Deadline: 7-Oct-21
The Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE) is seeking applications for its Creation Community Arts Stream Grants Program to support Indigenous youth to take ownership over the wellness of their peers and community.
CREation is a multi-level funding program that supports strengths-based, community-focused and youth-led projects taking place in communities across Canada. Grassroot youth groups/collectives (comprised of Indigenous youth ages 15-29) are eligible to apply for funding to support community programs and projects, while receiving innovative mentorship, training and capacity-building opportunities. Funding will be provided to projects/groups that seek to create impactful community change and increase the wellness, resiliency and engagement of Indigenous youth.
Project Focus Areas
Successful projects will fall within the following areas. Please note that CRE uses a wide definition of art, including but not limited to: traditional art practices, visual art, theatre, traditional tattooing, dance, music, media arts, writing, filmmaking, etc.
- Making Art: Creating and Collaborating (Youth Leads)
- Projects must have 2+ Indigenous youth leading, and include an element of collaborating and sharing. Projects in this category will centre on giving youth leads an opportunity to work with other artists to produce pieces and work. Please note, projects funded in this category must outline a plan to share knowledge or expertise with young emerging artists (e.g. two youth leads collaborate to create an album and host a community event with youth to share skills).
- Making Art: Creating and Collaborating (Youth Collectives)
- Projects must have 2+ Indigenous youth leading, and include an element of collaborating and sharing. Projects in this category will centre on bringing together youth collectives and groups to create artistic pieces. While “Youth Leads” focuses on youth leaders producing artwork, “Youth Collectives” aims to bring together more artists than just the project leads. Please note, projects funded in this category must outline a plan to share knowledge or expertise with young emerging artists (e.g. youth collective collaborates on a mural and engages youth community members in the project).
- Promoting Art: Entrepreneurship
- Projects in this category must support Indigenous businesses run by Indigenous youth artists. Projects will support 2+ Indigenous youth in exploring building a business around their artwork. This could include creating products (i.e. making prints or clothing) or scaling up elements of their business (i.e. making a business plan, redeveloping a website, etc). Please note, projects funded in this category must outline a plan to share knowledge or expertise with young emerging artists (e.g. running a workshop with youth on how to market yourself and your business).
- Promoting Art: Artist-in-Residence
- Projects will support Artist-in-Residence programs at community organizations, schools, libraries and other institutions. Funding will support professional artists and collectives working in any artistic discipline to participate in community-engaged artist residencies. Resident artists can work on collaborating and creating art, but also should deliver art programming/workshops to Indigenous youth. Projects must be led by Indigenous youth who have a meaningful role in working alongside the Artist-in-Residence.
- Teaching Art: Mentorships
- Projects will provide opportunities for Indigenous youth artists to work alongside skilled artists in mentorships roles. A minimum of 2+ Indigenous youth artists must be leading the project, and have opportunities to learn, grow and develop their skills/knowledge around artistic practices and mediums. As with all projects in this stream, there must be an element of community sharing, and this could include running an exhibition of developed artwork, running a community workshop aimed at inspiring other emerging artists, creating a video about the impact of the program on youth artists, etc.
- Teaching Art: Programming and Education
- Projects will engage youth in workshops and programming around art and artistic practices. The intention in this focus area is to create space for new and emerging youth artists to strengthen their knowledge, skills and opportunities to engage with art. This can include running workshops that bring together youth to learn new artforms, running after-school programs, hosting gatherings and panels, etc.
Funding Information
- Funding of up to $15,000 will be provided to projects/groups that seek to empower Indigenous artists and art-based programs.
Eligibility Criteria
- CREation will only fund grassroots Indigenous youth groups consisting of a minimum of 2 youth.
- Please note: for the purpose of this program, CRE defines Indigenous as status and non-status First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada, living both on and off-reserve.
- Eligible groups and projects include:
- Unincorporated/grassroots youth groups/collectives/councils comprised primarily of Indigenous youth
- Small, incorporated youth groups (note: CRE defines a small organization as groups that have 1-8 full-time employees and an operating budget of less than $500,000)
- Projects must primarily serve Indigenous youth
- All projects must include an element of community knowledge sharing or workshops
Ineligible
Ineligible groups and projects:
- Individuals
- Projects where the leadership is not Indigenous
- Projects that are not youth-led (or where the majority of leadership is 30+)
- Non-Indigenous organizations
- Projects taking place outside of Canada
- Projects where there is no element of collaboration or community knowledge sharing. While CRE wants to support Indigenous artists creating art, they do prioritize projects that have a clear community impact.
For more information, visit https://canadianroots.ca/programs/creation/