Category: Frequently Asked Questions

This varies, but in recent years we have seen an incredible increase in the volume of submissions and are averaging around 150-200 per year.

Not at this time. Submissions for the Mount Pleasant Community Arts Screen are currently closed. We are only accepting applications for our gallery space at this time.

There is often some variation in our programming, but typically we select 3 or 4 proposals per year from our submissions jury.

Yes, but we cannot guarantee funds for travel or all shipping costs. However, this has often been the case with our gallery and we are happy to support selected artists in applying for grants to help cover these costs.

In 2025, we are prioritizing submissions from artists and curators based in the Metro Vancouver area. However we still welcome submissions from people based outside of this region and, if selected, will work with you to plan around additional expenses.

We consider 3 key areas in our jury:

Artistic Merit

Artistic Merit considers the artwork proposed as well as how you have contextualized the work and ideas, and how it engages with similar mediums/fields of practice.

Impact

The potential impact the proposed work will have in our programming and with our audiences, as well as the potential impact on the artist(s) at their current career stage.

Feasibility

Practical considerations like installation, physical space, volume, accessibility, shipping and insurance; as well as whether we are equipped to carry the proposed work with nuance and care, particularly for work that deals with graphic content or particularly sensitive subject matter.

Accessibility at grunt means more than just the physical space of the gallery that we are inviting people into. You can consider:

• What ideas do you have about creating more access points to your work?
• If the focus of your work is exploring accessibility and Disability arts, how are you engaging with that conversation? Are you adding to it or critiquing it?
• How are you acknowledging and holding space for conflicting access needs?
• Are you prepared for your work to be viewed in our low-sensory & voice off Thursdays?
• If you have considered cultural safety and access, in what ways might people be physically unable to access your work? If physical access has been considered, what about cultural safety?
• If you want to place things on the floor, how will this affect someone using a cane, service animal, or even someone with wet boots? It rains in Vancouver!
• Have you considered the staff and docents who will support your work? Are you considering their health, safety and access?

We understand that not everyone shares the same experiences in engaging with accessibility work, but we always appreciate when it is prioritized or a willingness to collaborate with our Curatorial team and Exhibitions & Accessibility Manager is demonstrated. Even if you’re not sure where or how to start with this work, tell us what you’d like to try or who you want to have access to your work.

Because this is an important consideration for any artist or curator regardless of whether or not they present a project with grunt. Though grunt gallery has always had Indigenous folks on our staff/board, it is still largely and historically has been a settler-run organization. How we, and the artists and collaborators we engage, are in relation to the land and its communities is something we take very seriously. This question is not intended to shift the focus of your project to answering or solving the questions of decolonization and/or reconciliation, but to help us understand how you think of yourself and your practice in relation to the territories you live and work on. Your responses to this question are for internal review only.

grunt is on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ/selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) land and members of these Host Nations do not need to explain themselves to us. If any MST applicants would find this section a useful place to expand their thoughts on how their practice relates to their territories, they are welcome to but it is optional.

If you’re Indigenous but not from MST Host Nations, please answer this question for insight into your practice and approach in relation to where you live and work. Answers are for internal review only.

We follow CARFAC rates for artist fees.

In 2025, the rate for a solo exhibition at grunt is $3,300; the guest curator fee is $3,000. Additional fees are paid for programming, writing or other engagements as applicable to a given project.

Shipping:

grunt provides funds for one-way shipping of artwork, generally up to a maximum of $500. If there is room in the exhibition budget after other costs are accounted for, we can sometimes pay for additional shipping costs.

Installation:

We cover install costs, with exact amounts dependent on other exhibition costs. Please note that grunt gallery does not pay for the fabrication of artworks, framing, or artwork materials costs.. 

Documentation:

grunt hires a professional photographer to document all exhibitions for our archives. Artists will receive digital copies of these images. Documentation may include installation shots but may not include shots of individual pieces. Artists are free to document individual elements of the exhibition themselves. Performance documentation usually consists of digital photographs and/or video.

Publication:

Depending on other project expenses, grunt generally produces a catalog of each exhibition, featuring a written essay by the curator or a guest writer as well as professional documentation of the exhibition.

Accessibility:

grunt offers a fee to artists/curators who agree to work with us to produce accessibility supports for their show; this typically includes an audio tour, visual descriptions of the work, captions and transcripts if applicable, and tactile materials.