City of Kingston Arts Fund Review Update

The KAC would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to the many artists, organizations, and community members who engaged in the City of Kingston Arts Fund (CKAF) Review, as well as to the City of Kingston for initiating and driving the review, and to Saffy Inc. for conducting the review with their thoughtful approach to community engagement.

The CKAF Review Report was presented and accepted at the Arts, Recreation, and Community Policies (ARCP) Committee and at City Council in April and May, respectively. Along with the Report, a draft CKAF Framework was presented for consideration, and a Transition Plan for 2025 was presented and approved. Below is a brief overview of next steps for the City of Kingston Arts Fund.

Next Steps: CKAF 2025

The 2025 CKAF Transition Plan was developed to ensure stability for grant recipients and decrease administrative burdens by implementing streamlined granting processes. These strategies allow us to distribute funding to the community and maximize impact while we built out the new program framework in alignment with the recommendations outlined in the CKAF Review Report. Funding will be distributed via CKAF 2025 as follows:

• Operating Grants will be issued to existing recipients, with an inflationary 2% increase to their 2024 grant amount.*
  • *2% increase does not apply to organizations currently receiving the maximum funding amount ($75,000).
• Existing recipients include: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Cantabile Choirs, Centre culturel Frontenac, Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Kingston Symphony, Kingston WritersFest, Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Reelout Queer Film Festival, Single Thread Theatre Company, Theatre Kingston, and Union Gallery.
• Recurring/annual festivals which receive project grants year-over-year will be issued one-time grants in the amount of $15,000.
  • The festivals identified to receive these funds include: Festival of Live Digital Art, Ground UP Dance Festival, Juvenis Festival, and Skeleton Park Arts Festival.
• Project funding for groups not identified above will be available via CKAF 2025 Project Grant applications.
  • CKAF 2025 Project Grants will support the delivery of arts programming or projects that have a clear community benefit, provide an inclusive opportunity for participation, and provide funding to local artists.
  • Grants of up to $10,000 will be juried via a streamlined application process (open 26 June – 31 July 2025), and distributed by October 2025.
  • Priority will be given to new applicants and/or applicants who have not received CKAF funding in the past two years.

Next Steps: The Future of CKAF

The finalized CKAF Framework, developed in alignment with the recommendations outlined in the CKAF Review Report and in consideration of feedback provided at the ARCP Committee, will be presented to the ARCP Committee and City Council later this summer. Once approved, the Framework will guide our work in developing the new and improved CKAF program, which will be implemented beginning in 2026.

As previously reported, recommendations outlined in the Report include new grant streams (Operating Grants, Festival Grants, Creation and Development Grants, and Project Grants), grant ranges, administrative processes, program goals, strategic considerations, and more. The Review Report additionally outlines various investment scenarios to be explored via the City’s 2026 budgeting process, which will guide our approach to implementing the new structure. You can review the CKAF Review Report, the approved Transition Plan, and the draft Framework at the link below. We will continue to keep you posted as work progresses!