Why give?
The Conseil des arts de Montréal has been a registered charitable organization and public foundation since 1988. Its philanthropic ambitions are therefore not new. Today, through philanthropy, the Conseil is taking concrete steps to secure the long-term sustainability of its mission and initiatives while strengthening artistic communities through three major philanthropic funds. The Conseil is a catalyst, connecting major government agencies supporting the arts in Montréal, cultural organizations and artists, and donors. Its philanthropic efforts create additional funding opportunities for Montréal’s artistic and cultural community.
In this section, learn how the Conseil helps donors:
- support emerging local talent
- support arts organizations as they innovate and grow
- make dynamic creative offerings accessible across the Island of Montréal to inspire and delight fellow Montrealers
- promote the sensitivity, success and ingenuity of artists
- increase philanthropic commitment to the arts and culture within communities
Philanthropic mission
Give back to artists, support artistic vitality and showcase Montréal’s diversity.
Philanthropic vision
Our philanthropic mission is part of our vision to make Montréal’s arts ecosystem more inclusive, sustainable and resilient, for everyone’s benefit.
Jasmin Frenette | Jazz Creation Grant Donor
“My life has always revolved around music. Many of my friends and acquaintances work in jazz, so I know how demanding it can be. That’s what pushed me to team up with the Conseil des arts de Montréal to offer the Jazz Creations Grants. Every year for nearly 10 years, these grants have been providing financial assistance to two artists, artists’ collectives or arts organizations in Montréal to support jazz creation and production. ”
Our cultural expertise is unique in Montréal
The Conseil draws on the expertise of over a hundred volunteers from the arts community to carry out its mission and implement its vision. Our volunteer artists and cultural workers take part in peer evaluation committees to help the Conseil evaluate nearly 2,000 applications for financial support across 11 artistic disciplines every year.
Our volunteers work with the Conseil’s team of 15 experts who provide communities with customized development assistance through nearly 60 funding and support programs.
The collaboration between peer evaluation committees and the Conseil des arts de Montréal’s experts gives rise to collective knowledge that is tuned into Montréal’s arts communities. This participatory model of proximity has been the Conseil’s main strength since its inception.
Your impact
Take a look at our latest annual report to see how your generosity has made a real difference. Here are three recent, concrete examples of the Conseil’s impact:
Visual arts
Between 2014 and 2022, the Conseil gave over 40 visual arts curators and artists free rein to show their works free of charge in the Maison du Conseil’s mezzanine space. These exhibitions help artists promote their practices and works, significantly improving their visibility within the Montréal arts community.
A more diverse arts community
The démART-Mtl program helps organizations recruit talented cultural workers and culturally diverse artists for a six-month period. Organizations get to work with extraordinary staff from different backgrounds while offering the cultural workers and artists—often already well established professionally—an opportunity to learn more about Montréal’s arts community and develop their professional careers here. Between 2011 and 2022, démART-Mtl made it possible for 90 established Montréal arts organizations to host 133 immigrant artists and cultural workers. During this period, nearly $2 million was granted.
Indigenous arts
The Indigenous Arts Committee was formed in 2018, composed of 11 members from Indigenous arts communities in Montréal (Tiohtià:ke). Each committee member is appointed for a three-year term. With a non-hierarchical governance structure, a consensus-based decision-making process, and autonomy within the Conseil, the Committee has helped the Conseil identify and better respond to the needs of Indigenous arts communities, as well as oversee guidelines for five new programs specific to Indigenous arts. Through these initiatives, 50 artists, 31 organizations and 2 Indigenous collectives have received grants of up to $20,000.
Since its inception in 2019, the CultivART mentoring program has provided support for 17 organizations, interns and mentees, offering stimulating work experiences to emerging Indigenous artists and cultural workers within established arts organizations and helping train the next generation.
Since 2018, the Conseil has invested $1,696,500 in Indigenous arts through the General Funding Program and specific programs to support, develop, recognize and promote Indigenous creators.
