Welcome to the new DTES Small Arts Grants website! We have updated the site to a new look as of February 12th, but the program details remain the same.
Vancouver Foundation

DTES Small Arts Grants

Are you an artist connected to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside? Consider applying for a Downtown Eastside (DTES) Small Arts Grant.

Learn About GrantsApply for a GrantSubmit Artwork

Status:

Closed

Grants Open:

Fall 2025

Grants Close:

TBD

Calling DTES Emerging Artists

Vancouver’s DTES is a hotbed of creativity, though many artists connected to this neighbourhood lack the finances to advance their work. The Downtown Eastside Small Arts Grants program is intended to help artists connected to this area advance their art practice. 

Grants may range from $500 – $1,000. Artists can use the grant to develop their skills and increase the visibility of their artwork. Successful grantees will have the opportunity to attend workshops, receive expert advice, and participate in a year end group show. 

Visit our Grants and Artist Eligibility pages to see if it is a fit for you!

About DTES Small Arts Grants

DTES Small Arts Grants Program was created by Vancouver Foundation, in partnership with the Carnegie Community Centre in 2010. Since then the program has been supporting DTES Artists to take their work to the next level. Funding is prioritized for artists who have limited or no access to support through other funders, sponsorship, or regular arts and culture programs. 

Learn More

Past Artists

    • Shannon Pawliw

      Painter
      Visual-Arts
      2024

      Shannon Pawliw (she/her) is a Canadian artist known for her abstract paintings and thought-provoking conceptual installations. Her work is colourful, immersive, bold and rooted in organic forms and expressive gestures. Pawliw embarks on exploratory series’ driven by her fascination with a myriad of ideas, practices, and concepts. From the realms of time and memory to…

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    • Annemarie van Dijk

      Mixed Media Artist
      Visual-Arts
      2024

      Annemarie van Dijk (she/her) is a writer and beginning multidisciplinary artist from the Netherlands. Since moving to the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations in 2023, she has started immersing herself in creating art. She sees her practice as a healing mechanism and a way to learn and explore her new surroundings.…

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    • Lips 24”x36”

      January 27 Guide Sample Last

      Photography
      2013

      I’m an Artist. My birth name is Aaron, and I also go by A`RNO. In 2020, I’m interested in erotic entanglements between human body and living world, which I express through photography and invented language. I publish collaborative books; and help other artists make projects, too.It’s a privilege to make Art on the traditional, ancestral,…

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    • Brenda Dallaway

      Painter
      Visual Arts
      N/A

       Through a series of paintings, Brenda illustrates the birds of the Downtown Eastside. She will use her Small Arts Grant to develop a website, which includes professional photos of her work and a scanner to upload her work.

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Browse All Artists

Want to get inspired?
Check out the artwork and artist profiles of past successful DTES grantees from over the years.

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News

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Events

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