As summer rolls in, it’s time to get those creative juices flowing! The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) has opened their Grants for Individual Artists program, offering grants of up to $1,500 or $3,500 for professional artists in the Peterborough area.
The program, which is supported by the City of Peterborough, welcomes applications from professional artists working in any form or discipline, in cross-discipline, multidisciplinary, or interdisciplinary practice, and in contemporary or traditional art forms. Artists have until Sunday, August 20th to apply.
There are two components to the grant. The first offers up to $1,500 for artists to use towards programming that aids in research, and to support the sustainability of, or advancement in, their creative pursuits. Examples include advancing works in progress, the development of new ideas, research and experimentation, expanding skills and knowledge to build upon work, and adapting existing work.
The second component grants up to $3,500 to individuals for the creation, production, and presentation of works and projects that will be taking place virtually or in person in Peterborough over the course of the next two years.
To be eligible to either component, applicants must be residents of Peterborough City or County (including Curve Lake and Hiawartha First Nations), must be 18 years of age or over, and must be a professional artist. A professional artist is defined by EC3 as “someone who has developed skills through training or practice, is recognized by artists working in the same artistic tradition, has a history of public presentation or publication for at least one year, seeks payment for their work, and actively practices their art.”
In the Grants for Individual Artists pilot program year last year, a total of $47,720 was granted to 20 Peterborough-area creatives, with 11 awarded a total of $16,500 for the first component of the program, and nine granted $31,220 in total for the second component.
Creative pieces from the individuals receiving the grant covered a range of artistic endeavours, including manuscript development, theatre, poetry collections, and sculpting.
Among the granted artists were Kim Blackwell for the development of a new theatrical production, John Hedderwick for outreach to those experiencing homelessness to engage in spoken word, writing, and storytelling, and circus artist Nicole Malbeuf for professional instruction on hair suspension to assist in workshop performance and new performance pieces.
The Kawarthas has seen the result of some work from the second component grant recipients, including Kate Story’s one-person play Anxiety, which ran at The Theatre on King at the end of last year, and Brad Brackenridge’s upcoming theatrical production at Market Hall based on the life and work of Victorian nonsense poet Edward Lear.
For further grant guidelines and the application forms, visit www.ecthree.org/program/grants-for-individual-artists-2023/.
For artists with any questions about the program or application process, EC3 will be holding a free virtual workshop at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4th. Register at eventbrite.ca/e/663244089927.
