City launches call for community advisory group to support review of arts fund

Calling all creative minds: help guide the City’s review of the City of Kingston Arts Fund (CKAF) by applying to be part of a community advisory group! The advisory group will consist of ten project champions who will become part of the CKAF review project team, providing insight and leadership on the community’s behalf.

The call for project champions, which closes on May 10, kicks off the public engagement phase of the CKAF review. Since 2007, the CKAF has provided a way for the City to invest in arts and culture and $9.4 million in grants have been distributed to the community. The review process will ensure the CKAF continues to support Kingston arts organizations, projects, artists and the wider community.

“The City of Kingston Arts Fund has played a key role in bolstering Kingston’s arts and culture sector,” says Danika Lochhead, Acting Director, Arts & Culture Services at the City of Kingston. “This in-depth review will be informed by direct feedback from the city’s many communities to ensure the fund meets their needs now and for years to come.”

The advisory group will be established through an adapted civic lottery process that uses baseline demographics for the City of Kingston from census data and Environics Analytics data. It prioritizes historically underrepresented perspectives to determine the number of people and identities to be included. An honorarium of $400 will be provided to each project champion in the community advisory group.

“Using an adapted civic lottery is a new tool for us to make sure the community advisory group represents diverse perspectives,” says Lochhead. “One of the goals of the CKAF review is to ensure municipal arts funding benefits a wide range of arts and cultural groups and residents, particularly those who have faced barriers to participation or access to funding, and the advisory group will help play a key role in achieving this.”

To support the CKAF review the City has contracted Saffy, a consulting firm of strategists working at the intersection of city-building, culture, design and research. The firm was selected following an invitational Request for Quotation in fall 2023. Saffy will lead and facilitate the consultation process along with the project champions and the City.

Applications for the adapted civic lottery are open until Friday, May 10 at 4 p.m. Interested applicants who require the application in an alternate format can contact us by email at ContactUs@CityofKingston.ca or by phone at 613-546-0000.

More information about the City of Kingston Arts Fund review, including project timelines, updates and future engagement opportunities can be found on Get Involved Kingston.