Ontario Arts Councilgrant
Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance
- Who Can Apply: Ontario professional visual, craft and media artists and collectives with a confirmed public exhibition. Individuals must be 18+, have 12 consecutive months' Ontario residency, and be Canadian citizens, permanent residents or pending permanent-residence applicants; full-time students and curators are excluded.
- The Focus: Presentation of existing artwork in a confirmed public exhibition in Ontario, elsewhere in Canada or abroad. Only exhibition costs borne by the artist and not covered by the presenter are eligible.
- The Funding: CAD 500–2,000 per grant, with a CAD 2,000 total cap per program year, for framing, installation, equipment, shipping, venue or booth fees, promotion and insurance; artwork creation costs are excluded.
- Key Requirements: Apply in Nova to a recommender in the zone where you live (specialized recommenders accept artists from any zone) with exhibition details, a budget of eligible costs, a CV, up to 8 images or 8 minutes of video, and written confirmation of the exhibition giving its dates, organiser contact and venue. A recommender may set its own earlier deadline.
Applications openJanuary 15, 2027
DeadlineFriday, January 15, 2027
Awardminimum $500, maximum $2,000 per grant; up to $2,000 total per program year
Program datesThe 2026-2027 program is open from early June 2026 until January 15, 2027, 1 p.m. ET.
LocationON
ParticipationRemote
Career stagesAll Stages
Disciplinesvisual arts, craft, media arts
Age range18–
Application notesRegister/activate a personal Nova profile and apply to an available Exhibition Assistance recommender. You must apply to a recommender located in the zone where you live; specialized recommenders can accept applications from artists in any zone. Submit exhibition details, a budget of eligible expenses, application answers, recommender name, up to 8 images or 8 minutes of video, a CV, and exhibition confirmation (contract, letter on letterhead or email). Confirmation must give start/end dates, organiser name/contact and venue location/address. General JPG limit is 5 MB per file; video uploads are limited to 500 MB. Public linked questions include background and context (300 words each), CV/bio (1,000 words or 3 pages), sample explanation (150 words) and project plans (425 words); follow the live program form for applicable questions. Check the official recommender list immediately before submission for availability and any earlier deadline. Avoid conflicted recommenders. Exhibition must start on/after January 15, 2026 and finish within 2 years of grant notification. Up to 3 applications may be pending simultaneously; no double funding of the same expenses.
Contactayared@arts.on.ca
Ontario Arts Council
Organization based in Toronto