City of Vancouver Website Skip Links
Home > People and programs > Grants and awards > Arts and culture grants > Artists in Communities program > How the residencies work
People and programs
- Building community
- Grants and awards
- Arts and culture grants
- Activation of Underutilized Vancouver Civic Theatres Spaces Grant
- Advertising for arts and culture non-profit groups
- Artists in Communities program
- Artist Studio Award Program
- Community Arts Grant Program
- Creative City Strategic Grant Program
- Public Art Community Grants
- Cultural Grants Program
- Cultural Infrastructure Grant Program
- Small grants for cultural spaces
- Grants for emerging artists
- Neighbourhood Matching Fund
- Permit fee assistance for cultural spaces
- Theatre Rental Grant Program
- Other funding programs
- Critical Assistance Grant
- Community grants
- Green grants
- Sport hosting grants
- Arts and culture awards
- Civic-honour awards
- Fieldhouse Activation Program
- Arts and culture grants
- Food
- Healthy Vancouver
- Donating and volunteering
- Housing
On this page
The Artists in Communities Program is a collaboration between artists, community centre associations, and the Vancouver Park Board.
Each year, several community centres profile local issues and interests, and host selected artists to carry out projects in work-only residencies that respond to these profiles.
Enter your project as an individual artist or artist team to one or more community centres.
Community centre associations and Park Board staff, with the support of artists experienced in community-engagement, select artists for the residencies. An artist or artist team can only be awarded one residency per year, and no more than two residencies in a four year period.
If your project is awarded a residency, you will devote around 300 hours to research and develop your project, complete it with community members, and publish a blog and final report. Along the way, you will work with Park Board community arts programmers, community centre staff, the public, and local partners.
Community centre profiles
When you apply for a residency, address the community centre's goals, interests, issues, and neighbourhood context using the community centre profile.
View the profiles of community centres with residency opportunities:
(59 KB)Community cultural development principles
Successful project proposals apply the principles of community cultural development:
- Supporting artists working in community contexts
- Encouraging the development of a wide variety of interactions between artists and community members
- Providing a framework for creative collaboration between artist and communities
- Encouraging and supporting artistic projects that leave a physical or social legacy in the community
- Making our communities more vibrant
- Inspiring participation and relationship-building
- Engaging communities and people – even those who don't see themselves as artists – as creators, producers, performers, and active audiences
Eligibility
Open to artists and artist teams working in any and all discipline and living in Metro Vancouver
Our funding will no longer support murals, tile mosaics, or banners given that there are alternative funding avenues for these.
Budget
Artist fee: $10,000
Materials: $2,000
Timeline for 2018/2019 residencies
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 6, 2018 | Applications open |
| September 25, 2018 | Information session at Roundhouse Community Centre Exhibition Hall 5-7pm |
| October 5, 2018 | Applications due |
| November 2018 | Jury selection and interviews |
| January 2019 | Finalists announced |
| December 29, 2019 | Residencies complete and final reports due |
Prepare the required materials
- A current CV
- Length: up to 2 pages for individual artists, up to 1 page per artist for artist teams
- File format: PDF or Word
- A project description outline
- Length: up to 1 page per community centre you apply to
- File format: PDF or Word
- Describe your project and how it addresses the community centre profile, supports the principles of community cultural development, and engages the local community. Refer to the application form for further details on what to include in your project description.
- Examples of your works (within the last 5 years)
- Number: Up to 10 items (photos, video, audio)
- Images:
- File format: JPG or TIFF
- File size: less than 3 MB
- Resolution: less than 300 dpi
- Dimensions: less than 5 inches wide
- Video:
- File format: QuickTime or Windows Media Player
- Length: less than 5 minutes
- Audio:
- File format: MP3
- Length: less than 3 minutes
- A documentation list of your works and their viewing order
- File format: PDF or DOC
- Include your name and for each work, its title, media, dimensions (if applicable), location, and date.
Name your files
Please use the template ArtistName_01 where the number indicates the intended viewing order.
Archive or compress your files
Add your files to a ZIP file and use the template ArtistName.zip.
1. Shortlist
The jury of arts professionals and community centre representatives reviews each project with advice from Park Board staff.
Next, the jury shortlists artists who:
- Meet the program criteria:
- Artistic merit and experience in relevant disciplines
- Experience, inventiveness, and attitude about working collaboratively with community members
- Knowledge and skills required to facilitate, coordinate, and administrate the project
- Interest in the issues outlined in the community centre profile
- Submit projects that directly relate to the issues and interests outlined in the profiles of participating community centres
2. Interviews
Community association representatives and community centre staff interview each shortlisted artist or team.
3. Final selection
Community association representatives and community centre staff award the residency to an artist or team based on how their project will:
- Complement the community centre profile
- Demonstrate new and creative ways to approach community engagement as they relate to the community centre profile
