We invite you to read the 2024-2025 AFA Annual Report, which includes our accomplishments during the last fiscal year, a summary of grants awarded, financial statements, and the AFA Board’s membership and responsibilities.
Key highlights from the report:
Funding
Through its grant programs, the AFA administered $25.6 million to Alberta’s arts sector.
- The AFA provided 411 operating grants and 245 project grants to organizations totaling $20.4 million.
- The AFA provided 446 grants to artists working in a variety of artistic disciplines totaling $4.5 million.
As part of Budget 2024, Alberta’s government committed to increasing AFA’s funding by $4.5 million per year. For this first year of budget increases, the AFA prioritized support for individual artists, primarily through support through Individual Project Grants.
- The AFA both increased the total number of successful grants awarded and increased the maximum eligible amount for Individual Project Grants from $15,000 to $18,000.
Art Collection
The AFA Art Collection acquired 71 new pieces: 60 purchases and 11 donations.
- Through the Art Acquisition by Application program, the AFA purchased 49 artworks by 42 artists, 12 of whom were not previously represented in the AFA Art Collection.
The AFA’s Travelling Exhibition (TREX) program visited 187 venues and saw 617,052 visitors.
Research and Engagement
To bridge the gap between the foundation and diverse artistic communities, the AFA approved and implemented a Community Connector Pilot Program. The program focused on outreach to underserved and marginalized communities and was intended to support and represent a wider range of voices and expressions across the province.
- For the pilot of the program, the AFA contracted two Community Connectors to host community engagement events in February that promoted AFA programs and services.
The AFA continued to work toward its goal of full and equal participation of all Albertans—both in and through the arts—by ongoing implementation of its Pluralism policy.
- The 2024 cycle of the AFA’s Organization Activation Projects grant program focused on supporting emerging artist engagement programs in rural communities intended to address intergenerational gaps and cultivate the next generation of artists outside of the major urban centres.
- This year, the Board approved guidelines to establish an Accessibility Program intended to provide financial assistance to help artists—such as those who are D/deaf, have a disability or whose primary language is not English—access the AFA’s individual project grants, scholarships and the Art Acquisition by Application program.
In 2024-25, the AFA established an additional outreach practice of board-led opportunities for informal conversations and relationship building amongst its funding community. As a part of this, the AFA hosted a reception in Calgary in September for funding clients to meet and get to know members of the Board of Directors.
The AFA continued to partner with Calgary Arts Development, Calgary Foundation, Edmonton Arts Council, Edmonton Community Foundation and the Rozsa Foundation to support the Spotlight on Arts Audiences research project.
- Three waves of reports were released over the year, with results on Alberta audiences as a whole, and specific results for Calgary, Edmonton and regional Alberta audiences, available for each wave.
