Saskatchewan Arts Board

The Explorations program was created in response to suggestions from artists and previous artist in residence grant recipients, who saw a need for a planning phase.  The Explorations grant ($7,500) provides funding for an interested community to hire an artist to assess needs and plan a residency program.  The Innovations program ($35,000) replaced the former artist in residence program.

An applicant may have an artist in mind, but not necessarily.

“Creative Partnerships” refers to a model where the program is seen as a partnership between the artist and the community. This replaces the old model where one interest group in a community “hired” an artist to deliver programs. The word “community” has been expanded to include communities within work places, institutions and learning environments, although it is important to note than the old meaning of community still stands as well.

We strongly encourage interested communities to apply for an Explorations grant as a precursor to applying to the Innovations program. However, a community might undertake its own planning process, in which case that process and the results should be described in the Innovations application.

Applicant eligibility has been expanded to include work places, businesses and institutions. For example, Mosaic Mine at Estevan has hosted an artist residency, as has the Regina Qu’Appelle Health District. School divisions are also eligible to apply for Creative Partnership grants. If you have a question about eligibility, you should call the Arts Board and talk to a consultant.

The old program evolved into the Creative Partnerships program as the result of several pilots conducted in recent years. The program is still an artist residency program but the vision for the program has grown and diversified.

The Creative Partnerships program is about cultural growth and development. When the applicant community creates a research question, it is articulating what it hopes to learn during the course of the grant program. That learning can then be applied in the community in its future planning.