The majority of funds come from the City of Peterborough
By Alex Schummer
(October 2, 2023) Electric City Culture Council announced on Thursday that they have chosen the recipients for 2023’s Grants for Individual Artists, with 24 artists being awarded a total of $57,425.
50 artists applied for this third year of grants, which ranged from between $1,500 and $3,500, explained Su Ditta, executive director for EC3.
“This was about 10 or 12 more applications than in the previous year, which is awesome,” she said.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
The program originally started in 2021 as a modification of money from the City of Peterborough for Arts Week, which couldn’t take place because of the pandemic, stated Ditta.
“We spoke to the city, and they approved us giving out these grants in this format, to individual artists,” she said. “So, work could get produced during the pandemic, even if it wouldn’t get seen by the public until after.”
Then in 2022, the program was so successful that the city approved a $40,000 pilot project called Grants for Individual Artists, explained Ditta. Following this, EC3 returned to council and asked for a three-year commitment of $50,000/per year for the program.
“One of the reasons it really makes a difference acutely right now is that artists are some of the lowest paid people and the most precarious workers at all times,” she said. “Since COVID, they’ve been under particularly difficult pressure, as they tend to be gig workers, and a lot of gig work hasn’t come back.”
Having these grants is a way to support individual artists and ensure Peterborough’s theatres, art galleries, and concert halls continue to have work from local creators, stated Ditta.
“We’re really grateful to the city for doing this,” she said. “This really has a big impact and makes a big difference.”
The grants were broken up into two components, noted Ditta. Component One is a smaller mini grant of $1,500 and is not based on producing a particular project, but areas of development, she added.
“It can support, research, training, certain kinds of technology that they might need, like working with an editor or a dramaturge,” she said. “Lots of artists apply for this grant, because they want to start learning a new practice and bring it into what they currently do.”
Component Two focuses more on granting funds to produce a particular project, stated Ditta. These grants often help artists leverage money from other funders like the Ontario Arts Council, explained Ditta.
Victoria Yeh, a Component Two recipient, will be using her grant to put on a concert called ‘Timeless’ at Market Hall on Dec. 21. She noted that without this grant she would never be able to take on an independent project of this magnitude.
“I’m so thrilled to be one of the artists to receive this grant,” she said. “It is hugely supportive to me in my own artistic development and the really ambitious project that I’m working on.”
Yeh is a violinist, film composer and recording artists who just moved to Peterborough a year and a half ago. She has recorded various albums and film scores, along with being a violin teacher.
‘Timeless’ is set to be a concert of violins through the ages, she stated, playing music from Antonio Lucio Vivaldi along with original scores, with an 11-piece string orchestra and her fusion bands.
“So, it’ll be really a highlight of music and violins through the ages, showcasing how music has changed and evolved,” she said. “And all the wonderful things that you may not have thought you could hear from a violin.”
Tickets for Victoria Yeh’s ‘Timeless’ can be purchased on the Market Hall website.
Component One recipients include: Melissa Addison-Webster, Kate Alton, Dreda Blow, Samantha Chiusolo, Garrett Gilbart, Brooklin Holbrough, Elizabeth Jenkins, Charlotte Kennedy, Shannon LeBlanc, Zoe Litow-Daye, Nicole Malbeuf, Holly McGillis, and Esther Vincent.
Component Two recipients include: Calvin Bakelaar, Shannon Culkeen, Michael C. Duguay, Jon Hedderwick, Ryan Kerr, Justin Million, Stan Olthuis, Laurel Paluck, Jill Staveley, Kate Story, Victoria Yeh
For more information about the application process for Grants for Individual Artists, visit the EC3 website. Applications can be submitted at pretty much anytime during the year, noted Ditta, with recipients being chosen in August.