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The Kingston Arts Council (KAC) has announced the recipients of the 2025 City of Kingston Arts Fund (CKAF) grants. An annual fund administered by the KAC on behalf of the City of Kingston, CKAF provides Operating and Project Grants to local arts organizations, collectives, and individual artists to foster creativity at all levels and enrich how Kingston residents experience and engage with the arts, according to a release from the KAC. At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, Council unanimously approved the grant recommendations in alignment with the recently completed City-led CKAF Review and the 2025 CKAF Transition Plan, both approved by Council at its meeting on May 6, 2025, according to the Arts Council. City Council additionally approved the new CKAF Framework, which provides guidance and structure to the City’s investment of funding for arts organizations, collectives, and individual artists through the CKAF, which has been in place since 2007. The staff report, which includes the CKAF Framework and the grant recommendations, can be read in full here. 2025 Transition Plan According to the release, the 2025 Transition Plan detailed the distribution and administration of CKAF funding in 2025, in preparation for the implementation of broader changes to the CKAF in 2026 and beyond under the new CKAF Framework. KAC detailed that, in June 2025, as per the Transition Plan, operating grant funding was distributed to 11 arts organizations and project grants were distributed to four organizations delivering recurring festivals. The Transition Plan also required that there would be a low-barrier, open call for applications for arts projects, prioritizing funding for organizations, collectives, and artists who have not received a CKAF grant in the last two years. 2025 Project Grant Funding A grant application process was introduced in June 2025 for individual artists, collectives, and nonprofit organizations seeking CKAF Project Grant funding in 2025. According to the release, this streamlined application process aimed to eliminate administrative burdens, improve clarity, reduce barriers for potential applicants, and convey essential information in a succinct and accessible manner. To this end, application forms were condensed to six key questions focused on essential project details. By contrast, 2024 CKAF Project Grant applications consisted of 16 questions for new applicants and 20 questions for applicants with recurring projects, KAC stated. Applicants were invited to apply for up to $10,000 in funding for projects occurring between October 2025 and December 31, 2026. The CKAF 2025 Project Grants Jury reviewed a total of 35 eligible applications and awarded 17 Project Grants, for a total funding allocation of $118,045. This funding stream prioritized applicants who did not receive CKAF funding in the past two years, KAC outlined. The following details were provided in the release: 2025 Project Grant Recipients A New Beginning, $8,000 — A project by Deaf Spirit Theatre A Rift in the Valley, $5,245 — A project by GHY Cheung Airwave YGK Musicians-in-Residence Program, $7,500 — A project by CFRC 101.9FM Bilingual Capoeira Batizado e Troca de Cordas, $7,000 — A project by Afro-Brazilian Arts Festival Association Both Sides Now, $7,500 — A project by PeerLess Productions PASS it on – Project for Accessible Sewing Skills, $7,000 — A project by Breanne Johnson Get Sketchy: An Urban Sketch Carousel, $5,300 — A project by Sumera Khan Joy!, $7,000 — A project by Sistema Kingston Paper Pulse — Regeneration, $7,500 — A project by Emily Wu Kingston Pop Choir, $6,900 — A project by Steph Drouin K is for Kingston, K is for Katarokwi, $8,500 — A project by Jane Kirby Kingston Printmakers Collective, $7,500 — A project by Kingston School of Art Old Wine New Bottles – Early Music Inspiring Young Musicians, $7,000 — A project by Melos Choir & Period Instruments The Art of Visiting – National Indigenous Presenters Gathering, $7,000 — A project by Lodgepole Arts Alliance The Colours of Us: A Community Art Project on Connection, $7,000 — A project by Kingston Hidden Artist Collective Slow Dance 2026, $4,600 — A project by Slow Dance Wordlabs, $7,500 — A project by Kingston Literacy and Skills Project Grants Committee: Jurors: Haley Sarfeld Jabra Mitwasi Jarena Lee Ex-officio Grants Committee Members: Nicole Daniels, Executive Director, Kingston Arts Council B.C. Gorrie, Program & Communications Coordinator, Kingston Arts Council Shamara Peart, Program Administrator, Kingston Arts Council Danika Lochhead, Director, Arts and Culture Services, City of Kingston 2025 Project Grant Recipients: Recurring Festivals The CKAF 2025 Transition Plan additionally identified four organizations that receive CKAF Project Grants annually to support the delivery of recurring festivals. While not classified as operational support, the grants have, by default, functioned this way in practice. In order to ensure sustainability for these organizations during this transitional period, funding was allocated towards their 2026 festivals. A total of $60,000 was allocated to the following festivals, approved via the CKAF 2025 Transition Plan: Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA), $15,000 — Presented by SpiderWebShow Performance Ground UP Dance Festival, $15,000 — Presented by Ground UP Dance Festival Juvenis Festival, $15,000 — Presented by Blue Canoe Theatrical Productions Skeleton Park Arts Festival, $15,000 — Presented by Skeleton Park Arts Festival Full details on this year’s Project Grant recipients are available on the KAC website. 2025 Operating Grant Recipients 11 Operating Grant recipients were identified and approved for funding via the CKAF 2025 Transition Plan, for a total funding allocation of $434,745: Agnes Etherington Art Centre — $75,000 Cantabile Choirs of Kingston — $31,620 Centre culturel Frontenac — $14,229 Kingston Canadian Film Festival — $51,000 Kingston Symphony Association — $75,000 Kingston WritersFest — $45,710 Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre — $54,060 ReelOut Queer Film Festival — $24,480 Single Thread Theatre Company — $10,200 Theatre Kingston — $38,767 Union Gallery — $14,679
