Arts in the Parks Launches Fourth Season
For the fourth consecutive year, Arts in the Parks is coming to a park in your neighbourhood.
TORONTO, June 3, 2019 – Toronto’s parks will be filled with dance, music, theatre, movies and festivals this summer – all for free. From June 7 to September 28, 2019, Arts in the Parks will bring hundreds of events to nearly 50 parks in North York, Etobicoke, York, Scarborough, Downtown, and the East End for all to enjoy.
Arts in the Parks will kick off its 2019 season on Friday, June 7 with a fun-filled event from noon to 3 p.m. at Lee Lifeson Art Park, just east of North York Centre station. Everyone is welcome to join in this free afternoon of performances, including an aerial performance and workshop by circus arts group Hercinia Arts Collective and Korean drumming and workshop by Ensemble Jeng Yi. The event will be held rain or shine (rain venue and details will be posted online at the Arts in the Parks website). Mayor John Tory and City Councillors John Filion and James Pasternak will take part in the celebrations.
Toronto Arts Foundation believes that the arts help cities thrive. We envision a vibrant and creative city where every neighbourhood is enriched by the transformative benefits of the arts. The Foundation’s research shows that while 96 percent of Torontonians recognize the benefits of the arts to the city, most also experience at least one barrier to attendance – including cost and a shortage of events in their own neighbourhood.
To help reduce those barriers, the Foundation created Arts in the Parks, with the support of Mayor John Tory and the City of Toronto. The program’s success since its inception in 2016 has been remarkable – to date, AITP has animated 55 parks with nearly 600 artist-produced events, reaching 331,000 participants in neighbourhoods across the city.
"Arts in the Parks is now a vital part of the summer plans of many Torontonians," said Claire Hopkinson, Director & CEO of Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation. "Being outdoors in our beautiful green spaces, being able to see amazing performances in our neighbourhood parks and make art with our neighbours at creative workshops – this is now a wonderful feature of summer in Toronto."
The success of Arts in the Parks, designed to encourage community-building, enjoyment of local parks and appreciation for the arts in an accessible and affordable format, prompted the Foundation to share its expertise in animating local parks via the Arts in the Parks Toolkit. Produced in partnership with the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the toolkit is a vital new online guide to facilitating arts programming in neighbourhood parks, aimed at helping community organizations and municipalities plan their own arts events in parks.
Arts in the Parks is an initiative of Toronto Arts Foundation presented in partnership with Toronto Arts Council, City of Toronto’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and community partners Park People and RISE Edutainment.
Arts in the Parks is made possible with the support of TD and the proceeds from the Mayor’s Evening for the Arts, as well as by our many generous individual donors.
The full list of 2019 Arts in the Parks events can be found at artsintheparksto.org/event-listings.
Follow Arts in the Parks on social media:
#ArtsintheParksTO
Twitter: @ArtsinParksTO
Facebook: /artsintheparksTO
Instagram: @artsintheparksTO
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About Toronto Arts Foundation
Toronto Arts Foundation is a charitable organization that sparks creative connections, spotlights artistic excellence, and supports vibrant cultural growth throughout our diverse city through private-sector investment. To learn more or to make a donation, visit torontoartsfoundation.org.
Contact information:
For more information about Arts in the Parks, the launch event, or to book an interview with Claire Hopkinson, please contact: Tabassum Siddiqui, Interim Communications Manager, at tabassum@torontoarts.org or 416-392-6802 x 217.