City distributes over $600,000 in Arts Grants to Recipients

The Kingston Arts Council (KAC) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 City of
Kingston Arts Fund (CKAF). An annual fund administered by the KAC on behalf of the City of
Kingston, CKAF provides Operating and Project Grants to local arts organizations, collectives,
and individual artists to foster creativity at all levels and enrich how Kingston residents experience
and engage with the arts. Operating Grants foster sustainability among leading arts organizations
by providing funding for operations and programming; Project Grants fund the creation and
presentation of arts projects that engage the community.
This year, the total CKAF amount available was $613,088 with $429,162 available for Operating
Grants and $183,926 available for Project Grants. Applications were reviewed by Grants
Committee juries that were comprised of artists and arts professionals with high standing and
expertise of the arts and the Kingston community. Ex-officio members of the Grants Committee
support the work of the jury and bring forward broad community perspectives, provide information
on the City of Kingston objectives for the CKAF program, and are present to ensure transparency
and fairness in the process. Adjudication meetings were hosted in person on 22 May (Operating
Grants) and 23 May (Project Grants).

Operating Grants

Jurors:
Melissa Eapen
Kemi King
Alex McLean
Nicholas Senn
Christianne Wojcik

Ex-officio Grants Committee Members:

Nicole Daniels, Executive Director, Kingston Arts Council
Violet Tang, Grants and Programs Coordinator, Kingston Arts Council
Katherine Dionne, Administrative Assistant, Kingston Arts Council
Danika Lochhead, Director, Arts and Culture Services, City of Kingston
Councillor Jimmy Hassan (absent)

Number of Applications: 12
Total Funding Requested: $469,197
Number of Grants Awarded: 11
Total Funding Awarded: $429,162

Recipients:
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, $75,000
Situated on Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat territories, Agnes is a
curatorially-driven, research-intensive professional art centre proudly serving a dual mandate as a
leading, internationally recognized public art gallery and active pedagogical resource at Queen’s
University. By commissioning, researching, collecting and stewarding works of art, and by
exhibiting and interpreting visual culture through an intersectional lens, Agnes creates
opportunities for participation and exchange across communities, cultures, histories and
geographies. With a new building on the horizon, Agnes has an unprecedented opportunity to
reimagine the social, civic and pedagogical role of the 21st-century museum, ensuring the
museums of Canada’s future no longer look like those of its past.

Cantabile Choirs of Kingston, $31,000
Cantabile Choirs is a community-based organization in Katarokwi/Kingston dedicated to fostering
a love and appreciation for the vocal arts through high standards of vocal excellence and
innovative programming. Cantabile provides music education and performance opportunities to
singers of all ages in an inclusive, supportive, and accessible environment, promoting personal
growth and safe creative expression. Cantabile’s mission was expanded in recent years to
enhance cross-cultural awareness by featuring a diverse repertoire from various cultures and
collaborating with culturally diverse professional artists, ensuring programming remains relevant
and impactful.

Centre culturel Frontenac, $13,950
Le Centre culturel Frontenac brings together the French speaking community along with people
who are interested in the French language and culture, in Kingston and the Thousand Islands, by
celebrating arts and culture in French. Le Centre culturel Frontenac is mandated to organize,
support, and promote accessible artistic and cultural events in French, in a diversified and
inclusive manner. Le Centre culturel Frontenac strives to vary the background, origin and
experience of the artists included in their programming.
Kingston Canadian Film Festival, $50,000

Kingston Canadian Film Festival (KCFF) is dedicated to delivering access to Canadian film in a
dynamic festival setting. KCFF presents screenings, events, and activities that provide a fresh
experience of Canadian film, fostering an audience that supports and encourages the ongoing
development and appreciation of our national cinema and its creators. KCFF researches,
programs and exhibits Canadian films reflecting a range of perspectives and identities, creates
dialogue between filmmakers and the public, provides professional development opportunities for
established and emerging filmmakers, and nurtures local film production.
Kingston Symphony Association, $75,000

The Kingston Symphony Association (KSA) is inspired by a vision of exceptional music,
community impact, innovation, exploration, growth, and organizational development. Their
mission is to provide exceptional musical experiences and programs of the highest calibre for the
enjoyment and education of their audiences. Within the broader orchestral and choral repertoire,
KSA proudly supports and showcases Canadian and contemporary content, artists and
composers. KSA is a cornerstone of cultural life in our local communities, striving to be a vibrant,
versatile, and highly skilled musical resource accessible to all.

Kingston WritersFest, $44,814
Kingston WritersFest seeks to promote diverse literary expression, develop and grow an audience
for the literary arts, and foster the artistic development of writers of all ages. The vision of
Kingston WritersFest is to be a community that celebrates the power of the written word by
connecting readers and writers in inclusive conversations that inspire, engage, and expand our
worldviews. The festival welcomes an audience of 6,000 to more than 50 events featuring some
70 authors from around the world, across the country, and down the street.

Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, $53,000
Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre facilitates the presentation, interpretation, and production of
contemporary art. Modern Fuel aims to meet the professional development needs of emerging
and mid-career artists through exhibition, discussion, workshops, residencies and mentorship
opportunities. Modern Fuel is proactive in presenting work by provincial, national and international
artists from diverse communities, including but not limited to communities defined by culture,
geography, language, age, sexual orientation and gender identity. Modern Fuel is an advocate for
contemporary art and artists rights.

ReelOut Queer Film Festival, $24,000
ReelOut exists to celebrate independent media art and to contribute to community vitality by
programming materials that focus on issues of sexuality, race, culture, religion, class, gender,
ability, health and age, thereby purposefully drawing together and initiating challenging dialogue
among the residents of Kingston/Katarokwi and the surrounding areas. ReelOut’s core values are
based on the traditional medicine wheel representing the spiritual (humility, pride), mental
(integrity, tenacity), emotional (caring, courage), and physical (inclusive, representational).

Single Thread Theatre Company, $10,000
Single Thread Theatre Company creates immersive theatre experiences, advancing the art of
immersive storytelling through innovation and the presentation of new works. Single Thread’s
approach to non-traditional theatre making, inspired by creative industries such as video games
and escape rooms, offers an empowering alternative for Kingston artists and youth to
conventional theatre opportunities. Over the past seven years, Single Thread has expanded to
champion digital theatre, specifically in the realm of XR, with the goal to place Kingston artists at
the forefront of creation with these new technologies.

Theatre Kingston, $38,007
Theatre Kingston is driven by a vision to strengthen and celebrate the city’s theatre artists and
audience by empowering local and returning artists to create artistic work of excellent quality.
Theatre Kingston creates and reimagines stories that challenge the field and raise the standards
of their artists, who go on to influence the practice of not only their continued work in the city, but
beyond into the broader Canadian cultural landscape. Theatre Kingston’s diaspora are deeply
embedded into the cultural landscape of Canadian theatre: writers, directors, actors, designers,
stage managers, and administrators, many of which start their career with Theatre Kingston then
return to create again with the organization.

Union Gallery, $14,391
Union Gallery is a space for creative risk-taking and curiosity that supports and promotes the arts
communities of Katarokwi/Kingston by nurturing reciprocal relationships between students, artists,
and arts workers at all stages of their careers. Union Gallery is a community-driven hub for the
production and exhibition of contemporary art that fosters critical engagement, facilitates
interdisciplinary experimentation, and creates opportunities for the next generation of cultural
producers. Beyond a student gallery, Union’s vision is to be known as a bridge between
communities and a nonprofit serving wider publics, an important distinction following their 2022
incorporation. Union Gallery’s values focus on accessibility, equity and anti-oppression,
sustainability, and reciprocity.

Project Grants

Jurors:
Bethany Garner
B.C. Gorrie
Zoha Khalid
Caroline Kwok
Melissa Morris

Ex-officio Grants Committee Members:
Nicole Daniels, Executive Director, Kingston Arts Council
Violet Tang, Grants and Programs Coordinator, Kingston Arts Council
Katherine Dionne, Administrative Assistant, Kingston Arts Council
Danika Lochhead, Director, Arts and Culture Services, City of Kingston
Councillor Jimmy Hassan (absent)

Number of Applications: 34
Total Funding Requested: $452,454
Number of Grants Awarded: 17
Total Funding Awarded: $183,926

Recipients:

2024 K-TOWN Showdown Dance Battle, $5,400
A project by Kingston School of Dance K-TOWN Showdown Dance Battle supports, expands and celebrates hip hop culture in Kingston
and the surrounding areas. Now entering its third year, the K-TOWN Showdown offers a yearly
weekend of dance consisting of high-energy dance skills and educational elements for dancers
aged 12 and up. All styles are welcome in the 1v1 knockout dance battle, judged by 3 established
dance professionals. A series of dance workshops will be conducted by local dance collectives,
geared towards youth, teens, and adults at all levels.

2025 Ground UP Dance Festival, $15,000
A project by Movement Market Collective
Ground UP Dance Festival is Kingston’s first annual festival for professional dance. The festival
provides a platform for community building through movement experimentation, collaboration, and
accessibility. Funding will support three layers of programming: mainstage performances at Lake
Ontario Park; second stage programming at the Baby Grand Theatre; and community outreach,
educational engagements, and workshops facilitated by Movement Market.

Airwave YGK, $12,000
A project by CFRC 101.9FM
Airwave YGK supports local artists in experimenting with new ideas, collaborating, and performing
newly created work using CFRC’s studios and platforms. Airwave YGK includes paid 2 and 3-day
artist residencies for local musicians and artistic collaborators; an Artist in Residence Talkback
broadcast and podcast series; a creative and participatory workshop series; and a capstone live
venue performance.

Create 15, $8,240
A project by The Mess Studio
The Mess Studio provides opportunities to create art and build relationships, with a focus on
removing barriers to participation for those who experience physical and mental health
challenges, loneliness, and poverty. Create 15 is a celebration of building community with hands
and hearts for fifteen years; the project will feature fifteen months of art enhancing workshops by
emerging and professional artists in an inclusive and encouraging environment.

Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA), $12,000
A project by SpiderWebShow Performance
FOLDA broadens the discussion about digital performance aesthetics and poetics by presenting
artworks that epitomize innovation, risk and engagement. FOLDA includes two main activities: a
presentation series and the StartUp professional development and networking series. The StartUp
offers participants hands-on experience with emerging technologies, while workshops and artist
talks explore access, aesthetics, and digital technology.

Half Steps: Musicians and Mental Health, $11,250
A project by Céline Klein
Half Steps: Musicians and Mental Health is a short documentary featuring Kingston musicians
Savannah Shea and Ricky Brant. As each works toward an important achievement or pivotal
career moment, Half Steps follows the subjects to show how mental illness and musicianship can
correlate, intersect, and coincide. In an epilogue, Ricky and Savannah will meet in-studio to
converse and reflect on their personal journeys, and collaborate on a new original song.

Many Moons 2025 Programming, $11,250
A project by Many Moons Events
Many Moons Events is a collective that fosters safe and inclusive music events, creating
welcoming environments for diverse performers and community members. The project is a
concert series of eight events, each a curated and collaborative experience. The series will
include special showcases such as an Indigenous music night, a full day electronic festival, and
“Slow Dance,” the annual queer friendly fake prom featuring queer, trans, and nonbinary
performers and DJs.

Melos’ Light in the Dark II, $7,870
A project by Melos Choir & Period Instruments
Melos Choir & Period Instruments performs music from the 6th to the 18th centuries using
historically informed performance practices. Light in the Dark II highlights the theme of redemptive
light arising from the darkest season, contrasting Western and Eastern Christian, Sephardic
Jewish, Arabic (Muslim) and Persian music from the 4th to the 18th centuries. Songs will be
performed in Latin, French, Romanian, Armenian, Ladino, Arabic, and Farsi.

Providence: a site-specific theatre performance, $11,250
A project by Eye of the Dawn Collective
Providence: A site-specific theatre performance is a play centred around the K&P railway, set in
1875 the day before the railway opens. A cast of five presents a play about immigrants from
Ireland and Scotland who worked on the K&P Railway. The play will be staged on a short stretch
of the original K&P Railway tracks.

Senior’s Theatre Club, $6,150
A project by The Spire
The Seniors Theatre Club caters to the distinctive needs of older adults, providing them with an
avenue for both dramatic expression and social interaction. The initiative is driven by the primary
objectives of addressing social isolation, and facilitating and broadening creative expression
opportunities for seniors. The Seniors Theatre Club will include workshops, play rehearsals, and
theatrical productions.

Skeleton Park Arts Festival, $13,500
A project by Skeleton Park Arts Festival
Skeleton Park Arts Festival strives to bring together artists from a range of disciplines to present
unique and collaborative artistic experiences in a variety of alternative venues while helping to
increase community engagement and neighbourhood pride. The festival connects different
demographics and communities through a variety of free multi-arts programming that prioritizes
local artists in music, literature, dance, film, fine arts, craft, and theatre.

Ten Seasons of Love, $13,396
A project by Sistema Kingston
Ten Seasons of Love is the culminating concert marking the tenth season of Sistema Kingston.
Ten Seasons of Love offers a retrospective as well as a forward-looking community building event.
The event will include: group based creative songwriting projects with Gary Rasberry, a work
learned through workshops with an Indigenous Elder, performance numbers that bring together
two school groups, and performances that include and feature Sistema alumni.

Testify, $15,000
A project by Prison for Women Memorial Collective
Testify is a 40-minute documentary about the lives and experiences of formerly incarcerated
women who were imprisoned at the Prison for Women in Kingston, from the events leading to
incarceration, through incarceration and release, to their lives today. Testify is produced by the
Prison for Women Memorial Collective and directed by emerging Kingston-based Cree filmmaker
Dakota Ward. The documentary will be released on the 25th anniversary of the Prison for
Women’s closure and premiere at the Screening Room on Prisoners Justice Day with a panel
discussion.

The Dragon of Wantley, $7,000
A project by Kingston Baroque Consort
This project centres around the story told in the Baroque opera The Dragon of Wantley. A narrator
will tell the story while the Kingston Baroque Consort plays music from the 1737 comic opera. The
performance will be accompanied by original art created by Colton Fox projected above the
orchestra, depicting the major scenes of the story. Colton Fox will also lead a free Draw Your Own
Dragon workshop prior to the performance.

The Juvenis Festival, $13,500
A project by Blue Canoe Theatrical Productions
The Juvenis Festival is Blue Canoe’s annual multidisciplinary youth arts festival – one of the few
in the country – offering opportunities for youth to explore and grow artistic skills through free
participation in theatrical productions, events, and workshops. Juvenis will feature up to six
youth-led projects over two weeks, offering a variety of access points for artists aged 30 and
under of all backgrounds.

The Lost Birds, $9,870
A project by The Isabel Voices
The Lost Birds is a project by the vocal ensemble The Isabel Voices based around the themes of
climate change and environmental conservation. The project includes 3 elements: a concert
featuring a performance of The Lost Birds, a pre-concert talk and smaller interjections throughout
the performance by Dr. Claudia Holgate, and partnerships with local schools to develop an
environmental awareness campaign featuring poster presentations of endangered birds by grade
2 and 4 students.

White Pine Travels, $11,250
A project by Noah Scheinman
White Pine Travels is a temporary public artwork to be installed on the Broom Factory lands in
June 2025. The concept for the project is to design a mobile architectural pavilion that
accommodates film screenings, workshops, a party and a library, transforming the site into a hub
of collective activities which explore the interplay between forests, land use, art, and ecology.
CKAF funds will support the creation and presentation of the project in Kingston during a
week-long installation before it travels to Algonquin Provincial Park where it will decompose.

To view the Report from the Kingston Arts Council on the Adjudication of Applications to the 2024
City of Kingston Arts Fund, click here (pages 84-99).