Call for Submissions: Fresh Ground new works, Harbourfront Centre

Harbourfront Centre is Canada’s leading centre for contemporary culture, with a history spanning over thirty years, and a well-earned international reputation as a non-profit centre for arts and culture nurturing innovation, exploration and artistic expression in the areas of theatre, dance, literature, music, film, visual arts, new media, fine craft, community arts and diverse cultural representation and celebration. A key component of Harbourfront Centre’s mandate has been to champion the creation of new artistic works, providing a platform for innovation, creation and excellence.
Recognizing that some of the most creative and fascinating work being produced across the country today is the result of artists working in different ways and through non-traditional collaborations, as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations in 2004, we launched an exciting legacy programme entitled Fresh Ground new works: funding which aims to be the catalyst for new, collaborative artistic creations incorporating more than one discipline or field, to be presented or installed here at Harbourfront. With the generous support of several individual donors and the Imperial Tobacco Canada Arts Fund, Harbourfront Centre has committed $200,000 toward the creation of a total of ten new, collaborative, multi-disciplinary, Canadian works to date.
This year, Harbourfront Centre is pleased to issue the third Call for Submissions for Fresh Ground new works. Thanks once again to the support of our donors and the Imperial Tobacco Canada Arts Fund, a maximum of five separate projects will be selected to receive $20,000 each toward their creation and presentation during Harbourfront Centre’s 2009/2010 season.
A maximum of $20,000 each will be awarded to up to five separate projects which successfully fulfill the criteria of a new, collaborative artistic creation incorporating more than one discipline or field. The work must be original, never before presented or performed, and ready for presentation or installation at Harbourfront Centre between April 2009 and May 2010.
The applicant shall:

• be a working professional artist defined as:
• an individual who has completed specialized training in his or her artistic field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
• who is recognized as such by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition)
• who is committed to artistic activity, and
• who has a history of public presentation
• be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant to Canada
• take on the role of Project Lead and represent the collaborating team by completing the online application and submitting a Letter of Intent

The project shall:

• be a new artistic creation never before presented or performed
• involve more than one discipline or field (artistic or otherwise)
• include participants working in different disciplines or fields
• be ready for installation or presentation at Harbourfront Centre between April 2009 and May 2010

Proposals will be evaluated on:

• the innovative nature of the collaboration
• the depth of the project’s engagement with the audience and/or the public
• the relevance of the project to Harbourfront Centre’s artistic mandate and site
• the achievability of the project by the collaborators
• the feasibility of the project’s implementation within the proposed budget

How to Submit a Proposal
Project Leads must submit a Letter of Intent briefly but clearly outlining the artistic statement and core concept of the project, describing how the project will be realized, and including a brief introduction to each collaborator and their contribution. The Letter of Intent shall be a maximum of two single-spaced typed pages, pasted as text into the field provided in the online application form.

Submission Deadline

Applications received after 5:00pm EST on Friday April 18, 2008 will not be eligible.
Acknowledgement confirming the date and time of receipt will be sent automatically by return email.
All applications will be reviewed by a selection committee from Harbourfront Centre’s Public Programmes division. Short-listed applicants will be invited to submit a more detailed proposal in Stage Two of the adjudication process; these applicants will be notified by Monday June 2, 2008. If we have not contacted you by this date, you have not been short-listed.
For more information on the first five projects commissioned through Fresh Ground new works, on the Fresh Ground new works projects being presented this season at Harbourfront Centre, and guidelines on applying for funding from Fresh Ground new works, Harbourfront Centre’s national commissioning programme, please visit www.harbourfrontcentre.com/freshground

Harbourfront Centre 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto, Canada M5J 2G8 | 416.973.4000
www.harbourfrontcentre.com