Yesterday evening, I submitted my first artistic grant. If successful, it will pay for up to six months of mentorship with one of the recording studios I’ve been working with (I’ll stay quiet on which one, at least for now).
It’s a mixed bag of emotions for me, mostly because I hate asking for money. Nevertheless, the advantages to having some sustained lessons in a recording studio environment are just too good to ignore.
Instead of pretending I know all about the grant application process, I thought I’d share my personal experiences with y’all, so you can know what to expect.
As a Canadian artist yet to receive payment for my work, there was really only one grant I could apply for: The “New/Early Career Artist” through the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), Explore and Create program.
Unlike some of the grant horror stories I’ve heard about, this application happily did not require writing an essay for each question. In fact, the word restrictions were so tight that I had to struggle to make my questions short enough.
As a new artist grant, there were no intimidating questions like “describe how this project will further the music industry”. More challenging was working out what my mentor would teach me and when, since the grant committee generally wants to know you’re keeping up with benchmarks.
Keep your benchmarks general, and at least a few weeks apart – you might find some parts take longer than expected, and need time to catch up.
Like most funding organizations, the CCA has grant officers you can contact to ask questions about the grant. In some Canadian organizations, you can even have them review your application and offer suggestions.
With the CCA however, you do have to ask general questions, as they are “unable to provide feedback specific to your application.”
In my case, my officer wouldn’t even directly tell me if my proposal qualified under their guidelines, but responded with tactfully worded phrases that just redirected me to material I’d already read. So I guess like most services, it depends on who you get.
There was also some confusion about when the grant should be submitted. Technically you can submit at any time before your project starts…
…but since only grants submitted before a specific cutoff date are considered for that period, there’s usually no difference between the “application deadline” and the “cutoff date”, which the CCA presents as two separate things.
Make sure you check whether the deadline is “[date] at 12:00am” (submit the day before), or “[date] 11:59pm” (submit by the end of that day). If you aren’t sure, submit early!
It also takes three months after the cutoff date to hear back if I’ve been accepted. Seriously, I’m not finding out until the end of January.
This can get you into trouble if your project start date is before then, as the grant only counts towards expenses incurred AFTER you’ve received confirmation.
Finally, there s some wishy-washy-ness around certain parameters. In one CCA handout, for example, they say the committee only spends 10 minutes reviewing supplementary material, but in a recent YouTube video, it’s 20 minutes.
All that said however, it’s more than worth it for a first-time grant of up to $10,000.
So to summarize what I’ve learned:
- The “New/Emerging Artist” grant with the CCA’s Explore and Create program is currently the only option for Canadian artists who haven’t yet turned pro.
- Be concise when answering application questions, especially when a low word count is expected.
- Benchmarks are tricky and enforceable, so keep them general to give yourself some wiggle room.
- Keep any questions to the grant officers about the grant itself, as they can’t advise you on your specific application.
- Find out whether the deadline is the start or the finish of the last day, so you don’t submit late.
- Set your project to start after you receive confirmation, as money spent up to that point can’t be paid with the grant.
Hope this helps you with your own application(s), and good luck!
Credits:
‘Black Steel Pet Cage With One Dollar’ by Reynaldo #brigworkz Brigantty from Pexels
‘Cheerful Man Working in a Call Center’ by Olha Ruskykh from Pexels
‘Photo of Money Falling Through the Air’ by Ron Lach from Pexels
‘Skeleton Covered by Spider Web’ by cottonbro from Pexels
‘White Light With Black Frame on Red Background’ by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels