City of Ottawa - Arts Funding

Arts Funding

The Arts Funding Program was created to address the important need for Ottawa’s citizens and visitors to have access to valuable arts programs and services. It was recognized that direct funding to not-for-profit cultural organizations is the most cost-effective way to ensure the delivery of arts activities to the community.

The overall objectives of the program are:

To spark and support the creation, production, presentation, exhibition and dissemination of the literary, media, performing and visual arts within the bilingual and culturally diverse framework of Ottawa
To support the educational, training and service organizations that foster the development of the arts in Ottawa
To support local professional artists of all disciplines and backgrounds
To support community-based artistic activities that develop local arts audiences and communities

All applicants are evaluated through a peer review process; using publicly articulated Council-approved evaluation criteria. The broad categories of evaluation criteria are as follows: artistic merit, community impact and organizational effectiveness.

Types of Funding

Funding to Arts Organizations

Operating Funding

Operating Funding promotes stability and encourages long-term planning in arts organizations by contributing financially towards their overall operation. Funding is allocated to not-for-profit arts organizations that are well established in the community, demonstrate strong artistic merit, show financial stability and have a proven track record. Operating funding provided by the City of Ottawa allows arts organizations to leverage significant revenues from a variety of other private, public and earned revenue sources.

Three-Year Operating Funding is available to groups that have been in existence for at least four years, provide annual programming to the community and have a long-term artistic vision and plan.
Annual Operating Funding is available to groups that have been is existence for at least two years and provide regularly scheduled arts programming to the community. Arts organizations must receive at least one project funding allocation before being considered for annual operating funding.

Project Funding

Project funding is available to provide assistance to organizations and collectives for artistic work that is to be completed within a specified timeframe.

For information about Annual and Three-Year Operating Funding, please click here.

Creation and Production Funding for Individual Professional Artists

A and B grants to established and emerging local artists of all disciplines and backgrounds support the creation and production of new, original work or the completion of works in progress. Funding is awarded to individual professional artists residing in Ottawa in the disciplines of literary, performing, media and visual arts within Ottawa’s bilingual and diverse community. Allocations of funding are intended to offset the costs associated with the creating and producing new work, including three months’ worth of living expenses. Artists may apply for projects involving a collaboration of more than one artist. One artist must complete the application form and assume responsibility for the grant, if successful.

Funding Categories

Category	Amount	Description
A Grant Established Artists	$5,500	An established artist is at the mid-career or later stages of their professional artistic career. He or she has produced a solid body of work, achieved a significant degree of peer recognition and professional public exposure.
B Grant Emerging Artists	$4,000	An emerging artist is in the early stages of a professional career having dedicated a minimum of two years to a professional artistic practice, after completing basic training or an apprenticeship. He or she has produced a reasonable body of work to date, and has had a fair degree of professional public exposure.

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