Guidelines: Project Grant Program — Individuals and Collectives 2024

This program is intended to provide one-time project funding to individual artists and artist collectives in Calgary (known as Mohkinsstsis in Blackfoot), working in any artistic discipline.

Projects may begin before the application deadline of May 1, 2024, but they cannot be fully completed before the application deadline of May 1, 2024. Projects funded through this program must be complete by December 31, 2025.

Individual artists may apply for up to $20,000 and artist collectives may apply for up to $25,000. 

Total funding available for this program is $2.5 million.

We acknowledge that the land we gather on, Mohkinsstsis, is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation, and the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations. Today this land is home to the Metis Nations 5 and 6 as well as many First Nations and Inuit peoples from across Turtle Island.

Calgary Arts Development is committed to the process of eliminating institutional racism, ableism and barriers in our programs, policies and practices by centring the creativity and leadership of those communities most impacted by structural inequities. Read our full Commitment to Equity statement on our website.

This program is open to Calgary-based individual artists, artist collectives, cultural workers, and collaborations with artists (i.e. individuals working in the arts and culture sector who are not artists themselves but are undertaking a project that primarily involves and supports artists).

We welcome applications from those working in all artistic disciplines and their various cultural forms.

Please review the full definitions below for each category before applying and reach out with any eligibility questions.

Individual Artists: 

• Individual artists applying to this program must pursue a professional practice.
• We consider a professional artist to be an artist who is actively pursuing a career in the arts, and who has invested in the development of their artistic skills, voice, and goals.
• Artists may have formal or informal training.
• Artists have shared, or are actively striving to share, their work publicly and be compensated for their work.
• Artists have a relationship with their artistic communities and peers.
• Artists do not need to be working professionally in the arts full time.

Artist Collectives: 

• We consider an artist collective to be two or more individual artists who have a shared artistic practice that is distinct from their own individual artistic practices (for example, a band, a visual art duo, a theatre collective, co-writers, etc.). Artist collectives may work together on an ongoing basis or partner together ad hoc, for a particular project.
• Collectives need to define their collective practice, vision, goals and process to demonstrate that all collective members have equal and shared ownership and accountability for the success and completion of the proposed project.
• A majority of collective members must be Calgary-based artists (i.e. 50% or more).

Collaborations with Artists: 

• We will consider applications from individuals working in the arts and culture sector who do not meet the definition of an individual artist or artist collective if they can demonstrate the below, and at the discretion of Calgary Arts Development staff:
  • Artists are core collaborators or participants in the planning, development and implementation of the project.
  • The project and budget provide financial and non-financial support to artists.
  • The applicant has a demonstrated history of working with artists and the arts sector.

Cultural Workers:

• For the purposes of our programs, ‘cultural workers’ refers to individuals who make their living in the arts and cultural sector and contribute to the success of an artist or organization’s artistic work in a creative or technical capacity, but who are not necessarily leading the artistic vision of the work being created. This might include production team members such as a costume designer or cutter, sound designer/operator, set designer, lighting designer/operator, etc.
• We will consider applications from cultural workers for their own professional development and learning, or for independent projects where they are the lead artist for the creative process. The project should be focused on their own artistic practice, vision and goals.

Note: This program cannot accept applications from arts administrators, agents or managers, production companies, registered for-profit corporations or businesses, or registered not-for-profit organizations.

Calgary-based Artists

While projects do not have to take place in Calgary, applicants must be Calgary-based. We will also accept applications from Treaty 7 nation members living within Treaty 7 (Southern Alberta) if they can demonstrate a clear connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis communities.

For a full description of what we consider to be Calgary-based, please review the FAQs. If you are not currently based in Calgary, please contact program staff to discuss your eligibility before applying.

Newcomer Artists — Permanent Residency or Citizenship Not Necessary

You do not need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to receive a grant from us, but you do need to be able to report on this grant to the Canada Revenue Agency. This means you must have a valid Canadian Social Insurance Number or Individual Tax Number to receive this grant.

If you are a newcomer, immigrant or refugee artist and have questions or concerns, please contact our program staff.

Please review the following eligibility requirements before applying and reach out if you have any questions or need clarification:

• Applicants may submit only one application per program deadline.
• We will not accept more than one application from the same account on the online grant platform. This means that individual artists must apply using their individual account and artist collectives must apply using their collective account.
• Individual artists may be involved in more than one application, either as a participant in another artist’s application, or as a member of an artist collective.
• A project may only be submitted by one applicant per program deadline. This means that multiple members of a group cannot submit for the same project to the same program deadline.
• We cannot fund the same phase of a project more than once (regardless of calendar year) so please ensure you are planning larger projects ahead of time and clearly outlining the phase of work you are applying for. As long as they are distinct phases of a project, you may apply for a future Calgary Arts Development grant to support the next distinct phase of the work.
• You may not apply to this program if you have any final reports past their due date for prior grants.

As of January 2024, you may not have more than two open grants with Calgary Arts Development, including grants for which a deadline extension has been approved. For more information, please review the Open Grant Policy.

Applicants may apply to this program for one project, or one distinct phase of a project. Projects should have a clear start and end date, with a specific set of activities, processes and goals.

Please ensure you are clear about what phase of the work you are applying for, especially for larger or longer-term projects that may have multiple stages or phases. If you have questions about your project phases, please contact a program specialist.

Projects may begin before the application deadline of May 1, 2024, but they cannot be fully completed before the application deadline of May 1, 2024. Projects funded through this program must be complete by December 31, 2025.

Individual artists may apply for up to $20,000 and artist collectives may apply for up to $25,000.

Eligible Project Activities

Projects may include any of the following activities, and these activities can take place online or in person — locally, nationally or internationally:

• Research: research projects to inform your artistic work, processes, approaches, etc.
• Creation or production of work: the creation and development of new work, adaptations of previous work, experimentation, etc.
• Professional development and learning: participating in courses, classes, workshops, residencies, trainings, mentorships, apprenticeships, internships, networking and industry events, conferences, etc.
• Presenting or sharing work with the public: sharing, distributing or selling your work through exhibitions, instillations, events, presentations, performances, touring, releases, publishing, etc.
• Marketing and promotion: activities related to publicity and outreach, the branding, promotion and marketing of your work and artistic practice, networking and industry events, etc.

If you have questions about other potential project activities, please contact program staff to discuss before applying.

Activities we will not fund: 

• Activities that do not comply with or respect cultural protocols.
• Activities that use or present Indigenous cultural material, traditional knowledge or stories without express permission from the community and/or clear connection to the originating community.
• Activities or individuals that willfully or in bad faith promote intolerance, hatred or hate speech to incite violence or harm.
• Activities that are illegal or contravene provincial or federal law, or municipal bylaws.
• Contests and competitions
• Fundraising activities (e.g., undertaken to raise funds on behalf of a political party or charity).
• Activities related to campaigning for a specific political candidate or party in an election.
• The purchase of or financial contribution toward land or buildings

Eligible project expenses

Please ensure that your project is eligible for this program, then refer to the list below for guidance on eligible expenses. Any expense requested must be directly related to the completion and success of your proposed project.

• Accessibility expenses
• Childcare
• Artist fees
• Professional fees (for example, fees paid to individuals offering professional services such as web design, publicity or marketing, financial, accounting or legal services)
• Technical fees (for example, web service fees, licensing fees)
• Elder and knowledge keeper fees
• Honorariums
• Materials & Supplies
• Course fees (for individual courses which do not count toward the pursuit of a credit, diploma or degree-granting program)
• Documentation
• Marketing, promotion, publicity or outreach
• Travel expenses (for example, flights, mileage/gas, taxis, Uber or transit costs)
• Per diem (a fixed daily rate for meals and incidentals while not at your primary residence)
• Accommodation (while not at your primary residence)
• Subsistence expenses (ongoing monthly expenses such as rent, utilities, food, etc.)
• Rental of space
• Rental of equipment
• Purchase of equipment, including hardware and permanent software (must be specific and directly related to the completion and success of your project)

Please note that some eligible project expenses for this program (such as artist fees or subsistence expenses) may not be considered deductible project expenses by the Canada Revenue Agency. Please consult the CRA guidelines when creating your project budget.

Program Considerations

Artistic Impact

• The applicant shows a clear and in-depth understanding of their artistic practice, artistic goals and what success will mean for them.

Community Connection

• The applicant shows a clear and in– depth understanding of the relationships and communities connected to this project, their community-related goals and what success will mean for them. This can include future relationships and community connections, as well as those occurring during the project itself.

Note: For the purpose of our programs, we define community as those who view, participate, collaborate, engage or benefit from your work. Depending on your project, this may include audiences, participants, students, artists, collaborators or partners, institutions or venues, mentors or teachers, neighbourhoods or specific communities aligned around shared identities or goals. 

Planning

• The applicant has included enough information to clearly show what they want to do and how they will do it. There is an in-depth understanding of what it will take to carry out the project and meet their goals. This is shown by a clear, realistic and well-supported application (for example, the applicant has enough relevant experience and/or necessary support in place, a feasible timeline and budget, suitable partners/collaborators/mentors, etc.).

Scoring Process

Committee members will review applications and rate the level to which they agree or disagree with each of the program considerations listed in the section above, based on the information provided in the application. The 4 ratings are: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree.

Each program consideration will be weighted equally. The score assigned to each rating will be consistent (for example, ‘Strongly Agree’ will always equal the same number of points).

Applications to the program will be reviewed by independent assessment committees made up of artist peers and community members. The membership of the peer assessment committees will be chosen through public nominations and staff expertise.

Anyone can ask to participate on a Calgary Arts Development assessment committee by completing the assessor nomination form or by emailing grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.

Assessment committees are chosen to represent the broad diversity of Calgary and its artistic communities, including artistic discipline, gender, sexuality, age, religion, beliefs, nation, physical and neurological identities, and more.

Assessment committees are responsible for reviewing and scoring the applications assigned to their committee online, and meeting to discuss applications together and make recommendations. Calgary Arts Development staff will review these recommendations and finalize the funding list. Partial funding may be allocated.

In the final 10% of funding, if there are applications that are tied, but not enough funds in the grant budget to support all tied applications, priority may be given based on the following considerations:

• Projects from equity priority groups (details below).
• Projects from artists who have not received a CADA grant before, or within the past 2 years.

For more detailed information about the assessment process, please review the Assessor Terms of Reference.

Calgary Arts Development reserves the right to adjust assessment processes and the program timeline due to application volume. Applicants will be notified if significant changes occur.

Equity Priority Groups

In the final 10% of funding, if there are applications that are tied, but not enough funds in the grant budget to support all tied applications, projects proposed by artists belonging to an equity priority group (or in the case of a collective, where the majority are artists from equity priority groups) will be prioritized.

The equity priority groups identified for this program are Indigenous, Black, persons of colour, D/deaf persons, persons with disabilities, persons living with mental illness, and 2SLGBTQIAP+ individuals. For details, please refer to the equity priority group descriptions.

In the grant application, applicants can fill out a voluntary self-identification form. All questions are optional. Applicants that self-identify as belonging to one or more of these equity priority groups are automatically considered for this tie-breaking equity measure.

These responses are not visible to assessors. Access to this information is limited to the grant program staff and research team at Calgary Arts Development.

Voluntary self-identification information may also be used in aggregate to:

• Generate statistics to measure how well Calgary Arts Development’s programs are reaching members of equity groups.
• Ensure there is diverse representation in the membership of peer assessment committees and grant review panels.
• Gather information to help Calgary Arts Development design, review, evaluate and improve its programs.
• Plan outreach activities.
• Report to Calgary Arts Development’s board and committees.

Please see the Disclosure of Grant Information Policy for information about how Calgary Arts Development collects and uses information submitted through grant applications.

We accept applications through an online grant platform. If you don’t already have an account with us, you will need to create an account and set up your user profile before you can apply.

The application form for this program will become available in the online grant platform on March 20, 2024. You will find it under ‘Open Opportunities’ when you login.

Please note, artist collectives must apply for grants through a collective account that is separate from their own individual artist account. These must be distinct accounts that use a unique email address when registering.

Please contact grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com for help with any questions or technical issues.

Complete Your Profile

In the online grant platform, you will need to ensure your ‘individual artist’ or ‘artist collective’ profile is filled out and up to date before you submit your grant application. Your profile information will be automatically transferred to your grant application.

Your profile includes important information, such as:

• Contact Information; Years of Practice; Artistic Discipline(s); Artistic Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV); and an Artistic Practice Statement (100 – 300 words)

Complete Your Application

To begin your grant application, login to the online grant platform and select ‘Open Opportunities’. There you will see any grant programs that are currently open. Once available, select this program and begin a draft application. As you work on your application, remember to save your progress regularly. There is currently no auto-save feature. Once your application is complete, please ‘submit’ before the stated application deadline. You should receive an email confirming your submission. If not, call or email us to confirm.

The application form will ask for the following information:

• Voluntary Self-Identification Form (optional)
• Project Name
• Brief Description (25 words or less)
• Funding Request (up to $20,000 for individuals, up to $25,000 for collectives)
• Project Start and End Date
• Primary Discipline
  • Select the artistic discipline that is most relevant to this application.
• Primary Project Focus Area
  • Select the primary focus area that best describes the core activities or goal of this specific project, or phase of project that you are applying for. This will help program staff organize applications and assign them to committees. The primary focus of this project is:
    • research
    • creation or production of work
    • professional development and learning
    • presenting or sharing work with the public
    • marketing and promotion
  • Secondary Project Focus Area
    • If applicable, select a secondary focus area that describes the core activities or goal of this specific project, or phase of project that you are applying for. The secondary focus of this project is:
      • research
      • creation or production of work
      • professional development and learning
      • presenting or sharing work with the public
      • marketing and promotion
    • Project Description (500 words max)
      • Describe your project including what will occur, when it will take place, and where it will take place.
    • Artistic Impact (500 words max)
      • Describe your artistic goals for this project and what success will mean for you.
        • This could include goals you have for the artistic work itself, learning or development goals related to your artistic practice and growth, or potential impacts that the project may have on your artistic discipline(s).
      • Community Connection (500 words max)
        • Describe the people or communities that are connected to this project and why you’ve chosen them. What are your community-related goals for this project and what will success mean for you?
          • For the purpose of our programs, we define community as those who view, participate, collaborate, engage or benefit from your work. Depending on your project, this may include audiences, participants, students, artists, collaborators or partners, institutions or venues, mentors or teachers, neighbourhoods or specific communities aligned around shared identities or goals.
          • If you are the only person/s involved in the project at this stage, please speak to potential future connections or goals, and who you generally make your work for and why.
        • Project Budget
          • Fill out the budget template with all relevant project expenses and revenues.
          • Use the notes section to describe each item in detail and show your calculations. Please be specific wherever possible and break down your expenses for clarity.
        • Budget Support
          • Upload budget-related material or documentation to help support your budget items and estimates. For example, research, quotes, standard fee schedules, correspondence that confirms rates, past examples of revenue, etc.
        • Project Timeline
          • Include a timeline or project plan that clearly outlines how you will accomplish this project. Your timeline should include dates and other relevant details for any important activities, tasks, events, milestones or process periods.
        • Support Material
          • Support Material is now mandatory to include. Please upload any additional material that will support and strengthen your application, and help assessors understand more about your artistic practice, project or planning. There are options to include PDFs, images, videos, audio files, links, etc.
            • Examples of support material: samples of your work, mock-ups/drafts/works in progress, excerpts or a synopsis, letters of support, resumes or bios of collaborators or others involved, letters of support, confirmations, research material, planning documents, etc.
            • Assessors will only be asked to review up to 10 minutes of support material for each application. They are reviewing many applications, so please be succinct and ensure that what you are providing is clear and relevant.

Applicants will be notified of their results by email. Notifications will be sent to the email address listed in your profile on the online grant platform. If you do not receive an email notification by the end of August, please check your junk/spam folder before reaching out to grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.

Successful applications

Successful applicants will be sent an investment agreement via DocuSign and must sign and return the agreement within 30 days to receive funding.

We use electronic fund transfers to make grant payments. If your application is approved, you must provide a void cheque or direct deposit form with your banking information.

Calgary Arts Development will provide a T4A tax form to successful grantees for the full grant amount received during a calendar year. This includes the primary applicant receiving grant payment on behalf of an artist collective. Please note that you must have a valid Canadian Social Insurance Number or Individual Tax Number to receive this grant.

If you have any questions about tax requirements for artist grants, it is a good idea to discuss these with a tax professional or consult Canada Revenue Agency guidelines. There is additional tax information in our Investment Program FAQ.

Final Reporting

Successful grantees will be required to complete a brief final report to share learnings and how the grant benefited their practice, along with an updated budget with actuals. Final reports are assigned in the online grant platform and are due within 60 days of your stated ‘project end date’.

Successful applicants may also be invited to participate in optional surveys, research and peer-to-peer learning.

Unsuccessful applications

Applicants who are not successful in their application may reapply for the same project to other Calgary Arts Development grant programs, if the project still meets eligibility requirements.

Program staff may provide feedback on unsuccessful applications, although this will depend on volume and staff capacity. We welcome any feedback you may have on the application process at any time.

If you would like to know more about other opportunities in the arts ecosystem, you are welcome to reach out to Calgary Arts Development’s Community Liaison, Sayonara Cunha, at sayonara.cunha@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.

Additional Files

Policies

Accommodation & Accessibility Policy 

Application Assistance Policy 

Deadline Extension Policy 

Disclosure of Grant Information Policy 

Open Grant Policy 

Other

Terms of Reference

Group Agreements

Equity Priority Group Descriptions 

Frequently Asked Questions

Assessor Nomination Form

Commitment to Equity