The Manitoba Arts Council (MAC) offers a number of granting opportunities throughout the year. Each program is aimed at supporting distinct applicants and activities.
Before you apply to one of MAC’s programs, you should:
- read the program guidelines;
- review our General Guidelines;
- create a profile in the Online Application System.
Contact the Manitoba Arts Council if you need to learn more.
Create a profile
MAC now receives grant applications through our Online Application System. In order to apply, you will need to have a valid profile in the Online Application System.
To submit your profile:
- select “register” on MAC’s Online Application System and provide the appropriate information;
- log into the Online Application System once you have received your confirmation email;
- upload additional documents (e.g. artistic resume or curriculum vitae).
Make sure to keep a record of the email address and the password that you used. Anytime you want to log into your account, you will need this information.
If you are submitting a profile as an individual artist, your professional resume or curriculum vitae will be required. It must clearly show that you meet the profile’s eligibility criteria and will be used to approve your profile.
Groups will need to provide the resumes or curricula vitae of key group members.
Organizations will need to provide a brief history.
Approval of your profile
Before you can apply to programs, your profile must be approved by MAC using the applicant eligibility criteria.
You can expect to hear back within 5-10 business days.
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Preparing your application
When your profile has been approved, your account’s home page will indicate which granting programs you are eligible to apply to.
At this point, you may begin a draft of your application and prepare the required documents. While preparing your application in the Online Application System, you can save your progress and return to your application at a later time.
Typically, your application will ask for a description of your project, a budget, examples of your artistic work, and information on the people you are working with. It is a good idea to review the application form beforehand so you can collect all this information and update any documents you need to submit.
Where an application is submitted in French, MAC will engage a bilingual assessor who is familiar with the discipline. Portions of applications in French will also be translated into English for use in the assessment process, in addition to being provided in the original language. The artistic sample provided is not translated.
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Tips for your application
- Preview the application well in advance of any deadlines.
- You may wish to prepare your long answers in a word-processing program. You could then cut and paste the content into the application form.
- Test your support material before you submit it, to ensure that it is formatted correctly.
- Keep in mind the assessment criteria as you develop your answers.
- Include hard facts to demonstrate the potential impact of your proposed activities.
- Check your application for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
- Provide relevant background information – don’t presume that the peer assessment committee is familiar with your work or the nature and terminology of your field of practice.
- Don’t assume that the peer assessment committee can “read between the lines” or guess at what you’re trying to say.
- Show that your project is well thought-out and can be carried out as planned.
- Be concise and to the point.
- Don’t write lengthy, vague, or general statements about your project.
- Ask someone who has not read your application to read it and give you constructive criticism.
- Consultants are available to review parts of your application. Please get in touch with the program consultant responsible for your program well in advance of submitting your application. We suggest at least one month prior to the application deadline as an appropriate time.
Submitting your application
Once you are satisfied with your application, submit it through the Online Application System any time before 11:59 PM CST on the day of the application deadline.
You will be notified by email that your application was received shortly after you submit it.
Assessment
Your application will be assessed by a panel composed of fellow artists and arts professionals. They will use the assessment criteria established for each program to make their decisions. Every effort is made to ensure that applications are assessed fairly. MAC accepts the decisions of the panel as final.
To learn more, read about our peer assessment process.
Hearing back from MAC
After a decision is reached on your application, you will receive an email notification. MAC does not release results by phone.
Applicants are normally advised of the results within 12 weeks of the application deadline.
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If You Do Not Receive a Grant
Please remember that it is a competitive process and that budgets are limited.
If your application isn’t successful, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your work lacks merit.
You may ask for feedback from the consultant responsible for the program to which you applied. Reassess your application in light of the feedback and consider whether you should submit this project again, or submit a different project.
TopIf You Do Receive a Grant
Funding Agreement
If your application is successful, you are required to log into your account and complete the funding agreement found in the “Requires Attention” section of the homepage.
You can expect to receive the funding within 15 business days of submitting your funding agreement.
Changes
You must contact us immediately if you decide to make changes to your proposed activities (e.g. changes in the activity budget, to key artistic personnel or to the start or end date).
MAC must approve any substantial changes to a project. If the project is significantly changed without approval, MAC reserves
the right to rescind the grant.
Public Notice
Successful applicants and the amount of their grants are made public through MAC’s website and its Grants Listing, a yearly report that is published with the MAC’s Annual Report.
The names of assessors are published once a year in MAC’s Grants Listing. However, the assessment panel in which they participated is confidential and will not be published.
Acknowledging MAC support
You must acknowledge the support of the MAC in all promotional material associated with the grant. To learn more, see Logos and acknowledgment.
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Project grants (individuals, groups, and organizations)
Reporting on your project
In most programs, successful applicants are required to submit a final report within 18 months of being awarded. To complete a report, log into MAC’s Online Application System and click on the report form in the ‘Requires attention’ section. Report forms will become available as soon as your funding agreement is processed.
The report must include a written component and the final budget of the project.
Applicants with overdue final reports will be unable to submit further applications. Full details on reporting requirements are outlined in your funding agreement.
Taxes
For taxation purposes, T4A forms will be issued to individuals for amounts received over $500. When grants are awarded to groups or ensembles and the cheque is issued to the name of an individual, a T4A form will be issued to the named individual.
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Operating grants (organizations)
Canadian Arts Data / Données sur les arts au Canada
Canadian Arts Data / Données sur les arts au Canada (CADAC) collects, disseminates and analyses financial and statistical information about Canadian arts organizations. As a Support – Operate grant recipient, you are required to complete the “CADAC Financial Form for Arts Organizations” and the “CADAC Statistical Form for Arts Organizations”. Publishers receiving Support – Operate grants are required to complete MAC form requesting financial and statistical data.
Reporting
You must provide all reports that are required as part of the terms and conditions of the grant.
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