Public Art Microgrant Programs

Hello, welcome to the online information session for the 2021 public art community-run microgrant, and the artist-initiated microgrant.

I’d like to take an opportunity to acknowledge the traditional and ancestral territories of the Niitsitapi (The Blackfoot Confederacy) which include the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations, as well as the Tsuutʼina First Nation and Stoney Nakoda, comprised of the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations of Treaty 7. I’d also like to acknowledge the people of the Métis Nation, Region 3 and all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, from across North America, that call Calgary, Moh’kinstsis home.

My name is Ophelia Liew. My pronouns are she, her, hers. I am the Public Art Engagement Liaison at Calgary Arts Development. I am the main contact person for this program, so you may reach out to me directly if you have any questions or need support applying.

My co-host today is Gregory Burbidge. He is the Research and Policy Manager and Interim Public Art Director. He will be available to help with any questions you may have for the public art team.

publicart@calgaryartsdevelopment.com is a good go-to email address if you ever have any questions about CADA, and our public art program.

I would like to start by giving you some information about Calgary Arts Development or CADA and the public art program. Our overarching vision is Calgary is a place that empowers every resident to live a creative life fueling a vital prosperous and connected city. Our mission is to align and activate Calgarians in creating a vital prosperous and connected city through the arts. The public art program is one that Calgarians can connect with throughout the city, both at the community and city building levels, and always in the interest of the public good

The public art program is centered on four program areas, artist inspired projects, community driven projects, city building projects, and public art education, mentorship and capacity building activities. These programs were envisioned to provide appropriate support to encourage and build capacity with the indigenous arts community.

Calgary Arts Development or CADA has been working to approach our engagement and selection processes through an equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility lens.

We acknowledge that systems like granting are often designed to fit the dominant culture while creating barriers for many others. Because of this we aim to continue learning more from our communities about the specific challenges and barriers that exist, creating more entry points for access and working with applicants in various ways.

We acknowledge that we still have a lot of work to do on an individual, organizational and systemic level. We encourage and welcome you to tell us about your work. This will be a starting point for us to understand the impact of your work.

Be an expert in your own practice, be authentic to who you are as an artist community organization neighborhood group or other. As it is my job to be knowledgeable and understand this program, it is your job to be knowledgeable and have a full understanding of your own practice. Be authentic to who you are, what you want to do, and why this is important to you.

We will strive to work with applicants in a more one size fits one way.

Nothing about us without us. When it comes to equity, diversity inclusion and access, we know that it is both a goal, but also an ongoing and iterative process of learning and changing. Some of you may be aware of the public conversations we’ve been having around equity, diversity, inclusion, access, and anti-racism. This work ties into the concept of nothing about us without us.

There are things that at Calgary Arts Development, we will not tolerate, such as hate speech, cultural appropriation and active exclusionary behaviors. So please be aware that applications or projects that contain this will not be accepted or moved to the selection process.

Nothing about us without us is the belief that if you are creating work about a specific community, that community needs to be actively engaged and consulted, and there needs to be a clear intentional and reciprocal relationship. We value and honor lived experience, and the intersectional and unique experiences of different people and communities.

Virtuous cycles in the context of our programs. It means that every time you do something, it creates a positive feedback loop that moves you forward in a productive way. For us when we run a program, we try to learn and adjust. It isn’t about doing everything perfectly, or doing something because it’s always been done that way, or about maintaining the status quo, it’s about asking yourself how will this grant create a virtuous rather than a vicious cycle for you in your practice, whereby you can learn through not only success, but also through failure.

We value process, and the idea and experience of failing forward. Calgary Arts Development’s main purpose is to steward public dollars for public good. And that means for all Calgarians. This means that we have a responsibility to design programs that are accessible and open to all perspectives and experiences that exist in our communities.

In recognition of this, we will work one on one with applicants who’ve experienced barriers to access to develop accommodations that suit their unique abilities and situations. Some examples of accommodations are translation of written materials into other languages, including ASL. Transcription of verbal meetings or audio and video recordings into a written document.

Verbal video or audio applications. If you would prefer to answer the application questions verbally, you can submit an audio or video recording of yourself, or our staff can help record your responses using an online platform, such as Zoom. Language Interpretation for phone or video meetings, grant writing assistance if you need help.

As the Public Art Engagement Liaison, I will make myself available to answer any questions or provide feedback on your draft application. Please reach out to me as early as you can, and ask to ensure that I’m able to provide the best support possible.

I am able to provide application feedback, up to one week before the application deadline. We will be unable to provide feedback to applicants after notifications go out, whether you are successful or not. However, we are open to conversations about inquiries, project ideas and or applications to this program, if offered next year, and our two other upcoming programs.

We have begun to formalize a process for applicants to request assistance to help alleviate some of the costs associated with preparing and submitting an application. You may be eligible for assistance to pay someone to help you complete an application if you are an artist who is deaf or hard of hearing, has a disability, or is living with a mental illness, or an artist facing language geographic or cultural barriers.

To request application assistance please contact me at least two to four weeks before you plan to submit your application. This means no later than October 7, 2021, for this program.

If this date has passed, and you need assistance, please reach out anyway and we will do our best to accommodate your request. If requesting assistance, you will need to provide the name and contact information of someone who can help you. This could be a trusted friend or a family member or a professional service provider.

We may be able to make recommendations, depending on the service being requested, as well as the amount you are requesting, including the service provider’s hourly rate. Depending on the type of service or assistance you are requesting, Calgary Arts Development has outlined the maximum amounts that we are currently able to provide towards our micro grants. The amounts range from $160 to $600, depending on the service. If approved, we will confirm the amount Calgary Arts Development is able to contribute. The service provider must send an invoice to us for the approved amount, staff will then process the invoice and pay the service provider directly.

Here’s a quick overview of the public art microgrant program timeline. Applications are being accepted up until the application deadline of Monday, October 18, 2021, 4:30 Mountain Standard Time. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The selection process will continue until all the applications have been evaluated. Notifications will go out via email, in early December, 2021, letting applicants know if they were successful or not, and confirming grant amounts.

Please note that projects funded through this program must be completed by September 30, 2022 for community-run projects, and December 30, 2022 for artist-initiated projects. Keep in mind that you cannot apply for a project that has started before the application deadline of October 18, 2021.

Calgary Arts Development public art microgrant investment funds are provided through the Province of Alberta, and the City of Calgary. We thank these funders for their generous support.

The purpose of this information session is not to read through the program guidelines verbatim. The program guidelines and overview have a lot more detail in them than this information session does, and it will be very important to review before you apply.

The purpose of this session is to provide some approaches, examples, and questions that might be helpful to consider when determining if you will apply and how best to do so.

Some important things to know before we go into further details about both microgrants. Microgrants are typically small one-time awards given to community run or artists initiated short term projects.

They’re utilized to engage community groups like neighborhood organizations, cultural groups, grassroots organizations, etc. The smaller grant amount and the quick timeline of the grant encourages smaller groups, or those groups that have typically not been engaged or granted in the past to be encouraged to apply for funding.

Please note that for community-run projects, sculptures or works with moving components or those requiring engineering approvals are not eligible, For the artist-initiated microgrant projects in this category are eligible if engineering approval or drawings are needed or required.

Okay, let’s first start with the community-run public art microgrants. I will speak about the artist-initiated microgrant later in this presentation.

When applying for the community-run public art microgrant, projects must address one of the following five themes.

Number one, foster Truth and Reconciliation. Learning about the truth of Canadian colonization and its ongoing impact on First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, explore and create paths towards reconciliation and rights relations with Indigenous peoples and the land.

Number two, focus on justice, inclusion and human dignity. Focus on ways to build connections around local and global concerns, introduce art that reflects the diversity of the cultures, languages and people in our communities.

Number three, uncover little known stories about the city or overlooked histories. Team up with artists, indigenous elders or historians to create a project that connects people to places and spaces in different ways. Celebrate overlooked people and events, and the diversity or diverse learnings of your community, restore or uncover names of places.

Number four, explore stories of your community. Create and share stories of how local businesses or community organizations, tell the story of where you live, and what makes your community unique.

Number five, bring beauty, joy whimsy and hope art doesn’t have to be political or serious introduce whimsy surprise and joy to your community.

We will only accept one application per group, and only one application per project. You may not receive more than one Calgary Arts Development grant, the same project, or phase of a project, and success in this program does not affect your eligibility to apply to other Calgary Arts Development public art programs.

The total program funding available for the community-run micro grant is $100,000 applicants can apply for up to $10,000.

Your budget should consider funds used to hire local artists to carry out the project. The costs of the project should match the type of artwork proposed and include costs to appropriately pay Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Keepers, collaborators, etc.

If your project budget is not appropriate, program staff may ask applicants to resubmit their proposal. Successful applicants are responsible for managing their project budget, and there are no additional funds available for cost overruns.

This opportunity is open to community-led organizations including informal groups that define themselves in terms of distinct communities, neighborhood associations, and non-profit organizations, or charitable organizations in Calgary.

Community-led organizations in Calgary are invited to apply for funding to hire local artists and create public art in their neighborhoods.

Communities are required to team up with local artists at any level of experience, to explore any form of public art in any part of the city.

Activities must take place in Calgary and applicants must either be Calgary based or be able to demonstrate that they make significant contributions to the arts that are accessible to Calgarians.

If the applicant is not based in the city, Calgary Arts Development staff will determine eligibility, through the applicant’s commitment to the arts in the scope of activities within the Calgary arts community.

Eligible expenses funds from this program may go towards almost any expenses that are directly related to your project and its goals. These may include accessibility expenses, artists fees, fabrication expenses, materials, documentation, marketing, publicity or outreach, professional fees, honorariums meeting expenses and purchase of equipment, including hardware, up to a maximum of $1,000 total.

Professional fees such as web design, financial or legal services may be included. Rental of equipment or spaces and technical fees such as web service fees or licensing are also eligible.

Why do we have a $1,000 cap on equipment purchases? Major purchases of equipment, land or buildings are considered capital expenses. They outlive the life of the project or activity that you are applying for. Some examples of capital equipment might be the purchase of a new laptop, a kiln, a camera, lighting equipment and instruments, etc. So, while there is no limit on rental costs for equipment, you may only invest $1,000 of this grant, towards the purchase of these items, if you’re able to show how the remainder will be covered.

Ineligible expenses: Art projects that are not publicly accessible or ineligible.

If proposed projects are to be sited on private land, the location of the artwork needs to be approved by the site owner and a copy of the written agreement or letter of commitment needs to be submitted with your application.

If the proposed artwork is to be sited on public land, it is the responsibility of the artist or artists team to find out if it is city owned or provincially owned. You may do this by calling 311.

It is not recommended that proposed artwork be placed on provincially owned land.

If the proposed artwork is to be on city land, for example in city owned parks, roads or infrastructure like pedestrian underpasses, bridges, etc., the applicant is required to collaborate with their community association to support the project.

A copy of a written agreement and or letter of commitment with the association should be provided before the location of the artwork can be approved by the city. Additional assistance can be provided to work with the city after the project is commissioned.

Activities including fundraising, for example, activities undertaken for the purpose of raising funds on behalf of a political party or charity, contests and competitions, are considered ineligible activities.

Grant funding cannot be re-granted in the form of prizes and or awards. Activities that do not comply with or respect cultural protocols are those activities that use or present Indigenous cultural material, traditional knowledge or stories without permission from the community.

Those that promote hatred or intolerance and/or are illegal, or contravene provincial or federal law, are ineligible campaigning for a specific political candidate or party in an election is also included in this ineligible activity list.

All eligible program submissions will be reviewed by a selection panel consisting of one Indigenous Elder, two Moh’kinstsis public art guiding circle representatives, one arts professional and three community members.

Selection committees are chosen to represent the broad diversity of Calgary and its artistic communities, including but not limited to: artistic discipline, gender, sexuality, age, religion, beliefs, nation, physical and neurological identities, etc.

Committee members who are close family members, people who are involved in the activity being applied for, or where there is a real or perceived financial benefit are considered conflicts of interest. If a committee member has applied to the program or declared a conflict of interest. They will not assess those specific applications, or be present for any discussions of those applications.

The selection panel will read and score applications between October 18, 2021 to early December, 2021.

They will select project applications based on how their submissions meet the following evaluation criteria:

Firstly, does your idea relate to the project theme? If so, how?

Secondly, engagement. How will a community engagement take place? For example, are discussions and/or meetings being planned between the artist and the community? Are community members participating and informing the artwork concept or creation of the artwork? And is there any consideration of the project’s context in the community?

Thirdly, community benefit. Tell us how this project will benefit the community. Be specific in what you hope this artwork will make a difference in your community, or beyond.

And lastly, budget feasibility. Is your budget reasonable, does it consider appropriate fees for artists, Indigenous Elders Knowledge Keepers, collaborators, etc. Is the budget appropriate for the type of art proposed?

Okay, let’s talk more about the artist-initiated microgrant.

This opportunity is open to Calgary based professional artists of all disciplines, individual artists or artists teams or collectives are also eligible.

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

Professional artists will be defined as artists who are actively pursuing a career in the arts, who have invested in the development of their artistic skills, voice and goals, and who primarily create artistic work on their own.

Professional artists may have formal training, have shared their work publicly, have been compensated for their work, and have a relationship with their artistic communities and peers.

Artists do not need to be working professionally in the arts full time. Activities must take place in Calgary and applicants must either be Calgary based or be able to demonstrate that they regularly make significant contributions to the arts that are accessible to Calgarians.

If the applicant is not based in the city, Calgary Arts Development staff will determine eligibility, through the applicant’s commitment to the arts and the scope of activities within the Calgary’s arts community.

We acknowledge that there are many artists who are new to the City of Calgary and may not be familiar with grant programs, whether they’re eligible to apply, or if they’re able to receive a grant from a public funder.

Applicants or project teams may only apply to this program for one project, we will only accept one application per applicant, and one application per project.

Success in this program does not affect your eligibility to apply to other Calgary Arts Development programs.

The total program funding available for the artists-initiated microgrant is $150,000. Applicants can apply for up to $40,000.

The costs of the project should match the type of artwork proposed and successful applicants are responsible for managing their project budget, and there are no additional funds available for cost overruns.

CADA recognizes that public art opportunities can come from grassroots ideas that are initiated by professional artists.

Professional artists are defined as artists who are actively pursuing a career in the arts. Calgary Arts Development invites Calgary and area artists or artists teams to submit their project ideas to create art in public spaces.

Professional artists of all experience levels are encouraged to partner with community associations, businesses, or private landowners to explore any form of public art in any part of the city.

Please note that this is a request for proposals and initial artwork concept is required. Artists or artists teams will be expected to complete community engagement, after they are commissioned to inform the final artwork concept.

Eligible expenses. Funds from this program may go towards almost any expenses that are directly related to your project and its goals. These may include accessibility expenses, artists fees, documentation, fabrication expenses, honorariums, materials, marketing, publicity or outreach meeting expenses, purchase of equipment, including hardware, up to a maximum of $1,000 total.

Professional fees such as web design, engineering drawings engineering approvals, financial or legal services may be included. Rental of equipment or spaces and technical fees, such as web service fees or licensing are also eligible.

Art projects that are not publicly accessible are ineligible.

If proposed projects are to be sited on private land, the location of the artwork needs to be approved by the site owner and a copy of the written agreement or letter of commitment needs to be submitted with your application.

If the proposed artwork is to be sited on public land it is the responsibility of the artist or artists team to find out if it is city owned or provincially owned. You may do this by calling 311.

It is not recommended that proposed artwork be placed on provincially owned land.

If the proposed artwork is to be placed on city land, for example in city owned parks roads or infrastructure, the applicant is required to collaborate with their community association to support the project, a copy of a written agreement, and our letter of commitment with the association should be provided before the location of the artwork can be approved by the city.

Additional assistance can be provided to work with The City after the project is commissioned.

Activities including fundraising for example activities undertaken for the purpose of raising funds on behalf of a political party or charity, contests and competitions are considered ineligible activities, grant funding cannot be re-granted in the form of prizes and or awards.

One moment I’m just going to take a drink of water.

All eligible program submissions will be reviewed by a selection panel consisting of one Indigenous Elder, two Moh’kinstsis public art guiding circle representatives, one arts professional and three community members. Selection committees are chosen to represent the broad diversity of Calgary and its artistic communities, including but not limited to: artistic discipline, gender, sexuality, age, religion, beliefs, nation, physical and neurological identities, etc.

Committee members who are close family members, people who are involved in the activity being applied for, or where there is a real or perceived financial benefit are considered conflicts of interest. If a committee member has applied to the program, or declared a conflict of interest, they will not assess those specific applications, or be present for any discussions of those applications

For artist-initiated projects the selection panel will read and score applications between October 18, 2021, to early December.

They will select project applications based on how their submissions meet the following evaluation criteria.

Number one, the quality of idea. How does your idea connect or respond to the site? How will the site’s history and use have an impact on your project? Is the artwork feasible for the budget provided? All applications will be reviewed for site approvals.

Secondly, engagement. Explain how community engagement will be included in the project. For example, are you having discussions with the community? Are community members participating in informing the artwork concept? What tools and methods will you use to reach people in the community engagement? Are you creating an artwork that is connected to the community and the people in it?

Thirdly, fostering dialogue. What kind of dialogue do you hope to foster with your artwork? Diversity, empathy, accessibility, equality, social justice, and or the environment? How will your artwork achieve this, how can you explore ways to learn about Indigenous history, and the impact of colonialism and create a path towards reconciliation.

And lastly the selection committee will review the provided resume or CV and 10 images of past work or ideas. A relevant and clear portfolio provides our selection committee, your ability to manage projects on time and on budget.

Be sure to list your qualifications and how you have demonstrated past work and ideas.

Detailed information regarding the selection process for both the community-run and artist-initiated which includes information on specific scoring can be found in each of the program guidelines.

Please note committees will read applications and rate each on the three criteria.

The budget section will be rated as either appropriate or inappropriate.

For both community-run and artist-initiated public art microgrants, Calgary Arts Development staff will download each committee member’s evaluations into a score sheet.

The committee will discuss each application and make final funding decisions in a meeting facilitated by public art staff.

If the majority of committee members respond no for any of the eligibility criteria, the applicant may be contacted for follow up by myself or disqualified from assessment.

So if you are unsure about any of these eligibility factors, please reach out before submitting.

Anyone can ask to participate on a Calgary Arts Development selection committee by emailing publicart@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.

So now I will speak a little bit about the online application and the sections of the application in greater detail.

Most of the sections pertain to both the community-run, and the artist-initiated microgrant.

So when you click the apply button on the Calgary Arts Development website, you’ll be taken to a login page.

Please create your login profile to access the online application.

Once at the online application, you may notice that we have provided a maximum word or character count for each written section of the application. This should be considered the maximum, and not the goal. If you do not need to use up the word count to make your case, don’t feel compelled to fill the space. However, it is important to provide enough information for the selection committee to understand your project, any relevant activities and goals. So, be thoughtful, clear and specific.

Okay, so now I’ll talk a little bit more in detail about the sections of the online grant applications.

Applicants will be asked for a brief description of your project, what is being built or performed. Where is it located? And when will it take place? Is it experimental participatory performance, social practice?

This is the first introduction to your project and will act as an identifier of your application. Please describe your proposed activity, including what will occur, when it will take place, where it will take place and who will be involved. Aim to be clear, straightforward and specific in your language.

List the amount you are requesting the start and end date of your activity. The name of the artists or artists you will be working with, and the kind of art project you are proposing.

You will be asked for your current contact information. The amount you are requesting and the start and end date of your activity and other supporting documents. I will talk about these supporting documents in greater detail in a moment.

For the community-run micro grant you will need to indicate which project theme you’re addressing in your submission, and how your idea relates to one of the five project themes. This is an opportunity to tell the selection committee how your proposed project activities are related to, and how they will reflect the project themes.

Context in citing matters, so please address this in your submission.

We encourage a diverse unique and non-traditional project ideas, some Examples could include a landscape feature, a participatory, or a piece of artwork that is centered on youth or child participation, utility box painting, lightscapes soundscapes, experiential performances. Those that include fiber art, or yarn bombing, for example.

An example of a project description for the community-run public art microgrant can go something like this:

Our organization is called the Top Line Dancing Troupe. We are a group of 30 dancers, and we are proposing a dance performance in front of the Chinese Multicultural Center on February 1, 2022. We wish to engage with a local Calgary based choreographer that will choreograph our performance for Chinese New Year. The dance will explore the stories and histories of Chinese immigration in Calgary.

An example of a project description for the artist-initiated public art microgrant.

I am a local Calgary artist, specializing in experiential lightscape design and installation. My team consists of three local Calgary artists. Our proposal includes a 45 minute lightscape performance that will play once every day, over five days from January 5 to 10th, our project team explores little known stories about the city or overlooked histories, and the performance will be held in the outdoor space of King Edward cSpace. We’ll be working with and I’m engaged with an Indigenous Elder and a Knowledge Keeper.

If your project includes Indigenous content works with Indigenous people or would like to include Indigenous knowledge or ways of knowing, it is very important to outline how you’ll be engaging with Indigenous communities, Indigenous elders, or Indigenous Knowledge Keepers. Explain how you will include Indigenous communities, Indigenous elders or Knowledge Keepers or other groups, organizations, and or institutions on your project team. It is recommended to consult with Fort Calgary, Blackfoot crossing and or the Native Centre.

Community engagement is an essential part of your application. Assessors are looking for clarity and how your project will benefit the community. They are interested in details of what community engagement is being done in your project and how that engagement will take place. Who in the community do you propose to engage with? Is the artist having discussions with the community? Are community members participating in informing the artwork concept and or the creation of the artwork? Be clear on how community engagement is informing the artwork proposed, and the connection between your project and the community.

This section of the online application encourages applicants to describe the proposed artwork, and its connection or response to its site, what is the history of the site? How will that history impact your project?

We encourage applicants to do research and to make those connections clear in your application.

To ensure application eligibility the site must be fully accessible to the public.

We are interested in what kind of dialogue you hope to create with your artwork as it exists in the public realm. Will it speak about the environment, social justice, accessibility, equality, diversity, or empathy? How will your artwork achieve this?

Please note that applications will be reviewed and documents pertaining to site land approval and or permission should be submitted as supporting documents.

We ask that the artwork proposed be temporary. This means that the artwork has a lifespan of five years or less.

We would like to know who will own the artwork for the duration of its designated lifespan and will it be the property of the community association, the community, a group, a private landowner for example.

For community-run projects please note that the City of Calgary will not own or maintain the artwork, even if it’s located on city land.

The artwork must be owned and maintained by the community, or the artists for the duration of its designated lifespan.

We ask applicants to tell us about any agreement you have for using the site for the duration of the lifespan of the work. If you do not have an agreement, tell us if you have a plan to obtain an agreement. Will the agreement last for the duration of the artwork’s lifespan?

For artist-initiated projects, it is possible that an agreement may be worked out with the City of Calgary, if it is on city land that is not guaranteed.

You will want to address the same questions around who you hope to own and maintain the artwork and provide agreement documents, if possible.

Tell us about any safety concerns you foresee, and how you will address them. It may seem counterintuitive to include this in your application. However, understanding the risks or safety issues, shows that you have thought about your project in detail. It shows you have done your research and are looking to mitigate any risks. This makes for a stronger application in the eyes of the selection committee.

Some safety issues can include; Is there a risk of artwork falling on anyone? Is the artwork a climbing risk? Does the artwork have any sharp or pointed edges that can cause injury to anyone?

Please note, as I mentioned earlier, projects that require engineering approvals will not be considered, including sculptures and objects with moving parts for the community run projects.

For both microgrants, you will upload a project budget using our standard budget template which is available for download directly in the online application for budgeting.

You’ll be asked to use our standard budget template and upload it to your application. It is a pretty straightforward template that asks you to list out all your expenses and any project revenues, including the amount you’re requesting from this program.

As you enter dollar amounts into the template, it will automatically do the math for you. Be sure to account for the entire scope of the proposed activity.

Please remember to use the notes section to clarify line items, show calculations and specify whether other revenue, or in-kind support, refers to things that still have monetary value that are being donated or given to you for free. Some examples of this could be space, food, volunteer hours, etc.

If you were applying for additional funding, outside of this program, but it won’t be confirmed before the deadline. Do your best to demonstrate that you’ve done the proper planning. The selection committee will be encouraged to make decisions based on the assumption that you have any additional expenses covered, but having many pending revenues may impact the committee’s evaluation of timeliness and feasibility.

Make a note of things that are confirmed or pending at the time of applying wherever necessary. If something changes after you submit your application, please let us know immediately as we may be able to make updates to your application, or let the assessors know, depending on where we are at in the selection process.

In the application there is an area to provide additional support materials.

For artists, a resume or CV can be a helpful tool for assessors. It helps to give a better understanding of the artist’s history, achievements, growth and career. The resume or CV should only include things that are relevant and related to the artist’s artistic practice and works.

It does not need to be in any particular format, but it should be clear and easy to read. Typically, a date list format from most recent to least recent activities, split into like categories is the most common. Make sure you include dates and locations of work.

If you’re applying as a collective, include all of the members. Resumes in a single PDF, along with the collective CV, if you have one.

For collaboration with Indigenous Elders or Knowledge Keepers it is recommended to provide information about your partners or collaborators, if any are involved in your proposed activities and be specific about how or why you chose them.

The support material you provide should be relevant and meaningful to your application. Attach files or links that help demonstrate your capacity, research, planning, and the relationships and partnerships you might want to mention, this can help demonstrate the feasibility and relevance of your proposed activity.

Examples of support material might be biographies or CDs of mentors or collaborators confirmation from mentors, collaborators.

References, training institutions or host organizations, letters of support documentation related to expenses and planning documents.

Audio or video files cannot be directly uploaded to the granting interface. They must be uploaded to a file sharing site such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Dropbox with the link provided. If the link requires a password to view, please do provide this.

The voluntary demographic survey is located only in the artist-initiated microgrant application.

We have begun collecting voluntary demographic information from applicants. And these questions are an important part of our aim to increase understanding at an aggregate level of the individual seeking funding, while providing the art sector with much needed data on the demographics of its workforce.

Completion of the demographic questions is not required. It’s being collected on a voluntary basis. You are not required to complete the questions, but you can choose which questions not to answer.

There will always be a preferred not to answer option. The information provided in this section will not be provided to assessors. In short, your responses to these questions are voluntary, will remain anonymous, and will only be shared in combination with many other responses, meaning they will not be connected to you personally. So, we do encourage you to fill that out in your application.

Now some grant tips.

Remember that you’re not expected to be everything to everyone, and your application will not benefit from trying to write or represent yourself in a way that you think assessors might want to see.

Using plain language rather than academic or artist speak is often clear and more concise.

Avoid jargon or technical language, remembering that the selection committee will be made up of people from many different practices and experiences.

Don’t assume that they will understand your specific practice or language. If you are speaking about something that is unique to your discipline or practice, be sure to define it.

Assessors really appreciate being able to easily read and understand an application.

We talk a lot at CADA, about how grant writing is an act of storytelling. This again does not mean that the application should be an artistic expression, or demonstration of your fantastical writing skills, but that your goal is to paint a full and complete narrative of who you are, what you want to do, why it’s relevant, and how it will impact your practice and how you will feasibly achieve it.

It can be very tempting to paint a rosy picture of your practice and work, but having an appreciative sense of what challenges and barriers you might experience in your work, and how you might move through them actually demonstrates capacity, awareness and potential.

Do your research. Make sure you can back up what you are stating in your application. It is also really helpful to have someone who may not be familiar with your discipline or your work to read your application. The questions they asked may uncover gaps or assumptions you’re making in the story you’re telling.

Do contact us early on if you require assistance.

What about taxes?

If you are an individual or representing a group of artists in the form of a collective, Calgary Arts Development is required to issue a T4A form for the full amount that you receive from this program, or any other 2021 CADA grants, for the tax year in which funding is administered.

Under the Canada Revenue Agency guidelines, only the amount of money that you pay yourself from the grads amount is taxable as income, such as an artist fee.

Show the amounts of this grant that were spent on materials rentals, paying other artists, etc. You must track all your expenses, keep your receipts and have written proof of payment.

If you have any questions about how to track your expenses, please let us know. We are not legally able to provide tax advice, and we cannot say how receipt of this grant will affect eligibility for future government support, similar to last year’s CERB.

We know it has been a challenging and confusing year for many artists. We always advise and encourage talking to someone from Canada Revenue Agency, or a tax professional, as each person’s context differs, and we want applicants to be well informed,

Please reach out early, ask specific questions. And remember I cannot guarantee feedback if you do not reach out at least one week before the program deadline.

I look forward to hearing from you and reading your applications. Thank you so much for listening.

Take care.