VAV Gallery Black History Month Solidarity Grant

The VAV (Visual Arts Visuels) Gallery is a student-run exhibition space, supported by a Concordia Fine Arts Undergraduate student fee levy. Concordia students of all levels of experience are encouraged to participate. Concordia is located on Kanien’kehá:ka traditional territory.

Deadline to Apply: Friday, March 3rd, 2023 at 11:59 PM

The VAV Gallery is honored to announce the launch of its Black History Month Solidarity Grant!

Black people have historically been excluded and discriminated against within academic and arts institutions. Their cultural contributions have been systematically dismissed, appropriated, and stolen. The VAV Gallery recognizes the need to support Black artists, and this grant serves as one small step towards a more equitable arts community at Concordia.

This opportunity is only available to Undergraduate Fine Arts Students who are Black and enrolled in at least one fine arts class during the 2022-2033 year at Concordia University.

Details about the Solidarity Grant

The VAV Gallery seeks five Black Undergraduate Fine Arts Students to participate in our first Solidarity Grant. Each student will receive a $100 honorarium or grant. Additionally, the artists will be able to host an Instagram takeover on the VAV Instagram and website where grant recipients will have the option to publish images of their work, links to their websites, short bios, and/or a portrait of themselves.

The application process is quick and easy and can be completed in about 45 minutes.

Jury Process:

Generally, the VAV Gallery’s programming is democratically juried every semester by 1 member of our Board of Directors, 3 VAV Gallery employees, and 1-3 members of the Undergraduate Fine Arts student body. This process takes place the week after the call for submissions deadline. All Jury Participants review each submission, apply a score and write down comments or feedback. The VAV will prioritize self-identified BIPOC jurors. Jurors are not eligible to be selected for the grant.

You cannot sit on the jury and apply for the grant.

The jury application form can be found here.

Important Dates:

  • Deadline to submit application form: Friday, March 3rd, 2023 at 11:59 PM
  • Applicants will be contacted: Friday, March 10th, 2023

Honorarium and Support:

  • $100 one-time honorarium or material reimbursement.
  • Applicants who are members of the VAV’s BOD are not eligible for an honorarium. However, the VAV is able to provide material reimbursement to applicants who are ineligible for honorariums. If you are ineligible for honorariums, please include a proposed budget of up to $100 in your application.

Submit here!

The Google Form will ask:

  • Your name, pronouns, and email address
  • Answer ONE of the following prompts with 100-500 words OR a creative interpretation (painting, photograph, video, etc):
  • What inspired you to become an artist?
  • What was your proximity to art growing up?
  • What do you most love about your art community?
  • If your art practice was a story, how would you tell it?
  • What do you want to see in the Fine Arts community at Concordia?
  • OR a portfolio with images of your work compiled into a PDF.

Other questions: vavgallery.outreach@concordia.ca