OPERATING GRANTS
The City of Kingston Arts Fund (CKAF) provides grants to local arts organizations & projects to foster creativity at all levels and enrich how Kingston residents experience and engage with the arts. CKAF celebrates Kingston’s arts community. Click here to read more about the program.
CKAF Operating Grants support incorporated non-profit arts organizations located in the City of Kingston who exhibit high achievement in arts programming and fulfill a significant role in the Kingston community through the arts. A jury of peers assesses applications and awards grants between $10,000 and $75,000 for a period of one year.
The deadline to apply to 2023 CKAF Operating Grants is 13 April 2023 at 5pm EST.
CKAF Operating Grant recipients must meet the following objectives:
I. Engage Kingston artists with professional opportunities and industry-standard compensation;
II. Nurture creativity and arts engagement for all Kingston residents;
III. Address current needs in the Kingston community;
IV. Strengthen and expand access to the arts;
V. Create inclusive activities and equity practices that reflect the diversity of artists, arts communities and audiences in Kingston;
VI. Foster collaboration between emerging and established artists and arts organizations across disciplines;
VII. Build capacity in the arts and culture sector through professional development, mentorship and investment in sustainable, relevant, high-quality artistic work; and
VIII. Cultivate community partnerships across private and public sectors.
2022 Operating Grant Recipients
The Kingston Arts Council is pleased to announce and would like to congratulate the following recipients of 2022 City of Kingston Arts Fund Operating grants:
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, $75,000
Agnes Etherington Art Centre is a curatorially-driven, research-intensive professional art centre that serves a dual mandate as a leading, internationally recognized public art gallery and active pedagogical resource at Queen’s University. It provides opportunities for participation and exchange across communities, cultures, histories and geographies.
Cantabile Choirs of Kingston, $29,329
Cantabile Choirs is a community-based performing arts organization in Kingston that seeks to foster love and appreciation for the vocal arts. It offers music education and performing opportunities to singers of all ages in an inclusive and supportive environment with emphasis on works created by Canadian composers and poets.
Centre culturel Frontenac, $15,300
Centre culturel Frontenac organizes, supports, and promotes accessible artistic and cultural events in French in a diversified and inclusive manner. It brings together the French-speaking community and people interested in the French language in the Kingston and Thousand Islands area by celebrating art and culture in French.
H’art Centre, $13,059
H’art Centre is an award-winning, registered not-for-profit, charitable community arts hub that provides adults with disabilities and those facing barriers with opportunities to create, study and produce works in the arts and collaborate with trained community artists. H'art provides knowledge, experience, and proven programming for those typically excluded who wish to have access to and participate in arts, music, dance and theatre throughout their lives and as they age.
Kingston Canadian Film Festival, $47,046
Kingston Canadian Film Festival is a charitable, non-profit art organization that provides the audience access to Canadian film in a dynamic festival setting. It supports and encourages the ongoing development and appreciation of Canadian cinema and its creators.
Kingston Symphony Association, $75,000
Kingston Symphony Association produces and promotes professional-quality instrumental and choral music programs for the education, enjoyment, and enrichment of audiences in the Greater Kingston area. It is dedicated to the support, development, and showcasing of Canadian artists and composers.
Kingston WritersFest, $44,370
Kingston WritersFest celebrates the power of the written word by connecting readers and writers in inclusive conversations to inspire, engage, and expand their worldviews. It promotes diverse literary expressions, develops and grows an audience for the literary arts, and fosters the artistic development of writers of all ages.
Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, $51,500
Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre is a non-profit organization facilitating the presentation, interpretation, and production of contemporary visual, time-based, and interdisciplinary arts. It aims to meet the professional development needs of emerging and mid-career local, national, and international artists from diverse cultural communities through exhibition, discussion, and mentorship opportunities.
Reelout Queer Film Festival, $23,232
Reelout celebrates queer media arts and contributes to community vitality by programming materials that focus on the issues of sexuality, race, culture, religion, class, gender, ability, health, and age. It draws together and initiates challenging dialogue among Kingstonians and people from the surrounding area.
Theatre Kingston, $42,230
Theatre Kingston creates vibrant, exciting professional theatre to celebrate the diversity of the city’s actors, playwrights, designers, directors, and technical staff. It aims to create a flourishing professional theatre community in Kingston and bring Kingston audiences the very best artistic work.
Union Gallery, $13,385
Union Gallery is a not-for-profit public contemporary art gallery committed to experiential learning and driven by play, curiosity, curation, and research-creation. It fosters a diverse network of creative exchange and mentorship and is committed to supporting growth and professional development through merging technical and critical understanding of the arts.
Organizations applying to this program must have a mandate or mission focused on artistic endeavours (either creation or presentation) and activities consistent with this mandate or mission. Additionally, they must be incorporated for at least two years as a non-profit organization or be a distinct and discrete arts organization within a parent non-profit institution that has been incorporated for at least two years.
Applicants must be in good standing with the municipality, specifically in regard to previous grants from CKAF, the City of Kingston Heritage Fund, and/or the Community Investment Fund. Please note that all applicants must include artist fees as an expense to be eligible for CKAF grants.
An organization cannot receive a CKAF Operating and a CKAF Project Grant in the same year. However, an organization may apply to both programs. If their Operating application is successful, their Project application will be disregarded.
Review the complete information on eligibility, funding period, assessment criteria, and reporting in the 2023 CKAF Operating Grant Guidelines
Adjudication
Applications are reviewed by a jury of artists and arts professionals. Jurors are selected for their knowledge of the arts, high standing in the arts community, and awareness of the local and broader arts environment; jurors are reflective of the gender, demographic, and cultural diversity of Kingston. If you are interested in being a juror, please click here to fill out the form.
Applications to CKAF Operating Grants are evaluated in three areas: artistic contribution, community benefit, and administration and viability. Applicants should review the complete assessment criteria in the 2023 Operating Grant Guidelines before beginning their application.
Deadline and Submission
The deadline to apply to 2023 CKAF Operating Grants is 13 April 2023 at 5pm EST.
Applicants submit one (1) digital copy of their application to grants@artskingston.ca. To complete the application, you will need Adobe Reader and Microsoft Excel. Complete instructions can be found on the first three pages of the application.
Operating applicants must create an account with Canadian Arts Database / Canadian Arts Database / Données sur les arts au Canada (CADAC) and submit Financial and Statistical reports. You can find more information and technical assistance on their website: https://thecadac.ca/login.aspx.
Do not submit hard copies or paper copies of your application. If you require accommodations in the application process, please contact grants@artskingston.ca in advance of the deadline.
Reporting Requirements
All CKAF Operating Grant recipients are required to submit an Interim Report. The 2022 Operating Grant Interim Report deadline is 13 January 2023.
2022 CKAF Operating Interim Report Form
For organizations applying to the Operating Grant program in 2023, the Final Report will be integrated into the 2023 application form. Organizations that choose not to apply in 2023 are required to inform the KAC and submit a Final Report.
The KAC and the City of Kingston are committed to the continuation of CKAF. We want to support our applicants and recipients. It is our priority that grant recipients are able to make the best decision for our community without fear of penalties. If you are forced to cancel your activities or withdraw your application as a result of COVID-19, it will not impact your future eligibility as a CKAF applicant.
We strongly encourage you to review Ontario’s COVID-19 policies and create a contingency plan to comply with the highest level of restriction possible, even for programs or activities scheduled for 2022 and beyond. Information on Ontario’s COVID-19 response can be found here: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/
For applicants: Please keep in mind that your application is assessed on viability. Your plans must be adaptable to new public health measures. You must include in your application contingency plans that demonstrate to the jury that you will be able to meet your goals even as the response to COVID-19 continues to evolve. If you fail to present a viable plan, it will impact the jury’s assessment of your application.
For current CKAF recipients: Please contact the KAC as soon as possible if you must alter your plans or activities to comply with new public health measures. Because the situation continues to be dynamic, we anticipate that some of your activities may have to be delayed or modified.
More specific information for our region can be found on KFL&A Public Health’s website: https://www.kflaph.ca/en/index.aspx.
Schedule one-on-one remote meetings with Grants and Programs Coordinator Violet Tang by emailing grants@artskingston.ca.
As outlined in the Terms of Reference of CKAF funding, all grant recipients are required to acknowledge the support of CKAF by using City of Kingston and the Kingston Arts Council logos in advertising, programs, events and brochures relating to the activities for which funds are granted. If the recipient is unable to include these logos in a design (as when, on small flyer or advertisement, space does not permit them to be legibly included), the recipient must acknowledge the support of CKAF by specifying it in the text of the item.
For guidelines regarding the use of the City of Kingston logo, please refer to their webpage here: https://www.cityofkingston.ca/business/advertising-opportunities/using-the-city-logo
If you require different formats or clarification regarding the acknowledgement requirements, please contact the KAC at grants@artskingston.ca.
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