Call for Expressions of Interest: Art in Real Life (Art IRL) 2026, Guelph

Sophia Chilton, Caleb Bray, and Silas Chinsen, Reshaping Ruins, 2022. Photo: Caleb Bray

Call to Artists: Art in Real Life (Art IRL)

Submission Deadline: June 8, 11:59pm ET

Artists with a lived connection to the place we call Guelph are invited to submit Expressions of Interest for Guelph’s Art in Real Life (Art IRL) program.

Developed by the City of Guelph and delivered by Guelph Arts Council, Art in Real Life (Art IRL) is an annual program that supports artists in creating shared arts experiences with communities—in real time and space—across a range of mediums and modes of expression.

One selected artist, art collective or artist-led team will be awarded a three-month Art IRL project, valued at $10,000 (CAD). Public engagement with the project will take place in Guelph during Ontario Culture Days from September 18 to October 4, 2026.

Project Requirements

During Ontario Culture Days (September 18 – October 4, 2026), the awarded artist(s) will present a free, accessible and welcoming opportunity for the community to witness, engage with, or participate in their art.

Artists may choose to focus on a single medium/discipline or work within an interdisciplinary practice, including but not limited to:

• community-engaged art (collaborative creative processes involving both professional artists and community organizations, grassroots groups or individuals)
• site-specific art (art which engages with the physical, social, and/or historical conditions of its site as a guiding creative constraint)
• studio-based practice (e.g. drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, lens-based art, mixed media)
• media arts (e.g. sound, video, animation, digital art, projection)
• performance (e.g. dance, music, theatre, performance art)

Artists are asked to consider how community members will witness, contribute to, engage with, and/or participate in their art. Artists are encouraged to consider accessibility in broad and creative ways—including timing, location, language, and format—so that participation is possible for people with different schedules, abilities, and circumstances.

In 2026, the Art IRL program will take place in downtown Guelph, a place shaped by the rhythms of everyday life, where chance encounters, gatherings, and shared experiences unfold in real time and space. Future offerings of the program are planned to take place in different areas around the city.

Artists may choose to work in, with, or in response to a range of downtown sites, from rivers, parks and heritage settings to neighbourhood hubs—wherever community gathers.

Artists are encouraged to respond to the physical, social, and/or historical conditions of their chosen site. They are also invited to share how existing or emerging relationships with community organizations or groups may shape the idea for the artwork, how it is made, and how it is shared with others.

Anita Cazzola, A Flag for the Plants I, 2021. Photo: Anita Cazzola

Eligibility

Projects must be led by at least one professional artist who is at least 18 years of age.

Artists are encouraged to share how their lived connection to the place we call Guelph shapes their artistic practice and informs their project proposal.

Artists from equity-deserving communities (including Black, Indigenous, racialized, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+, low-income and unhoused individuals) are invited to express their unique and intersectional identities in the description of their practices, and to share how their lived experiences inform their project proposal.

Guelph Arts Council staff are not eligible to apply. City of Guelph employees and current Arts and Culture Advisory Committee (ACAC) members may be eligible to apply, but must contact Guelph Arts Council in advance of submission to discuss their proximity to the Art IRL project and any potential conflict of interest.

Compensation

One selected artist, art collective or artist-led team will be awarded the Art IRL project, valued at $10,000 (CAD).

Selection Process

Artists will participate in a two-phase selection process: Phase One – Expression of Interest; and Phase Two – Project Proposal.

A Selection Committee will review each phase based on the criteria on the project website. Only shortlisted artists will advance to Phase Two.

Miki Tamblyn, Animal Forms, 2023. Photo: Jeremy Allen

Submission Requirements

For Phase One, applicants should submit the following materials using the online form:

• Expression of Interest – a brief description of the project concept and the vision for how the artist(s) will engage the community in their art. (500 words or less in pdf, doc or docx format, up to 2 MB per file)
• Artist CV – (up to three pages in pdf, doc or docx format, up to 2 MB per file)
• Support Materials – three to six examples of past/current artistic work, such as images of artworks, short writing samples, links to video or sound files, etc. (pdf, doc, docx, jpg, jpeg or png format, up to 5 MB per file)

Please include only the items listed above. Additional materials will not be presented to the Selection Committee.

How to Submit

Please visit Guelph Arts Council’s Art IRL webpage to review the full details and submit your materials through the online form.

Submission Deadline: June 8, 2026 by 11:59pm ET

Info Session (virtual): May 25, 2026, 6:00pm ET | Register here

For additional information or questions, please contact:
Preetam Sengupta
Guelph Arts Council
administration@guelpharts.ca
519-836-3280

Facebook @guelphartscouncil
Instagram @guelpharts

Accessibility:
Guelph Arts Council is partially accessible. For more information or to request assistance with the application process, please contact administration@guelpharts.ca or phone 519-836-3280.

Image Descriptions:
1. A photograph of two people’s forearms and hands drawing with markers on an illuminated surface.
2. A photograph of a yellow, pink and green banner of quilted naturally-dyed fabric swings in the breeze, surrounded by a field of wildflowers.
3. A photograph of a person in a fox mask clasping their hands surrounded by orange leaves.