Did the city underestimate the response to its special anniversary grants?

Dozens of groups have been shut out of the City of Vancouver’s 125th Anniversary Grants, which go before council Thursday (May 19) for approval.

Out of the 217 applications for grants received, only 70 are being recommended for approval; 17 out of 65 large-scale applications, and 53 out of 152 small-scale applications. A total of $547,000 is to be dispensed, a far cry from the $3 million requested. The report notes that “the volume of applications led to an extremely competitive process, and with finite resources not all requests are being recommended for support.”

Among the groups turned down for large-scale grants are the Alliance for Arts & Culture, which requested $20,000 for Culture Days; the Dragon Boast Festival, which requested $60,000 for a project titled “It’s all About the Dragons”; the Olio Festival Society, which requested $50,000 for Olio Festival 2011; Touchstone Theatre Society, which requested $20,00 for “125 Short Plays About Vancouver”; Public Dreams Society’s requests for $20,000 for Illuminares 2011 and $40,000 for “Vancouver community Bridge 125: Burrard Bridge Celebration”; and the Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration Society, which requested $65,000 for “India Summer”.

Those that are being recommended for large-scale grants, which top out at $20,000, include the Firehall Theatre Society, which is set to be awarded $11,000 (the request was for $22,000) for “Peace & War—dialogues, exhibition and the production of VIMY”; the Turning Point Ensemble, which is set to receive $20,000 of a $35,000 request for “Vancouver Snapshots 125”; and the Canadian Music Centre, which is set to received $20,000 of a $30,000 request for “10x10x10: ten choreographers, ten composers, ten minutes”.

Among the groups turned down for small-scale grants are Boca Del Lupo Theatre Society, which requested $10,000 for “The Anderson Street Space: Micro Theatre Performance Series”; the Chinese Canadian Pacific Intercultural Training Society, which requested $7,500 for “The Spirit of Foods: 125 years of Chinese recipes in Vancouver”; the Italian Cultural Centre Society, which requested $10,000 for Italian Heritage Month; and the Powell Street Festival Society, which requested $5,000 for “Given Time, Given Space”.

Those recommended for small-scale grants, the largest being $10,000, include the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop Society, set to receive $7,500 of a $10,000 request for “Hapa-palooza; A Vancouver Celebration of Mixed-Roots Arts & Ideas”; the Carnegie Community Centre Association, set to receive $4,000 of a $10,000 grant for “Tracing Cultural Journeys through the DTES”; Emily Carr University of Art and Design Alumni Association, set to receive $4,000 of a $10,000 request for “Creative Content”; International Arts Initiatives Association, which is set to receive the full $10,000 grant it requested for “Beat Nation Live”; and the Word on the Street Festival, which is set to receive $8,000 of a $10,000 request for the 2011 Word on the Street Festival.

A full list of applicants and grants, as well as evaluation criteria, is available in this city staff report.