Description
Celebrating and supporting Indigenous artists and collectives
Jump to: Rebecca Baird's Artist Statement for A Time Within A Memory
Deadline: Accepting nominations from September 25 - November 25, 2024 (for an award presentation in 2025)
- Access the Full Eligibility Guidelines HERE
- Visit our Frequently Asked Questions for the Indigenous Artist Award
About: The Toronto Arts Foundation Indigenous Artist Award is a $20,000 cash prize which celebrates an Indigenous artist or artist collective that has made a recognized contribution to the creative cultural life of Toronto. In addition, the recipient selects an artist mentor/Elder or mentee/protégée to receive $5,000. Established in 2021, the Indigenous Artist Award is presented every other year at the Mayor’s Arts Lunch. The recipient and mentor/Elder or mentee/protégée prize are generously supported by the K.M. Hunter Foundation. In addition to the prize money, the 2025 recipient will receive a complimentary week long stay at Valleyview Artist Retreat.
Established in 2021, the recipient and mentor award is supported by K.M. Hunter Foundation. Finalist awards of $2,000 are supported by Bell. Beginning in 2025, the award will be presented every two years at our Mayor's Arts Lunch.
Eligibility Criteria:
Individual Artists*:
- must be Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit)
- must have demonstrated an ongoing association with Toronto.
- must have contributed significantly to the arts and culture of Toronto.
- must be living at time of selection.
- may self-nominate, however; a letter of support is strongly recommended.
- undergraduate and college students are not eligible to apply.
- nominees are not eligible to nominate or receive Toronto Arts Foundation awards while serving on the board member or staff of Toronto Arts Foundation or Toronto Arts Council
Collectives*:
- all members must be Indigenous
- must be headquartered in Toronto and have a significant portion of its activity taking place in the city
- undergraduate and college students are not eligible to apply.
- must have contributed significantly to the arts and culture of Toronto.
- may self-nominate (for example, a member of the collective may nominate the collective)
No person may be selected for more than one Toronto Arts Foundation award within any given year. No person may receive the same Toronto Arts Foundation award twice. This does not preclude a recipient from being considered for a different Toronto Arts Foundation award in the future.
How to Apply: To nominate an individual or a collective for the Indigenous Artist Award you must,
- Visit the Toronto Arts Foundation Nomination portal https://tac.smartsimple.ca/welcome/taf/
- Register an account on the Toronto Arts Foundation Nomination portal or sign in to your existing account
- Submit the nomination online, complete with supporting material
Notes:
Along with the name of the individual or collective you are nominating, the nomination form will also ask for a biography, a nomination rationale, and accompanying support material in the form of visual, audio or text-based attachments.
Nominators can save their application at any time before submission by clicking ‘Save Draft’. Nominators can log-in and out of the Toronto Arts Foundation Nomination portal as many times as needed before clicking ‘Submit’.
Please ensure you are on/ register through Toronto Arts Foundation's Nomination portal and not Toronto Arts Council’s TAC Grants Online.
Curious about the info/questions you'll be asked when filling out the nomination? Check out this handy guide.
Selection Procedure: An Award Assessment Panel of up to 10 Indigenous arts community members will review nomination profiles and select a shortlist and recipient recommendation for this award. Toronto Arts Foundation’s Board of Directors will make final determinations. This award is presented in recognition of a body of creative accomplishment, rather than for specific works or achievements. In addition to specific requirements for each award, deliberations will be guided by the following assessment criteria: artistic strength and achievement; strength of the candidate’s artistic goals and objectives; and contribution to the development of arts and culture in Toronto.
*Definitions:
Professional Artist: an individual who is recognized as such by their peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition), who has a history of public presentation, publication and/or production, who is not currently enrolled in an undergraduate or college program, and who is committed to devoting more time to their artistic activity if financially feasible.
Collective: Includes at least two or more professional artists.
Full Eligibility Guidelines for the 2025 Award (PDF)
For question about the awards and eligibility please contact:
Liz Tsui, Coordinator, Program Outreach
liz@torontoarts.org
416-392-6802 x225
