Deadline: 15-Sep-22
The BC Arts Council is seeking applications for the Operating Assistance: Community Arts Organizations.
Operating Assistance: Community Arts Organizations provides funding to assist the general operations of established community-based non-profit arts organizations working in community engaged arts through a range of artistic and cultural programming.
The program is intended for organizations that sustain an annual community-based artistic program encompassing creation activities, organizational / artistic / cultural development, production, dissemination, exhibition and public presentation.
Components
- Basic Support: Award level is a minimum of $5,000 and a maximum of $20,000 annually.
- Local Matching Funds: Awards may be eligible for 100% matching funding to a maximum of $5,000 annually.
- Capacity and Program Development: Award level is a maximum of $10,000 annually.
Eligibility Criteria
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To be eligible, an organization must:
- Provide an annual program of year-round, community-based arts and cultural programming and engagement and have done so for a minimum of one year.
- Fairly compensate artists, arts and cultural practitioners, technicians, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. Compensation must align with community contexts or sector standards within the field of practice, including adhering to international intellectual property rights standards and cultural ownership protocols.
- Adhere to the Criminal Records Review Act which requires that people who work with or may have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults must undergo a criminal record check by the Criminal Records Review Program.
- Have received at least one Project Assistance grant from the BC Arts Council within the past seven years. Grant programs that fulfill this eligibility criteria include Project Assistance: Community Arts Organizations; Arts-Based Community Development; and Arts Impact Grants. Grant programs that do not fulfill this eligibility criteria include but are not limited to: Pivot Program; Arts Infrastructure;
- Resilience Supplements; Community Arts Festivals; Professional Project Support; touring; Early Career Development; Youth Engagement; or Co-op Placement.
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Applicants must also:
- Be a Community Arts Organization, registered and in good standing as a non-profit society or community service co-op in BC for at least one fiscal year prior to application, with a dedicated arts and culture purpose.
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For the purposes of eligibility for this program, Community Arts Organizations are:
- Non-profit community arts councils;
- Community driven, generally non-professional, volunteer-managed arts and culture organizations; and
- Community-based arts and cultural centres, whose primary purpose is
- Community centered engagement and access to the arts. They offer a range of programming focused on enriching a specified community through a range of arts disciplines and experiences, using a grassroots approach to providing wider service to the community beyond their membership. Although generally community-led, community arts organizations may also engage and collaborate with professional artists and arts practitioners, arts administrators and Elders or Traditional Knowledge Keepers.
- Be an Indigenous Friendship or Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) cultural center offering dedicated arts and culture programming, with a community-based board of management that sets policy for the centre's public programs and services. Note: Indigenous Cultural Centers with a physical collection and display space are served through Operating Assistance: Public Museums and Indigenous Cultural Centres.
- Demonstrate a range of membership and engagement that is representative of its constituency or community, including diverse cultural and Indigenous populations;
- Receive cash support from local and regional governments (ie cash for operations or annual programs, not in-kind), including First Nations Band Councils and Trusts where applicable.
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In addition to the above eligibility criteria, organizations should have stability in current operations, both administratively and financially. Stability would be demonstrated through:
- Having appropriate board leadership and, if applicable, skilled artistic or administrative leadership (paid or volunteer) that maintains consistency in operations and programming;
- Ongoing and various sources of revenues outside of BC Arts Council programs;
- Ability to plan programming and activities up to two years into the future; and
- The ability to compile annual financial and statistical information. Confirmation of eligibility and intention to apply should be established with a Program Advisor prior to submitting an application. Ineligible applications will not be forwarded for assessment.
For more information, visit BC Arts Council.
For more information, visit https://www.bcartscouncil.ca/program/operating-assistance-community-arts-organizations/