Arts Fund invests in 23 projects to make art happen in Waterloo Region including:
Waterloo Chamber Players, to commission a clarinet concerto to be premiered and performed at a local concert
Lost & Found Theatre, to assist with the development of a new play entitled ‘Pocket Rocket’
Robert Achtemichuk, for ‘Orienteering Content’, to compare the historic locations of Homer Watson’s travels as an artist with today’s sites
Dan Howler Band, to create a full-length debut recording of original music
The Region of Waterloo Arts Fund has announced the awarding of 23 grants for a total of $129,400 in response to proposals submitted by artists and arts organizations from throughout the Region of Waterloo.
The Arts Fund initially received 81 requests, for a total of $549,475, a record number of applications. After the first round of technical evaluation, 53 applicants seeking a total of $368,979 were invited to submit more detailed Stage 2 applications from which the 23 grants were ultimately selected.
Since 2002, when it was established, the Arts Fund has supported 452 projects for a total of $2,170,131.
This year, the Arts Fund’s volunteer Board of Directors is reviewing its practices and implementing 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 inaugural Peer Assessment Panel members, who reflect a diversity of disciplines, volunteered their time and expertise. The panelists were Jennifer Cornish, Mark Norris, Fatima Garzan, Mary-Eileen McClear and Dave Mansell.
Proposals selected for full or partial funding in the second and final spring round are:
Lost & Found Theatre, $5,000 to assist with the development of a new play, ‘Pocket Rocket’, by Gary Kirkham and Lea Daniel;
Neruda Arts, $4,000 to introduce new children’s programming, workshops and performance to the summer Kultrún indigenous and world music festival;
Waterloo Chamber Players, $5,000 to commission a clarinet concerto by Michael Purves-Smith, to be premiered and performed by clarinetist Becky Maresciuc at a concert in November;
Rock the Mill, City of Cambridge, $1,000 to assist with the development of expanding music genres through additional staging for acoustic bands/acts;
The New Quarterly, $10,000 towards creating and publishing ‘Falling In Love with Poetry’, a new anthology of Canadian poets on the loved poems of childhood that influenced the poets they became;
Robert Achtemichuk, $6,500 for a project called ‘Orienteering Content’, to include research, documentation, and painting, comparing the historic locations and ‘time/place’ of Homer Watson’s travels as an artist with today’s sites;
Stealth, $10,000 to create and record a debut album of original contemporary music written and performed by ensemble members, Kathryn Ladano and Richard Burrows;
Modus Vivendi Village Players, $4,000 to prepare a festival of LGBTQ-focused cutting-edge theatre, poetry, and other performances;
Isabella Stefanescu, $6,500 to create an animated short film, entitled ‘Fifteen Notes on the Art of Draftsmanship’, based on a text by Virgil Burnett;
Vanyah Venhuizen, $10,000 to record and manufacture a debut full-length album of his original songs;
Erik O’Neill, $6,500 towards creating a lifestyle documentary series about the lives of ordinary people and how they make our community function;
Deborah Pryce, $1,000 towards materials for an exhibition of mixed media works entitled ‘Spirit of Change’;
KW Poetry Slam, $2,500 towards paying artistic fees to performers at local poetry slam events;
Janice Lee and the Free Radicals, $6,700 to film a newly choreographed dance music video of their song ‘How Do We Fall’;
Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, $5,000 towards the production of a catalogue to accompany an exhibition and series of live drawing/sound performances entitled ‘Objects on a Table’ using art from the gallery’s permanent collection;
Chestnut Hall Camerata, $9,000 to create a music and video arts performance, entitled ‘The Enchanter’s Saga’, that explores the mythical nature of Merlin Ambrosius, and the convergence between technology and the arts;
Michael Jeong, $3,000 towards post production sound/video effects of a two-episode short film entitled ‘Dead Weight’;
12 Angry Filmmakers, $8,000 towards a series of twelve original short films created by a local collaborative group involved in every aspect of filmmaking;
Dan Howler Band, $6,200 towards creating a full-length debut recording of original music;
Andy Houston and Peter Hatch, $3,000 towards the first workshop of a new music/ theatre/video intermedia project, entitled ‘Algorithmyth’ which explores the rituals and mythology of the algorithms that shape our world;
Kitchener Blues Community Inc., $2,500 towards the cost of mounting a Tom Wilson career retrospective concert series at the Kitchener Blues Festival;
Soulstack, $4,500 towards the performance and video/recording of new and existing material during a live acoustic stage show;
LINK Picnic Festival, $9,500 towards the creation of children’s King and Queen costumes to showcase at the festival’s carnival parade in August.
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, September 5, 2014; full details are available on the website: www.artsfund.ca
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For more information, contact Stevie Natolochny at 519-575-4450 or via email: snatolochny@regionofwaterloo.ca