Our Park: A Community Art Project Grant

Our Park is a grant program jointly managed by Markham Public Art and York Region Arts Council (YRAC). Modelled after the Animating Toronto Parks grant program offered by the Toronto Arts Council, the objective of Our Park is to provide funding to a Markham-based, professional artist, organization, or collective, to support a presentation of free arts programming in a park in Markham. Applications will be accepted for work in any discipline—including dance, music, theatre, and literary, media, visual and community-engaged arts. For the program’s pilot run in 2022, one project will be selected for presentation in Ada Mackenzie Park (185 South Park Rd.) in spring 2023.

Application deadline: November 13, 2022, 11:59 p.m. ET

Grant amount: Maximum $25,000

All applicants must review the program guidelines before applying online.

Click to read: Our Park Program Guidelines, Appendix A, Appendix B.

Each artist, organization, or collective can only submit one application.

Information session: Markham Public Art and York Region Arts Council (YRAC) held an online information session on November 1, 2022. Click HERE to watch the video recording.

Markham Public Art and the York Region Arts Council are thrilled to announce that artist Zoe Kwan has been selected to receive the inaugural Our Park Grant. Zoe’s project, Carnival of the Arts, will be presented in Ada MacKenzie Park in Markham on Saturday June 24, with two performances at noon and 6 p.m. and Sunday, June 25 at 1 p.m. as the alternative rain date.

This event is free of charge, but we kindly request that you register. Please click HERE to register.

A dancer and choreographer, Zoe has created original works for EnChoreo, Theatre Oculus’ Digital Creation Residency, and Collections Dance. Most recently, Zoe toured with Dusk Dances in Ontario and Quebec as a dancer in Michael Caldwell’s work The Horologium.

Carnival of the Arts is a site-specific dance festival that aims to immerse individuals into an evening of arts. A music workshop will open the festival, followed by the premiere of four original works that have been created specifically for this project. Zoe will work in collaboration with Melissa Bettio (choreographer), Sheldon De Souza (A rhythm-based workshop/pre-show performance), Alex Purcell (musician) and Norman Than (Qi Gong expert).

For the inaugural edition, the selection panel members include Allyson Adley (Education and Community Engagement Coordinator, Art Gallery of York University), Helen Cho (Artist), Patrick Cruz (Artist and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough and Daniels), Erika Hennebury (Senior Cultural Affairs Officer, City of Toronto), and Ilana Shamoon (Deputy Director & Director of Programs, Toronto Biennial of Art).

For future information contact Monica Pain, York Region Arts Council: monica@yorkregionartscouncil.com

WHAT IS OUR PARK?

Initiated by Markham Public Art, Our Park is a unique program delivery model developed in the context of Making Our Markham: Markham’s Public Art Master Plan 2020-2024. The idea is to think beyond the conventional, monumental way of producing public art. The initiative opens up possibilities for a dynamic public art program that provides professional development opportunities for local artists and engaging activities for community members of all ages. Modelled after the Animating Toronto Parks grant program offered by the Toronto Arts Council, Our Park is designed as a grant program jointly managed by Markham Public Art and York Region Arts Council (YRAC). Our Park has the objective to provide funding to a Markham-based, professional artist, organization or collective, to create and present free arts programming in a park in Markham. The selection of parks priorities areas in Markham that have had less public art investment, or other forms of public art programming.

WHAT DOES THIS PROGRAM SUPPORT?

The Our Park grant program provides funding to Markham based professional artists, arts organizations, artist collectives and non-profit organizations to create and present free arts programming in selected parks located in the City of Markham. For the purposes of this program, “arts programming” may include the presentation of dance, literary arts, music, theatre, visual and media arts, community engaged arts, Indigenous arts, and other fields of artistic practice.

The maximum grant in this program is $25,000. Grants awarded may be less than the full amount requested. Applicants are not required to secure other sources of funding. The payment of artists’ fees is a requirement of this program.

Grant recipients will be provided with:

• funding toward artist fees and production elements
• access to park space (permit dates subject to approval by the City of Markham)
• information regarding the range of permits, processes and services that may be required (e.g., Markham’s Special Event application form, City of Markham’s Event Emergency Action Plan, Extreme Weather Response Plan, Neighbourhood notices, regional road occupancy, noise exemption, event fire inspection, tent marquee inspection, road banner installation). Please refer to Program Guidelines Appendix A (City of Markham Special Events Guide). The program will also provide assistance with the acquisition of required permits and services.
• an introduction to City of Markham Special Event staff, operations and parks maintenance staff, local condominium board committees and local community groups.
• support under the Our Park initiative, includes all of: marketing, promotion, inclusion on the websites of the City of Markham (markham.ca), the City of Markham’s destination management organization (DMO) (visitmarkham.ca), the York Region Arts Council (yorkregionartscouncil.com) and York Region’s destination management organization (DMO) (experienceyorkregion.com), wayfinding signage, onsite volunteers, assistance with local community outreach, and other support.
• funding that may be applied toward the requirement to acquire Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance in the amount of $5 Million as outlined in the Insurance – Municipal Requirements section (page 35) of the City of Markham Special Event Guide (Program Guidelines Appendix A).

WHO CAN APPLY?

This grant program is open to Markham based:

• professional artists
  A professional artist is someone who has developed their skills through training and/or practice; is recognized as such by artists working in the same artistic field; actively practices their art; seeks payment for their work; and has a history of public presentation or exhibition.
• not for profit arts organizations
• artist collectives operating on a not for profit basis
• *not for profit organizations (*not for profit organizations that are not arts based may only apply to undertake projects that involve the artistic leadership of professional artists.)

Eligibility for Individuals:

• individuals must be Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents or have an application pending for Permanent Resident Status or be a Protected Person (approved refugee claimant). If requested, you must be able to provide documentation to verify this.
• individuals must have been a resident of the City of Markham for at least one year prior to the deadline, and live in Markham for at least eight months a year. A post office box address cannot be used to meet the residency requirement.
• individuals must be 18 years of age or older.

Eligibility for Organizations and Collectives (Ad hoc groups):

• organizations and collectives must be incorporated non profit organizations or unincorporated collectives that operate on a non profit basis. A collective is defined as two or more artists working together under a group name, either on a single project (ad hoc) or on an ongoing basis. For collectives of two artists, both must be City of Markham residents. For collectives of more than two artists, the majority of members must be City of Markham residents.
• not for profit organizations that are not arts based are eligible to apply to this grants program. Projects must include the collaborative involvement of professional artists and community members, as well as the payment of professional artist fees.
• organizations and collectives must be located in the City of Markham. A post office box address cannot be used to meet this requirement.

HOW DO I APPLY?

Applicants must submit the application, including the required support material, through the online form provided HERE. Applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm on the deadline date. Our Park does not accept applications by any other means of delivery. You will receive a confirmation email when your application is submitted. Check your spam/junk folder if it does not arrive in your inbox.

HOW WILL MY APPLICATION BE ASSESSED?

Grants are awarded on a competitive basis by a Grant Review Panel of professionals in related fields. Representatives from Our Park partner organizations, the City of Markham and York Region Arts Council will participate in the assessment process in order to provide contextual information to the Grant Review Panel. Members of the Grant Review Panel are selected on the basis of their familiarity with a broad spectrum of artistic styles/practices and/or their direct experience with outdoor programming. Members of the Grant Review Panel will be selected to ensure fair representation of gender and cultural diversity.

The Grant Review Panel assesses projects according to the following criteria:

• Artistic merit.
• Demonstrated capacity of the applicant to carry out the project as outlined.
• Financial viability of the project, including adequate payment of artist fees, feasibility of the workplan, and adequate budgeting and planning for additional permits, washrooms and any site related logistics.
• Extent to which the proposed project will engage and include local communities in Markham.
• Quality of experience the proposed activity will provide to the public.

ACCESSIBILITY SUPPORT FOR DEAF ARTISTS OR ARTISTS WITH DISABILITIES

Projects involving artists with disabilities may apply for an additional grant by completing the Accessibility Expenses section of the application and including the requisite information in their budget. An Accessibility grant will provide up to a maximum of $2,500 towards artist accessibility costs incurred during the project. Accessibility costs include but are not limited to: ASL interpretation, audio description, closed captioning, communications assistants, attendant care (including helpers for elders), support workers and equipment rentals or other supports required to meet artists’ accessibility needs).

QUESTIONS?
Contact Monica Pain, York Region Arts Council: monica@yorkregionartscouncil.com