Edmonton Arts Council’s Grants for Individuals and Collectives Fact Sheet

General Information
All grant opportunities, deadlines, guidelines, and information on peer assessment
committees can be found on grants.edmontonarts.ca.
All applications are submitted online through SmartSimple, eac.smartsimple.ca.
Do not email your application. Once you have an account, you can save and return to
your application at any time.
Timelines
• If you have questions about your eligibility for a particular grant, or need help
writing the application, contact an EAC grants officer as far in advance of the
deadline as possible.
• Look at the list of annual grants and deadlines for an overview of what’s available
and when. Pick the ones that will align best with your project or practice.
• After the deadline, it can take up to 120 days (4 months) to notify applicants
whether or not your application was successful and how much you will be
receiving. Apply in advance of when you will need funding.
The Application
• Support Materials are the most important part of your application! Above all else,
you must demonstrate your abilities as an artist by providing examples of your
work: 10 images of your work, 10 minutes of audio and/or video, 10 pages of text,
or Links to an equivalent body of support materials available on other platforms
(for example, Vimeo, or YouTube), or host sites for images, text or MP3 files. If
you’re a multi-disciplinary artist, use examples that best support the project
you’re requesting a grant for.
• Just like a job application, your grant application should be personalized so that it
is relevant to the specific grant you’re applying for and the specific project you’re
proposing to work on.
• Optional materials include letters of support/reference, proof of acceptance (for
shows, publications, etc.), and/or media coverage.
• Be specific and reasonable when describing your project and requesting funds.
Create an actionable plan, not an ideal wish. Use action verbs like “I will paint…” I
will write…” Start with one or two sentences to describe your project, then expand
how (process) and why (outcomes/goals). (Ex- I plan to create… to explore… I
will present/display/perform/release it at…)
• Project Description: Indicate timelines, expected outcomes, potential effects,
other artists that might be (or already are) part of the project, motivation behind
the project.
• Budget: Break down all costs you expect to encounter, and balance this with all
revenue including personal investments, in-kind support, and grants, whether
pending or confirmed.
• Avoid jargon and technical, industry-specific language. Your application will be
reviewed by a multidisciplinary panel, not just experts in your field.
How Your Application Will be Assessed
• EAC grants officers only review the technical aspects of applications: have you
submitted a complete application? Are you eligible to receive a grant?
• Once all eligible submissions have been determined, EAC grants officers
provide the applications to a peer assessment committee. Each grant deadline
has its own committee, made up of multidisciplinary, diverse, knowledgeable,
generous members of the artistic community. We are always looking for new
peer assessors, if you are interested in applying to be a committee member,
please get in touch with a grants officer.
• Each application is evaluated by the criteria listed in the guidelines for each
grant.
• Our grants receive dozens or hundreds of applications and are highly
competitive.
• A successful grant application does not guarantee success on subsequent
applications. Likewise, an unsuccessful application should not deter you from
applying for other grants. Regardless of the status of your application, you
should follow up with a grants officer for feedback on what you did well and what
could be improved.
More Information
Grants officers want to help you! To talk with one at any time about your application,
contact grants@edmontonarts.ca or 780-424-2787
For alerts about grant deadlines and information on other artist grants and calls outside
of the EAC, follow us on Twitter @artsedmonton, Facebook @edmontonarts, and
subscribe to the EAC Weekly newsletter on our website, edmontonarts.ca.