The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) is a crown agency

Crown Agency

A crown agency was an administrative body of the British Empire, distinct from the Civil Service Commission of Great Britain or the government administration of the national entity in which it operated. These enterprises were overseen from 1833 to 1974 by the Office of the Crown Agents in London,...

 of the Government of Alberta. As the primary arts funding body in Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts helps to unleash the potential of every artist. The AFA plays a key role in supporting the Spirit of Alberta, Alberta’s Cultural Policy.

The AFA exists to fund, encourage, and support the development of art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

s as a valuable contributor to quality of life in Alberta, and to develop the AFA art collection as a strategic resource for all Albertans.

Background

Founded in 1991 under the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Act (AFA Act), the AFA’s mandate is to support and contribute to the development of the arts in Alberta. It replaced the Alberta Art Foundation, the Alberta Foundation for the Performing Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Literary Arts, and the arts and cultural industries grant programs of Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism. The AFA is governed by a Board of Directors.

The AFA reports annually to Alberta’s Minister of Culture and Community Spirit and supports the Ministry’s business plan

Business plan

A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals....

 through goals one and two. The AFA receives an annual allocation from the Alberta Lottery Fund, which it distributes through a variety of programs to artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

s and art organizations across Alberta.

Activities

GRANTING PROGRAMS

Grants are available by application to Albertan artists and art organizations. All AFA project grants

Grant (money)

Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...

 are awarded by independent juries whose members are selected from the Canadian arts community.

The granting programs are organized into the following three categories, with specific streams bulleted below:


I. Arts Organizations: Operational

• Community Support Organizations

• Provincial Arts Service Organizations

• Community Performing Arts Organizations

• Community Presenting

• Professional Performing Arts Organizations

• Public Galleries

• Arts Presenting

• Summer School

Summer school

Summer school is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, that teaches students during the summer vacation....

 Operations



II. Arts Organizations: Projects

• Aboriginal Arts Organizations

• Artists and Education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

• Arts Partnership

• Community Support Organizations

• Cultural Relations

• Designated Arts Organizations

• Post Secondary Institutions



III. Individual Artists: Projects

• Aboriginal Traditional Arts

• Cultural Relations

• Dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

• Film and Video Arts

• Literary Arts

• Music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

• Theatre and Performance Arts

• Visual Arts and New Media





AFA ART COLLECTION


The AFA art collection, established in 1972, is the only collection of its kind dedicated to showcasing the development of Alberta’s visual arts

Visual arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...

 achievements. Art maintenance and conservation ensures that the handling, preparation and preservation of artwork are conducted according to museum and archival standards, fulfilling the AFA’s legislated responsibility to preserve and maintain the art collection.

The collection contains over 7,500 works of art and is valued at over $10 million. More than 1,700 Alberta artists, many of whom are historically important individuals in the growth of the visual arts in Alberta, are represented in this collection.



TRAVELLING EXHIBITION PROGRAM


Since the program's introduction during Alberta's 75th Anniversary Celebrations in 1980, the AFA has supported a provincial Travelling Exhibition

Travelling exhibition

A travelling exhibition, also referred to as a "travelling exhibit" or a "touring exhibition", is a type of exhibition that is available for circulation to one or more venues in addition to the premises of the organiser....

 (TREX) program. The TREX program strives to ensure every Albertan is provided with an opportunity to enjoy a visual arts exhibition in their community. The TREX program allows exhibitions from the Alberta art collection to be hosted in communities throughout Alberta. Venues include public libraries, school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s, post-secondary institutions, hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

s and health care

Health care

Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...

 facilities, community halls and tourism centers. The TREX program also offers educational support material for educators to integrate visual arts into the school curriculum.


Four regional organizations now coordinate the program for the AFA:

• The Prairie Art Gallery, Grande Prairie

Grande Prairie, Alberta

Grande Prairie is a city in the northwestern part of the province of Alberta in Western Canada. It is located on the southern edge of the Peace River Country . The city is surrounded by the County of Grande Prairie No...

 - Northwest Alberta

• Art Gallery of Alberta

Art Gallery of Alberta

The Art Gallery of Alberta is a public art gallery located in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Its collection of well over 6,000 works of art includes historical and contemporary paintings, sculptures, installation works and photographs by Canadian and international artists...

, Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

 - Northeast and North Central Alberta

• Alberta Society of Artists, Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 - Southwest Alberta

• Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre, Medicine Hat - Southeast Alberta



ARTS PROMOTION AND CAPACITY BUILDING


The AFA supports the arts through various promotional strategies and activities which help to generate awareness of the arts with the public and key stakeholders. Also, the AFA strives to build capacity among Alberta artists and art organizations by providing expert consulting support and grant application advice. These resources are used to build stronger, more sustainable arts organizations.

External links

Alberta Foundation for the Arts http://www.affta.ab.ca/default.aspx

Alberta Foundation for the Arts Art Collection https://hermis.alberta.ca/afa

Alberta Foundation for the Arts Grant programming http://www.affta.ab.ca/grants.aspx

AFA at Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Alberta-Foundation-for-the-Arts/126021084081360?ref=sgm

The Spirit of Alberta – Alberta’s Cultural Policy http://www.culture.alberta.ca/culturalpolicy/default.aspx

TREX Program: Monthly Venue Map http://www.affta.ab.ca/travelling-exhibition.aspx