By providing grants for projects, our goal is to encourage art that fosters the ideals of the Burning Man community. We encourage artists working in experimental, emerging, cross-disciplinary, and traditional categories to apply. The intention is to enable artists to display their art and add to the collective, participatory spirit in the community and at Burning Man GVIAS events.

• Grant Categories:
  • Main Grants – Up to $2000 
    • Includes both new and refurbishment art projects
    • Transportation can be up to $300 max of art project budget
    • Artist should use this form even if they just want to apply for transport funds
    • Round 2 includes funds for micro art projects and Kids art projects (<$150)
  • Sound Stage Grant – Up to $2000 
    • Transportation can be up to $300 max of grant budget
    • Only sound stages that are approved by the BITF 2023 Production Team will be juried for a grant – ensure you apply as a Sound Stage through BITF Website
• Grant Rounds

Applications will be open in 2 rounds. Only Round 1 applications will qualify for Directed Tickets

• Round 1: Now – May 1
• Round 2: May 2 – June 2 *confirmation we have some remaining funds for Round2

Notes:

• We will NOT accept applications after 11:59pm of each end of grant round
• Applying to be juried in the first round will increase likelihood of being awarded money for an art project, we will not guarantee any remaining funds for the 2nd round of jurying (with the exception of Micro/kids)!!!
• Contractual Obligations/Requirements
  • New in 2023: Artists will be provided 100% funds up front and are no longer required to submit receipts
  • All grants will be required to submit proof of completion (photos of project at BITF) on or by October 14th to [email protected] (see below “How will i get paid?”).
  • If proof of project is not received, artist will be deemed “Not in Compliance”. Refer to FAQ for details: https://gvias.org/grants/

Any individual artist, team of artists or established group (for teams of artists, please have one person submit an application for the group) may apply. Applicants must be a member of Greater Vancouver Interactive Art’s Society (GVIAS). Membership is free and can be obtained by applying through the GVIAS website at this link: https://gvias.org/gvias-membership/.

GVIAS Art Grants will cover the cost of the materials required to build your art project. Depending on the event budget, the number of art project applications, and whether your budget includes items that art grants do not fund (see FAQ), you may not be awarded the full sum of the grant application that you submit.

Your grant will NOT cover:

• Fixed assets totalling 50% or more of your total project budget (e.g. a drill, speaker, generator, shade structure, pre-made decor items, deep cycle battery)
• Consumable (e.g. food, alcohol, stickers or other project swag, batteries)
• Labour costs

Transportation funds are designed to assist artists with the cost of transportation of art projects to/from GVIAS events.

Transportation funds are a max of $300 per project and will cover:

• Gas
• Rental trailer/vehicle required for transport

We normally have 3 categories for judging applications:

1. Interactivity: Does this art invite play? Does this art engage participants to interact with or directly influence it? Does this art encourage participant interaction with one another?
   
   
2. Artistic Excellence: How “Wow!” is the idea? Is it memorable? Is it an original idea? Would participants seek out this project? Does this project excite participants?
   
   
3. Delivery Plan: Is your budget clear? Is your schedule, build plan, crew size, and assembly/teardown plan sensible? Have you considered the safety and placement of your art at the event? Can you deliver the project you’re proposing in the budget and time frame stated? Please note: Delivery Plan is a very important aspect of your application. We can’t fund it if we don’t understand what you’re doing or what you’re spending money on.

Successful applicants in the Main Round must sign a contract to receive their grant. 

New in 2023! 100% of the grant amount is paid upon signing the contract. 

The grants are paid out via email money transfer using the primary artists contact email.

Completion of the project includes : 

• Submit proof of completion (photo of project at BITF) and receipts no later than October 14th 2023.
• New in 2023! No receipt submission required.
• Artists who do not submit proof of project is not received, artist will be deemed “Not in Compliance”. Refer to FAQ for details: https://gvias.org/grants/

Simple. Complete our application form.

If successful, you will be sent a grant contract by email, instructions on how to sign will be included.

Our deadlines are firm. If you miss a deadline to submit an application you will have to wait until grants rounds reopen to apply. If you miss a deadline for submitting a contract you will forfeit your grant. If you miss the deadline for submitting receipts you will forfeit the remainder of your grant.

If you do not fulfill the obligations agreed to in your contract, GVIAS may find you “not in compliance” and refuse you funding in the future. This includes failing to show project at the event promised, or unable to submit receipts for my grant award.

Introduced in 2020.

Artists who are not in compliance with their contracts will be handled as follows:

• Artists who receive funding but do not deliver may be deemed as not compliant at the discretion of the Grant Committee
• If you are not compliant you WILL NOT be eligible for an Art Grant in the future until:
  • Your art is present at a GVIAS event
    OR
  • You pay back the funds to GVIAS that were awarded to you