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© 2026 Lunenburg Foundation for the Arts
LFA grants are available for both emerging and established artists in Lunenburg County across all artistic media: theatre, visual arts, dance, writing, music, fine craft, as well as multi-media and interdisciplinary projects.
Since 2024, the LFA, in collaboration with Petite Queer Pride, has been proud to offer the annual CLAMS grant. Funded through, and stewarded by, PQP, the CLAMS grants specifically support the practices of 2SLGBTQIA+ creatives in Lunenburg County. Starting in 2027, the LFA will continue to provide one CLAMS grant each year as part of our annual arts funding opportunities. Stay tuned for more details.
Grant Eligibility
General arts grant- Grants are available to individual artists* and to arts groups and organizations
- Applicants must be based/reside in Lunenburg County
- The project must have a public component: performance, exhibition, workshop, other
- Applicants have and/or maintain a creative practice* and self-identify as a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community
- Applicants must be based/reside in Lunenburg County
- Applicants are at least 16 years of age
- Groups and/or collaborations are eligible to apply as long as the majority self-identify a members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. All members must reside in Lunenburg County
*We define a creative practice as any artist—self-taught, emerging, early/mid-career, or established—working across the full range of artistic media (ex. creative writing, costume, theatre, visual arts, dance, music, fine craft, as well as multi-media and inter-disciplinary projects, etc.)
For all funding
We encourage applications from all qualified candidates including Aboriginal/Indigenous Persons, Black/African Nova Scotians, members of racially visible communities, persons with disabilities, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community. Applicants from these communities wishing to self-identify may do so in their artist bio.
The Earl Bailly Bursary Fund was established for Lunenburg County high school students continuing their education in the arts. Each year, one $500 dollar bursary is awarded. Applications are managed by school officials—contact your local high school for details.
Bursary Eligibility
Lunenburg County High Schools as well as Centre Scolaire de la Rive-Sud can each select one student to receive a bursary each year. Schools are requested to identify a student whom they believe would be a suitable candidate for the bursary. All high school students wishing to continue their arts education are eligible to apply for funding. Art forms include music, visual art, dance, theatre, writing and fine craft etc.
Examples of eligible activities:- Workshop led by a relevant art professional
-
Arts camp program in summer or school breaks led by a relevant professional
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Private study with a relevant professional
- Contribution towards first year tuition at a post-secondary institute where study will include relevant art
Ajudicating and Announcing the Bursary Awards
- Awards will be announced no later than June 30th and schools will have results available sooner.
- Bursary recipients are invited to the LFA AGM for presentation of their award.
- A press release may be sent out naming the recipients.
For use by school officials only—please download and complete the bursary application PDF form.
About Earl Bailly
The Earl Bailly Bursary is named in honour of prominent Lunenburg artist, Earl Bailly. Born in 1903, he was two years old when he was stricken-with polio and lost the use of both his arms and his legs. His mother, a schoolteacher, taught Earl to hold a pencil in his mouth and write. As a child, he became interested in drawing, progressing from pen and ink sketches to watercolours and oils. He also mastered the difficult technique of linoleum block printing. Earl Bailly became most famous for his oil paintings. His wheelchair was fitted with a table and brush rack, to enable him to work in this medium. Earl Bailly’s achievements were widely recognized and prominent collectors purchased his paintings. He died in 1977 and his story lives on in a plaque in Lunenburg Town Hall and online.
Earl Bailly possessed an indomitable spirit and remains an inspiration to all artists.
ANNUAL DEADLINE FOR ALL FUNDING: May 31*
*If the deadline falls on a holiday/weekend, it will be due the next business dayApplications will be made available in early 2027
Do you have a creative project in mind that could benefit from a little financial boost?
Step 1
Get creative! LFA provides grants for both emerging and established artists working across the full range of artistic media, as well as arts-based organizations.
Step 3
Submit your application by the deadline. Grants are awarded once a year, typically within two months of the deadline.
How grantees are chosen
A jury chair is appointed by the LFA board, who then independently assembles a jury from within Lunenburg County’s creative community to assess all applications. Since this jury also adjudicates CLAMS, we ensure that there is at least one jury member from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Grants are awarded based on artistic merit, financial need, and benefit to the arts in Lunenburg County. While we welcome all applications, funds are limited and we may not be able to fund all requests. Unsuccessful applicants will be advised if they are eligible to re-apply.
Questions?
Submit your application by the deadline. Grants are awarded once a year, typically within two months of the deadline.
How grantees are chosen
A jury chair is appointed by the LFA board, who then independently assembles a jury from within Lunenburg County’s creative community to assess all applications. Since this jury also adjudicates CLAMS, we ensure that there is at least one jury member from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Grants are awarded based on artistic merit, financial need, and benefit to the arts in Lunenburg County. While we welcome all applications, funds are limited and we may not be able to fund all requests. Unsuccessful applicants will be advised if they are eligible to re-apply.
Questions?
Please drop us a line at least a week before the application deadline.
Past recipients
2025 ($8,340)
Earl Bailly Bursary Award – Gray Hagen, $500
Going to Acadia University to study English with a minor in theatre.
Su Rogers, $750
Biographical large format tryptic paintings of family.
Juno Wamboldt, $500
Supplies for oil paintings of local scenes for sale.
Kat Finck, $1000
Travel to Japan for Kumiko woodworking technique training.
Ivan Beck, $800
Layout, printing and distribution of artist book, based on a previous exhibition of work at DesBrisay Museum as a queer, trans, disabled artist.
Erin Knowles, $1,040
Organizing Life drawing classes in New Germany, funds are to pay model for 16 sessions.
Chanelle Jefferson, $750
15 mixed media artworks depicting scenes from nature as part of a Grief Project.
Second Story Women's Centre, $1,500
Summer camp artist workshops for young adults, children of women being served by the Centre.
Lunenburg Theatre Collective, $1,500
Production of a play “Tiny Beautiful Things.”
Lunenburg Doc Fest, $800
Creation of a short film by local seniors on the theme gardening to be shown at the 2025 DocFest.
2024 ($8,660)
Earl Bailly Bursary – Brianna, $500
Registered for a course in Make-up for Media and Creative Arts at Sheridan College ON.
Inbal Newman, $1,800
Story Dory project: a 4-part series of recordings made from conversations held while rowing a dory and illustrated with multi-layer relief prints, telling stories of the south shore waterways and increasing accessibility to traditional boats.
Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, $1,610
Young artist master classes and concert.
Lunenburg Doc Fest, $1,000
To support free outdoor screenings of world-class provocative Canadian documentaries on a wharf in Lunenburg.
Lunenburg Academy Foundation, $1,750
An evening with a Mi’kmaq storyteller at the Castle on the Hill during the Lunenburg Lit Fest.
Lunenburg Theatre Collective, $1,000
To offset expenses associated with the production
of two comedies performed in the Lunenburg Opera House.
2023 ($7,519)
Earl Bailly Bursary Award
Marli Doucette, $500
To support her tuition for a pottery program at NSCADU.
Emily Chaisson, $500
Enrolment in a NSCAD film production program.
Chanelle Jefferson, $1,200
To create “The art of being seen” a portrait show combining psychology, spirituality and art.
Helah Cooper, $650
Ironbound Creative Residency.
The Old Confidence Lodge, $1,200
Production of Stone Soup, created with children, for children and about children.
The Seaside A Cappella Group, $1,200
Musical variety show in October 2023 in Bridgewater.
The Lunenburg Theatre Collective, $1,000
To create and perform an original play at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.
Kate Church, Sally Hutchison & Carole Glasser Langille, $1,269
Exhibition “Wilder…The Art and Intuition of Three Cool Women” at LaHave Bakery in September, and hosted workshops in September which will encourage people to express themselves through art and writing.
2022 ($5500)
Earl Bailly Bursary Award – Morgan Landry, $500
To support her study in image arts and film at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Lunenburg Theatre Collective $1,650
Stage production of “Lunenburg” by Norm Foster, 9 performances at Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, starring: Cynthia Myers, Mary Knickle and Stephen Findlay; directed by Merrill Heubach.
Hear Here Productions $1,350
Completion of two short art films: Rock, Tree, Water and Green Moss Meadow both shot in Mahone Bay, NS to complete a trilogy of films called Woodlight, a collaborative series of performance films that combine poetry, dance and music in three beautiful outdoor settings in Lunenburg County. There are many local Lunenburg county artists involved with this film: Erin Donovan (AD, music and film director), Alice Burdick (poet) Justin Pickens (video), Eliote Schuler (editing), Beatrice Schuler (photos), John Adams (recording) and Halifax based Susanne Chui (movement), India Gailey (cello) and Ellen Gibling (harp), and the settings featured in the films are all in Wentzell's Woods in Mahone Bay.
South Shore Summer Theatre $1,100
Production of a full-scale musical “ Jesus Christ Superstar”, by local young actors, singers, dancers, supported by a production team of theatre professionals. Non-profit youth theatre group, led by Jerri Southcott, former TV lifestyle host and journalist, living in Mahone Bay.
Lunenburg DocFest, $900
Three free outdoor waterfront screenings.
2021 ($6050)
Earl Bailly Bursary Award – Max Gros, $500
For degree in digital audio arts, U of Lethbridge, AB.
Morgan Zwicker, $1000
Banff Centre Music Residency in “Jazz and Creative Music” which he claimed completely changed his life.
Onya Hogan-Finlay, $1000
Launch of a 3-year sculpture project “Apple Obscura.”
Lunenburg Folk Harbour Society, $1550
Intergenerational workshops for making traditional Mi’kmaw drums.
Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, $2000
Creation of Penelope Part II, the second of three commissions to complete a full-length opera.
2020 ($500)
Earl Bailly Bursary Award – Leilani Thorogood, $500
Beginning study for BFA at NSCAD.
2019 ($10,425)
Earl Bailly Bursary Award – Megan Spencer, $500 Attending NSCAD.
Lunenburg Folk Harbour Society, $1475
Folk Steps conference and workshop, “Old Time Music and the Roots of Bluegrass.”
Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, $2,300
Gavin Fraser, an emerging NS composer commissioned to write a new work for performance by the LAMP Trio.
Ricky Frenette, $650
An emerging composer and instrumentalist, to enable participation in the LAMP composition academy, led by Dinuk Wijeratne, Robert Aitken and two visiting composers.
Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, $1,500
Beethoven 250, a year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.
Marla Benton, $1,500
Creation of a permanent ceramic wall sculpture at Bayview Community School, Mahone Bay, hung in the library.
Maritime Concert Opera, $1,000
Performance of Hansel & Gretel.
Rebecca Fisk, $700
Solo exhibition at the Lunenburg Art Gallery.
Lunenburg Doc Fest, $500
“Said & Scene” a unique collaboration of film and the spoken word.
Lunenburg Art Gallery, $300
Annual Lunenburg County High School Art Show.
2018 ($6,600)
LAMP Rossini Opera Festival, $1800
Original musical theatre based on Rossini letters, marking 5th year of Rossini Opera Festival, with NS actor/comedian Bill Carr as Rossini and pianist Gianni Fabbrini.
Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival, $1000
Folk Steps Workshop and conference, day long program, exploring traditional folk music, open to the public. Theme of 2018 “the roots of the blues,” 8 musicians, including Ruthie Foster and Kat Danser.
Peer Gallery, $500
NS Archives exhibition.
Colleen Hagen, $1200
Experienced local writer, director and theatrical trainer, for writing and performing a one-woman theatre production, “Who I want to be” for performance in Spring 2019. The play focuses on the absurdity of relationships, with three characters, a husband and wife and the husband’s ex-wife who has moved in next door.
Su Rogers, $500
Solo exhibition of artwork titled “Family all gather (together)” a series of large format canvasses, creating groupings of individual family figures, based on her family roots in Lunenburg, traced back over 300 years.
Maritime Concert Opera, $1000
Production of Pirates of Penzance, June 2019 all Nova Scotian cast of 10 professional singers and a chorus of 30 enthusiastic amateurs from Lunenburg County. Three live performances in Lunenburg, Shelburne and Annapolis Royale. Discovering and presenting rising operatic vocalists has been a hallmark of MCO’s 15-year history.
Lunenburg Art Gallery, $600
Lunenburg County School Art Show, held annually at the LGA in March.
2017 ($6,300)
Julia Millet, $1000
Oboe residency at LAMP.
Colleen Hagen, $800
Youth Theatre Camps held during the summer.
Maritime Concert Opera, $1000
To support the Fall production of Acis and Galatea.
LAMP, $1500
A composition for string quartet, by Gavin Fraser, a Nova Scotia musician.
Lunenburg Doc Fest, $1000
A public talk by Sky Bergman, the director of one of the 2017 documentaries.
Helah Cooper, Merle Harley and Gillian Maradyn-Jowsey (NSCAD residents), $1000
Public Textile workshop with 25 participants of all ages, experimenting with textiles and fiber arts. The works produced at the workshop were subsequently exhibited at the NSCAD Community Residency, Old Lunenburg Firehall.