The Ottawa-Gatineau arts community will have a new way to make art come to life, thanks to nine women and a powerful idea born from an unexpected place: Africa.
Professional female artists and amateurs alike can apply until Nov. 30 to receive a new micro-grant celebrating “incredible ideas founded in the arts” through the Tontine Award, said founder and lead organizer Erin Leigh.
“This opportunity lets us focus on positive contributions women can make and really highlight that,” she said.
Once every two months starting in early 2014, a local artist will receive $500 towards breathing life into an artistic endeavour of their choosing, no strings attached.
‘Art’ doesn’t have to be traditional paint and canvas, either. Stefanie Lomatski, a women’s rights activist and one of the nine trustees, stressed that the award seeks to broaden what is normally considered art.
“It’s not just about visual arts, theatre, or writing. It could be music, multimedia, or incorporating all of these things,” she said. “It’s a creative, arts-based idea. And we really push people’s boundaries on what they conceptualize that as.”
The inspiration behind the award comes from a similar type of female empowerment all the way across the globe.
The word ‘tontine’ comes from Francophone Africa, Leigh said, where it’s used to describe a community-based entrepreneurial activity by African women.
Women put money into a communal pot each month with the goal of helping fund a local woman’s business venture. It’s often more difficult for women than men to have access to financial services and loans because they lack assets or capital, Leigh explained.
Leigh and the other trustees were influenced by this practice and wanted to bring the idea of focusing on women’s positive contributions to Ottawa and Gatineau in an artistic way.
“We’re inspired by that, for women to explore their creativity and connect with the community,” she said.
Similar to the original inspiration for the grant, Lomatski said the awards are funded by a collaboration of the nine trustees that make up the board.
Lomatski explained that trustees—which include artists, activists, and engaged citizens—each contribute to the fund and then vote on applications using a consensus model to review each proposal.
Because the funds come solely from the nine trustees, they get to make all the decisions without input from other sponsors who might have differing interests, Leigh said.
According to the website, applications need to meet four requirements: a form of creative expression, created by a woman or a person who identifies as a woman, based in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, and somehow giving back to the local community.
The $500 grant is just the beginning for the Tontine Award. The dream is to see two phases of the project, Leigh said, the first being the micro-grant and the second to be a larger, more prestigious award.
Leigh also said she and the other trustees hope to see an annual women’s arts award being created where an artist can receive $5,000 or $10,000 toward their innovative idea.
“Women have something important to say, so let’s hear what they have to say. They have an important contribution to make, and art is a way to do that,” she said.
