The Canada Council for the Arts has announced the creation of two initiatives in the arts and sciences in partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The purpose of these agreements is to encourage research collaborations between artists and scientists or engineers. The partnerships were concluded following the Millennium Conferences on Creativity in the Arts and Sciences that ended on June 21, 2000, organized by the National Research Council, the National Arts Centre and the Canada Council for the Arts (www.nrc.ca/confserv/creative). "By encouraging a closer relationship between the arts and the sciences in concrete ways, the Canada Council for the Arts hopes to develop the joint exploration of diverse and multiple avenues of creativity, ultimately leading to the creation of new applications," said Canada Council Director Shirley L. Thomson. "The growing use of science and new technologies as means of artistic expression - and the research involved - now offer innovative and pertinent collaborative methods, making it more important than ever to support these new approaches." The New Media Initiative An agreement between the Canada Council for the Arts and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council NSERC fulfils its mission by awarding scholarships and research grants through peer-reviewed competition, and by building partnerships among universities, colleges, governments and the private sector. The New Media Initiative is directed at new media artists and scientists who want to collaborate on projects involving an artistic component and a scientific or engineering component. Artists and scientists working together may now present a joint application to the Canada Council and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Projects submitted to the New Media Initiative at either Council will be assessed with the participation of both Councils, through the Grants to New Media and Audio Artists program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Research Partnerships Program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Awards will be made separately by both councils and may be made for the total collaborative project or for either the artistic or scientific component. At the Canada Council, applications will be accepted for New Media Research, Production or Residencies grants. Projects must involve the creation of original independent new media art. Artistic productions intended for the cultural industry of commercial new media are not eligible. Projects must also be scientifically sound and promise to generate new knowledge or a new technology or to apply existing knowledge/technology in an innovative manner. Information sheets and application forms will be posted on the Web site of the Canada Council for the Arts at www.canadacouncil.ca and the NSERC Web site at www.nserc.ca at the end of December 2001. The first application deadline is March 1, 2002. Artist-in-Residence for Research Fellowships (AIRes) An agreement between the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Research Council of Canada The National Research Council, Canada's premier science and technology research organization, is a leader in scientific and technical research, the diffusion of technology and the dissemination of scientific and technical information. This initiative will support independent established artists in any artistic discipline who wish to undertake research within one of the NRC institutes, either in Ottawa or in other parts of the country. The artist must have the necessary technical skills to operate effectively in the specific research environment. The fellowships are intended to encourage the collaboration and knowledge transfer between artist and scientific or engineering researchers. The research need not necessarily result in the completion of a work of art. Previous examples of collaborations have brought together new ideas and methods and made possible the discovery of innovative research applications and tools. Fellowships in the amount of $75,000 per year will be awarded for a two-year period. Two research fellowships will be awarded in the Fall of 2002, the first year of the initiative. The Canada Council for the Arts and the National Research Council will contribute equally to funding the research fellowships. The NRC institutes will provide space and technical and scientific resources for the research project. Details of the agreement, participating NRC institutes and application procedures will be available in January 2002. For more information on the two agreements, please contact Canada Council Media Arts Officer Marilyn Burgess for the New Media Initiative at (613) 566-4414 or 1 800 263-5588, ext. 5251,e-mail: [email protected]; and Katherine Watson, Producer, AIRes,e-mail: [email protected] for the Artist-in-Residence for Research Fellowships.

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