The Wood Buffalo Excellence in Arts Awards (Buffys) is an annual program that recognizes and celebrates excellence in various areas of the arts throughout our region. The program also builds awareness of the incredible contribution artists make to Wood Buffalo. This year’s showcase will be delivered at Keyano Theatre & Arts Centre. Arts Council aims to hire performing artists to create performances that will be showcased live, in-person at this year’s Awards Showcase on October 17, 2026. The performances may be recorded for archival purposes and may be distributed as needed.
Eligibility Criteria
- Artists must be Wood Buffalo residents for the duration of the project
- Performance must not exceed 5 minutes in length
- Artists must be performance-ready by mid-September
- Performance must be original and must not have been, or have plans to be presented again in close proximity of the Buffys (i.e. no repeat presentations of the Work between July and December 2025).
Work Media
The work must be visually appealing to present at Keyano Theatre & Arts Centre and may include, but is not limited to:
- Music
- Dance of all styles, including culturally based and traditional dance forms.
- Theatre
- Comedy
- Spoken Word
- Circus Arts
- 2D or 3D artforms
About the Opportunity
- Arts Council is particularly interested in unique work, and preference will be given to engaging proposals from artists who have not already performed at the Buffys. The Buffys are a great place to be experimental and try things out, so we encourage artists to embrace their unique ideas and dream something up that fits “outside-the-box”.
- While not mandatory, Arts Council artists are encouraged to infuse their work with the thematic coherence of Electric Midnight.
- The performance will be presented in front of a live audience and recorded for archival purposes. We highly encourage collaboration between many artists.
- Each submission must have a designated director, who will manage the vision of the project as well as its performers. They will act as the point-contact for the project and will arrange logistics for the group. This director may also be required to sit in on meetings to plan creative and logistical aspects of the performance in advance with our creative team.
- All final submissions must be 100% original and free from risk of being flagged for copyright violations.
Submitting an Expression of Interest
Artists interested in performing must email jenna@artscouncilwb.ca with their expression of interest. This could include information about the proposed performance, relevant previous experience, and any images or videos that may support the application (optional).
Submission Deadline
All submissions must be recieved by 11:59PM on August 17, 2026. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis, so interested artists are encouraged to apply early.
Artist Fee
Artist fees will be negotiated and agreed upon between the individual artist and Arts Council Wood Buffalo, contingent upon the scope and nature of the artistic contribution.
Selection Process
Artists will be selected based on appropriateness for the program, cost, and quality. Priority will be given to artists who communicate clear, detailed concepts, with reasoning and feasibility provided to support their proposed performance.
Please note that only artists(s) who are successful will be notified. Selections will be made by the Arts Council Wood Buffalo staff.
Questions & More Information
For questions or more information, please contact jenna@artscouncilwb.ca or 587-674-1625.
