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Deadline: May 27, 2026
Program Summary:
Individual Arts Grants: Performing Artists supports established B.C.-based performing artists, playwrights, producers, and arts and culture practitioners in the development, production, performance, or creation of new or unique performing arts works. BC Arts Council grant programs support a wide variety of practices within the performing arts, including:
- Dance (performance, choreography)
- Music (audio or sound art, composition, conducting, music production, performance for instruments or voice)
- Theatre (acting, applied theatre, design, devising, directing, musical theatre, playwriting, production and stage management, technical direction)
- Multidisciplinary/Other performing arts practices (interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary, comedy, circus, storytelling, clown)
Multidisciplinary projects and activities involve multiple art forms, or blend disciplines together to create one piece of work. No single art form should encapsulate the majority of the work.
Independent presenters may apply for projects that include organizing, programming, producing, or presenting live performances, either independently or in collaboration with other performing artists. Collaborative projects that involve two or more artists sharing creative control should be submitted by a single applicant that meets the eligibility for the program, as listed below.
Collaborating artists are not required to meet all eligibility criteria but must include a resume, CV and/or biography. Playwrights who were previously able to apply to Individual Arts Grants: Creative Writers are now eligible through this program. All drama-related projects, including playwrighting, workshops, and play development, are now funded exclusively through this program.
Individual Arts Grants: Professional Performing Artists support initiatives in the development, creation, production, realization, dissemination, or live performance of classical, experimental, original, traditional, and contemporary performing art forms from all world cultures. Performing arts includes dance, music, theatre, multidisciplinary, or other performing arts practices such as circus arts and comedy.
Playwrights who were previously able to apply to Individual Arts Grants: Creative Writers are now eligible through this program. All drama-related projects, including playwrighting, workshops, and play development, are now funded exclusively through this program.
What you can apply for:
Ineligible applications will not be forwarded for assessment. This grant program provides one-time funding for specific projects or activities led by an individual.
Projects can include activities that span multiple phases of the creative process, such as:
- Creation of new work (early drafts, research, composition, creation-based residencies)
- Project development (workshopping, presentations-in-development, collaborations, stage readings, talkbacks)
- Presentation (live performance, world premieres, full productions, post-production, self-produced tours)
Examples of eligible projects:
- A musician composing their own work and hiring additional artists to collaborate.
- A dancer commissioning a choreographer and musician to create an original work.
- A playwright working on an early draft of a play, alongside a dramaturge.
- A theatre artist workshopping a solo show and holding a stage reading with audience feedback.
- An artist leading a collaborative, multidisciplinary piece, and workshopping the movement and spacing of the work-in-progress.
- A comedian embarking on a self-produced comedy tour.
- An independent producer hosting a live cabaret of local and touring musicians
Grant Amount:
Maximum grant amount is $25,000.
You may request a grant for up to 100% of the total eligible expenses.
For those applying for subsistence costs, you may request up to a maximum of $15,000 for subsistence related expenses.
Eligible Applicants:
To be eligible, you must:
- Be an independent artist committed to working full-time within the performing arts when financially possible.
- Demonstrate you are an established performing artist or arts and culture practitioner in a CV or resume, by having:
- Completed appropriate and relevant training in your field of practice. Training may include post-secondary institutions, traditional knowledge transfer, or a series of professional level workshops or apprenticeships with a qualified practitioner or mentor.
- Worked at a level that is recognized as professional by other practitioners in a similar field or by organizations in the artistic practice.
- Have a minimum of two years of actively working in your field after completing basic training, with at least two public presentations for which you have been paid a professional fee, as outlined in the discipline-specific criteria outlined below:
- Theatre Artists: A minimum of two public presentations for which you have directed, or been contracted, presented, or held creative control on and for which you have been paid professional fees.
- Playwrights: a minimum of two short works or one full-length work professionally produced, published, or publicly workshopped, and for which you have been paid professional fees.
- Music Artists: A minimum of two public presentations in any music genre for which you have composed, or been contracted, presented, or held creative control on and for which you have been paid professional fees.
- Dance Artists and Choreographers: A minimum of two public presentations in any dance genre for which you have choreographed, or been contracted, presented, or held creative control on and for which you have been paid professional fees.
- Multi- and Interdisciplinary Performing Artists: A minimum of two public presentations that integrates multiple fields of practice, for which you have been contracted, presented, or held creative control on and for which you have been paid professional fees.
- Other Performing Artists: (i.e.: Comedy or Circus Arts) A minimum of two public presentations for which you have been contracted, presented, or held creative control on and for which you have been paid professional fees.
- D/deaf, Disability and Mad Arts: A minimum of two public presentations across any performing arts practice for which you have received professional fees.
- Community-Engaged Performing Artists: Lead or facilitated two participatory performing arts projects in a community setting or learning environment for which you have received professional fees.
OR
- For Indigenous applicants who do not meet the above criteria: Have previously received at least one grant to assist with the creation of work through the First Peoples’ Cultural Council arts program.
Culturally specific practices where compensation is not traditional may still be eligible. Contact a Program Advisor to discuss prior to applying.