Vancouver City Council Approves Nearly $6 Million in Cultural Grants

Indian Summer Festival. | Image:

The following is excerpted from a communication issued by the City of Vancouver.

Vancouver City Council approved a total of $5.85 million in cultural grants to 195 organizations to support Vancouver-based organizations, projects and artists. The approved grants meet the City’s current goals to support artistic, cultural and creative work, and the many facets of the artistic community. The grants include funding to 14 new groups and help advance the City’s priorities to support breadth of diversity and cultural expression as well as sustainable growth in the sector.

"Investing in local groups is a key element to strengthening Vancouver's already thriving arts and culture scene," said Mayor Kennedy Stewart. "The grants approved by Council recognize the impact these diverse groups have—and will continue to have—on our city."

As part of Vancouver's ongoing investment in arts and culture, the grants support a range of cultural organizations and artistic disciplines:

• The Savage Society's Indigenous storytelling productions through theatre and animation

• The Cultch's world-class dynamic and inclusive presentations of theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts

• Vancouver Co-operative Radio's diverse programming in over 12 languages, artist residencies and training for media artists, and monthly cultural events

• The Powell Street Festival Society's annual free celebration of Japanese Canadian arts and culture

• Pride In Art Society's annual Queer Arts Festival and newly-opened SUM Gallery for queer art exhibitions and performances

• Kokoro Dance Theatre Society's productions and operations at KW Studios in the Downtown Eastside

• Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture's live music performances, literary events, visual art exhibitions, artist development workshops, public gatherings, and artist talks

Council also approved ongoing funding to five long-standing major cultural institutions in Vancouver:

• Vancouver Art Gallery

• Museum of Vancouver

• H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

• Vancouver Maritime Museum

• Science World

For a full list of grant recipients, click here.