1. Can my project take place outside of North York?
We encourage you to seek out resources in North York for your project, but yes your project can take place outside of North York.

2. Why do you ask for demographic information?
North York Arts is strongly committed to equity and inclusion in our programs. With this in mind, we have set out specific programming goals in our strategic plan to better serve our communities.

We want to prioritize allocating funding to members of communities that have been historically marginalized. To ensure that we do so, we are collecting data on how our participants self-identify. This is optional and we appreciate your input.
That being said, we also understand that some artists may feel pressure to relate their applications back to the hardships of their marginalization. If that is not something that is true to your work or you don’t want to share, please do not feel obligated to include that information. We aim for you to feel uplifted and supported during this process and not that this process is an exploitation of identity.

3. What do you mean by “North York”?
Unsure if you live within the boundaries of North York? Please check if you are a resident of the following Ward Profiles:
6 – York Centre, 8 – Eglinton-Lawrence, 15 – Don Valley West, 16 – Don Valley East, 17 – Don Valley North, 18 – Willowdale
And M3N postal codes

4. How does Grow North define a “Professional Artist”?
A professional artist is someone who has developed their craft through formal training and/or equivalent practice; is recognized as such by fellow artists working in the same craft; actively practices and pursues their art; seeks payment for their work; and has a history of public presentation of their work.

5. I may end up needing more funding than I requested on my application- can Grow North provide me with additional funds?
No, Grow North does not have any additional funding to distribute out beyond what you were approved for, so please budget accordingly.

6. Will Grow North fund 100% of my activity costs?
Yes, Grow North will fund 100% of your activity costs. You are not expected to have any other sources of funding.
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7. What makes a strong work plan?
A strong work plan is detailed and realistic. Please make sure to include all the activities that will make your project possible. This includes prep, delivery, budget and evaluation.

8. What criteria is used to evaluate applications?
Refer to the rubric here.

9. Who is on the jury?
The jury is composed of 6 members. 2 of the jury members are working artists and 4 who are representatives of North York Arts. Jasmine Vanstone, the project coordinator for the grants, will NOT be a member on the jury.

10. When will results be sent out?
Applicants will be notified about the results of their application in mid-late September.

11. What do you mean by “What is your relationship to North York”?
We want to understand how you relate to the North York community. Have you worked, lived, or played in North York and have rich memories and present ties to the neighbourhood? Do you have relationships or will be engaging community members or other artists in North York? Is your project inspired by North York? Although it is not mandatory to answer “yes” to the aforementioned questions, artists that clearly identify a strong relationship with North York will be given preference.

12. I’m not happy with the decision made about my application – can I appeal it?
No, decisions made by the Grow North grant jury are final. Where possible, we will make best efforts to provide jury’s comments and feedback. We welcome feedback on the application process by email to: info@northyorkarts.org

13. Why is this grant only available to ages 18-29?
In 2023, due to specific funding requirements the Microgrants will be supporting North York-based youth artists that are 18 to 29 years old. This may not be the case in future years.

1) Set up a meeting with the program coordinator! Jasmine, our program coordinator, has allocated office hours until the deadline. There will be one-on-one and group office hours to talk through any questions you may have about the grant. She’s here to support you! If you don’t have time to set up a meeting with him, try to attend our information session on July 6th.

 2) Use simple language. Speak directly and passionately about your work and why you’re doing it. Don’t write formally or academically, you’re speaking to other artists on the jury. Write in your own voice and speak about your project with as much specificity as you can. The clearer you can be in articulating your goals, vision, activity, and how this funding is going to help you achieve it, the more successful you’ll be. 

3) Support materials matter. It can be very tough for jurors to assess art from just text in a grant application. This is where strong art-based support material can make a huge difference, because it can really illustrate the quality of your work. Good support material provides the jury a way to connect to your artistry in a more visceral way. If you are submitting support material, make sure all the files are of the highest quality. If you have a grainy video of you dancing, maybe opt out to submit the high quality pictures of you doing that same dance instead. 

4) Get feedback on your grant. When you’ve been working on an application for a few days, it can become very difficult to decipher whether your writing is communicating what you want it to communicate. Get a friend to read over your grant. Ask them if they understand your project and if they can spot any mistakes or gaps. Having a peer review your grant before submitting is one of the simplest ways to improve your grant writing. Also, offer to do the same for your friends, helping each other is vital!

5) Start early. As artists, we know how applying for grants last minute can make your life more hectic than it needs to be. We encourage you to start your application as early as possible. Especially when it comes to finding office hours with Jasmine or getting peer feedback on your grant, you will find folks much more helpful if you give them lots of time.

6) Save your answers in a separate document. Although Jotform allows you to save your answers if you make an account, we highly recommend you copy and paste the questions and answers into a separate document. This will ensure that your answers will not be lost…technology can be weird sometimes.