Jennifer Geens
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 24/04) - If you've ever had questions about Canada Council grant programs, now's the time to ask.

A representative from the Canada Council for the Arts will visit three NWT communities in the next few weeks to give a presentation about the council's grant programs and to answer questions about how to apply for them.

Not just any town in Canada gets a personal visit from the Canada Council, said information officer Francesca Ranalli-Atherton.

"We try to target underserved communities," she said.

"Places that we're not receiving a lot of applications from."

In Yellowknife, a session will be held in English May 31 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. A session in French will be June 2 at the same place and time.

In Fort Simpson, an information session in English only will be held June 1 from to 7 to 9 p.m. at the Visitor's Information Centre.

And in Fort Smith there will be a session held simultaneously in English and French on June 3 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Northern Life Museum.

Ranalli-Atherton will be present at the sessions and will be accompanied by a program officer who'll be able to give more information about specific grant programs.

One program they won't have info on, though, is the new Visual Arts grant for aboriginal artists. Information and applications for that grant will be available on the Canada Council Web site by the end of June.

Ranalli-Atherton said the application deadline for the new grant will likely be September 15.