Project Assistance Program: Professional Arts Festivals (Canada)

Deadline: 23-May-23

The British Columbia Arts Council has launched the Project Assistance: Professional Arts Festivals to support eligible organizations and arts and curatorial collectives in the development, enrichment, and creation of new or unique public programming through a specific project, component, or programming initiative within an existing festival.

Grants are not available through this program to support a festival in its entirety.

A festival is an event that includes related arts and cultural activities and programming presented over a continuous period of more than one day. Grants received through this program are intended to encourage specific art forms or practices, increase the availability of professional arts in the community, and support the artistic programming of festivals.

Funding Information

• There is no maximum request amount but project assistance grants typically range from $5,000 to $30,000. Requests for amounts beyond this range will need to articulate a clear rationale for why the project requires a higher amount. Applicants should discuss such requests with a Program Advisor prior to submitting an application

Types of Projects

• BC Arts Council project assistance programs provide one-time grants for specific projects. Project grants are not meant to cover operating or ongoing expenses. Grants are available in this program to support the development, enrichment, and creation of new or unique public programming through a specific project, component, or programming initiative within an existing festival. Examples include (but are not limited to):
  • Discipline-specific programming within a multidisciplinary festival;
  • Specific programmatic streams, screening series, presentations, or performances of B.C. artists and arts and culture practitioners within the larger festival;
  • Specific screening series, speaker series, presentations, stages, or performances within the larger festival;
  • A collection of activities under a specific programmatic theme within the larger festival;
  • Programming related to B.C. artists and arts and culture practitioners presented within the festival;
  • Youth engagement initiatives;
  • Artist fees for performing and contributing artists as a component of overall festival expenses;
  • Professional skills development for artists, including workshops, artists’ residencies, and activities that develop the arts sector; or
  • Audience development, collaborations, exchanges, and activities that creatively engage communities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Organization Applicants
  • Be registered and in good standing as a non-profit society or community service co-op in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application with:
    • The majority of key staff (paid or volunteer) and board members based in B.C. with creative control and decision making for programming and engagement primarily maintained within the organization and by leadership based in B.C.; and
    • A purpose/mandate primarily dedicated to arts and culture programming and activities; or
    • A purpose/mandate to provide services to the arts and culture sector in B.C.
  • Be an Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) community organization or Indigenous government in B.C. that offers dedicated arts and culture activities.
  • Be a professional arts and culture organization operated by a local government in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application, that:
    • Maintains an ongoing arm’s length, community-based board of management or advisory structure that sets policy for the organization’s programs and services;
    • Holds a dedicated programming space and has at least one dedicated staff person in an artistic, curatorial, or administrative leadership position who is responsible for programming and engagement;
    • Offers ongoing public programming by professional arts and cultural practitioners; and o Primarily operates with autonomy, holding creative control and decision making for programming and engagement within the organization, with separate financial records for operations.
• Organizations must also:
  • Provide public arts and cultural programming or service to the arts and culture sector in B.C., as a primary activity, and have done so for a minimum of one year prior to the application deadline;
  • Provide programs that benefit the community and not solely its members’ interests;
  • Engage skilled artistic, curatorial, and administrative leadership (volunteer or paid) for project or service delivery;
  • Fairly compensate artists, arts and cultural practitioners, technicians, Elders, and/or Knowledge Keepers. Compensation must align with project and community contexts and industry 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;
  • Not currently receive Operating Assistance from the BC Arts Council; and
  • Have completed and submitted any overdue final reports on previous BC Arts Council grants by the submission deadline for this program.
• Arts or Curatorial Collective Applicants
  • Arts or Curatorial Collective applicants must:
    • Be established and readily identified as a collective of independent B.C. artists, curators, or arts and cultural practitioners, consisting of three or more individuals who are professionally active in their field of practice, each of whom must:
      • Have a minimum of two years of professional practice in their field, within roles that hold creative control of projects, following basic training.
      • Have a demonstrated body of previous work as an individual practitioner, including at least one instance of public presentation of a work for which an artist fee, or equivalent, was received.
      • Be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident.
      • Have been a resident of B.C. for at least 12 months immediately prior to the application deadline, and ordinarily reside in B.C
• Have a demonstrated history of creating or presenting work as a collective and have a clear commitment to a current practice. At a minimum, the collective must have:
  • A demonstrated body of previous work by current members of the collective;
  • At least one instance of public presentation of a work by the current collective, for which artist fees, or equivalent, were received; and
  • Intention to continue working together as a collective with current members on future projects.
• Apply under the name of an individual member of the collective who acts as the key contact person and be listed as the submitting representative or “Primary Contact” within the online grant system. If the application is successful, this person receives payment of the grant on behalf of the group, will be issued a T4A for the full grant amount, and will be responsible for submitting the final report;
• Not be applying on behalf of the activities of a for-profit business;
• Engage skilled artistic, curatorial, and administrative leadership for project or service delivery;
• Fairly compensate artists, arts and cultural practitioners, technicians, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. Compensation must align with project and community contexts and industry 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 completed and submitted any overdue final reports on previous BC Arts Council grants by the submission deadline for this program; and
• Provide programs that benefit the community and not solely its members’ interests.
• Collectives with only two members or ad hoc collectives may be eligible to apply to Individual Arts Grant programs for a collaborative project.

For more information, visit British Columbia Arts Council.