ArtistsInspire School Grants

When you’re ready, applying is easy and quick – one contact person from the school sets up the account and enters the information about the school’s plan. Please note that as we only allow one application per school, in the application we ask for confirmation that the principal approves. Not sure who applied for your school’s grant in previous years? Contact us as we may have to reset your account ID and password if the school contact person needs to change.

We are available to support you by phone and email for all of your questions.
ELAN’s ArtEd Team wants to support your school in getting the maximum benefit from your school’s grant – we encourage you to combine our funding with other sources. Many of our Artists are also in the Quebec Culture in the Schools Repertoire, as seen on the Artist Profiles and this can be a great way to extend your school’s project.

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The grants can be used to cover Artists’ facilitation of experiences with students DURING THE SCHOOL DAY with teachers and staff present and involved in the artistic activities*:

• Stand-alone $1500 School Grant: Plan for 6 to 10 hours of live (in-person or virtual) workshop sessions over at least 2 days, with an optional add on of a One Day event, for a total of at least 3 days of creative experiences. For the workshops, an Artist should facilitate 6 to 10 hours of workshop sessions with your school over at least 2 days, with a minimum of 2 classes. Each class should receive a minimum of 2 workshop sessions lasting about one hour each.
• School Workshop Grant plus a One Day Event add on, for a total value of $3000: Criteria for the workshops are the same as above. The duration of a One Day Event depends on the school’s interests and what the Artist offers. For performances, the One Day Event should feature a minimum of 2 X 45-minute performances with 15-minute Artist talks. As with the workshops, One Day Events are expected to have educational outcomes.
• The flexibility in the previous points is to account for the different needs of a project. If your project requires more time with the Artist, your school should look into getting more funding from another source.
• While some materials cost is expected, as much as possible, Artists need to consider what is already available through the schools and their community.  Material costs can be up to $300 including taxes from the $1500 School Grant, and up to another $300 including taxes for the One Day Event add-on.
• Travel: To ensure schools in all regions have access to diverse arts experiences, travel costs over 100 km one-way from the Artist’s place of residence for the Artist facilitating the workshops will be covered in addition to the grant when a qualified local Artist is not available in the discipline/specialty. Travel must be pre-approved and involve multiple schools within a school board in remote areas whenever possible. Travel for additional Artists involved in One Day Events will not be covered.
• Grants can be leveraged by connecting with other arts and culture funding opportunities, for example: by using the ArtistsInspire Grant as the 25% required to apply for Culture’s in the Schools’ Host an Artist or Writer Program.

*Although the majority of projects now take place in-person, for one reason or another a school may still request virtual workshops. Schools can search for Artists who are available for Virtual Facilitation in the Connect with Artists page.  A hybrid of both In-person and virtual is also possible.

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A note about working with the same Artist 

Artists may work with the same school two years in a row. If the same Artist has worked with a school two years in a row, a different Artist must be chosen for the following year. After that, the previous Artist can return to the same school for another two years, if requested. This is to ensure equity among our teaching Artists and to encourage schools to discover new Artists, disciplines and projects. In the case of a One Day Event, the same artist who facilitates the School Grant workshops must also be part of the One Day Event. A School Grant and One Day Event counts as one project, so the same artist can return the following year.

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A note on One Day Events

One Day Events will not be available without a regular School Workshop Grant as they were previously. The artist presenting the One Day Event must be the same as the artist facilitating the workshops for the School Grant. Artist collaborations and groups (such as bands) featuring this artist are possible. Details must be discussed and agreed upon with the artist prior to filling out the application form.

All One Day Events should include an artistic performance or installation of some sort, as well as an Artist Talk where Artists will have the chance to answer questions from students about their practice and career path. The duration of a One Day Event depends on the school requesting it and what the Artist is offering, and should feature a minimum of 2 X 45-minute performances with 15-minute Artist talks. As with the AIG workshops, these One Day Events are expected to have educational outcomes. We would like the One Day Event add-on to allow as many students as possible to benefit from the expertise of an Artist visiting your school. Interactive events in which students participate in the creative process are encouraged.

Here are some examples of potential One Day Events:

• Solo or group musical concert
• Dance performance
• Theatrical play
• Live visual art creation
• Comic jam
• Mural painting
• Story reading
• Film screening by the filmmaker

Please note that schools are expected to provide space, an electrical outlet if necessary, and adequate teacher supervision during the course of the event. Artists should prepare to bring all necessary equipment for a successful experience. In the event of a film screening, schools may be asked to supply an interactive whiteboard with projector and speakers, but this must be discussed by the Artist and the school ahead of time.

A note about travel

Whenever possible, schools are requested to work with eligible local Artists. When local Artists are not available in the disciplines and/or specialties requested by schools, Artists may be eligible for travel expenses for travel over 100km one-way away from their place of residence. Our travel budget is limited. As such, when a school has selected an Artist, the Artist will need to fill out a Travel Form to be approved by the ArtEd team. When considering travel, the ArtEd team will look at the impact the project will have on the school and community and whether there are other more local Artists that could facilitate a similar experience. We may ask the school to contribute to the travel expenses, if possible, using other funds (e.g. combining an ArtistsInspire grant with Culture in the Schools funding is a great way to extend a project and cover costs). In some cases, we may need to use some of the funds from the ArtistsInspire grant in order to offset costs, which may affect the number of workshops the Artist will be facilitating. We may also ask that a school rearrange their schedule so as to be to accommodate consecutive workshops in order to save on travel expenses (e.g. accommodation and food). In the case of a One Day Event that involves a group of Artists, only travel by the Artist who facilitates the workshops is eligible. Travel for additional Artists involved in One Day Event will not be covered.

In regions where a visiting Artist/Arts organization is required to travel further than 100 km each way from their place of residence, ELAN may request that schools select an Artist/Arts Organization available to work with multiple schools in a School Board and/or geographic region when possible. See details in the guideline for eligible artists’ fees and expenses.