Vancouver City Council approves $4.3 million in funding for cultural organizations

Yesterday City Council approved $4.3 million in grants to 208 cultural organizations. As directed in Culture|Shift, our 10-year culture plan, this funding centres reconciliation and equity and will support a range of programs and services for artists, cultural groups, and the public and introduces a new initiative offering multi-year funding to participating organizations.

Through multi-year funding we aim to give cultural organizations the confidence and flexibility to plan and implement long-term programs and initiatives, allowing them to continue to serve their communities and contribute to the city’s cultural landscape. The program also aims to reduce administrative burdens for applicants and provide new groups with access to city resources.

This investment aligns with our Reconciliation Framework PDF file (150 KB), UNDRIP Strategy PDF file (1.4 MB), Equity Framework PDF file (4 MB), and Accessibility Strategy PDF file (2.5 MB). It also supports the economic and cultural recovery of the city through the COVID-19 Economic and Business Recovery program.

Included in this announcement is $85,000 in multi-year funding over three years for MISCELLANEOUS Productions Society External website, opens in new tab, a hip-hop dance theatre boot camp for culturally and socially representative youth.

Funding highlights

• WePress Community Art Space External website, opens in new tab received $90,000 in multi-year funding to advance education and provide art-making opportunities, particularly for marginalized communities in Vancouver’s DTES, using unique technologies such as a letterpress and 3D printers.
• Heritage Vancouver External website, opens in new tab received $16,000 in funding through the Communities and Artists Shaping Culture program (CASC) to support the Sliced Mango Collective External website, opens in new tab, an organization that centres Filipinx identity and culture and is comprised of Filipinx youth. The collective aims to provide a sense of belonging and a space for Filipinx youth to connect with each other and their roots in the Philippines through art, performance, and community work.
• The Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop Society External website, opens in new tab (ACWW) received $9,000 in funding through the CASC program to support the 2023 LiterASIAN Festival External website, opens in new tab, which celebrates the works of Asian Canadian and racialized writers and is the longest-running Asian-inspired writers festival in North America.
• The LIVE Biennial of Performance Art Society External website, opens in new tab received $10,000 through the Cultural Learning and Sharing program to support a creative residency for Black emerging performance artist Chipo Chipaziwa External website, opens in new tab. The residency will involve documenting the experiences of established racialized Vancouver performance artists and sharing this knowledge with other racialized emerging artists through a podcast.

Review the full report, including the full list of recipients and the Cultural Learning and Sharing Grants 2022 report back PDF file (291 KB)

Quotes

Mayor Ken Sim

“We’re excited to be making this significant investment in arts and culture organizations in Vancouver. These groups play a vital role in the city, and this funding will allow them to continue offering important programs and services to artists, cultural groups, and the public,” said Mayor Ken Sim. “This investment not only supports the cultural community, but also helps to enrich the cultural landscape of our city, and we’re thrilled to support Vancouver arts and culture with these grants.”

Elaine Carol, Artistic Director at MISCELLANEOUS Productions

Elaine Carol, Artistic Director at MISCELLANEOUS Productions, said, “We are deeply grateful to the City of Vancouver for this funding. It will enable us to conduct outreach, and give access and free professional performing arts training to the most challenged young folx in Vancouver. It will also enable us to create original performing arts and digital projects featuring the voices of young folx using the arts as a tool for social change.”