The Effigy

1. Effigy is expected to completely burn on the Saturday evening of the event. Please ensure no part of your structure is to remain.

2. Effigy must be constructed from fire-safe materials. Please make sure you are familiar with the guidelines for building burning art.

Prohibited materials include the following:

• Paper
• Cardboard
• Papier-mâché
• Natural or synthetic fabric
• 1/8″ and 1/4″ plywood
• Plywood with a veneer layer
• Plastic
• Wool and leather

Small amounts of these materials placed inside are acceptable. The presence of large quantities are not acceptable by FAST standards. Non-burnable materials may be used provided that they are removed prior to the burn. Please include information about any materials needing to be removed in your Burn Plan.

3. Transportation: NEW for 2025 – SideBurn has added $500 to the project budget for artist/build teams to arrange their own project transportation. This is intended to allow more artists to apply from geographically diverse areas, and conduct their builds at other locations than Toronto.

4. Funding: Your grant is $5,500. Should you wish to exceed this amount for your project, please consider alternate fund sources such as crowd funding, fundraiser events, digging for gold, wrestling tournaments, bake sales, etc. Artist/build team tickets are not included in the grant amount; all artists, volunteers and board pay for their tickets.

5. The purchasing and supply of fuel for the Effigy Burn is the responsibility of the artist. Fuel costs may be included as part of the construction materials listed in the project budget required with your application.

6. If you don’t know all the answers, don’t stress. If you have questions or feel unsure about any of the above, reach out! We’re happy to guide you through the process and get you the information you need. Please contact art@sideburn.ca and we will endeavor to get back to you within 72 hours.

Your application will be reviewed based on the following criteria:

1. Artistic Excellence (Design & Philosophy): How original, interesting, relevant, daring, magical, thought-provoking is your idea?
2. Completeness of Design: How well-thought-out is your project? You should provide enough information for us to imagine your creation and how it comes together.
3. Feasibility & Constructability: How feasible is your idea? Will it stay together? You should have a detailed plan for both the technical construction of your project as well as a schedule to ensure it happens on time, with buffers for potential setbacks.
4. Appropriateness of Budget: Your budget should have reasonable costs that match the value of your materials.
5. MOOP/LNT Plan: Your project should have minimal waste production, and a plan for cleaning any possible Matter Out Of Place (MOOP) that could be produced during the installation or strike of your project. This includes a plan for Leave No Trace (LNT) cleanup of ashes and refuse produced during the burn.
6. Safety and Risk Mitigation Plan: Yeah, we get it. Art is dangerous sometimes. But make sure you have a plan to minimize the amount of harm that can come to people interacting with your project.
7. Burn Plan and Ignition Plan: If your art project includes fire you must submit a burn plan with your application. This plan will be reviewed by our F.A.S.T team and grants will only be awarded to projects that have been approved. Read our guide on creating a Burn Plan and the FAST required documentation for planned art burns.

Your application will be reviewed by our FAST and Art leads. All applications that are deemed to be complete will be anonymized, and then go through a blind review process by our Art Grants Committee. Only the FAST and Art lead will know the names of the artists, and they will not participate in scoring projects. Your project will be scored on a series of questions based on the guiding criteria above and compared to all other applicants. If several projects tie or score closely, the Art Lead will facilitate a discussion with the Art Grant Committee to determine the award. While Effigy build differs from regular Art Grants in that experience and skills are considered, they aren’t mandatory. The merit of your application is what will determine the Effigy selected. The more detail you can provide, the better.

The Effigy budget is a materials subsidy, the same as any of the regular Art Grant categories. Please take a look at our “What do we fund?” and “What don’t we fund?” sections in the Art Grants Policies and FAQs page for a better idea.

If you are selected, you will receive 75% of your grant upon award, and the other 25% upon completion of the project, submission of your receipts, and a clean LNT score.