EC3 grants bring new plays, paintings, sculptures, albums, books, poems, performances and more to life

Earlier this year, EC3 announced with thanks, the generous three-year funding commitment from the City of Peterborough for a program of Grants for Individual Artists (GFIA), providing financial support to professional artists, those living and working in Peterborough and Peterborough County, to develop and present new works of art. This initiative is administered and also funded in part by the municipal arts council (EC3) and is a follow-up to the pilot program EC3 delivered in 2022, and in 2021, as part of Artsweek SHIFT².

The GFIA grants program represents a crucial investment in individual artists; an investment that buys them time, materials, technology, venue rental, research, development tools, production, and presentation costs. These funds help reduce precarity, encourage local artists, build confidence, and allow recipients to leverage funding from other sources, bringing more, more diverse, and better work to audiences. This grant program encourages excellence and innovation in the arts and contributes to the overall health and vitality of our community.

We are delighted and proud to announce the results of this program and the 24 local artists who have been awarded a total of $57,425 through the Grants for Individual Artists program in 2023. Some 50 artists applied for grants ranging from between $1,500 and $3,500.

The Grants for Individual Artists program is divided into two components. Component One: Mini Development Grants for Individual Professional Artists provides up to $1,500 each for research, development, workshopping etc. of original work, as well as for professional training and mentorship opportunities. Component Two: Project Production and Presentation Grants for Individual Artists provides up to $3,500 each for the production and presentation of specific projects, and supports costs such as artist fees, production materials, venue rentals, technical equipment, costumes, printing, etc.

In total, the GFIA program’s open call received 50 applications, and a five-person peer assessment jury awarded grants to 24 artists, including 13 artists in Component One (total $19,500) and 11 artists in Component Two (total $37,925). Many of the successful project applications include several artists and partner organizations, increasing the impact of the grants and the difference the program makes. Artists working in every discipline and medium were eligible, including those who work in multi-disciplinary or community-based arts practice, in traditional or contemporary forms. A complete list of grant recipients and their projects can be found at the end of this document.

“We are grateful to the City of Peterborough and all of our funders for their ground-breaking support of this program. These investments in the work of our very talented and hardworking artists means more artists can realize their visions, contribute to our cultural, economic, and social well-being, and make Peterborough a more vibrant, compelling place to live for all of us. These new books, poetry, concerts, plays, exhibitions, albums, and performances of will touch our hearts, minds, and imaginations. The projects supported by these grants explore love, climate change, beauty, community connection, disability, forgotten histories and more."
--Su Ditta, EC3 Executive Director

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) is a not-for-profit service organization supporting the arts in Peterborough and Peterborough County. EC3 provides strategic leadership, research, grants, awards, professional development and creates collaborations and partnerships that build and strengthen the sector.

GRANTS FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS 2023 GRANT RECIPIENTS
COMPONENT ONE: MINI DEVELOPMENT GRANTS FOR INDIVIDUAL PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS

Melissa Addison-Webster: Earth Within Earth
An exploration of Land Dancing, building on collaborations with Heryka Miranda.

Kate Alton: Divining Laurence (working title)
A new dance/theatre project inspired by legendary author Margaret Laurence.

Dreda Blow: My Underground
A program of movement research to create a dance solo exploring themes of hope, love, oppression, regret, and resilience.

Samantha Chiusolo: Children’s Book
Research, writing, illustration planning, development, and artist fee to create a children’s picture book 'dummy.'

Garrett Gilbart: Sculpture-Based Performance
Professional development and experimentation for sculpture-based performance practice.

Brooklin Holbrough: Zine Development
Developing skills as a zine and printmaker, and the production of planned zine publications.

Elizabeth Jenkins: Healing From Those Who Love You
Support for writing and research for a book series, about love, race, and blurred boarders in exploring relationships and culture.

Charlotte Kennedy: The Stilt Walker Story-Poem
A video of creative collaboration, artist fees for a writer/project coordinator, an illustrator, and a videographer/musician, to bring original story-poem into a new dynamic medium.

Shannon LeBlanc: text-tile
Artist fees for creating 10 textile art pieces and a fee payable to an artist for their intellectual property.

Zoe Litow-Daye: Time for a Transition
Transitioning from digital art to producing physical works (e.g. paintings on canvas).

Nicole Malbeuf: Dance Training
Regular dance training in ballet, tap and fusion to advance artistic movement practice in aerial arts and physical theatre.

Holly McGillis: Processing Autistic Burnout Through Pottery
Transitioning to a new medium, pottery, and developing skills while adapting worsening disabilities.

Esther Vincent: The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Daughter
Artist fee for the revision of a suite of poems written in the last months of my mother’s life.

COMPONENT TWO: PROJECT PRODUCTION AND PRESENTATION GRANTS FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS

Calvin Bakelaar: Untitled ‘Vancamp’ Album
A folk-rock album challenging the traditional notions of masculinity I grew up with in a small town.

Shannon Culkeen: Shannon Culkeen Debut Album Production Project
Artist fees to compose, rehearse, and produce an album of songwriter material at Sadleir House in June 2024, released November 2024.

Michael C. Duguay: Content
Artists fees to contribute to a site-specific, immersive field-recording and music project about community, wellness, and home for release in Autumn 2024.

Jon Hedderwick: Bubie’s Tapes
Artist, technical, promotional and travel fees and tour a play exploring antisemitism using stories left by my Bubie Sarah in cassette recordings.

Ryan Kerr: Death in Reverse: Project Baroness
A new performance project navigating the liminal territories between past and present, activating possibilities for personal and political transformation.

Justin Million: After Monomania
Artist fees and venue costs, to compose and present a text-based art installation based in the postmodern poetic tradition.

Stan Olthuis: Interconnected – A Touring Immersive Experience
Artist fees for a choreographer, three dancers, costume designer, art fabricator and musician to produce an immersive, multi-disciplinary exhibition about Sacred Geometry presented at the Art Gallery of Peterborough.

Laurel Paluck: Symbiosis
Five local artists (artist fees) create artworks based on exploring the concept of climate change, for exhibition at Ludmila Gallery.

Jill Staveley: Focus
Artist fees to work with a collection of local musicians to support arranging and enhancing original songs not yet fully developed.

Kate Story: Anxiety
Artist fees, materials costs, and venue costs for a remount and adaptation of a one-person show “Anxiety” preparatory to touring it to St. John’s, Newfoundland. “Anxiety” explores Beowulf, the current rise of white supremacy, language, my childhood, and my father’s work as a Newfoundland lexicographer.

Victoria Yeh: Timeless
Artist fees to produce and present a concert of violin music through the ages and around the world.