How to apply for a Reed T. Cooper Bursary

THE BURSARY IS AVAILABLE TO MIDcareer professional visual artists who live in Dufferin County and are members of the Dufferin Arts Council. Eligible media include painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, fibre arts, glass, wood, photography and digital art.

“Mid-career” refers to artists who have been professionals for at least five years, excluding those at either end of an artistic career: novices, hobbyists and dabblers, and well-established artists.

Two bursaries can be awarded every year – or none, at the judges’ discretion. (No bursaries were awarded from 2020 to 2022, either because there were no applicants or they didn’t meet requirements.)

Bursary application forms (four copies) require a detailed written proposal for a project that will advance the artist’s talent, work or career. The project may include study or travel, mounting a themed show or exploring new ideas, techniques or media. Terms such as advancement, development and artistic growth loom large in application guidelines.

The bursaries are not awarded lightly and a well-thought-out application that clearly sets out the project’s goals is crucial. The application must include a detailed outline of projected expenses and revenues, as well as the artist’s resumé and photographs of current work.

Entries are judged on the basis of benefit to artistic growth, chances of success, measurable results and, importantly, benefit to others and to the community through an exhibition, publication, presentation, lecture or teaching of a course.

The judging panel looks for an artist who “displays unique talent and a potential for excellence.”

September 30 is the deadline for 2023 bursary applications.

2015

Emilia Perri Hockley Valley Media: acrylic

To develop and move forward as an artist, you have to listen to yourself, to what you have inside you since that’s where the art should be coming from. You can get lots of reactions to your art, but those reactions shouldn’t really affect what you are doing. That’s how you get to the next stage on the journey, not just by listening to what other people are saying about it, but by listening to where the art is coming from. That’s how you’ll know where to go from there.

Debbie Ebanks

Schlums

Mulmur

Media: glass, installation art

The Reed Cooper Bursary allowed me to explore how glass could tell a story of migrations – my own migration and, in their own words and creative expression, the migration of the Syrian community that first landed in the area.

2014

Sharon Wadsworth Smith Mulmur (now Bridgewater, N.S.) Media: acrylic

Artists are considered to be our social conscience. They can be spokespeople for greater causes, sometimes working in response to environmental, political or social issues. A community may not owe artists anything, but they are well equipped to help artists in mutually beneficial ways. The health of a community is reflected in the vibrancy of its arts.

2014

Pat BurnsWendland

Mulmur

Media: textiles

The bursary gave me confidence in my work. It encouraged me to keep going, to push further with my work and to encourage other artists to do the same in their respective fields.

I’m not finished learning. I’m still taking courses in order to push the boundaries of my own work and to encourage the next generation to consider all that the arts have to offer.

2013

Mulmur

(now Toronto)

Media: sculpture, metal

There can sometimes be a competitiveness among artists. Artists who are protective of their work, their clientele, their success. “Look at my success, but don’t muscle in on it!”

When I moved to Headwaters, I found it completely different – full of people who wanted to see the arts thrive. They wanted to work together and share to achieve that. It was a positive, collaborative community from the get-go.

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2012

Linda Jenetti

Mulmur

Media: watercolour, oil

Linda died in 2019. Her words are drawn from her website: Cross-pollination also enlivens creativity, leading us to find meaning in other forms of art.

2010

Roslyn Levin

Shelburne

Media: sumi-e

I knew Reed and am both pleased and proud that his wife, Jane, has a few of my paintings in her collection alongside his work. Like Reed, I am both an artist and a teacher of art. He would be pleased that I won the bursary to write my book, The Brush Dances, and that I continue to share what I know, both personally and through my book, so that others can also follow an artistic path. Everyone is creative. Their creative paths will vary, but all have something unique to share.

Additional Dufferin Arts Council Awards

The Linda Jenetti Travel Award is a one-time $5,000 prize available to a Headwaters artist and current member of the DAC.

Three $2,500 scholarships from the Anne Laurier Scholarship Fund are awarded annually to Dufferin County Grade 12 students who display “exceptional talent” in visual, literary or performing arts, and who are preparing to study the arts at an accredited university or community college.

DAC’s Community Grants program offers quarterly grants to a maximum of $500 to help artists or arts groups initiate activities that enhance the arts in Dufferin County.

For more information on Dufferin Arts Council awards and grants, explore “DAC programs” at www.dufferinarts.com.

Anthony Jenkins is a freelance writer and illustrator.

2011

Bridget Wilson

Mono

Media: glass

As a three-dimensional glass artist practising in what is considered a dying art form, it is important to educate people on the materials and techniques required to create unique works of art. The bursary enabled me to learn and to share processes in local schools. So, with hands-on opportunities, students are able not only to be creative but also to learn the relevance of the science. There is art in science and science in art.

2008

Peter Adams Mulmur (now Collingwood)

Media: oil

Artists reflecting on their surroundings, on their life, trying to figure out ways of expressing their thoughts, feelings and observations in an artistic way, is of great benefit to society.

Likewise, people seeing, reading, listening to, pondering and discussing those artistic acts is equally beneficial to society.