The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) Indigenous Visual Artists’ Materials (IVAM) program supports Ontario-based First Nations, Inuit, and Métis artists working in the visual arts, crafts or traditional/customary Indigenous art forms to create art work. Grants of $500 or $1000 help cover the cost of buying art materials and supplies. The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) partners with recommender organizations throughout the province, which receive and assess IVAM applications from artists. Recommended applications are forwarded to OAC for payment directly to the artists.
Native Women in the Arts (NWIA) is an official third-party recommender. Using Nova, OAC’s online grant application system, an artist applies to an Indigenous organization designated as a recommender for the program. These recommenders assess applications and submit grant recommendations to OAC. This program is open to artists and Culture Carriers who are First Nations, Inuit, or Métis, who reside in Ontario.
The 2025-2026 program is open from September 2025 until January 30, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET.
The IVAM grant can be used for the following expenses:
- Materials and art supplies, such as wood, fabric, thread, stone, leather hides, sinew, beads, needles, photographic printing, inks, metals, paint, canvas, paper, pencils, etc.
- Small tools for making artwork or for harvesting or gathering materials, such as blades, carving tools, awls, scissors, etc.
- Materials or tools required to run or participate in workshops
- Cost of transporting or shipping materials and supplies
- Individual travel costs for gathering materials, such as to collect beading/sewing supplies or to gather natural materials on the land
Eligible art forms include, but are not limited to:
- basketry (birch bark, black ash, willow, etc.)
- beading
- birch bark work
- carving
- drawing
- drums, rattles and instruments
- glass
- hide tanning and fur processing
- installation
- jewellery
- leather work
- metal work
- mixed media
- moccasin making
- painting
- photography
- pottery
- printmaking
- quillwork
- sculpture
- textile art (embroidery, quilts, weaving, etc.)
- traditional regalia
- traditional tattooing
- tufting
- woodworking (snowshoe making, tamarack goose making, etc.)
To apply, complete and submit an application in Nova, OAC’s online grant application system. Before applying, you must create or update your profile in Nova.
Read the full IVAM Program requirements here:
https://www.arts.on.ca/grants/indigenous-visual-artists-materials
Questions? Contact NWIA’s Artistic Director, Quach George, at quach.nwia.ca.
Or Maggie Lucas, OAC’s Program Administrator at mlucas@arts.on.ca.
The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) Indigenous Visual Artists’ Materials (IVAM) program supports Ontario-based First Nations, Inuit, and Métis artists working in the visual arts, crafts or traditional/customary Indigenous art forms to create art work. Grants of $500 or $1000 help cover the cost of buying art materials and supplies. The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) partners with recommender organizations throughout the province, which receive and assess IVAM applications from artists. Recommended applications are forwarded to OAC for payment directly to the artists.
Native Women in the Arts (NWIA) is an official third-party recommender. Using Nova, OAC’s online grant application system, an artist applies to an Indigenous organization designated as a recommender for the program. These recommenders assess applications and submit grant recommendations to OAC. This program is open to artists and Culture Carriers who are First Nations, Inuit, or Métis, who reside in Ontario.
The 2025-2026 program is open from September 2025 until January 30, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET.
To apply, complete and submit an application in Nova, OAC’s online grant application system. Before applying, you must create or update your profile in Nova.
Read the full IVAM Program requirements here:
https://www.arts.on.ca/grants/indigenous-visual-artists-materials
Questions? Contact NWIA’s Artistic Director, Quach George, at quach.nwia.ca.
Or Maggie Lucas, OAC’s Program Administrator at mlucas@arts.on.ca.
