PROJECT GRANTS
The City of Kingston Arts Fund (CKAF) provides grants to local arts organizations and 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 Project Grants support arts projects from individuals, collectives, and incorporated non-profit organizations. The Project Grant program funds the creation and presentation of arts projects that meet the CKAF objectives. Projects must demonstrate engagement with the Kingston community and engage professional artists and pay artist fees.
Applicants are evaluated on artistic contribution, benefit to community, viability, and innovation. A jury of peers assesses applications and awards grants between $5,000 and $15,000 for a period of eighteen months from July 2023 to December 2024.
The deadline to apply to 2023 CKAF Project Grants is 13 April 2023 at 5pm EST.
CKAF Project 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 Project 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 Project grants:
Concert and Workshop Series, $12,000
A project by Kingston Improvising Musicians Collective
This project will feature 6 to 10 artists or ensembles, who will give a public performance and lead a workshop on their artistic practice. It will engage local audiences to develop an interest in exploratory, improvised, experimental musical and artistic forms.
Electric Circuits Festival, $11,000
A project by Electric Circuits
Electric Circuits is a two-day, immersive music festival that features live electronic music and digital art. It allows local artists to interact with visiting artists who tour the world presenting music, dance or video installations. The project aims to bring new audiences to Kingston and increase local artists' visibility, regional offerings, and resources.
Festival of Live Digital Art, $12,750
A project by Spiderwebshow Performance
This project will present a series of 4-8 live performances as well as professional development and networking. It will broaden the digital performance aesthetics and poetics discussion by presenting artworks that epitomize innovation, risk, and engagement. It seeks to provide Kingston and the region with opportunities to view and engage with outstanding live performance, develop artistic practice and perspective, and cultivate and deepen the network of arts and culture industry.
HARMONIA, $11,000
A project by Salon Theatre
HARMONIA is the first play of City of Wine, focusing on the liberation of mortal slaves from the gods of Olympus. The project aims to share an uplifting story of a community that confronts and endures challenges and in doing so connect with artists and audiences in Katarokwi/Kingston.
HYDRA: A Story on Water, $14,250
A project by Calliope Collective
HYDRA is a performative-based temporary floating art installation that tells a story on water, exploring boundaries and giving new impulses to the cultural environment. The project will welcome different artistic disciplines, culminating in contemporary artworks, visualizations, and soundscapes inspired by connection to water. It provides opportunities for artists to interact with one another and create an accessible arts event in the community.
Kingston: A Guidebook from Memory, $9,258
A project by Amanda Baker
This project invites Kingston residents to submit stories connected to places in the city and functions as a community-sourced anthology of memories. It presents a unique and meaningful opportunity for Kingston residents to create together and experience the city through the perspectives of others through community engagement and collaboration.
Make It Local, $5,000
A project by Orchestra Kingston
This project is a four-concert series that features music about Remembrance Day and a seasonal theme for December, as well as music from a Kingston violinist and local composers. It aims to help area musicians and musical groups reach a wider audience for their artistic expression.
Phantom Bodies: Invisible Pain & Ghostly Intimacies, $7,240
A project by Stéfy McKnight
This project is an immersive and interactive installation that invites the audience to experience chronic pain's "invisible" characteristics through sound and projection. It seeks to normalize conversations about chronic pain and the lack of social, political, and cultural understanding of it as an illness and limited ability.
Shortwave Radio Theatre Camp, $14,250
A project by CFRC 101.9FM
Shortwave Radio Theatre Camp is a four to six-week summer camp for youth ages twelve and sixteen. Community artists facilitate the teaching of radio theatre skills, helping youth participants to produce story-based radio programs and develop new skill sets in recording, sound art and design.
Skeleton Park Arts Festival, $13,500
A project by Skeleton Park Arts Festival
The Skeleton Park Arts Festival connects different demographics and communities through multi-arts programs such as music, literature, dance, film, fine arts, craft, theatre, and media arts. It features over 40 local visual artists, a jazz parade, and public art exhibitions. The project aims to increase community engagement and neighbourhood pride.
Sounding Board: A Community Conversation, $10,366
A project by Heather Poechman
This project is a travelling, interactive artwork involving Kingston poets, storytellers, musicians, and photographers to showcase their reflections on the word “community.” By participating in this project, community members will foster relationships with one another through art while enhancing their sense of cultural belonging and well-being.
Soundscapes, $11,664
A project by Sistema Kingston
Sistema provides accessible, intensive music programming for children and youth and Soundscapes will focus on rhythm ensemble. A local drumming specialist will lead students in sound activities that develop connections between drumming and mindfulness and explore artistic expressions of identity and community.
Spring Reverb 2023, $8,000
A project by KPP Concerts
This project is a four-day exhibition that promotes, develops and showcases the Kingston music scene. With concerts, panels, and special guest talks, Spring Reverb uncovers emerging artists, provides learning opportunities, and celebrates live music in Kingston.
The Bourgeois Gentleman, $7,327
A project by Kingston Baroque Consort
This production of the play The Bourgeois Gentleman will incorporate music by Jean-Baptise Lully and Baroque dance. The performance includes a narrator introducing the time and setting, life at the French court, and the interest in Turkish culture in the seventeenth century. It encourages support for all art forms and increases the audience's exposure to and knowledge of the Baroque era.
The GroudUP Dance Festival, $12,267
A project by Movement Market Collective
The GroundUP Dance Festival offers workshops with professional and community collaborations as well as indoor and outdoor performances to expose the audience to a variety of genres of dance and movement. It represents dancers from all backgrounds, cultures, and styles to diversify Kingston’s arts scene.
The Juvenis Festival, $12,000
A project by Blue Canoe
The Juvenis Festival is Kingston’s multidisciplinary youth arts festival. It generates opportunities for local young artists to showcase their work through public presentations and provides free educational programming that will allow them to develop their skills in the arts. It strives to promote young arts leaders in the community and present the talent of Kingston youth.
Uncovering Canada, $12,000
A project by anARC Theatre
This project will build an access-oriented outdoor circus show featuring untold narratives of settler colonization, institutions that have harmed Deaf and Disabled people, and Indigenous and Black futures. It will bring together Kingston artists to develop a script and a choreographed circus/theatre performance that highlights accessibilities practices.
Applicants must meet all eligibility criteria in the Grant Guidelines and be located in the City of Kingston. There are three types of eligible applicants:
Individual artists and collectives may apply with a sponsor. The sponsor must be an incorporated non-profit or charitable organization in Kingston. The sponsor is required to sign the application and submit a letter of support identifying their agreement with the individual/collective. A sponsor is responsible for the successful management of the grant and may be asked to provide final reports. Sponsors are expected to provide mentorship and support to the applicant collective. Organizations receiving CKAF Operating or Project Grants are able to act as a sponsor to a collective in the same year.
Please note that all applicants must include artist fees as an expense to be eligible for CKAF grants. Projects with the sole purpose of creating new artistic work, without presentation and/or community engagement, are not eligible for a CKAF Project Grant.
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. 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 unsuccessful, their Project application will be considered.
Review the complete information on eligibility, funding period, assessment criteria, and reporting in the 2023 CKAF Project Grant Guidelines carefully before you begin your application.
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 Project Grants are evaluated in three areas: artistic contribution, community benefit, and administration and viability. Applicants should review the complete assessment criteria in the 2023 CKAF Project 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.
Do not submit hard copies or paper copies of your application. If you require accommodations in the application process, please contact grants@artskingston.ca.
If you are a first time applicant, you are encouraged to book a meeting with Grants and Programs Coordinator Violet Tang by email at grants@artskingston.ca.
Application Forms and Guidelines
2023 CKAF Project Grant Guidelines
2023 CKAF Project Grant Application
2023 CKAF Project Grant Application Budget Form
Insurance
All Project Grant recipients must provide either a quote for or proof of $5 million liability insurance before KAC can release CKAF funds. Grant recipients may use grant funds to cover the cost of insurance. Insurance must be secured and paid for before project activities begin. The KAC can help grant recipients connect with a suitable insurer.
Reporting Requirements
All CKAF Project Grant recipients are required to submit an Interim Report. The 2022 Interim Report deadline is 13 January 2023.
2022 CKAF Project Interim Report Form
All 2022 Project Grant recipients must submit a Final Report no more than 60 days after the project completion date and no later than 31 December 2023.
2022 CKAF Project Final Report Form
2022 CKAF Project Final Budget Form
All 2021 Project Grant recipients must submit a Final Report no more than 60 days after the project completion date and no later than 31 December 2022.
2021 Project Final Report Form
2021 Project Final Report Budget Form
If you require an extension for a report, you must contact grants@artskingston.ca before the deadline. Complete extension policies can be found in the Grant Guidelines.
COVID-19
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 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.
We encourage recipients to consider modifying their activities first; if there is no way to modify your activities to comply with public health measures, you may choose to postpone. You will be asked to provide notice in writing of your new plan and/or timeline. You may be asked to provide a revised budget.
If it is not possible to modify or postpone, you may choose to cancel your project. Contact grants@artskingston.ca for more information on the cancellation procedure. Depending on the time of cancellation and the public health measures in place, you may be allowed to use some of your CKAF Project grant to honour artist fees, pay staff and/or pay cancellation fees. Unused funds must be returned to the KAC.
More specific information for our region can be found on KFL&A Public Health’s website: https://www.kflaph.ca/en/index.aspx.
CKAF Support
Schedule one-on-one remote meetings with Grants and Programs Coordinator Violet Tang by emailing grants@artskingston.ca.
Acknowledgment requirements
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.
City of Kingston Logos
City of Kingston (Black)
City of Kingston (White)
City of Kingston (Blue)
Kingston Arts Council Logos
Kingston Arts Council (B&W)
Kingston Arts Council (Colour)