Visual Arts and New Media Individual Project Funding

By providing funds for a specific cultural or artistic project, this programme supports the growth of an individual Indigenous artist, an arts administration, or an ensemble of artists in Alberta.

Who is Eligible to Apply?

Individual project funding is only available to Alberta residents. You are thus:

• Can enter or remain in Canada
• are able to work legally in Canada
• typically dwell in Alberta for at least six months of every year, with the exception of when enrolled in a formal programme of study,
• have had your principal residence in Alberta for at least one full year in Alberta before applying.

To apply, you must be an AFA member in good standing with no pending projects or reports. Before new applications are accepted, previous grant winners must make sure that the AFA has authorized all final reporting. Applicants, including groups or collectives, cannot already be legally recognized as corporations under provincial or federal law.

The key artists involved in the project activities must be listed in the application for ensembles, collectives, and partnerships in order for them to be considered for this programme. An ensemble, group, or collaboration’s members must each meet the requirements for individual eligibility. No principal artist, whether an individual or a member of numerous ensembles, collectives, or collaborations, may submit an application form and/or receive funding for more than one project at a time.

Eligible Genres

For this funding opportunity, eligible visual arts and new media projects include:

• drawing
• painting
• sculpture
• printmaking
• fibre art
• ceramics
• photography
• fine craft
• mixed media
• installation art
• public art
• media and/or computer-assisted art

Types of Projects

Through this opportunity, you may apply for project funding to support artistic activities in:

• art production
• marketing
• research
• training and career development

Art production includes any visual arts work’s development, creation, and production. Projects should be confined to a distinct phase of work, such as:

• artistic creation
• exhibition
• crating and shipping
• creative residencies
• curation

Which Expenses Are Covered?

Up to $15,000 can be given to you to help with your idea. Up to 100% of eligible costs directly connected to completing your planned project may be requested. These costs could consist of, but not be limited to:

1. contractual artist and technician fees
2. commission fees
3. production costs, including the equipment and materials necessary for the project’s creation, publicity and promotion costs, travel and lodging costs,
4. tuition or training costs
5. royalties, administration costs, and contract fees, up to $3,000/month for basic living expenditures (housing, local transportation, food, day-care, and dependent care).
6. Additional costs and supplies deemed fair and necessary by the AFA

What Type of Projects Does Not Receive Funding Under This?

The following additional costs and undertakings are not eligible for funding under an AFA project:

• recreation training projects, thesis exhibitions, graduate films, and other specific component activities carried out as part of a course of study in applied arts such as gaming,
• Expenses for capital purchases, such as real estate or buildings, or for capital development, studio construction or renovations expenses for equipment, such as computers, software, cameras, lighting, and audio equipment, that can otherwise be rented and/or have a use beyond the duration of your project recreational training projects thesis exhibitions, graduate films, and other specific component activities are undertaken as part of a course of study Applied arts, such as gaming.

How to Apply?

Applications are only submitted electronically using the GATE (Grant Administration Tracking and Evaluation) system. Unless the deadline falls on a statutory holiday or a weekend, in which case it will be extended until the next business day, we must receive your online application through GATE no later than 11:59 pm Mountain Time on the deadline date. Please allow enough time for the system to complete your application so that we are notified of it before the deadline.

For each deadline, applicants can only submit one application to the AFA, regardless of the discipline.

Applications must be received prior to the start of the project, and one person must submit projects involving many artists on behalf of all participating artists. The AFA does not accept incomplete applications.

How Will My Submission Be Evaluated?

The AFA board decides how to allocate this funding on a project-by-project basis. The staff assembles an expert panel to review all qualifying grant proposals submitted by each deadline. Each application is evaluated by the expert panel for merit both on its own terms and in comparison to all other submissions submitted by a particular deadline. A project is considered using the following broad standards:

• the project’s effects on the applicant and the Albertan creative genre
• the project’s aesthetic, educational, or promotional merit
• the project budget’s suitability, as well as any evidence of partnership from all parties involved
• the applicant’s capacity to complete the requested project

Application Deadline: September 1, 2022, March 1, 2023

Apply Now!