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Deadline: May 13, 2026
Program Summary:
Arts-based community development (A-BCD) is a practice that uses the arts as a tool for social change, community engagement, and empowerment. It involves professional artists working collaboratively with communities to create new artwork, foster dialogue, and address social issues through creative expression.
There are two grant programs you may apply to with one application:
- BC Arts Council’s Arts-Based Community Development Program Â
- The Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation’s LTK Award ProgramÂ
Grants are available to support a specific project.
Projects must follow these arts-based community development (A-BCD) principles:
- Art is an effective mechanism for individual, community, and societal transformation and can be a less polarizing path towards social change.
- The act of collective art making can foster deeper connections among the participants and their community, creating opportunities for individual or societal transformation.
- A-BCD is a respectful, collaborative process where professional artists work as a catalyst or facilitator to engage a specified community in the collective creation of artwork in various disciplines.
- Community participants are equal collaborators, involved at every level, including in the development of the creative ideas and in the creation and presentation of the artwork. The quality of the A-BCD processes used to create the work are as important as the project outcome.
- Participating in collective creation is a powerful act of civic involvement.
The Arts-Based Community Development program and the LTK Award each have different eligibility requirements. See below.
About Arts-Based Community Development (A-BCD):
The Arts-Based Community Development (A-BCD) program provides support in two categories:
Category 1: New Work by Community Participants:
Projects in this category must deliver a project that provides arts-based community development impacts and benefits to a specified community or communities.
Applications for New Work by Community Participants projects:
- Have a professional artist (or artists) act as a facilitator to support the collective creation and presentation of new artwork by the community members.
- Have participants actively collaborating in development of the ideas and making of the artwork.
- Publicly present the artwork created by the community participants.
- Clearly describe the A-BCD principles that will be used by the artist(s) and the community participants in developing the ideas and the artwork.
- Demonstrate the advancement of community aspirations, transformation, and ownership of cultural projects.
- Demonstrate effective community participation in the creative process, direction and management of the project.
- May recognize the long-term commitment required of community-engaged practice by allowing projects to be presented in single iterations or in phases over a maximum of three years.
Category 2: Training for A-BCD Practitioners:
Projects in this category must provide training or mentoring for artists or social service and community workers to understand and learn about how to create and safely implement or facilitate arts-based community development projects.
Training for A-BCD Practitioners projects:
- Focus on training and skills development for artists or social-service and community workers to be able to create and conduct arts-based community development activities or projects.
- Create opportunities for experienced arts-based community development practitioners to demonstrate ways of knowledge sharing, including training or mentoring artists or social service and community workers in safe and effective approaches to arts-based community development.
- Enhances the capacity of artists to integrate A-BCD approaches into their practice and develop leadership skills to initiate collective art projects that support community transformation or social change.
- Improves access to information about arts-based community development practice.
- Improves skills and capacity among participants to contribute to future A-BCD projects, activities and discourse.
- May also involve Category 1 activities, but a significant focus of the project must be training and learning activities for A-BCD practitioner(s), taking place under supervision and mentorship of experienced A-BCD project leads.
About the Leon and Thea Koerner Award (LTK Award):
Leon and Thea Koerner Awards (LTK Award) are grants provided by the Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation through a partnership with the BC Arts Council. The LTK Award is given to up to 5 organizations that are recognized for achieving social benefit through excellence and innovation, creating projects that lead to social change or transformation. This aligns with the principles of arts-based community development.
Grant Amount:
Maximum A-BCD grant amount: $25,000; LTK Award minimum grant amount: $25,000
Eligible Applicants:
Before you begin your application, make sure you are eligible and your proposed project is eligible. Ineligible applications will not be forwarded for assessment. If you have questions about eligibility, contact a Program Advisor.
Organization Eligibility:
To be eligible to apply to both programs, an organization must be:
- A professional arts organization or a community arts organization working in collaboration with a specified community. The organization must be registered and in good standing as a non-profit society or community service co-op in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application.
OR
- An Indigenous (First Nations, MĂ©tis, Inuit) community organization registered and in good standing as a non-profit society or community service co-op in B.C. for at least one fiscal year prior to application with.  Â
OR
- An Indigenous (First Nations, MĂ©tis, Inuit) government in B.C. that offers regular arts and culture activities.Â
OR
- Be a community organization whose focus is not arts and culture, working with a professional artist, in collaboration with a specified community. Â