The new Indigenous Artists and Cultural Carriers Micro-grant pilot program will support Yukon Indigenous artists and cultural carriers to enhance their artistic and cultural practices while also building capacity to create, develop, perform and export.
The fund has a rolling intake with a quick turnaround time for funding decisions. It is designed to be flexible and offers funding up to a maximum of $5,000. There will be a total amount of $50,000 available between January 1, 2023, and the end of March 2023, and a total of $150,000 available between April 1, 2023, and the end of March 2024.
An Indigenous Outreach Liaison position has also been established at the Department of Tourism and Culture to provide dedicated assistance to potential applicants. The position will also build awareness of this new fund and other Yukon and national funding programs available to Yukon Indigenous artists and cultural carriers.
The pilot fund is the result of a partnership between the Government of Yukon and the Canada Council for the Arts, announced during the Arctic Arts Summit in June 2022 to support the Yukon's emerging Indigenous artists and cultural carriers.
The Indigenous Artists and Cultural Carriers Micro-grant fills a gap in the current funding supports offered by the Yukon government. It supports the Yukon’s Indigenous artists and cultural carriers by increasing capacity, supporting outreach and engagement, and delivering new and more equitable access to funding. Supporting emerging as well as established Indigenous artists and cultural carriers not only inspires innovation and creativity, but it also celebrates the Yukon’s diversity and uniqueness, sharing who we are as a territory with the rest of the world.
Minister of Tourism and Culture and Economic Development Ranj Pillai
The micro-grants and related ongoing program funding support, which are being made available through the Canada Council for the Arts’ partnership with the Government of Yukon, are a positive step forward. It is our sincere hope that, in combination with future initiatives, the interests of Indigenous artists and cultural workers operating within the many diverse communities in the North are more appropriately and equitably served.
Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts Simon Brault
The Indigenous Artists and Cultural Carriers Micro-grant has two funding tiers:
- Tier 1: up to $1,500; and
- Tier 2: $1,501 to $5,000.
The fund is aimed at improving accessibility to funding for first-time and emergent artists, rural-residing and equity-deserving Indigenous populations.
The Canada Council for the Arts is providing the funding for the new program, which will be administered by the Arts unit at the Department of Tourism and Culture, with support from other Yukon government departments as required.
The creation of the fund and the new outreach position support action 1.1 in Creative Potential: Advancing the Yukon’s Creative and Cultural Industries strategy, which is to modernize funding supports and remove barriers to funding programs.
Renée Francoeur
Cabinet Communications
867-334-9194
renee.francoeur@yukon.ca
Alicia Debreceni
Communications, Tourism and Culture
867-332-3670
alicia.debreceni@yukon.ca