Project Grant Program – Individuals and Collectives

We will work one-on-one with assessors who experience barriers to access in order to develop accommodations that suit their abilities. Some examples of accommodations are:

• Translation of written materials
• Interpretation for meetings
• Braille transcription

Our team is available to answer questions and to offer support at any time during the assessment process. Please contact the program specialist as early as you can to ensure they can provide the best support possible.

The specialist for this program is Taylor Poitras, Specialist, Individual & Collective Programs. They can be reached at taylor.poitras@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or 403.264.5330 ext. 215.

Project Grant Program – Individuals & Collectives Guidelines
Group Agreements 
Conflict of Interest Policy
Confidentiality Policy

Applications will be assigned to assessment committees based on program stream. The number of applications received to each program stream will determine the number of assessment committees required to review all applications within that stream.

The total pool of funding available for the program this year is $2 million. This amount will be divided (prorated) across both of the program streams, based on the total requested grant amount received within each stream.

Assessment committees will review applications assigned to them in the online granting interface and evaluate each application according to the considerations outlined in the Program Considerations & Scoring section of the Project Grant Program – Individuals & Collectives Guidelines.

Calgary Arts Development staff will download assessor evaluations into a scoresheet and assign numerical scores to the ratings. Each 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).

The committee will discuss applications in a meeting facilitated by the program specialist for individuals and collectives. The committee’s final scores will result in a list of projects recommended for funding. Calgary Arts Development staff will review these recommendations and finalize the funding list. Partial funding may be allocated.

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

Conflict of Interest Policy

Assessors are required to declare conflicts of interest according to the Conflict of Interest Policy. Calgary Arts Development thinks of conflicts of interest as close family members, people who are involved in the activity being applied for or where there is a real or perceived financial benefit. If in doubt, assessors are encouraged to talk with Calgary Arts Development staff. 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.

Assessors will report to Calgary Arts Development staff. All deliberations of the assessment committee as well as all records, material, and information obtained by a member and not generally available to the public shall be considered confidential.

Adhering to the Confidentiality Policy, assessors shall maintain the confidentiality of their deliberations and shall safeguard such records and information from improper access.

Calgary Arts Development reserves the right to remove individuals from the process or assessment committee if they do not adhere to the terms of reference, program guidelines, group agreements, conflict of interest policy, or confidentiality policy, or if their conduct is otherwise counter to the stated values and expectations of this program.

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 Îyâxe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley First Nations. Today this land is home to the Metis of Region 3 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 centering the creativity and leadership of those communities most impacted by structural inequities. Read our full Commitment to Equity statement on our website.

If there are applications that are assessed equally but insufficient funds in the grant budget to support these 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) may be prioritized.

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

Calgary Arts Development has adapted these priorities and descriptions from the Toronto Arts Council’s Equity Framework. We are grateful to the Toronto Arts Council for their work in this area.

Applicants will be asked to fill out a voluntary self-identification form, but all questions are optional. Applicants that self-identify as belonging to one or more of these equity priority groups are automatically considered for this equity measure.

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

​Voluntary self-identification information may 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.

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 but not limited to: artistic discipline, gender, sexuality, age, religion, beliefs, nation, physical and neurological identities.

• Five to Seven-Member Committees: Each program stream will be assessed by a different committee. The volume of applications received will determine the number and size of committees required.
• Committee Membership: Individual artists and arts workers with experience and knowledge from a variety of artistic disciplines and practices, who actively participate in, experience, and advocate for the work of the arts community.

Qualifications

• Relevant skills, experience and knowledge that will accommodate the range of applicants to be juried.
• A generous spirit, exceptional listening skills and a willingness and ability to embrace change, complexity and different viewpoints.
• An openness to productively and respectfully check in with bias.
• An understanding and awareness of Calgary and region, and an insight into our social and cultural climate.
• The respect of peers in the community.
• The ability to function well within a committee structure.

Assessors are responsible for participating in training sessions, the full application review process, as well as any scheduled assessment meetings with the rest of the committee. Participation in each part of the assessment process is mandatory to ensure all perspectives are present throughout the process and applied fairly to each application assigned. Assessors’ time commitment for this program is:

Mid-Late May 2023: Assessor training.

• Participate in one online training and orientation session, hosted by Calgary Arts Development, in preparation for the review process.

Late May – Early September 2023: Review process.

• Review each application assigned in full.
• Submit initial scores online in the grant interface, according to the program considerations outlined in the program guidelines.

July – Early September 2023: Assessment Meetings.

• Attend up to four assessment meetings to discuss each application as a committee.
  • Assessments will likely occur remotely using online meeting tools, such as Zoom.
  • Meetings will not exceed six hours, including regularly scheduled breaks.
  • Throughout the assessment meetings, assessors will have an opportunity to update their initial scores.
• Review the overall scores for the applicants and make final recommendations for funding.
• Final funding decisions will be at the discretion of Calgary Arts Development staff.
• Applicants will be notified of grant results in early mid-September 2023.

April 2023 – December 2024: Experience Calgary Arts Development-Funded Arts Events.

• As part of your participation in the assessment process, Calgary Arts Development will provide up to two tickets anonymously on your behalf to any public events or programming that Calgary Arts Development has directly funded. This is to ensure that you’re able to experience the arts within the local community both during and after assessment. Beyond this process, we hope that you will advocate for the arts in Calgary and encourage your respective communities to participate in Calgary’s arts sector.

Calgary Arts Development will provide an honorarium to assessors as a gift to recognize their time. The honorarium will be provided to assessors after the reviewing process is completed. Assessors may be reimbursed for additional expenses related to the assessment process — please contact us to discuss.

Honorarium rates for this program are as follows: 

• Reading Fee: $10 per application
• Meeting Fees: 
  • Training and Orientation session, $100
  • Assessment Meetings, $300 per meeting