Through the Grants for Individuals & Collectives program, the Edmonton Arts Council supports a wide range of art forms and practices to foster experimentation and exploration, creative collaborations, and public presentations, as well as activities to invest in the individual skills of artists, including mentorships and professional development.  

For the winter 2022 intake process (deadline of February 15, 2021), more than 341 eligible applications were assessed. Of these, 97 grants were recommended by the peer assessment committee for investment. Focusing on fostering experimentation, supporting artists from equity-seeking groups, and professional development and mentorship (addressing the Aims and Actions found in Connections & Exchanges: A Ten-Year Plan To Transform Arts & Heritage in Edmonton) a total of $1,199,490 will be invested in Edmonton’s arts community through this round of Grants for Individuals & Collectives.

Interested in applying? Our next deadline for the grants for Individuals & Collectives program is October 1, 2022. You can find more information here. Looking for other grant opportunities? The EAC is currently accepting applications for the Equity and Access in the Arts grant program, and the Arts Presentation Fund for COVID Recovery and the 2022 Connections & Exchanges Initiatives program. Click here for more information about the EAC’s suite of grant programs.  

Curious about the successful applicants from the February 2022 intake? Read on…

For stream 1 of the program – Exploration and Experimentation – 36 applicants were recommended for funding ($5,000 each) for a total investment of $180,000. Congratulations to the following recipients:

• Amanda McKenzie will extensively research and spend time in the field to expand her series Enticement. Using the time and resources she plans to explore new mediums, techniques, and additional subject matter.
• Andrea Bellegarde Courchene will explore visual representation of histories of Indigenous Nations in Canada. The goal is to create a “graphic novel” with fabric and mixed media (such as beads and ribbons).
• Arsan Buffin will research and develop a Euro-style (worker placement) board game about the early days of the fur trade around the Hudson’s Bay in what was once known as Rupertsland.
• Christine Hanson plans to explore and invent fresh musical processes to create a new ‘palette of sound’ to further deepen and develop her personal creative aesthetic, and future works.
• Cynthia Fuhrer will produce paintings exploring new methods of creating patterns and surreal imagery.
• Daniel Belland will strengthen his music production skills with the intent of furthering his solo artist voice.
• Darren Lebeuf will create a series of children’s books based on various Canadian artists of different genres (musician, chef, writer, dancer, etc.), exploring both the tangible and intangible things that they do.
• Derek Jagodzinsky will research and develop a collection of wearable art that represents six tribes in the Treaty 6 area.
• Deviani Bonilla will research in-situ performances and dance in public spaces as the first step towards the creation of a dance performance in the summer of 2023.
• eryn tempest will use the funding for 6 weeks of creative research into dance in virtual space using 3D modelling and motion capture software.
• Gabe A'tugwewinu Calderon will outline and write a rough draft manuscript of his science fiction, Indigenous futurisms novel Pinàshkà.
• Gabrielle DeGouw will test materials and weather-proofing processes, for displaying lanterns at future outdoor galleries.
• Gregory Mulyk will refine modern composition skills of orchestration and virtual instrument midi programming through the creation of several new large scale ensemble recordings using virtual instruments.
• Hans Olson will develop film concepts which are grounded in the experimental boundary between narrative fiction and documentary.
• Jane Heather will gather information, facts, and stories while travelling to Fort Smith NWT to speak with residents about her mother, a teacher who was there in 1948.  
• Jason Chinn will research voter opinions in the field as a volunteer election canvasser in the lead up to Alberta’s 2023 provincial election.
• Jenna Chalifoux will begin her initial research and draft writing phase to understand and describe the lives of Métis, First Nation, and Settler women of Edmonton through time.  
• Karissa Barry will re-learn works she choreographed 15+years ago and investigate how physical restrictions may develop into new artistic opportunities as she navigates her dancing body at 40 years old.
• Kathleen Ochoa will undertake solo movement research, along with collaborative guidance and workshops from dramaturge/experimental theatre playwright/director Kristine Nutting.
• Leslea Kroll will adapt her play 'The Light Fishers’ as a novella.
• Lexi Pendzich will research and develop a visual narrative that reflects on women and LGBTQ+ skateboarders, in contrast to the context of a primarily male-dominated sports and cultural activity.
• Luciana Erregue will complete the first draft of her memoir in essays, As We Sit at the Table, encompassing her early life in Argentina under a military dictatorship and her current life in Canada.
• Madison Dewar will create a series of large, mixed-media tapestries to discuss caves as a source of both fear and compulsion.
• Marilyn Langevin will experiment with natural and synthetic materials to develop a pseudo-cloth with unique textures that will be used in creating a model for a third marble sculpture.
• Matthew Weigel will research and create a multimedia chapbook of poetry that prints poetry on the surface of movable, changeable wooden blocks, utilizing place-based knowledge of Edmonton’s land and history.
• Megan Dart will research and write a one-act play exploring the true story of a long-haul Canadian truck driver who has, over the span of a 40-year career, witnessed real-time ecological collapse.
• Mika Haykowsky will undertake interdisciplinary research-creation using objects designed for the body and lens-based explorations, bringing together computer engineering and the human body.
• Natahna Bargen-Lema will create a first draft of an experimental memoir of 80,000+ words centered on themes of grief, religious trauma, queerness, and the neurodivergent childhood experience.
• Oluwadamilola Oladosu will explore and create a visual EP with some existing and several new songs.
• Penelope Moon Walker will research and capture the stories of her community’s traditional language holders and traditional artists who are keeping the language and traditional arts alive, and honor them through contemporary paintings.
• Peter Midgley will conduct research towards completion of his novel, The Dendrite.
• Premee Mohamed will work on the first draft of their novel The Obscurantists, told in a series of linked essays.
• Rayanne Haines will research and write the first draft of a non-fiction collection of essays and poetry that explores the spaces we inhabit between the spaces of grief, identity, and aging.  
• Riaz Mehmood will research and learn the techniques related to handmade artist books.
• Sheldon Hughes will explore the role of Indigenous cultural ceremony in lyrical composition as a healing modality for intergenerational trauma and healthy, holistic community development strategies.

For stream 2 of the program – Skills and Career Development – 13 applicants were recommended for funding for a total investment of $85,215. Congratulations to the following recipients:  

• Alex Vissia will take part in an 8-week, self-directed program of training with vocal coach/vocologist, Carol-Lynne Quinn, and study in dance/movement with Larissa Kovalenko and Rhythm FX instructors in Edmonton, AB.
• Alma Visscher will expand and develop her skills in natural dyeing and silversmithing with an 8-week fabric dyeing course and a 1-month silversmithing course.
• Anna Marie Sewell will attend the London Book Fair, to build on connections made at the 2021 Frankfurt Bookfair and continue learning about international rights.
• Bryan Saunders will undertake a 4-week mentorship in the circus art of corde lisse with Emiliano Ron, one of the world’s most advanced and innovative corde lisse artists.
• Cherelle George will focus on gaining more experience within Caribbean Dance styles, specifically focusing on Trinidadian Caribbean Folk Dance.
• Donita Large will enhance her professional skills as a songwriter through a mentorship opportunity with an award-winning Producer/Musician/Singer/Songwriter.
• Jessica Sanderson-Barry will enhance her skills and knowledge while focusing on the methodical process of scraping and softening traditional hides in an urban setting.
• Jia Jia Yong will pursue deeper appreciation and understanding of Chinese traditional music and develop skills for performance through learning the konghou, a Chinese harp.
• Lora Brovold will undertake an Assistant Director Apprenticeship under Heather Inglis, Artistic Producer of Workshop West and Director of Tell Us What Happened, that premiered at Workshop West in May 2022.
• Sara Isabel Figueroa will undergo three-week self-directed research of Brazilian vernacular, social, and Afro-Brazilian dance styles, and culture.
• Scott Berry will work with a mentor to help him develop the skills needed to plan and install permanent murals.
• Sophie Healey will be participating in Ghost River’s Intensive development workshop to develop her skills as a performer and theatre creator alongside other emerging and established theatre artists.
• Taylor Fawcett will create realistic and balanced orchestrations through workshops and mockups with mentor and internationally renowned composer Ciara Proznik.

For stream 3 of the program – Major Artist-driven Projects – 48 applicants were recommended for funding for a total investment of $934,275. Congratulations to the following recipients:

• Ainsley Hillyard will be conducting a movement research project exploring the use of vibration in place of sound or music, culminating in performances at SOUND OFF.
• Boyd Whiskeyjack will organize a showcase featuring a Drag Queen performance, Indigenous Runway Fashion, and Powwow Dance style categories inspired by the Savage X Fenty Show.
• Breanna Barrington will present Dig, a durational community engaged performance situated within a back alley in Edmonton’s theatre district. Documentation for this project involves Zines and a recycled Free Library.
• Carley Okamura will use the grant for the Model Minority Project.
• Carly Neis will create a cabaret style show full of songs and stories about friendship and disability told through two different perspectives.
• Chenoa Anderson will rehearse and professionally film two collaborative improvised works for musicians and dancers in an urban permaculture garden.
• Cheyenne LeGrande’s project Mullyanne nîmiw will explore Nehiyaw femme identity, exploring ideas of protection and movement as healing, ancestral knowledge, reclamation of traditional practice, and Nehiyaw fashion.
• Christina Battle’s the air we breathe will expand on her experimental documentary exploring the complexities of air pollution by weaving together themes of environmental catastrophe, cultural and political strife, and conspiracy.
• Connell Stinnissen, a member of the band Good Information, will record the Good Information’s full-length album, “Hurry” - the group’s first major collection of recorded music that is slated to be released in March of 2023.
• Connie LeGrande will produce Kakisimo, a full-length Cree language music album for the retention and revitalization of the Cree language.
• Connor Yuzwenko-Martin will produce an all-Deaf stage production performed in ASL using an original script written by Connor, which itself is inspired by Doctor Faustus and Connor’s own experiences of queerness and loss.
• Corine Demas will mount a production of Resting Sadface, a storytelling show with live performances of comedy and music, at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.
• curt young will create a weekly live stream podcast that will focus on Indigenous Men’s Health and Wellness.
• Don Berner will produce a quarterly concert season for professional large jazz ensemble for the 2022-23 Season.
• Dylan Howard will complete the final edit, sound design, and colour correction of a micro-budget feature film to be submitted to film festivals around the world.
• Elena  Belyea and her theatre company Tiny Bear Jaws will produce the world premiere of the new play Io through the Common Ground Arts Society + Why Not Theatre’s 2022 RISER Project.
• Emily Bachynski will record a second album with the band Bad Buddy.
• Emily Chu will create a mural celebrating Chinatown’s heritage at the Edmonton Chinatown Multi-Cultural Center, while hosting mentorship opportunities for three emerging local artists.
• Eva Colmers’ innovative shadow puppetry, lyrical story and soulful, original accordion music will swirl in a visually and acoustically lush short film about a swallow’s quest to help others.
• Huai-Yang Lim’s new art exhibition will feature artists of Asian heritage who use video and film to produce new understandings of Asian diasporic communities’ experiences and perspectives that challenge existing mainstream representations.
• Ivy Cardinal will create an illustrated book about a girl in who is protected from the atrocities of the Indian Residential School system by a kind bear spirit.
• Jacqueline Ohm will produce a debut EP for her musical project, Conjvr.
• Jessica Holtby will produce a pilot episode of the children’s series “The Seeka Show”, and pitch to broadcasters and streaming platforms.
• Jim Head will use the grant funds for the photography, design, manufacturing, and distribution for an original jazz CD recording.
• Jose Canga will produce and launch his first album, in the genre of World Music (Ethno-Jazz and Semba).
• Kate Stashko will create and produce a double bill of dance titled “basin | The Space Between Us”, to be performed in Summer 2022 at an unconventional space in Edmonton (ex. warehouse, empty retail space).
• Kathryn Ryan will collaborate and research, produce, and direct a production of the musical Sweeney Todd.
• Kerri-Lynn Reeves will complete an Artist-in-Residence program to produce and exhibit a body of artwork.
• Lianna Makuch will present the world premiere of Alina by Lianna Makuch from May 26 - June 5, 2022.
• Lizzie Derksen will create a draft of a novel.
• Manuela Wuthrich will capture Nuela Charles’ 2022 album release with a live concert performance video. Recorded live off the floor on location, the project will be an all-immersive video experience.
• Marc Siegner will create a suite of lithographs, rendered in sepia tones, featuring images that oscillate between nostalgia and timelessness, resulting in a kind of docufiction that focuses on local backyards.
• Maya Candler will create a new body of sculptural work using medical thermo plastic and fibre arts to map bodily trauma and the process of healing.
• Mehdi Rezania will host a series of events featuring Persian classical and Western classical music and poetry in Persian and English.  
• Mpoe Mogale will undertake an interdisciplinary collaboration between Black Albertan artists that will culminate in an art-film shot in Breton, Alberta – one of the five original Black settlements on the Prairies.
• Nadien Chu will present KL and the Wolf, the story of a woman who is of mixed racial Chinese heritage, born in the 1900’s, trying to navigate her place in the world.
• Naomi Jichita will record an EP of six original songs, create promotional materials, and host an album release show with their indie/folk band, Payphones, with a team primarily comprised of queer and/or disabled artists.
• Nisha Patel will write a substantial second draft of an experimental poetry manuscript focusing on the lived experience of disability and illness as a queer South Asian woman.
• Paul Cournoyer will assemble a team to produce and record an album of original songs.  
• Robert Tyndale will decode the process of digital creation with darker skin tones and uncover solutions through conversations.
• Rubim de Toledo will create a three-song music performance video for promo and social media use.
• Ruth Alexander will premiere Dead in the Water by Ruth Alexander, a play with songs for a solo female and a piano.
• Salem Zurch will produce a short film, “Outlaw Love”, to be created with the support and mentorship of instructors at Solidarity Film Camp, Tamarra Lessard and Andrea Beça.
• Thomas Tunski will release EGO volume two, a weekly new media digital publication created to uplift local artists through engaging photos/graphics, interview videos and performance videos.
• Tim Brown and the band Striker will embark on a North American tour, supporting European metal band Beast in Black for 20 performances, with 5 additional routing performances as headliner.
• Tracy Carroll will undertake pre-production design development and a multiple day workshop leading up to a première production of The Space Between Stars.
• Vern Thiessen will present a musical based on the award-winning novel THE ENGLISHMAN’S BOY, where the settler artists write the first half of the piece, and the Indigenous artists write the second half.
• Yasser Abdel-Latif will produce a creative non-fiction book about an acclaimed Egyptian writer, and his ventures in the side scenes of the Canadian democratic institutions, while working as an interpreter for injured immigrant workers.

Congratulations to TIX on the Square affiliated artists Leslea Kroll, Luciana Erregue, Peter Midgley, Rayanne Haines, Ainsley Hillyard, Don Berner, Emily Chu, and Nisha Patel.

On your next visit to TIX, you can bring home poetry, novels, or visual art from these artists, or purchase tickets to see a show featuring them!