Grassroots Youth Collaborative

DEADLINE TO APPLY IS NOVEMBER 5th, 2012 at 5PM. CLICK HERE to apply now!

PROJECT GOAL: To encourage participation by culturally diverse* artists in the Toronto Fringe Festival as a creative opportunity they may traditionally feel excluded from.

Fringe Festival participants are chosen by lottery and are required to self-produce their work.  Festival organizers can never interfere with the work on stage and 100% of box office revenue is returned to the artists.  This has meant that the Fringe Festival has become the most accessible arts opportunity for emerging and otherwise unsupported artists to tell their stories.  Nonetheless, systemic barriers have continued to exclude artists who self-identify as culturally diverse, as is clear from the participation trends we see at the festival every year.  CDAP is an attempt to begin a dialogue with this community of artists and encourage them to access the opportunities the Fringe makes available.

CDAP is only available to artists who self-identify as culturally diverse* artists and who reside in Ontario.

*As per the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council, culturally diverse includes individuals identifying as Aboriginal and people of colour. Aboriginal includes Métis, Inuit, Status and Non-Status. Person of Colour includes individuals of Asian, African, Aborigine, Caribbean, Latin American, and African descent etc., as well as mixed ethnicity.

Participants in CDAP receive the following:

·         Free participation in the festival (outside of $27.50 registration fee) – value $750

·         $1000 cash bursary to assist covering production costs

·         Networking opportunities with other CDAP participants to discuss shared resources and promotion strategies

·         A paid mentor, to be assigned on a case by case basis to address each participant’s needs

Participants are selected by lottery, and can apply in two categories:

·         Category 1: Self-identified culturally diverse Primary Contacts (see below for definition) applies for CDAP, but indicates that if they are not successful in the CDAP lottery, they would NOT like to be moved on to the main lottery

·         Category 2: Self-identified culturally diverse Primary Contacts applies for CDAP, and if not successful are then transferred to the main lottery – entrants selecting this option will be responsible for full participation fees ($750 incl. HST) if drawn in the regular lottery, and will not have access to the CDAP project.

The CDAP lottery will be drawn on Monday, November 26^th at the Fringe Creation Lab – this lottery will be live-streamed, along with the International and National categories.  Three participants will be drawn in the lottery.

For more information please visithttp://fringetoronto.com/artists/cdap/

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns cdap@fringetoronto.com or at call 416-966-1062.

“Primary Contact” is the individual responsible for the application to the lottery, and will be the sole contact for that company/production for Fringe Festival staff.  The “Primary Contact” must self-identify as culturally diverse to apply for CDAP, but as the Fringe cannot interfere with the artistic content of a production, no further qualifications apply