Culture Outaouais – Workshop 1: Supporting artistic practice: making my applications for calls to artists more successful

An initiative of artch in collaboration with Culture Outaouais

Trainers: two members of the artch team

Date: February 24, 2024 – 13h – 16h

Place: À La Dérive: 1015 rue Jacques-Cartier, Gatineau, Quebec

Presentation:

Responding to calls for submissions can be tedious and sometimes even discouraging; they represent many hours of invisible, unpaid work in an artist’s daily schedule. And yet, they are an essential link in the distribution chain, so it’s important to respond to and consider them. What are the best practices? What mistakes should be avoided?

This training course aims to provide artists with the knowledge and skills they need to approach calls for proposals with confidence and efficiency. By understanding selection logic, applying best practices and avoiding common mistakes, artists will be able to increase their chances of success and optimize their participation in opportunities to disseminate their work.

To help you better understand the logic behind institutional selection and build an effective application file, the artch team will host a two-part meeting: an initial exchange on best practices, followed by an open session for rereading and annotating the application file.

Participants are invited to bring a current or completed application (print or digital) to receive concrete feedback from the artch team.

General objective

Improve your application at every stage of your career.

Target skills and content

• Understanding selection logic: participants will learn to understand the criteria and expectations of institutions when selecting applications. They will develop an in-depth understanding of selection processes and the specific requirements of each call.
• Effective construction of an application file: artists will learn best practices for building a powerful and convincing application file. They will be guided on how to structure their dossier, select relevant works to present, write an impactful cover letter and present their artistic career in a coherent way.
• Identifying common mistakes: participants will learn about common mistakes to avoid when preparing an application. They will learn how to spot common mistakes, inconsistencies, missing information or misrepresentations, and how to rectify them to maximize their chances of success.
• Proofreading and annotation techniques: the artch team will guide participants through the exercise of proofreading and annotating application files. They will receive practical advice on how to analyze and comment on applications, focusing on strengths and weaknesses, areas for improvement and suggestions for optimizing the impact of the application..

Participants will have the opportunity to receive concrete, personalized feedback on their own application. They will be able to submit a current or completed application (printed or digital version) to obtain specific recommendations from the artch team, in order to improve the quality and relevance of their application.

Target customers

Professional and emerging artists from all disciplines.

The trainers: 

Sarah Kitzy Gineau Delyon
Director of artch, coach

With a master’s degree from the Sorbonne and validation as a tour guide specializing in contemporary art, Sarah knows how to write and talk about art. She worked for many years in Paris, in the cultural mediation department of the Palais de Tokyo and at the Laboratoire de la Création. A great lover of dance, she has also coordinated two editions of Juste Debout (international hip-hop dance meetings). After a year in Kuala Lumpur, where she worked in an art gallery, Sarah decided to settle in Montreal. A micro-collector, hyper-active and passionate, she is a true Swiss Army knife in the visual arts sector. Director of the Artch organization for almost 4 years now.

Margot Chambon
Project manager at artch

Margot Chambon is a Montreal-based photographer, curator and cultural worker. Among her work experience as a cultural mediator, artist agent, public program and development manager, and public relations and social media manager, Margot Chambon also has her own artistic practice dedicated primarily to portraiture. She currently works as project manager for Artch, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting emerging artists and making art accessible.

Culture Outaouais facilitates training participation for Outaouais artists and cultural workers who live more than 40 kilometers from the training location, by reimbursing transportation at the rate of $0.595/km.

Cost of registration

50 $ + taxes

A $1 service charge will be added when paying online.

Registration deadline: February 17.

Link to workshop box office:

https://billetterie.membri365.com/eventdetails?chamberid=4215e868-cd5c-4247-b070-ccd2fd613181&eventid=3d579df8-f62a-ee11-bdf4-000d3a09d855&lang=fr

Link to the Culture Outaouais website: