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 individual artists, collectives, and incorporated nonprofit 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 up to eighteen months.
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.
The Kingston Arts Council is pleased to announce and would like to congratulate the following recipients of 2023 City of Kingston Arts Fund Project Grants:
Airwave YGK | $15,000
A project by CFRC 101.9FM
Airwave YGK is a curated series of DJ, turntablism and sound art workshops and performances enabling community members to learn and showcase the art, design and processes associated with creating electronic sound art.
Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA) | $13,500
A project by SpiderWebShow Performance
FOLDA broadens the discussion about digital performance aesthetics and poetics by presenting artworks that epitomize innovation, risk and engagement. FOLDA includes both a presentation series and the StartUp professional development and networking series.
The Ground UP Dance Festival 2024 | $14,940
A project by Movement Market Collective
The Ground UP Dance Festival is Kingston’s professional dance festival. Ground UP nurtures and promotes dance and movement in Kingston, and exposes audiences and participants to a variety of genres through community collaborations, performances, and workshops.
Johnny’s Dream | $13,500
A project by Amin Pourbarghi
Johnny’s Dream is a documentary film centred on Johnny, a 21-year-old musician with Down syndrome. The documentary pictures Johnny’s passion, love, and struggles; captures the support of communities he is involved with; and promotes the power of love and collaboration.
The Juvenis Festival | $11,400
A project by Blue Canoe Productions
The Juvenis Festival is Kingston’s multidisciplinary youth arts festival. It generates opportunities for local artists aged 13-30 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.
Kingston Baroque Festival | $5,558
A project by Kingston Baroque Consort
Kingston Baroque Festival introduces audiences to all things Baroque – music, dance, and visual art – through performances and community workshops.
Kingston’s Got Talent! | $6,300
A project by Orchestra Kingston
Kingston’s Got Talent! is a four concert series that features a number of local musicians and musical groups in an orchestral setting. This project aims to help Kingston area musicians to reach out to a wider audience, provide a showcase for solo performers, and expose audiences and participants to a wide variety of music and performers.
K-town Showdown Dance Battle 2023 | $5,000
A project by Kingston School of Dance
K-town Showdown Dance Battle is a high-energy all-styles dance battle for dancers 12 years and older, held in conjunction with a series of dance workshops for youth, teens, and adults of any experience level. This initiative seeks to support, expand, and celebrate the hip hop culture in Kingston and surrounding areas.
Melos Magnificats | $11,915
A project by Melos Choir & Period Instruments
Melos Magnificats offers a concert of four virtuosic settings of the Magnificat, performed by national/international class Baroque instrumental guest soloists alongside local professional and amateur instrumentalists and vocalists. This project enhances Kingston’s growing reputation for Early Music through performances, mentorship, and open coaching sessions.
‘Out of the City’ African Arts Camp | $11,620
A project by Chaka Chikodzi
‘Out of the City’ is a five-day immersive art camp for racialized youth built around a week-long stone sculpting workshop where each participant is given a piece of volcanic rock from Zimbabwe to sculpt, using only hand tools and working outside under the summer sky.
PENTHEUS The second play in the City of Wine cycle | $10,500
A project by Salon Theatre
PENTHEUS is the second play in the nine-part City of Wine cycle. PENTHEUS tells the story of how new blood is needed and new blood gets spilled, as does wine, beginning the city of Cadmea’s spiral into patriarchal destruction that the remaining seven plays explore.
Skeleton Park Arts Festival | $15,000
A project by Skeleton Park Arts Festival
Skeleton Park Arts Festival strives to bring together artists from a range of disciplines to present unique and collaborative artistic experiences in a variety of alternative venues while helping to increase community engagement and neighbourhood pride. The festival connects different demographics and communities through a variety of multi-arts programs.
SPRING REVERB 2024 | $15,000
A project by KPP Concerts
SPRING REVERB is a four-day exhibition that promotes, develops and showcases the Kingston music scene. With concerts, panels and educational guest talks, the project uncovers emerging artists, encourages “deals” between local artists and visiting industry, provides opportunities for learning, and celebrates live music in Kingston.
Still Alive in Kingston | $14,250
A project by Jay Middaugh
Still Alive in Kingston is a 90-minute feature film, a non-canonical sequel to 2017’s acclaimed comedy/music documentary LIVE in Kingston. It features real live performances from a diverse group of captivating bands and artists, performing at iconic Kingston Music Venues.
The Clearing | $10,320
A project by Marney McDiarmid
The Clearing is a 20-cubic-foot retrofitted mobile shipping container housing an accessible, immersive, interactive installation that explores the connected self and our relationship to nature. This project invites community engagement across several locations in Kingston.
The Gift | $12,000
A project by PeerLess Productions
The Gift is a musical/sound/movement performance piece devised by and featuring neurodiverse, deaf and disabled, and able-bodied artists based in the Kingston region. The Gift creates a new, accessible work and presentation format which celebrates the huge range of creative gifts that diverse artists possess.
2023 CKAF Project Grant Jurors:
Diane Black
G.H.Y. Cheung
Bethany Garner
Caroline Kwok
Kristen Leboeuf
Ex-Officio Grants Committee Members:
Nicole Daniels, Executive Director, Kingston Arts Council (Chair)
Violet Tang, Grants & Programs Coordinator, Kingston Arts Council
Katherine Dionne, Administrative Assistant, Kingston Arts Council
Danika Lochhead, Manager, Arts and Sector Development, City of Kingston
Councillor Gregory Ridge, City of Kingston
Applicants must meet all eligibility criteria in the CKAF Project 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.
In order to be eligible for CKAF Project Grants, projects/applicants must:
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 would like to be considered for an upcoming jury, please submit a Juror Interest Form.
The KAC accepts applications to the City of Kingston Arts Fund on an annual basis from February–April. Grant deadlines are announced via the KAC website, ArtsBuzz newsletter, and social media.
Applications are accepted in digital format only via email to grants@artskingston.ca. Adobe Reader and Microsoft Excel are required to complete the application. If you are preparing to apply for a CKAF Project Grant and have questions or require accommodations in the application process, please contact grants@artskingston.ca
First-time applicants and all interested applicants are encouraged to book a meeting with KAC’s Grants Coordinator, Violet Tang, via email to grants@artskingston.ca
2023 CKAF Project Grant Guidelines
2023 CKAF Project Grant Application Form
2023 CKAF Project Grant Budget Form
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.
All CKAF Project Grant recipients are required to submit an Interim Report and a Final Report.
The 2023 Project Grant Interim Report deadline is 15 January 2024. Final Reports must be submitted no later than 60 days after the project completion date and no later than 31 December 2024.
All 2023 Project Grant recipients must submit a Final Report no more than 60 days after the project completion date and no later than 31 December 2024.
2023 CKAF Project Final Report Form
2023 CKAF Project Final 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 Project Grant Guidelines.
Schedule one-on-one meetings with KAC's Grants Coordinator, Violet Tang, by emailing grants@artskingston.ca
As outlined in the Terms of Reference for CKAF Project Grants, 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)
