Performing Arts
Workshop presentation of Svāhā!, choreographed by Nova Bhattacharya and produced by Nova Dance. Photo: Dahlia Katz
Strategic Experimentation Fund
Overview
How to Apply
Encouraging experimentation to deepen the impact of artistic ambitions
We recognize the remarkable work underway in the performing arts sector despite the overwhelming disruptions it has faced over the last few years. As performing arts organizations strive to remain not only sustainable but vital, they are facing pressure to invent new strategies that go beyond business as usual. The Strategic Experimentation Fund (SEF) supports these transformational efforts that rely less on past experience or external expertise and more on iterative experimentation — and the learning that comes with it — as organizations search for meaningful ways to increase the value they bring to their communities.
Today, dramatic shifts in the operating environment — including the ravages of the pandemic, deepened calls for social justice, and shifting audience behaviours in response to the digital transformation of our lives — have placed radical new demands on arts organizations. Additional factors, such as changes in generational and demographic shifts, as well as the need for new forms of resource development and re-imagined business models, have asked the sector to re-examine the status quo in all its forms. To work within this rapidly changing environment, each organization must find its own unique balance between stability and innovation. For those who are ready, SEF encourages applicants to carve out time and space to reconsider their value proposition, follow their hunches, and learn about promising directions before committing core operational resources.
For 2025, we are not accepting new applicants to SEF; we are continuing work with the 2024 cohort.
About
The Strategic Experimentation Fund (SEF) encourages Toronto performing arts organizations to test new approaches to deepen the impact of their artistic ambitions.
SEF provides an opportunity for organizations to grapple with the status quo — by encouraging strategic approaches to organizational development, capacity building, and problem solving — in all aspects of their operations including artistic, administrative, and audience-building functions, among others. While efforts focusing on the broader sector are eligible for this initiative, we expect that the majority of applicants will focus on their specific organizational needs.
Phase 1 Experimentation (this application): Grantees can request up to $40,000 and will determine their unique challenge, propose some initial responses, and then design and execute iterative experiments, research, and data gathering activities that will speak to the potency and promise of their initial responses. The first phase of activity can begin once successful grantees are notified in early October 2024 and will likely take 6–10 months to execute.
For phase 1, a pool of funds has been set aside to enable peer-to-peer exchange between organizations should they wish. Metcalf will facilitate the development and delivery of the exchange, but its form and content will be determined by the cohort once the approved activities are underway.
Phase 2 Amplification (future applications): SEF’s second phase offers increasing amounts of capital to amplify the promising lines of activity that emerged at the end of phase 1. This work may take an additional one or more years and will be iterative in its approach. Grantees will make the case after each successful round of funding regarding the impact of these new strategies and how they plan to bring the most successful ones into their core operations.
Eligibility
Applicants to SEF must:
- be professional theatre, dance, music, or opera organizations, or those working between and among these disciplines (including creation/production companies, festivals, professional training institutions, and service organizations);
- maintain a professional staff (organizations of all sizes are encouraged to apply; the minimum staff capacity is two FTE);
- be based in the City of Toronto (organizations located in the GTA may be considered if they have a significant presence in the City of Toronto);
- have a minimum of three years of organizational/production history; and
- have a current, valid charitable registration from the Canada Revenue Agency.
Deadlines
For 2025, we are not accepting new applicants to SEF; we are continuing work with the 2024 cohort.
Application Guidelines
Information Session
Watch a recording of the information session held on April 23, 2024, where we provided an overview and answered questions about the 2024 Strategic Experimentation Fund.
