Community-Run Public Art Microgrant Program 2023

Recognizing that public art opportunities can come from grassroots ideas that are initiated and led by communities, Calgary Arts Development invites proposals for community-run public art projects.

This opportunity is open to community-run organizations, including informal groups that define themselves in terms of distinct communities, neighbourhood associations, and non-profit organizations or charitable organizations.

Community-run organizations in Calgary/Mohkinsstsis are invited to apply for funding to hire local artists and create public art in their neighbourhoods. Communities are welcome to team up with local artists at any level of experience to explore any form of public art in any part of the city.

Projects must address one of the following five themes:

• Foster truth & reconciliation

  • Learn about the truth of Canadian colonization and its ongoing impact on First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

  • Explore and create paths toward reconciliation and right relations with Indigenous peoples and the land.

• Art for Social Change

  • Consider how art can be a force for social change. Investigate and develop a project that could transform people’s lives, even if on a small scale. Art as activism and activism as art.

• Uncover little-known stories about the city or overlooked histories

  • Team up with artists, Indigenous Elders or historians to create a project that connects people to places and spaces in different ways.

  • Celebrate overlooked people and events and the diversity or diverse learnings of your community.

  • Restore or uncover names of places.

• Explore stories of your community

  • Create and share stories of how local businesses or community organizations tell the story of where you live and what makes your community unique.

• Bring beauty, joy, whimsy and hope

  • Art doesn’t have to be political or serious. Introduce whimsy, surprise and joy to your community.

Communities may apply for up to $10,000 to support eligible projects. Total funding available for this program is $300,000.

Applications open today, September 25th, 2023, and must be received no later than November 3rd, 2023 at 4:30pm. Notification to grant recipients is expected in early December 2023 with funds following soon after.

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Calgary Arts Development has identified the following neighbourhoods as spaces that could benefit from additional public art programming and arts opportunities provided through grant programs. To encourage increased programming in these communities, 20 bonus points will be added to assessment scoring when considering projects taking place in these neighbourhoods. The Ward 9 communities identified for bonus scoring include:

• Golden Triangle

• Ogden Shops

• Red Carpet

• Starfield

• Twinhills

• Valleyfield 

• Applewood Park

• Belvedere

• Erin Woods

• Foothills

• Forest Lawn Industrial