The Professional Project Grants Program (PPGP) is available to Individual Professional Artists, Collaborations of Individual Professional Artists, and Professional Arts Groups. This program supports the creation and/or presentation of works of art in the disciplines of adaptation, dance, film, music, multidisciplinary arts, theatre, visual arts, or writing. Grants support project costs related to creation, production, administration, travel, professional development, etc.
Application Deadlines
There are two deadlines per year:
- March 15 for projects starting on/after May 15
- September 15 for projects starting on/after November 15
If an application deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline will be moved to the next business day. Completed applications must be submitted through the ArtsNL online application system by 11:59 p.m. NT on the application deadline. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted. Note that technical support from ArtsNL will be available ONLY until 4:30 p.m. on application deadlines.
Program Funding
$1,700,000 is awarded annually. $850,000 is available to be awarded across all arts disciplines in each grant session.
Successful applicants will be awarded a minimum of 75% of the funding requested.
Applicants will be awarded one grant through PPGP in a 12-month period.
PPGP Grant Categories
New Professional Artist(s), Collaboration, or Group: Maximum request $6,000:  An individual artist with less than three years of professional arts practice* post-education**, or a collaboration or group in which at least half of the members each has less than three years professional arts practice post-education.
Established Professional Artist, Collaboration, or Group: Maximum request $15,000.  An individual with more than three years’ professional arts practice post-education, or a collaboration or group, in which at least half the members each has more than three years’ professional arts practice, post-education.
*“Professional arts practice” includes activities in which an artist works on a creative artistic project, makes income from that activity, and/or the presentation of the results of that activity in the artistic discipline in which funds are being requested in an application.
**“Post-education” typically falls into two categories:
-
- For individuals who undertake formal post-secondary studies, it refers to when they have completed studies and/or is no longer a full-time student.
- For individuals who are self-taught, or work in an art practice that does not include formal training, it would refer to secondary school, or after the individual reaches the age of 18.
Program Guidelines
- Applications must be submitted using ArtsNL’s online application system. Paper copies cannot be submitted.
- Incomplete or late application submissions will not be accepted.
- Applicants are encouraged to book a meeting (by telephone, video conference, or in person) with program staff to discuss their application well before the application deadline.
- Only one application per artist (including those in a collaboration) or group will be accepted per application deadline. That application may include more than one project taking place within the next program year. A budget for each project and an overall application budget must be submitted.
- Applicants are expected to explore other sources of revenue. Applicants may not always be awarded the full amount requested.
- Complete PPGP applications must include:
- Project title
- Brief summary of the project (maximum 200 words)
- Project start and end dates
- Detailed project description (maximum 2,500 words)
- Detailed project budget
- Résumé/bio for each artist involved in the project, and/or each member of a collaboration or group. The résumé or bio must:
- confirm a current professional arts practice
- list dates to confirm the length of the professional arts practice
- state the province of residency for each individual artist and/or each member of the collaboration or group
- For Groups ONLY: (in addition to the above)
- Group history (maximum 750 words)
- Financial statement for the group’s last completed fiscal year that includes a listing of revenues, expenses, annual surplus or deficit, and accumulated surplus or deficit
- Group applicants whose financial statement shows a surplus or deficit of greater than 25% of the organization’s total expenses in its last fiscal year must submit a deficit or surplus reduction plan to be approved by ArtsNL staff.
- Applicants are encouraged to include support materials with their application. These should relate to the project for which you are seeking funding and must be in an acceptable format for upload to ArtsNL’sonline application system. Support material must be uploaded as part of your application by or before the PPGP application deadline date.
- Retroactive applications cannot be considered. The project, as described in your application, cannot start before you have been notified it has been funded by ArtsNL.
- Capital costs (purchase of lighting and sound equipment, computers, manufacturing, etc.) are not eligible for funding.
- Applicants will receive an email within three weeks of the submission of an application to confirm if the application is eligible for funding and will be sent to peer assessors for review.
- Only individual professional artists can apply for living expenses. The maximum allowable living expense is $3,000 per month.
- ArtsNL funding will only support travel based on the most economical route possible (i.e., cheaper overall travel cost for driving versus flying).
- Fees and travel costs can only be considered for individuals who are 18 years of age or older.
- ArtsNL Travel Rates:
- Current provincial mileage rate is embedded in the application budget form
- Final reports on all past ArtsNL grants must be submitted before ArtsNL will release funding for a new project.
- When applying for new funding from ArtsNL, an applicant is permitted to have one final report owing across all ArtsNL programs. In this instance, a final report is considered owing on any past grant awarded by ArtsNL that is past the project end date listed on the application or extended on approval of ArtsNL staff before the current application deadline. Applicants owing more than one final report across all ArtsNL programs will not be permitted to apply for further funding from ArtsNL.
Assessment
Applications are reviewed by discipline-specific peer assessment committees, consisting of three artists, including one current member of Council. At least one peer assessor may be from outside the province.
All decisions are reviewed and ratified by Council. Government members of Council and ArtsNL staff do not vote.
Final Reports
Final reports on all ArtsNL-funded projects are typically required within three months of the project end date listed on the application. However, if an artist, collaboration, or group seeks new funding from ArtsNL, the final report requirements listed above apply. A final report section is available on ArtsNL’s online system.
All applicants are encouraged to contact program staff to discuss their application well in advance of the application deadline.
Program Contact
For questions, or to arrange a meeting regarding an application, contact:
Katrina Rice
Senior Program Officer
Phone: (709) 726-2212 ext. 2
Toll-free in NL only: 1 (866) 726-2212 ext. 2
katrina@artsnl.ca
or
Ashley Lewis
Program Officer
Phone: (709) 726-2212 ext. 4
Toll-free in NL only: 1 (866) 726-2212 ext. 4
ashley@artsnl.ca
or
Laura Bruijns
Assistant Program Officer
Phone: (709) 726-2212 ext. 7
Toll-free in NL only: 1 (866) 726-2212 ext. 7
laura@artsnl.ca
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who can apply to the Professional Project Grant Program?
Definition of a professional artist: A person shall be considered to be a professional artist if that person satisfies four of the following criteria, including at least one of the criteria referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c):
- the person receives or has received compensation which can be included in professional or business income;
- the person has a record of income or loss relevant to the history of his or her work and appropriate to the span of their artistic career;
- the person has received public or peer recognition by publicly disseminated critical reviews or appraisals or by similar means;
- the person has presented his or her work to the public by means of exhibitions, publications, screenings, performances, readings, or by other means appropriate to the nature of his or her work;
- the person is represented by a dealer, publisher, agent or similar professional representative appropriate to the nature of his or her work;
- the person devotes a reasonable proportion of this or her professional time to promoting or marketing his or her work;
- the person
(i) has received professional training in an educational institution from a practitioner recognized in his or her profession, or
(ii) is self-taught within the established practices of the person’s cultural traditions;
(h)Â the person has membership in a professional association appropriate to their artistic activity,
(i) whose membership is or categories of membership are limited under standards
of the association, or
(ii) which is a trade union or equivalent appropriate to his or her artistic activity; and
(i) the person holds copyright in his or her own work and has received royalty or residual payment based on that copyright.
Definition of a professional arts group: A group of individual artists who work in one or more of the artistic disciplines supported by ArtsNL:
- that has the creation and/or presentation of works of art as its primary activity
- that is composed of at least two individuals
- that has all members meeting ArtsNL’s definition of a professional artist
- that charges artist fees at established national standards for the artistic discipline(s) and practice in which it operates
- that pays individual members artist fees at established national standards for the artistic discipline(s) and practice in which it operates
- that has internal oversight of the group’s finances and can produce an annual financial statement
Residency, age, and activity requirements:
Professional individual artist:
- Must be a current resident of Newfoundland and Labrador for a minimum of twelve consecutive months at the time of submitting an application
- Must be at least 18 years of age or hold post-secondary standing
Professional arts group:
-
- Must have been active in Newfoundland and Labrador for a minimum of one year at the time of submitting an application
- Must have actively engaged in professional arts activities within the last year
- Must have at least half its members residing in Newfoundland and Labrador
- Must have at least half its members who are at least 18 years of age, or have post-secondary standing
How are applications assessed?
Applications are reviewed by discipline-specific peer assessment committees typically consisting of three artists including one current member of Council. At least one peer assessor may be from outside the province. All decisions are reviewed and ratified by Council. Government members of Council and ArtsNL staff do not vote on funding decisions.
Can I apply if I owe a final report on a past grant?
A final report on all grants awarded by ArtsNL is typically required within three months of the project end date listed on the application form. A final report form is available on ArtsNL’s online application system.
When applying for new funding from ArtsNL, an applicant is permitted to have one final report owing across all ArtsNL programs. In this instance, a final report is considered owing on any past grant awarded by ArtsNL that is past the end date listed on the application or extended on approval of ArtsNL staff before the current application deadline. Applicants owing more than one final report across all ArtsNL programs will not be permitted to apply for further funding from ArtsNL.