenses, and more.
STEP 2 REVIEW: Review the application questions, budget, and work plan you’ll be required to submit.
- Read over the application form to see the questions you’ll need to answer, and review the budget and workplan templates to understand how you’ll have to show your project spending and activities.
- If you’re applying for an additional Toronto Arts Council Accessibility Grant, review the details here.
STEP 3 Draft: Draft your application package.
- They highly recommend that you draft your application in a separate document before filling out the online form. While generally problem-free, technical errors can happen during the submission process and could result in you losing your responses before you are able to submit them.
STEP 4 Apply: Apply for a grant!
- All applications will be submitted through the online platform, Jotform.
  - Budget: The template for your budget must be downloaded from their web page, completed, and uploaded to your application package on Jotform.
  - Workplan: The template for your workplan must be downloaded from their web page, completed, and uploaded to your application package on Jotform.
  - Supplementary material: The submission of supplementary materials is encouraged, but not required. Any additional materials can be uploaded or linked to your application package on Jotform. All support material must be submitted electronically- they do not accept physical materials.
  - Accessibility grant: If applying for an additional Accessibility Grant for your project, you must complete the appropriate section of the application form, answering both written questions and completing the built-in budget template.