Art Projects for Individuals and Groups

About

This program funds a range of activities that deliver benefits to the arts sector and wider public, including national and international audiences and communities.

Grants are available from $10,000 to $50,000. Supported activities must not last longer than two years from the proposed start date.

Please read the following grant guidelines and refer to the peer feedback from the previous round.

If you need advice about applying, contact an Artists Services Officer.

Eligibility

Who can apply

You can only submit one application to each closing date for Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups.

Only individuals and groups may apply to this category. You must be an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident, and a practicing artist or arts professional.

Applications for funding to the First Nations panel must come from First Nations individuals or groups only.

Who can’t apply

You can’t apply for this grant if:

• you have already applied to this closing date for Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups
• you have an overdue grant report
• you owe money to the Creative Australia
• you are an organisation
• you are applying to our International Engagement Fund or International Travel Fund for the same activities.

What can be applied for

We fund a range of activities, for example:

• professional skills development, including mentoring and residencies
• the creation of new work
• practice based research
• creative development
• experimentation
• collaborations and exchanges
• touring
• festivals
• productions
• exhibitions
• performances
• publishing
• recording
• promotion and marketing
• market development activity
• activities that creatively engage communities.

Activities can take place nationally, internationally, online, or in a combination of in-person and online.

If your project involves a partnership or collaboration with organisations in the National Performing Arts Partnership Framework you must discuss your application with us before applying.

Access costs are legitimate expenses and may be included in your application. We encourage applicants to ensure that their work is accessible to everyone. Budgets may include costs associated with making activities accessible to a wide range of people (e.g. performances using Auslan, translation to other languages, captioning, audio description, temporary building adjustments, and materials in other formats).

If you are a d/Deaf applicant, an applicant with disability, or are working with d/Deaf artists or artists with disability, you may apply for access costs associated with the use of an interpreter, translation services, specific technical equipment, carer, or support worker assistance. Please contact Artists Services  to discuss your specific needs.

What can’t be applied for

You can’t apply for:

• projects or activities that do not involve or benefit Australian practicing artists or arts professionals
• projects or activities that do not have a clearly defined arts component
• projects that have already taken place
• the same projects or activities you are applying for via our International Engagement Fund or International Travel Fund
• activities engaging with First Nations content, artists and communities that do not adhere to the Creative Australia First Nations Cultural & Intellectual Property Protocols.

Protocols

Your application must comply with the following protocols. We may contact you to ask for further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.

Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts

If your application involves First Nations artists, communities or subject matter, you must:

• follow these Protocols, and
• provide evidence of this in your application and support material.

More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

All successful applicants must comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children. This includes working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will also be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

Art forms and assessment panels

You must choose which peer assessment panel you wish to apply to. The panels are:

• First Nations
• Community Arts and Cultural Development
• Dance
• Emerging and Experimental Arts
• Literature
• Multi-art form
• Music
• Theatre
• Visual Arts

Learn more about assessment panels, or see the FAQs on this page.

If you are unsure which peer assessment panel to choose, contact Artists Services.

Learn more about how we assess your application.

Assessment criteria

You must address three assessment criteria in this category.

Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what peers may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.

First criterion

Quality

Peers will assess the quality of the artistic and cultural activities at the centre of your proposal. They may consider:

• vision, ideas and artistic rationale
• benefit and impact on career, artistic and cultural practice
• level of innovation, ambition, experimentation or risk-taking
• rigour and clear articulation of creative, engagement or development processes
• significance of the work within the relevant area of practice and/or community
• contribution to diverse cultural expression
• timeliness and relevance of work
• quality of previous work
• responses to previous work from artistic or cultural peers, or the public.

Second criterion

Viability

Peers will assess the viability of your proposal. They may consider:

• capacity to deliver the proposed activities or services
• relevance and timeliness of proposed activity
• skills and ability of artists, arts professionals, collaborators, or partners involved, and relevance to activity
• realistic and achievable planning and resource use, including, where relevant,  contingency and safety plans for activities involving public presentations, national or international travel
• appropriate payments to participating artists, arts professionals, collaborators, participants, or cultural consultants
• the safety and wellbeing of people involved in the project
• role of partners or collaborators, including confirmation of involvement
• the diversity and scale of income and co-funding, including earned income, grants, sponsorship, and in-kind contributions
• evidence of appropriate consultation with participants, audiences, or communities
• where relevant to the project, evidence that the Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts have been adhered to
• where relevant, evidence that you have considered and addressed any access issues associated with your project
• where relevant, evidence of an environmental impact plan which may include cost-benefits.

Third criterion

Impact

Peers will assess the potential impact of your project, and how likely you are to achieve this. The impacts may relate to you and your creative practice, other people such as your collaborators or partners, your participants or audiences, your communities, or your sector. The impacts they may consider include:

• supporting First Nations self-determination and cultural practice
• development of new skills
• opportunities for career development
• researching and testing new ideas, processes and practices
• opportunities for more people to experience and engage with arts and culture in different ways
• opportunities that increase inclusion, equity, access or wellbeing
• developing and sustaining new and existing markets for your work
• development of a more sustainable practice
• development of the arts practice in which you work.

Application form

The types of questions we ask in the application form include:

• a title for your project
• a summary of your project
• a brief bio of the artist or group applying
• an outline of your project and what you want to do
• a timetable or itinerary for your activities
• a description of the impact your project will have
• a projected budget which details the expenses, income, and in-kind support of the project
• supporting material as relevant to your project, including examples of your work, bios of additional artists, and letters of support or permission from participants, communities First Nations Elders or organisations.

You should submit support material with your application. The peer assessors may review this support material to help them gain a better sense of your project.

We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact Artists Services.

There are four types of support material you may submit:

1. Artistic support material

This should include relevant, recent examples of your artistic or cultural work.

Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).

You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your proposal. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.

These URLs can include a total of:

• 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
• 10 images
• 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of literary writing).

Please note: Our peer assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.

If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.

Other accepted file formats

If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:

• video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
• audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
• images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
• written material (Word and PDF).

2. Biographies and CVs

You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.

Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.

3. Letters of support

Individuals, groups, or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants, or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.

If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.

You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.

4. Letters of confirmation

If your application involves an international presentation, you must provide letters of confirmation from your presenting partners, such as festivals and venues. Each letter must include confirmation of any invitations, partners fees or contributions to the activity, whether cash or in-kind.

Please provide a single link to all letters or scan the letters into one PDF file and attach to your application.