Local Artists Receive Funding Through New Grants For Individual Artists Program

20 local artists have been awarded a total of $47,720 through the Grants for Individual Artists program from the City of Peterborough and the Electric City Culture Council.

File photo.

The program’s open call is said to have received 40 applications. A peer assessment jury awarded grants to 20 artists, including 11 artists in component one (totalling $16,500) and nine artists in component two (totalling $31,220). This program is funded by both EC3 and the City of Peterborough and is designed and administered by EC3.

The Grants for Individual Artists program is divided into two components. Component one is mini development grants of up to $1,500 for for individual professional artists’ research, development, workshopping etc. of original new works, as well as for professional development and mentorship opportunities.

Component two is project production and presentation grants of up to $3,500 for the production and presentation of specific projects, and supports costs such as artist fees, production materials, venue rentals, technical equipment, costumes, publication etc. for individual professional artists. Artists working in every discipline and medium were eligible to apply.

“We are grateful to the City of Peterborough 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 and social well-being and make Peterborough a more vibrant, dazzling city for all of us,” said Su Ditta, executive director at EC3.

Grants for Individual Artists 2022 grant recipients:

Component One: mini development grants for individual professional artists

  • Kim Blackwell - The Auction

    Development of a theatrical new work exploring hording, difficult relations between a father and daughter set against a backdrop of 1970s nuclear proliferation, the Cold War and the soundtrack to "Jesus Christ Superstar."

  • Kathryn Durst - First Lady of the Accordion: Mine White Research Project

    Biographical and visual research about Canadian folk music icon Minnie White of Newfoundland, with the goal of illustrating a new book based on her life.

  • Lesley Givens - Moving: Beyond Comfort Zones

    Veteran arts educator revives her personal practice, building upon her body of work as a visual artist with dance and movement to create a new performance work. “To occupy space with my 50-year-old body is an authentic and powerful expression of freedom.”

  • Sarah Elise Hall - Stacks

    An accomplished sculptor and installation artist explores the state of our environment, pollution, climate change and our global future, using recycled and discarded plastic containers to create large sculptural pieces that reflect natural minerals and erosion.

  • Jon Hedderwick - One City Community University: Storytelling and Spoken Word as Advocacy

    Outreach to those experiencing homelessness, precariously housed and economically marginalized members of our community to engage in writing, storytelling and recording.

  • Julia Huỳnh - nhạc xuân, ở đây và ở đó (Spring Music, Here and There)

    Exploring Vietnamese migration and cultural preservation through re-imagined archives, photography, sound, and plants, leading to the creation of sound and video works.

  • Nicole Malbeuf - Aerial Arts: Hair Suspension Practice

    Circus artist explores techniques in ‘hair suspension,’ acts flying high in the air suspended only by the performer’s long hair, through professional instruction, culminating in a workshop performance of a new performance piece.

  • Justin Million - Carry It All (Poetry Manuscript)

    Following years of performing and releasing chapbooks with the Show and Tell Poetry Series, the artist will research and write their first book-length poetry collection of unpublished work.

  • Ireni Stamou - Media, Medusa, Cassandra Unearthed

    Experimenting with texts and devised theatre for a new choreographic creation inspired by feminine archetypes found in Ancient Greek theatre and mythology.

  • Kate Suhr - Grace

    Development of a new autobiographical show that uses music and storytelling to describe the effects of addiction on children in the home.

  • Ziysah von Bieberstein - Manuscript Mentorship

    Engaging professional edits, revisions and consultation for the artist’s next manuscript and publication process, while simultaneously mentoring an emerging poet to develop their first self-published chapbook.

Component Two: production and presentation grants for initial professional artists

  • Brad Brackenridge - The Lear Project

    Dance, puppetry, and song come together for a theatrical production based on the life and work of Victorian nonsense poet Edward Lear (for presentation at the Market Hall).

  • Jennifer Elchuk - Weathering and Waiting

    Evolving their work with the flying ‘aerial canoe,’ including expansion of technical and narrative techniques, culminates in a circus arts performance at the Canadian Canoe Museum's grand opening.

  • Karol Orzechowski - Enantiodromia

    Local musician Garbageface (Karol Orzechowski) releases a new album, exploring the polarized nature of our society, with a unique, one-time, live performance at The Theatre On King in Fall of 2023, which will be documented for later digital release.

  • Kaz Rahman - Experimental Documentary Film: Digital Dervish (working title)

    An experimental documentary featurette that mixes performance footage of the internationally touring Digital Dervish dance performance, with interviews, verite-style sequences and animated shots.

  • Elisha Rubacha - Loop

    Workshop process and work-in-progress performance at The Theatre on King for a stage play about ambiguous family history, intergenerational trauma, mental illness, and fascism.

  • Matt Snell - Fortune Cookie

    In this unique and comedic short film, a man attempting to live without a smartphone, finds himself increasingly addicted to fortune cookies instead. A new work from this award-winning director.

  • Kate Story - Anxiety

    A one-person devised theatre/dance performance work from this GG nominated artist exploring the Old English epic poem “Beowulf,” the current rise of white supremacy, language, the artist’s childhood and her father’s work as a Newfoundland lexicographer

  • Lynda Todd - Tap: Please Touch (Tactile Art Project)

    Creating accessible, tactile art designed for diverse audiences, including blind and visually impaired audience members, with a live exhibition at The Mount Community Centre, online, and on social media.

  • Gillian Turnham - Interlaced

    Visual artist shares her explorations of traditional Islamic geometric art with three non-gallery popup exhibitions, connected to an online gallery with instructions on drawing each pattern using ruler and compass.

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