Arts Fund invests in 20 projects to make art happen in Waterloo Region
Waterloo Region - The projects include:
Kaleidoscope Collective, a new local women’s theatre collective, for an inaugural production of This Is My Drum.
Richard Garvey, for a new full length folk album of 14 original compositions.
Inter Arts Matrix, for three interdisciplinary art projects about the vernacular landscape of St. Jacobs.
Susan Coolen, for five printed editions of A Litter-Arti Library, to be housed at various public facilities.
The Region of Waterloo Arts Fund has announced the awarding of 20 grants for a total of $119,850 in response to proposals submitted by artists and arts organizations from throughout the Region of Waterloo.
The Arts Fund initially received 55 requests, for a total of $411,395. After the first round of technical evaluation, 46 applicants seeking a total of $322,795 were invited to submit more detailed Stage 2 applications from which the 20 grants were ultimately selected.
Since 2002, when it was established, the Arts Fund has supported more than 450 projects for a total of $2,310,748.
This year, the Arts Fund’s volunteer Board of Directors reviewed its practices and implemented a pilot project for its Spring and Fall granting rounds. Board members, who have been and continue to be eligible to apply for funding, must declare their conflict of interest and recuse themselves from that season’s evaluations.
Also being test-driven for the Stage 2 evaluations, an arm’s length Peer Assessment Panel (PAP) scrutinized the applications and submitted their recommendations for funding to the Board for final approval.
The Peer Assessment Panel members, who reflect a diversity of disciplines, volunteered their time and expertise. The panelists were Eric Bolton, Sophie McCann, Kathleen Sheehy and Denise Strong.
Proposals selected for full or partial funding in the second and final fall round are:
Kaleidoscope Collective, $8,000 for an inaugural main-stage production of This Is My Drum, a one woman show with song and projections from a new local women’s theatre collective.
Danny Bailey, $4,000 for Region of Waterloo’s Magical Window on Reality, an artistic short film with original soundtrack capturing unique views and perspectives of daily life throughout the region.
Rufus John, $5,000 for Music Is My Weapon, Unplugged Concert Series, a new annual showcase of three featured and established artists along with two guest artists, all Tri City musicians who will perform and share their personal stories about their music. The format will emphasize youth and emerging talent.
Ashot Ariyan, $6,000 to compose Twelve Fugues and Postludes for Piano, a unique and complete cycle of non-traditional music meant to revive the genre of fugue in the 21st century.
Anna Ronai, $8,000 for her Trio D’Argento’s concert presentation of Manidoog, an original work commissioned from Odawa First Nations composer Barbara Croall, and to be performed as part of Aboriginal Education Week.
Waterloo Chamber Players, $4,000 to continue the development of an original work, and to perform The Sleeping Prince, in a collaboration between experimental puppeteers, The Clever Crones, and the orchestra.
Camila Bouchet, $3,000 for The Secret Chord, a short film which is half fiction, half documentary about the experience of a newcomer giving birth prematurely in a country not one’s own and the role of the imagination in coping with the world inside the hospital.
Susan Coolen, $12,000 for five sets of professionally printed editions of A Litter-Arti Library, comprised of the 50-set artist’s books,’50 Categories’; ‘The Litter-Arti Project Companion’; ‘The Snowball Effect’; and the ‘Litter-Arti Art Kit’; book sets to be housed at various public facilities.
Kitchener-Waterloo Arab Canadian Theatre/KW-ACT, $10,000 for writing and workshopping Part of the Story/working title, a one-man play inspired by the story/play ‘My Name is Dakhel Faraj’. The re-worked play will be in Arabic, will expand upon the stories from the original play, and will be able to travel to Arabic communities across Canada and internationally.
Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, $7,500 for a music appreciation program in selected Cambridge elementary schools, culminating in a concert hall performance for young people performed by members of the CSO and their Youth Orchestra.
Button Factory Arts, $6,350 for a re-mounting of the site-specific she haunts this place, a multi-arts production that imagines the lives of the female workers at Roschman’s Button Factory in 1890, and to enhance the storytelling with more archival photographs and videography.
Quiet in the Land, $2,000 for recording and producing Laura Dyck’s Quiet in the Land, a first full-length album featuring original folk songs and instrumental tunes.
Inter Arts Matrix, $12,000 for three art projects by three interdisciplinary creative teams who will research, develop and workshop A Sense of Place, about the vernacular landscape of St. Jacobs, and will present each of the three projects to the public.
Elsa Jayne, $3,500 for a debut music video Fourteen Days, filmed on location in rural Waterloo Region and based on her collection of original songs from her EP, ‘Heart’.
Bass Lions, $4,000 for the artistic development and production of a music video of their original composition Be Your Man off their self-titled release ‘Bass Lions’.
Richard Garvey, $5,000 for Where Fools Gather, a new full length folk album of 14 original compositions, plus a companion online game related to the themes of the songs.
Amy Rola, $3,500 for the singer/songwriter/musician to record original country and pop compositions and finish a first full length album, as yet untitled.
Erin Bow, $6,000 for the children’s author to travel for research for her upcoming novel, Tazagul’s Book, set in Western Mongolia and about the local nomadic eagle hunters.
Julia Narveson, $2,000 for a traditional hand-drawn animated short video to accompany the Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band’s new single, The Snish.
Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band, $8,000 for completion of recording a second full length album live to tape using vintage equipment plus the advance release of a 7” vinyl single title track.
The objective of the Arts Fund is to “make art happen” – stimulate arts activity – immediately, by funding projects throughout the Region that will occur within the next 12 months and, over the longer term, will enhance the ability of an artist or arts organization to make more art happen through future projects.
Created in 2002, the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund is a not-for-profit corporation which provides arms-length funding for the performing, visual, media and literary arts in the Region of Waterloo. The Arts Fund invites applications in the spring and fall of each year. Applicants are first asked to submit a Stage 1 application outlining their project. On the basis of a review of those applications, a short list of applicants is then asked to submit more detailed proposals, augmented by budgets and additional support materials.
The Arts Fund is one of the very few funds in Canada that awards grants directly to artist-led projects. The Arts Fund also supports new projects initiated by local arts organizations in collaboration with artists based in the Region. The funds are generously made available through Regional Council’s allocation of 40 cents per capita.
By investing in the community via the Arts Fund, the supported projects have the ability to attract additional funds through earned revenue, grants from provincial, federal or private sources, sponsorships, private and in-kind donations. The Region of Waterloo Arts Fund welcomes applications in all arts disciplines from individual artists and arts organizations based in the Region of Waterloo (comprising the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo and the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich).
The next deadline for applications to the Arts Fund is 4:00 pm on Friday, March 6, 2015; full details are available on the website: www.artsfund.ca
Isabella Stefanescu, past Chair of the Arts Fund, is conducting a free grant writing workshop on Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at Globe Studios. Pre-registration is not necessary. Details can be found at www.artsfund.ca
For more information, contact Stevie Natolochny at 519-575-4450 or via email:
snatolochny@regionofwaterloo.ca
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