Accelerate: Nurture

Accelerate: Nurture are grants of $5,000 (plus $2,500 access costs) for artists.

Accelerate: Nurture funding can be used for creative development, presenting a new artwork, or sustaining yourself and your practice. Or you might do some training or professional development. It’s up to you.

What the funding can be used for:

• Artist fees – this should include paying yourself so you can sustain yourself and employing others.
• Project costs (for an exhibition, performance, screen-based work, recording, residency or any presentation of an artwork)
• Purchasing equipment for you or your practice
• Purchasing software
• Attending training or professional development opportunities and paying yourself to attend
• Paying a mentor or other creative or artistic collaborator
• Materials for your work
• Paying studio rent or rehearsal room hire
• Sustaining yourself – we are imagining that you are more likely to make art if your living costs are taken care of – paying rent, buying food, paying bills

The funding is to support you for short period of time to undertake whatever you need to continue, or begin, working as a professional artist.

We can offer you opportunities to present your work in late 2021/early 2022 if you would like, but there is no obligation to do so.

Please note you can only apply for one Accererlate Funding Stream. Check out Accelerate: Create to see which one is best for you.

Accelerate funding is for:

• Victorian based Deaf and Disabled artists (including and not limited to- visible and invisible disabilities, chronic illness, neurodiversity and lived experience of mental health issues)
• 18 years and older
• Individual artists (see FAQs)
• Artists working in any artform
• Artists who are not a core employee of Arts Access Victoria or Creative Victoria

There will be three rounds of funding applications.

Applications opens: Midday, Wednesday 29 September 2021
Round one is closed
Round two is closed
Round three closes: 5 pm, Monday 7 February 202

Please note there is a 3-week turnaround from applications closing to funding results becoming available.

Need help or would like to talk with someone?

Contact Ayse via phone 03 9699 8299 (voice only), 0477 860 955 (text or voice) or email us at info@artsaccess.com.au

You can apply via our website, Click here to visit the Accelerate: Nurture Application: Online Form

You can download the application as a Word Document. Click here to download the Accelerate: Nurture Application: Word Document [65 KB]

We accept applications in a range of formats. You can submit a written, video or audio application. You can also schedule a phone or video chat with AAV.

you can send your application via email info@artsaccess.com.au or via our website application form above.

You will receive an email receipt of the application. If you do not receive a receipt of your application by the end of Tuesday 26 October, please contact us.

Schedule a phone or video chat with AAV

In this chat, we will ask you the application questions, which we will record and give to the assessment panel. Access support workers to assist you are welcome. AAV can provide Auslan or other services for the application process too.

To book or request an application chat contact us via email or phone Ayse via phone 03 9699 8299 (voice only), 0477 860 955 (text or voice).

Accelerate: Nurture

Applications will be assessed by two criteria:

• Creative Potential – platforming new ideas or voices. Potential for the idea to have a future outcome.
• Impact – the impact this funding will have on your career as an artist. How this project could support your future sustainability or build legacy.

First-time applicants or people who have not received significant funding recently will be prioritized.

Applications will be assessed by a panel of three AAV staff representing a range of artform knowledge and lived experience. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application no more than 3 weeks after the deadline. We can provide feedback on unsuccessful applications, which you may find useful if you are applying to other funding programs.

Accelerate: Nurture grants are for around two months. We can pay you the grant as soon as you find out you are successful, and then we will ask you to tell us what you have done after two months. You don’t have to be finished with your plans then. We will just be looking for an update on where you are at.

We will ask you to help us evaluate your funding experience.

In May 2022, we will schedule a chat with you to discuss how you used the funding. We want to know what worked or didn’t work, and how the funding has impacted you and your work. It doesn’t matter where you are at with your project or plans.

Yes- but we are preferencing applications from individual artists as we want artists to be paid professional rates for their work. We are concerned that groups/collective will not receive enough funding for their time with the amount of money available. If working as a collective or group is integral to your practice, or your idea, please feel free to contact us to discuss.

No, you can only apply for one of the grant programs or rounds. Unfortunately we can only accept applications once.

Accelerate: Nurture is for anything you want to do for your practice. That could include doing some training or new learning, artistic research, buying some new materials or equipment you need for your work, or working on a project.

Accelerate: Create is for starting new projects that have access as part of the work. This means the content of the artwork is about disability, or the work uses access in a creative way.

Yes. You can use the funding for materials, equipment or project costs for artworks developed or assessed as a part of any study you are doing.

There will be four Accelerate: Nurture grants available in each round, with a total of twelve grants over the course of the program.

No, unfortunately you cannot use the grant money for previous purchases or projects. This is for new projects and purchases starting from the time you are successful with the grant.

No. If successful, we will ask you to send us an invoice for the grant. You can include your ABN on the invoice if you have one, but if you don’t have an ABN, we will offer an alternative.

You can choose how you will receive the money. We can pay the full amount at any stage of the project (start, middle, end), or we can pay the funding in smaller amounts. We can also hold the money for you and pay bills and expenses for the project directly to that supplier.

Access costs can be used for whatever you need to make your project/funding time accessible for you. This may include;

• Access support workers
• Admin support
• Assistance animal resources
• Assistive Listening
• Audio description services
• Auslan
• Braille
• Captioning (open/closed)
• Comfort items
• Digital software or technical support
• Easy Read Transcribing
• Ergonomic equipment
• Hiring or purchasing access aids and equipment
• Mental health counselling or support
• Sensory supports
• Therapy

These are just some examples of access costs. Please do not limit what you spend your access costs to these examples, as access is individual to you.