Calling all artists: The Canadian Forces Artists Program is accepting applications for its upcoming 2024-2025 program cycle
November 2, 2023 - Defence Stories
Apply to the Canadian Forces Artists Program! The deadline to apply is November 30, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Caption
Adrian Stimson, Master Corporal Jamie Gilman, 2011, oil on canvas, 6.5' x 3.5', collection of the artist.
The Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP) is inviting professional artists in Canada to apply for its upcoming 2024-2025 program cycle. Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents and meet the definition of a professional artist. Successful applicants will be given the opportunity to deploy with the Canadian Armed Forces and capture a wide variety of activities wherever operational conditions allow.
These deployments provide artists with an opportunity for research and inspiration to create new works. In the past, artists have deployed to operations in Canada and overseas to Afghanistan, Kuwait, Sudan and the Middle East. The CFAP covers the costs of travel and living expenses for the duration of the deployment, and artists maintain complete artistic independence over their works.
Artists have always been, and will always be, an important part of how Canadians see their military. Artists who have been part of the CFAP during previous cycles include Adrian Stimson, whose design was selected this summer for the National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan, David Collier, Gertrude Kearns, William MacDonnell, and countless others. Stimson’s advice for future artists, or anyone wanting to apply to the program, is as follows: “Be open to new experiences.”
About the Canadian Forces Artists Program
The CFAP supports independent, creative works that record Canadian military members at home and around the world. We bring artists wherever operational conditions allow and encourage artists to capture a wide variety of activities. The goal of the program is for artists and Canadians to learn more about our people in uniform.