The Art Programme for Local Communities also provides funding to support public-engagement and professional-development measures that will contribute to increasing knowledge about, and interest in, public art. The podcast Frilansliv by Hanna von Bergen and Christina Skreiberg is one of numerous projects that has received funding from KORO. Photo: Sara Angelica Spilling.

Project funding for public-engagement activities

KORO provides funding for activities to promote public engagement and professional development in order to increase knowledge about and interest in public art.

Artists, curators, art centres, municipalities, county councils and other individuals or organizations involved in public art can apply for funding to support initiatives like lectures, courses, seminars, conferences, publications and so on. Application deadline for 2023 was February 1.

KORO will only consider your application if all the mandatory fields are completed. Please note that it is not possible to save a partially completed form and return to it later. Accordingly we recommend that you assemble all the information you need before starting work on the form. All documents you upload must be saved in one of the following formats: PNG, JPG, or PDF. The maximum file size for each attachment is 10 MB. If any file is larger than 10 MB you will not be able to submit your application.

If your application is approved, generally we will pay the funding after completion of the project. You must submit a final report (including your project budget, accounts and documentation) to KORO within three months of the end date of your project. You must submit this report via our online form. If necessary, we can pay out some of the funding before your project has concluded. If this is relevant for your project, you must submit a written request explaining why you need early payment.

If a recipient of funding breaches the funding conditions, KORO reserves the right to withdraw the funding, including requiring repayment of all or part of the funding. If a successful applicant’s involvement in the project is scaled back after KORO has approved the funding, we reserve the right to reconsider its decision, and may revoke approval of the funding.

Frequently asked questions

Lokalsamfunnsordningen (LOK) is a programme to provide funding and production assistance for art projects in local communities. It is intended to stimulate the production and mediation of public art projects and contribute to the development of public art both locally and regionally.

  • Artists and curators
  • Municipalities and counties

Individuals and organizations within the arts sector and local and regional authorities are eligible to apply either individually or jointly for funding for public art projects.

Institutions and organizations whose core running costs are subsidized by the Norwegian government are not eligible to apply for funding from KORO.

  • the production of public art projects
  • preparatory work for the production of public art projects (preparatory projects)
  • interpretative and public education programmes

What applications will be automatically rejected?

We do not accept applications for projects that fall outside the scope of the programme. KORO does not award funding to projects that are already in progress, or to projects in receipt of funding from other state sources.

We do not award funding to cover:

  • general running costs
  • deficits
  • residency- or travel-related expenses.

As a general rule, KORO does not fund projects that are located exclusively abroad. For funding for such projects, please contact: Office for Contemporary Art Norway, OCA and Norwegian Crafts

You must submit your application form via KOROs online application portal before the application deadline. The application must comply with KOROs current requirements and guidelines. Applications received after the deadline or that fall outside the scope of the funding programme will be rejected.

Your application must include:

  • the name(s) of the person(s) responsible for the planning, financial management and implementation of the project
  • a project description, including information about its background, artistic content and objectives
  • a schedule with anticipated start and end dates
  • a budget and funding plan, including the total amount that you are applying for from KORO

Mandatory attachments:

  • CVs for the project managers, the participating artist(s) and other participants
  • visual materials, sketches, plans and other relevant reference materials

Funding from other sources:

For artists and curators , at least 10 percent of the total costs of the project must be met from sources other than KORO. Your own contributions in kind can be included in this amount.

Application forms and the call for applications will be available online for at least two (2) months prior to the application deadline. Study the call for applications carefully before starting work on the application form.

We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with KOROs Privacy Policy.

You may save your online application form at any time and return to it later. The first time you save your form, you will be asked to supply the applicants email address. We will send an email to this address with a link for you to use whenever you want to return to your form to add something or make changes. Remember to save your form while you are working on it.

All documents must be uploaded in PNG, JPG or PDF formats. Maximum file size for each attachment is 10 MB.

You must submit your completed form before the application deadline. After you have submitted your application, you will receive an email acknowledgment.

Recommended web browsers:

Mac: Chrome or Safari

PC: Chrome

Foreign applicants:

If you do not have a Norwegian social security number or a D-number, you must contact KORO at least 14 days before the application deadline.

When considering applications, we will in particular look for high artistic quality, artistic, cultural and geographical diversity, and forms of production that involve a broad spectrum of collaborators and public groups. Other key factors are the relevance of the application to the text of the call for applications, and to the programmes` objectives.

All applications are evaluated by a committee. The members of the committee will be presented on KOROs website before the application deadline.

KORO shall inform applicants in writing of the decision.

RIGHT OF APPEAL
Only errors in case processing, legal application and factual basis may be appealed to the Ministry of Culture. The deadline for complaints is three weeks from the announcement of the decision. The complaint shall be sent to KORO. 

You may apply for KORO to contribute as co-producer. The precise arrangements will be made with each applicants on a case-by-case basis.

KORO may impose a condition that the funding is earmarked for specific parts of the project.

The municipality or county municipality that is granted funding is responsible for the implementation of the project and decides how it is organized. It is a requirement that the project is led by a professional art project manager.

KORO is responsible for ensuring that public art projects are properly documented and archived. Materials submitted to KORO form a basis for knowledge development and research within the field of public art. Your report should include accounts showing that the funding has been used in accordance with the project description and the conditions set forth in the offer letter.

The funding recipient should submit a professional report, accounts and other documentation no later than three months after the end date of the project. You should set your end date long enough after the actual implementation to allow yourself sufficient time to document all of your income and expenses. The final 10 percent of the funding will not be paid if the report is not submitted within the deadline.

The report should describe how the project was implemented and must include accounts and documentation in the form of image files, sound files and similar materials. Please include links to media coverage where relevant. The materials KORO receive will be made available for art historical research.

The accounts should show how the funding has been used, and should be organized to facilitate a comparison with the original budget. You must separately itemize all funding received from KORO and any funding received from other sources. You must keep receipts as you may be asked to produce them. If there is a discrepancy of more than 10 percent between the final accounts and the budget submitted with your funding application, you must include an explanatory comment.

Note that KORO has the right to attach special conditions when awarding funding.

Auditing

Grants of over NOK 200,000 will be audited. This does not apply to organizations that are audited by municipal or other public-sector auditing.

Payments to artists, curators and civil society actors are made in instalments. The first 80 percent of the funding is paid when the applicant enters into the funding contract. The remaining 20 percent is paid once KORO has approved the final report.

Lapse of funding offers – deadline for acceptance

The funding offer will lapse if it is not accepted within the deadline stated in the offer letter. We may agree to postpone this deadline, but you must submit any request for a postponement in writing. No funding will be awarded to applicants who have failed to submit final reports in relation to past projects.

Changes to your project

You must inform KORO of any material changes to the project (including changes to the budget or schedule). KORO reserves the right to withdraw the funding if the reasons for awarding no longer apply.

Retention and repayment of funding

KORO has the right to retain funding and/or require that amounts previously paid out are repaid in the following circumstances: the funding has not been used for the envisaged purpose; the funding was awarded on the basis of incorrect information; or there has been some other material breach of the funding conditions.

Other conditions

You must publicize the fact that the project has been:

  • funded by KORO
  • produced in collaboration with KORO
  • produced by KORO
  • Please contact KOROs Head of Communication Åsne Hjukse for logos: aah@koro.no

KORO assumes that funding recipients will pay artists and other suppliers in compliance with the relevant contracts, payment terms and recommended rates of pay. Information about such payments should be included in your budgets, reports and accounts. The artistic project manager should be paid at least the hourly rate agreed between artists’ unions and the Ministry of Culture. For guidance about rates of pay, please refer to KOROs website.

All invoices and credit notes submitted to Norwegian state-owned enterprises such as KORO, must be in the standard Norwegian e-commerce (EHF) file format. For more information about e-invoices and the EHF file format, please refer to anskaffelser.no.

Invoicing address:
 Organization number: 992 462 744
 Public Art Norway – KORO
 Accounts Dept DFØ
 PO Box 4746, Torgarden
 7468 Trondheim
 Norway

Guidance for artists, curators and civil society actors

  • Sign the funding allocation form and return it by e-mail to post@koro.no
  • Send the e-invoice (in EHF format) for 80 percent of the total funding amount with a payment deadline of 30 days to KORO
  • The e-invoice must be marked with the project number and project name; see the information provided in the offer letter.
  • Once the final report is submitted and has been approved by KORO, you will be requested to submit the final invoice
  • Send the final e-invoice (in EHF format) for 20 percent of the total funding amount with a payment deadline of 30 days to KORO
  • The final report must be submitted within three months after the stated end date for the project.

Alternatively:
If you do not already have an electronic invoicing system or if you have a system that cannot process invoices in EHF format, we recommend that you use an approved invoicing portal provider. This is an easy way of creating and sending invoices in the correct format. For more information about this, please refer to anskaffelser.no.

Questions

Questions concerning invoicing can be send to post@koro.no

Other accounting-related questions can also be sent to bs@koro.no and zk@koro.no

Phone no.: +47 22 99 11 99


Completing the application form: post@koro.no

Phone no.: +47 22 99 11 99

Help for Artists / curators:

Bo Krister Wallstrøm: bw@koro.no

Trude Schjelderup Iversen: ti@koro.no

Help for Municipalities / county councils:

Truls Ramberg: tr@koro.no