Evaluation Rubric – Creation Projects (Artistic Merit and Impact)

In the project grant assessment process, the Ontario Arts Council provides a rubric to assessors to guide them in rating applications. The following rubric is for certain activity grant programs that fund creation activities using two assessment criteria: artistic merit and impact.
 
The rubric is used as applicable, based on the context and/or priorities of each grant program, as described on the program web page.
 

Artistic Merit (50% of total score)

Rating: Excellent (5)

• Clear and compelling history and achievements.
• Vital and relevant artistic / cultural / aesthetic / geographic / language / community influences with consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and OAC’s priority groups.
• Distinctive and compelling intended activity; support material demonstrates high artistic quality, clearly related to the project, and demonstrates the artistic skills necessary to complete the project successfully.
• Choice of artistic collaborators highly relevant to activity; clarity on what they will bring to the project, with the right expertise in the art form and appropriate cultural knowledge with consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Distinct artistic goals and rationale, robust ideas on outcomes.

 

Rating: Very Good (4)

• Clear and defined history and achievements.
• Relevant artistic / cultural / aesthetic / geographic / language / community influences with consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and OAC’s priority groups.
• Distinctive and interesting intended activity; support material that is high quality, related to the project, and demonstrates the artistic skills necessary to complete the project successfully.
• Choice of artistic collaborators relevant to activity; clarity on what they will bring to the project, with good expertise in the art form and appropriate cultural knowledge with consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Clear artistic goals and rationale, good ideas on outcomes.

 

Rating: Good (3)

• Defined history and achievements.
• Clear artistic / cultural / aesthetic / geographic / language / community influences with consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and OAC’s priority groups.
• Distinctive intended activity; support material that is good quality, related to the project, and demonstrates artistic skills relevant to the project.
• Choice of artistic collaborators relevant to activity; information on what they will bring to the project, with expertise in the art form and appropriate cultural knowledge with consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Clear artistic goals and rationale, reasonable ideas on outcomes.

 

Rating: Fair (2)

• Vague or incomplete history and achievements.
• Imprecise artistic / cultural / aesthetic / geographic / language / community influences, with no consideration, if relevant, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and OAC’s priority groups.
• General intended activity; support material that doesn’t sufficiently demonstrate quality of past work or evidence of artistic skills relevant to the project.
• Choice of artistic collaborators not particularly relevant to activity; insufficient information on what they will bring to the project, lack of expertise in the art form, some appropriate cultural knowledge without consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Unclear artistic goals and rationale, few ideas on outcomes.

 

Rating: Poor (1)

• Poor history and achievements.
• Missing or irrelevant artistic / cultural / aesthetic / geographic / language / community influences and no consideration, if relevant, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and OAC priority groups.
• Unclear or irrelevant intended activity; support material that doesn’t demonstrate quality of past work or evidence of artistic skills relevant to the project.
• Choice of artistic collaborators not relevant to activity; little or no information on what they will bring to the project, little expertise in the art form, little appropriate cultural knowledge without consideration, as relevant to project, of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Unclear artistic goals and rationale, with no details on outcomes.

 

Impact (50% of total score)

Rating: Excellent (5)

• Clear and relevant goals and precise plans for having an impact on applicant, other artists, communities, audiences, participants.
• Unique and compelling contribution to applicant’s development or group’s objectives.
• Service to one or more OAC priority groups (artists and/or audiences), with robust and culturally appropriate plans to reach them.
• If the project has collaborators: well-chosen and highly appropriate collaborators, with detailed and respectful interactions, and major contributions to the project.

 

Rating: Very Good (4)

• Clear and achievable goals and plans for having an impact on applicant, other artists, communities, audiences, participants.
• Clear and appropriate contribution to applicant’s development or group’s objectives.
• Service to one or more OAC priority groups (artists and/or audiences), with culturally appropriate plans to reach them.
• If the project has collaborators: well-chosen and appropriate collaborators, with detailed interactions, and significant contributions to the project.

 

Rating: Good (3)

• Goals and plans for having an impact on applicant, other artists, communities, audiences, participants.
• Explicit contribution to applicant’s development or group’s objectives.
• Some service to one or more OAC priority groups (artists and/or audiences), with plans to reach them.
• If the project has collaborators: appropriate collaborators, with detailed interactions, and clear contributions to the project.

 

Rating: Fair (2)

• Vague goals and plans for having an impact on applicant, other artists, communities, audiences, participants.
• Unclear contribution to applicant’s development or group’s objectives.
• Little service to one or more OAC priority groups (artists and/or audiences), with few or missing plans to reach them.
• If the project has collaborators: identified collaborators, with unclear interactions, and unclear contributions to the project.

 

Rating: Poor (1)

• Poor goals and plans for having an impact on applicant, other artists, communities, audiences, participants.
• No discernible contribution to applicant’s development or group’s objectives.
• No service to any of OAC priority groups (artists and/or audiences).
• If the project has collaborators: collaborators not described well, with little rationale, unclear interactions, and no contributions to the project.