May 1, 2025 deadline
General Expert Panel comments
Comments made by the panel during the assessment of applications are outlined below. Please note these comments provide a summary of the panel’s assessment and do not necessarily relate to every unsuccessful application submitted to this deadline. The panel does not provide individual comments.
Panelists prioritized funding for projects where schools demonstrated the following:
- Collaboration between the school and the artists showed clear staff involvement, artist expectations, and mutually beneficial responsibilities and learning;
- Activities acknowledged appropriate and respectful cultural representations when they were a part of a project;
- Connections to the school's experience, Alberta curriculum objectives, and learning outcomes;
- Creative themes were clearly outlined and reflected a strong artistic vision;
- How projects addressed barriers specific to school communities through the arts, i.e. access to arts opportunities, lack of arts specialists on staff, lack of budget, socioeconomic factors, and barriers that make it difficult for their students to experience the arts outside of the residency project;
- Students would be involved in all aspects of the artistic and creative experience/process/skills, would be given a creative voice, and would be meaningfully engaged during the residency;
- Proposals were tailored specifically to address the unique benefits to the individual school and its students, specific to each grade and how the artist differentiated each grade; and
- An inclusive plan where all students actively participate in the project.
Future applicants can strengthen their submissions by:
- Providing specific resumes/bios of the artist instructors, so panelists can assess suitability for the proposed project:
- Rather than providing general company resumes, identify who the individual artists are;
- Prioritizing student learning, skill development, meaningful engagement, and collaborative creative processes, while integrating artistic practices in ways that support both educational outcomes and community expression;
- When projects centre on including ethnocultural and/or historical explorations, ensuring that "care" is being put into the activities so they are not culturally appropriate and do not reinforce harmful stereotypes or behaviour;
- Demonstrating appropriate representation amongst residency leaders and instructors;
- Describing how projects are including and engaging appropriate cultural advisors and/or knowledge keepers and/or Elders;
- Ensuring proposals are clear, readable, and have been proofread to correct any typos; grammatical errors, and inconsistent formats; and
- Writing a customized project description rather than relying on cut-and-paste information from the artist or organization leading the residency.