IMAGINE Arts Incubator Program 2025-2026

The IMAGINE Arts Incubator Program has been developed to foster creativity and innovation and to enable artists, creators, and educators to explore, invent, collaborate, and produce.

The IMAGINE Arts Incubator Program assists artists in developing works by offering free space and technical support at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in the form of an artistic residency, filming/recording an original work, or a socially engaged arts project. The IMAGINE Arts Incubator Program allows artists and creators to immerse themselves in artistic research and development to explore new collaborations, styles, concepts, and performance practices.

 What’s Included:

  • Free use of Isabel Performance Hall, Recital Hall, and/or Art and Media Lab
  • Artist honoraria
  • Technical production support such as:  
    • Multi-camera video recording
    • Studio-style multi-track recording sessions  
    • Live concert video recording
    • Livestreaming 

Program Criteria:   

The IMAGINE Arts Incubator Program supports projects with a music component that focus on one or more of the following areas: 

  • Original, inspiring, and innovative
  • High quality, pushing the boundaries of the art form and practice
  • Embrace collaboration and exchange between artistic disciplines and cultures
  • Socially engaged works that deal with pressing issues of our time and inspire understanding, dialogue, and action
  • Creative placemaking initiatives that leverage the power of arts, culture, and creativity to drive a community’s agenda for change, growth, and transformation or promote community wellness and cohesion 

Who Can Enter: 

  • Performing artists working in any musical genre
  • 18 years or older
  • Canadian citizen/permanent resident of Canada

How To Apply: 

Visit to complete an online application that will include:

  • Applications submitted in the category of your choice:
    • Creator residence/workshop
    • Video and audio recording
    • Audio-only recording
    • Live performance (with option to capture audio/video and option to livestream)
    • Other
  • Project description  
  • Artist bio  
  • Selecting date preferences for the project  
  • Outcome of the project  
  • Video/Audio samples  
  • Photos
  • Please note a non-refundable application fee of $50 CAD is required for submission

Key Dates:

  • Applications close November 30, 2025 at 11:59pm
  • Applications will be awarded December 19, 2025

 Questions? Contact the Isabel team at Isabelcompetition@queensu.ca

 
THANK YOU

We thank Bader Philanthropies Inc. for their generous support of the IMAGINE Arts Incubator program and their belief in artists and creativity.
 

We acknowledge with gratitude the generous support from

Bader Philanthropies, Inc.

Bader Philanthropies Logo

 

PAST COMPETITONS 


IMAGINE Arts Incubator 2024/25

This competition is now closed. Read about the 2024/25 recipients