Re-imagine: Cultural and Creative Solutions

Applications are now closed

Amount: Up to $50,000

Applications open: Tuesday 24 November 2020

Applications close: Tuesday 23 February 2021 (5:00pm AEDT)

Please note: Closing time in WA is 2pm AWDT

Notification:

• Stage 1 shortlisted applicants: mid-March 2021
• Stage 2 successful applicants: mid-April 2021.

Duration: Initiatives must start after 1 May 2021 and must be completed by 30 June 2022.

About Cultural and Creative Solutions

The Cultural and Creative Solutions stream supports artists and organisations to re-imagine practice and operations in light of COVID-19 impacts.

This funding stream will invest in ideas and opportunities that create cultural equity, social inclusion and sustainable business models and careers for artists and cultural and creative workers.

What you can apply for

• Action research – undertaking research, producing knowledge, sharing information, critical reflection.
• Transformation models – exploring new ways of doing business, producing, presenting or reaching audiences.
• Market development – gathering and sharing market intelligence, peer-to-peer exchange, partnerships and collaboration, expanding audiences and networks.
• Future proofing – re-imagining future practice and operations.
• Collaborations – building future pathways and ways of working.

What you cannot apply for

• Projects or activities that do not involve or benefit practising artists, cultural and creative workers, organisations, audiences and communities or the cultural and creative industries.
• Projects or activities that have already taken place.

Who can apply

• Individuals, groups or organisations working within the cultural and creative industries.
• Applicants must be an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident.

We strongly encourage applications from diverse artists and organisations including people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with disability, people who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing, and people living in regional and remote areas.

You cannot apply if you:

• received a grant from the Australia Council in the past that has not been satisfactorily acquitted
• owe money to the Australia Council
• receive over $500,000 in multi-year funding annually from the Australia Council, however eligible applicants can partner with you on an application
• are a non-arts individual, group or organisation, however eligible applicants can partner with you on an application
• are an individual, group or organisation based outside of Australia, however eligible applicants can partner with you on an application.

Sharing your outcomes

If you are successful, you will need to document your outcomes, sharing the lessons you learned and tools you developed. If applying to this funding stream, you acknowledge that this is a core acquittal requirement.

If your application is successful, you grant the Australia Council a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive licence to the acquittal documentation you submit. This is so we can develop shared resources for Australia’s cultural and creative industries.

Assessment

Australia Council staff will review applications against the assessment criteria. We may seek advice from industry advisors to support our deliberations.

Assessment will occur in two stages:

• Stage 1: Eligible applications will be reviewed against the assessment criteria and shortlisted for Stage 2.
• Stage 2: Shortlisted applicants will be invited to pitch their initiative to a panel.

In shortlisting applicants and allocating funding, we will moderate decisions to consider equity by geography, creative practice, cultural background and ability.

Assessment criteria

We will assess applications against three criteria:

1.  Viability
We will consider:

• the relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity
• the skills and abilities of those involved, and their relevance to the activity
• realistic and achievable planning and resource use, including contingency planning
• appropriate payments to participating artists, creative professionals, collaborators or participants
• measures being applied to ensure safety and wellbeing of people involved in the project
• measures applied to ensure the proposed activity is accessible
• adherence to relevant cultural protocols
• evidence of appropriate consultation with participants, audiences or communities
• the role of partners or collaborators, including confirmation of involvement
• the diversity and scale of income and co-funding, including earned income, grants, sponsorship and in-kind contributions.

2.  Impact

We will consider:

• the contribution of the activity towards re-imagining a future for the cultural and creative industries
• the extent to which the activity contributes to a sector that is accessible, inclusive and equitable
• the impact of the activity on the intended beneficiaries in the short and medium term
• the impact of the activity on the intended beneficiaries and/or the cultural and creative industries in the long term.

3.  Strategic focus

We will consider how your proposal delivers against one or more of the following strategic priorities:

• Equity and justice – structural transformation that contributes to cultural equity, embedded accessibility, social inclusion and sustainability
• Mobility and exchange – building and activating local, national and international networks for the future
• Resilience – ensuring a sustainable and healthy creative economy that can weather future disruptions
• Health and wellbeing – promoting and nurturing health and wellbeing of artists, communities, cultural practitioners and organisations, and climate responsibility
• Leadership – nurturing the next generation of creative and cultural leaders ensuring diversity and self-determination
• Digital – skills and capability building, and creation, sharing and dissemination of arts and culture.

How to apply

Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button at the top of this page. Applications must be submitted via the Australia Council’s online Application Management System (AMS).You will need to register for access to the AMS, instructions for how to do this can be found on the landing page once you have clicked on the ‘Apply Now’ button.

Important: Make sure you register well before the closing date. It can take up to two business days to process your registration.

Please refer to our Making a grant application page for further information.

Application form

The information asked for in the application form includes:

• the title of your project
• a brief biography of the artist or group applying
• an outline of your project and what you want to do
• an outline of the impact of your project
• a timetable or itinerary for your activities
• a projected budget which details the expenses, income and in-kind support for the project
• support material relevant to your project, including a creative example, biographies of collaborators, and letters of support from participants or communities.

Format of application

We will accept applications in written format, audio and video format, (including Auslan).  If you are submitting a video or audio application please follow the order of questions in the application form, as closely as possible.

Video and audio applications must not be longer than six minutes. Please submit your application video or audio as part of the support material and note in the application form “refer to application video/audio.”

If you are submitting a video or audio application, you can still submit an additional video or audio file as part of your support material.

Support material

You can submit two types of support material with your application.

We strongly recommend you link to existing, accessible examples of your work – there is no need to create new content for this application as this will not form part of the assessment.

1. Evidence of your practice

Provide recent examples of your creative work or services relevant to the activity you are seeking funding for. This could include, but is not limited to:

• a link to examples of your work that may include one video or audio URL with a maximum length of 10 minutes, up to 10 images or 5 pages of written material
• a link to your website.

2. Letters of support

Individuals, groups or organisations can write letters of support for your activity if appropriate. These letters should explain:

• how the activity will impact the intended beneficiaries
• if relevant to your proposed activity, how appropriate cultural protocols have been or will be observed and permissions obtained
• industry support for your practice and your proposed activity.

You can include up to three letters of support, each no longer than one A4 page. Where possible, combine your letters into a single document or link.

If you have three or more partners for the Industry Collaborations stream, we will accept up to six letters of support.

Our preferred way of receiving support material is via URLs (web links).

If you cannot provide URLs, you can attach up to three documents to your application in either PDF or Word formats. We do not accept support material submitted via post.