Deadline: 24-Nov-22
The Ontario Arts Council is pleased to announce the Visual Arts Projects to support not-for-profit arts organizations, ad hoc groups, collectives, and independent curators to research, present or document the work of professional Ontario visual artists and connect them with Ontario audiences, or to undertake other initiatives that benefit the visual arts community.
Priorities
The following are priorities in this program:
- To support significant opportunities for Ontario artists to exhibit and engage with Ontario audiences
- To support artist-driven and emergent programming or activities
- To support the development of artist-run centres/organizations
- To support public art galleries to extend their capacities to work with contemporary Ontario artists
- To support the development of independent curatorial practices
Categories
The program has four categories:
- Galleries, artist-run centres and other not-for-profit arts organizations
- Ad hoc groups and collectives
- Independent curators – presentation projects
- Independent curators – research projects
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Important:
- Individual artists are not eligible to apply for creation or presentation projects.
- Projects must include the payment of professional artist fees.
- Projects and programming activities that take place in galleries or artist-run centres that receive operating grants through OAC’s visual arts section are not eligible.
Funding Information
- Galleries, artist-run centres and other not-for-profit arts organizations: maximum $15,000
- Ad hoc groups and collectives: maximum $15,000
- Independent curators – presentation projects: maximum $15,000
- Independent curators – research projects: maximum $10,000
What this program funds?
- The program is open to projects presented or undertaken in-person or in digital/virtual formats.
- Visual arts presentations, including exhibitions, festivals, mural projects, and related outreach/education/audience engagement activities, including exhibitions presented on digital/virtual platforms
- Catalogues and publications, printed and/or online
- Artist residency programs offered by an organization or collective; residencies must include a public engagement or presentation component
- Curatorial research projects
- Curatorial research, including artist/studio visits and interviews, curatorial writing, development of exhibition projects
- Presentation/production stage of a project is not funded in this category
- Funded projects in this category may ultimately be presented in any location
- Professional or sector development initiatives: activities and initiatives that benefit Ontario visual artists or the visual arts sector. This includes professional development workshop series, training initiatives, conferences and other activities with a community impact.
- Ontario artists must be included in your project. Non-Ontario artists may also be included, but projects that do not include any Ontario artists are not eligible.
- Projects that take place outside Ontario are eligible as long as they also include a component presented within the province, for the benefit of Ontario audiences.
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You may consider:
- Grouping a series of programming activities to form a project (for example, an exhibition series)
- Separating out a specific program within a larger event as the focus of the application (for example, an exhibition within a larger festival)
Eligibility Criteria
- Incorporated not-for-profit Ontario-based visual arts organizations, including artist-run centres and public art galleries
- Ad hoc groups and collectives made up of visual artists or arts professionals, with 50% of its members residing in Ontario
- Independent Ontario-based curators; curators must not be employed in a full-time curatorial position in a public gallery or artist-run centre
- Other not-for-profit arts organizations presenting visual arts projects
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Important:
- Galleries within a multi-purpose institution (such as a library, university, museum or municipality) must have their own board of directors or an advisory body responsible solely for the gallery.
- Non-visual arts organizations must show they have appropriate visual arts professionals involved in the project
Ineligible applicants
- Individual visual artists applying to create or exhibit their art
- Independent curators who are enrolled full-time in undergraduate or graduate studies (including PhD level)
- Curators who have a full-time curatorial position in a public art gallery or artist-run centre
- Municipalities, universities and colleges (including private career colleges), commercial art galleries
- Organizations that receive a grant in the Public Art Galleries: Operating or Visual Arts: Artist-Run Centres and Organizations: Operating programs
- Organizations that receive an operating grant in other OAC programs, with the exception of organizations mandated to serve one or more of the OAC priority groups
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Important:
- Organizations applying as new applicants in Year One of the Visual Arts: Artist-Run Centres and Organizations: Operating or Public Art Galleries: Operating programs may apply only for projects taking place in their current fiscal year.
- Individuals may apply to only one OAC Visual Arts or Craft program per year, regardless of whether their application is successful. The Exhibition Assistance and the Indigenous Visual Artists’ Materials programs are exceptions to this application limit.
For more information, visit Ontario Arts Council.
For more information, visit https://www.arts.on.ca/grants/visual-arts-projects