2025 Connections & Exchanges Initiatives grant recipients

The Connections & Exchanges Initiatives program was created in 2019 as an opportunity for arts and festival organizations to contribute to the actions of the Connections & Exchanges 10-year plan. Through this program, the EAC invests in new arts activity and collaboration and creation, enables resiliency and innovation, supports the artistic work of not-for-profit organizations, and furthers the collective responsibility of the arts community to advance the implementation of Connections & Exchanges.

In 2025, 37 applications were recommended for funding, for a total investment of $797,169.

Learn more about the recommended projects below: 

Alberta Dance Alliance will engage Bottom Line Productions to coordinate the ​“Dance in Edmonton” multimedia campaign, promoting the work of Edmonton dance companies, artists, and collectives. 

Alberta Music will host workshops focused on technical aspects of music creation (production and engineering) specifically for groups who have been underrepresented in these areas (women and relative newcomers). 

Art Gallery of Alberta will participate in Arts District Day: Open House and Community Celebration, a collaborative open house offering free, multidisciplinary arts programming at the AGA, Citadel Theatre, and Winspear, removing financial and perceptual barriers to participation. 

Arts on the Ave will host three installments of a jazz and folk performance series to attract visitors to Alberta Avenue and add to Edmonton’s reputation as a premier destination for live music. 

Ballet Edmonton will support a collaborative site-specific dance project and mainstage performance series taking place in Calgary from October 27 — November 11, 2025, featuring Canadian choreographers, local artists, and community outreach activities. 

Braille Tone Music Society will act as a keynote group with a performance and artist session at Podium 2026, Choral Canada’s national conference and festival in Victoria, BC. 

Canada Palestine Cultural Association will foster cultural exchange, public engagement, and community connection with a month-long multicultural exhibition celebrating the heritage of Palestine and partner communities through art, food, and performance. 

Catalyst Theatre will hire an individual on contract to conduct the research, correspondence, and relationship-building required to optimize opportunities for national and international engagement with Catalyst’s productions. 

Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton will create a recording of works composed over the past eight years for the Chamber Orchestra of Edmonton. The featured composers are mostly from Edmonton or have close affiliations with the city. 

Chinatown Longevity Guild produced the second Annual Van bLoc Party, a celebration in the heart of Edmonton’s Chinatown that showcased cultural traditions through live music, dance, local vendors, and community engagement. 

Common Ground will expand their Producer Lab mentorship activities through a 12-month pilot in 2026, in partnership with Edmonton Fringe Theatre. 

Edmonton New Shadow Theatre will undertake the development and public presentation of Morningside Road, a new play by emerging playwright Mhairi Berg and composer Simon Abbott, spotlighting director Lana Michelle Hughes. 

Edmonton Pops, in collaboration with Free Will Players Theatre Guild, will launch a professional mentorship program as part of a larger initiative to establish a new annual summer musical theatre production in Hawrelak Park. 

Firefly Theatre will run an artist-in-residence program to foster and support professional development for six emerging or mid-career contemporary circus artists based in the Edmonton region. 

Four Lodges Indigenous Arts and Cultural Society will organize ​“Wapikwaniy/​/​Flower”, a series of Métis/​Cree fine craft activities, including a beadwork exhibition, and floral beadwork workshops. This project is supported by the Stanley A. Milner Library and facilitated by expert artists. 

Fringe Theatre Adventures implemented the Fringe Review pilot project to revive arts criticism by gathering and publishing moderated theatre reviews from accredited media, emerging reviewers, and audiences at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. 

Kalaakaar Society of Artists of Creative Sounds will engage in Echoes Through Alberta, a year-long music project that will result in a recorded album and public events exploring immigrant identity, wellness, and community through classical Indian and intercultural music. 

Kita No Taiko will offer free Japanese drumming (taiko) workshops for youth to expand access to taiko, create awareness, and build connections in hopes of attracting new members. 

Latitude 53 will launch Arts Civil Service, a project meant to explore and trial new arts funding models that would pair civic working in maintenance and care sectors with art practice. 

Metro Cinema will program three events that feature film scores performed by local musicians during the film screenings. 

Mile Zero Dance will host a series of free public dance performances created for public spaces, in addition to workshops for artists and community participants. 

Northern Light Theatre will launch the NLT Mentorship Program to engage three trainees through individual mentorship training programs: one Assistant Director, one Lighting Director, and one Costume Designer. 

Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre, in cooperation with the Cosmopolitan Music Society, will explore expressive arts therapy resources through a series of free interactive workshops and panel discussions. 

Opera NUOVA will partner with the Edmonton Christmas Market to launch an immersive holiday musical, attracting thousands to Fort Edmonton Park through cultural tourism, local artist engagement, and immersive family-friendly entertainment. 

Orchesis Dance will collaborate with CRIPSiE and Ghanaian musicians/​dance artists by hosting workshops that culminate in a performance at Motif Moves 2026. 

Punctuate! Theatre, in partnership with Pyretic Productions, will venture into new territory with children’s programming, organizing and operating a Métis-Ukrainian heritage celebration. 

Rapid Fire Theatre will host monthly improv jams for women and femme identifying individuals, fostering a supportive space for creative exploration, community building, and the development of diverse comedic and storytelling voices. 

Saraswathi Society will host the ​“Mosaic Series”, an interdisciplinary art showcase featuring BIPOC and multicultural artists at The Cube, Edmonton’s first exclusively multicultural arts hub where arts from immigrant communities are practiced and stories are shared. 

SING! Prairies Society will offer monthly a cappella workshops, concerts, and a summer camp to engage underserved high school-aged youth, building skills, confidence and community through music. 

SkirtsAfire will create a sustainable, repeatable model for commissioning new works through an inaugural playwright-in-residence program. The program will support local women playwrights and enrich the development process from draft to première. 

Teatro La Quindicina’s project, A Riot of Funsters, will invite students to curated theatre events with workshops, tours, performances, and talkbacks – creating accessible arts experiences while nurturing the next generation of theatregoers and artists. 

The Invisible Practice will host a series of Deaf/​hearing community forums exploring Deaf dorsality, and they will develop a new live performance piece named C3. 

Theatre Prospero will develop and tour The Doomed Prince, a roving interactive performance where audience members play most parts in an Egyptian story about a prince dodging doom from multiple animals. 

Ukrainian Cheremosh Society embarked on its Balkan tour in July 2025, showcasing Ukrainian culture and building global connections with vibrant performances and cultural exchanges with local ensembles. 

Vohon Ukrainian Dance Ensemble will partner with Gerdan Theatre to create a multidisciplinary performance merging Ukrainian folk elements with contemporary choreography and live music. 

Wajjo Drummers’ legacy project will capture, document, and archive the organization’s repertoire of over 30 years to pass it on to the younger generation. 

Young Alberta Book Society​’s Wordshop project will offer Edmonton schools, libraries or youth service groups writing or illustrating workshops with professional literary artists.