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Are you a Canadian arts or museum professional, curator, academic writer, or scholar interested in contributing to ACI’s robust digital library? The Canadian Online Art Book Project is a growing online library of original books written by the country’s leading art experts on artists who have made a critical contribution to the evolution of the nation’s art history. ACI welcomes proposals, but before you submit, please read our guidelines carefully.

The Art Canada Institute (ACI) welcomes proposals for scholarly publications that advance knowledge of Canadian art and visual culture. ACI books are written for a broad readership that includes students, educators, researchers, and general audiences. Submissions should demonstrate rigorous research, clear argumentation, and a strong engagement with existing scholarship. Proposals should also clearly articulate how the author intends to make the book’s content accessible to a wide readership.

 

ACI is committed to supporting scholarship that reflects the diversity of artistic production in Canada. We encourage submissions from scholars, curators, and writers working across disciplines, regions, and cultural communities.

 

The following guidelines outline the expectations for proposals and manuscripts across ACI’s publishing series.

 

 

General SUBMISSION requirements

All proposals must include:

 

  • A project overview outlining the subject, scope, and scholarly contribution of the book.
  • A description of the project’s significance, including how it contributes to or expands the study of Canadian art history.
  • A proposed chapter outline aligned with titles in one of ACI’s publishing series (see below).
  • A preliminary illustrated and annotated list of key artworks/artists that inform the book’s subject matter and lines of analysis.

 

ACI receives proposals on a rolling basis. All submissions are evaluated based on originality, scholarly rigor, accessibility, and alignment with ACI’s mandate to present Canadian art to national and international audiences.

 

 

ACI Publishing series

ACI publishes several series that address Canadian art through distinct lenses. Our series encompass artist monographs, regional art histories, artist groups and collectives, and larger themes/critical issues. Each series follows a defined chapter structure designed to support both scholarly depth and reader accessibility, while allowing authors to develop clear, focused arguments supported by visual analysis and historical context. Proposals should indicate which series the project is best suited to and demonstrate how the proposed content aligns with that series’ scope, structure, and interpretive goals.

 

Life & Work

The Life & Work series focuses on in-depth studies of individual artists. These volumes combine biographical research with visual and critical analysis, demonstrating how the artist’s life experiences, creative development, and broader historical context inform their work. Proposals for a Life & Work book must identify why the artist warrants a full-length study and how the project contributes new perspectives on their career.

 

Titles in the Life & Work series include the following chapters:

 

  • Biography: A documentary account of the artist’s early life, training, career development, and major personal and professional contexts. This chapter establishes the historical and cultural framework necessary to understand the artist’s practice. The Biography chapter is typically structured chronology and offers clear reference points for major milestones in the artist’s life and career.

 

  • Key Works: This chapter consists of 10–12 individual entries that examine artworks that are pivotal to understanding the artist’s career as a whole. Selected works should span significant moments in the artist’s thematic, stylistic, or psychological development; exemplify a particular period, medium, or approach within the artist’s oeuvre; and reflect milestones in public, institutional, or critical reception. Descriptions of each artwork’s appearance and history should support these interpretive goals.

 

  • Significance & Critical Issues: This chapter is primarily analytical rather than documentary. It identifies the factors that make the artist’s work exceptional, influential, representative, or historically important. Each major critical issue or thematic contribution should be developed in a separate, clearly focused subsection. Generally, the Significance & Critical Issues chapter contains 4–5 subsections.

 

  • Style & Technique: This chapter analyzes the artist’s working methods and material practices. Topics may include artistic media, stylistic affiliations, technical innovations, or recurring production methods—along with evolutions in the artist’s making practices. Each significant aspect of the artist’s approach should be addressed in a discrete and clearly structured discussion. Like the Significance & Critical Issues chapter, Style & Technique contains 4–5 subsections.

 

  • Sources & Resources: A section providing essential archival, bibliographical, and research materials related to the artist and their work.

 

 

Canadian Cities

The Canadian Cities series examines how artistic communities develop within specific geographic and cultural contexts. These books investigate the interconnected roles of artists, institutions, exhibitions, and community leaders in shaping local artistic ecosystems. Each book makes a clear, evidence-based case for what distinguishes each city’s artistic production and why its cultural contributions are historically and nationally significant. Proposals should demonstrate a clear understanding of the city’s artistic history and identify how regional developments intersect with broader cultural, political, and social narratives.

 

Titles in the Canadian Cities series include the following chapters:

 

  • Preface: Introduces the book’s scope and framing. A successful preface situates the book within broader art-historical and cultural conversations while also articulating the author’s perspective and research. Authors are encouraged to foreground their personal or scholarly connection to the city and its artistic communities, explaining how a relationship to the place informs the narrative and interpretive framework of the book.

 

  • Historical Overview: This chapter provides a chronological and thematic account of the city’s artistic development. It should situate artistic production within broader social, political, economic and cultural contexts, tracing key moments of growth, transformation, or disruption. The chapter should establish the historical foundation necessary for readers to understand the contributions of the key artists, institutions, and community builders discussed in subsequent chapters.

 

  • Key Artists: This chapter comprises of a series of short profiles about artists whose work has significantly shaped the city’s artistic identity. Selections should reflect a range of time periods, media, and cultural perspectives, demonstrating how individual artistic practices contributed to the development of the city’s art scene. Entries should balance biographical content with visual and critical analysis of representative works.

 

  • Art Associations, Institutions & Events: Examines the organizations, exhibitions, artist-run centres, collectives, educational programs, and cultural initiatives that fostered artistic production and community development. This chapter should outline how these structures supported artists, facilitated collaboration, shaped public engagement with art, and influenced the city’s cultural infrastructure.

 

  • Community Builders: This chapter emphasizes the relational and collaborative dimensions of artistic production by highlighting individuals who have played pivotal roles in strengthening and sustaining the city’s creative communities. These may include curators, educators, patrons, administrators, cultural organizers, critics, and other advocates whose leadership, mentorship, or institutional work helped shape the city’s art scene.

 

  • Sources & Resources: Provides an annotated guide to essential archival collections, exhibitions, publications, institutional records, and research tools related to the city’s art history. This section should support further scholarship and encourage continued research into the city’s artistic development.

 

 

Artist Groups

The Artist Groups series is new to ACI—it explores the formation, activity, and legacy of artist collectives and movements that have influenced Canadian art. Titles in this series examine collaboration as a catalyst for artistic innovation and cultural dialogue. Proposals should address the historical and social conditions that brought artists together, the shared or divergent aesthetic principles within the group, and the group/collective’s lasting impact on Canadian art history.

 

Artist Group books typically include:

 

  • Overview: This chapter should outline the social, cultural, and artistic conditions that led to the group’s formation, including its stated or implied objectives, shared thematic or stylistic concerns, and defining characteristics. Authors should consider the internal dynamics of the group, including membership structure, collaboration methods, and the ways the group positioned itself within broader artistic and public discourse. The overview should establish the historical framework necessary to understand the group’s activities, influence, and legacy.

 

  • Key Artists: Profiles core members whose work and leadership significantly shaped the group’s identity and development. Entries should demonstrate how each artist’s individual artistic practices contributed to the group’s stylistic and intellectual direction. Authors are encouraged to consider both founding members and individuals who played pivotal roles during key phases of the group’s history. Profiles should balance biographical content with visual and critical analysis of representative works, while also addressing how each artist’s practice intersected with or diverged from the group’s shared goals.

 

  • Significance & Critical Issues: Provides interpretation and analysis of the group’s broader impact on artistic practice, institutional development, and cultural discourse. The chapter should identify the factors that made the group historically important, innovative, controversial, or influential. Each major critical theme should be presented in a clearly structured and focused subsection. Subsections may include contributions to broader artistic movements, challenges to institutional structures, engagements with social or political issues, or the group’s role in shaping public perceptions of art.

 

  • Styles & Techniques / Materials & Techniques: Examines the artistic approaches associated with the group. This may include shared stylistic tendencies among the artists, collaborative production methods, or distinctive uses of media and materials. Authors should also address variations among members, highlighting how individual experimentation contributed to the group’s creative complexity. Where relevant, discussion may include technical innovations, interdisciplinary practices, or collective working methods that shaped the groups’ output.

 

  • Major Exhibitions: Documents exhibitions, performances, or public projects that marked turning points in the group’s development and reception. This chapter should analyze how exhibitions shaped the group’s visibility, critical recognition, and public engagement.

 

  • Sources & Resources: Compiles an annotated guide to key archival collections, exhibition catalogues, publications, oral histories, institutional records, and other research materials related to the group and its members. This section should support further scholarship and provide readers with essential tools for continued study of the collective’s history and impact.

 

 

Themes in Canadian Art

The Themes in Canadian Art series investigates major subjects and issues that have shaped artistic production across time and communities. These books move beyond single artists or locations to consider broader conceptual, social, and cultural developments reflected in Canadian art. Proposals should demonstrate how the selected theme offers new insights into Canadian visual culture and should outline a clear methodological and historical framework for examining the topic across multiple artists, media, and periods. Books in these series do not offer a full compendium but should be expansive enough to present a wide view on the subject matter.

 

Thematic books include the following chapters:

 

  • Historical Overview: Establishes the development of the theme across historical periods, artistic movements, and cultural contexts. This chapter should trace how the theme emerges, evolves, and is reinterpreted over time, situating artistic production within broader social, political, and intellectual frameworks. The overview should provide readers with a strong contextual foundation for understanding the thematic analyses that follow.

 

  • Key Works or Key Artists: Provides focused case studies of artworks or artists that are central to the development and articulation of the theme. Selections for this chapter should represent particularly compelling expressions of the subject across different periods, regions, and media. Entries should combine visual analysis with historical and critical interpretation, demonstrating how individual works or artistic practices contribute to broader thematic developments.

 

  • Genres & Critical Issues: This chapter identifies the major conceptual, historical, or theoretical issues that shape how the subject has been understood and represented. Authors may consider how the theme intersects with questions of identity, politics, social change, cultural memory, or institutional representation. Each major issue should be presented in a clearly structured and focused section.

 

  • Materials & Techniques: Investigates how artistic media, production methods, and material choices shape the expression and interpretation of the theme. This chapter may examine how artists use particular materials and technologies to engage with the subject, as well as how evolving techniques influence thematic representation.

 

  • Sources & Resources: Provides an annotated guide to essential archival collections, exhibitions, publications, digital resources, and research materials related to the theme. The section should support further scholarship, offering readers pathways for continued study by highlighting key contributions to the field.

 

 

Writing and Research Expectations

All proposals submitted to ACI must:

 

  • Demonstrate familiarity with current scholarship and primary research sources.
  • Present arguments clearly and coherently for both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
  • Integrate visual analysis with historical and critical interpretation.
  • Maintain inclusive, respectful, and ethically informed scholarship.

 

Authors are expected to collaborate closely with ACI editors throughout the process of development and review of the proposal.

 

 

Submission Process

All proposals are reviewed by ACI’s editorial team along with our Editorial Advisory Committee, which consists of leading experts in the field of Canadian art, many of whom have authored or contributed to ACI publications. Select proposals will be invited to develop a full manuscript, and all manuscripts undergo editorial review and external peer assessment.

 

Please submit your proposal electronically to ACI, to the attention of Melissa Rombout, Editorial Director (mrombout@aci-iac.ca).

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