TOgether Through Art Launches Initiative to Profile Community Benefits of the Arts TOgether Through Art draws attention to the ways in which arts organizations in our city bring people together, build understanding across cultures, create good neighbours, and celebrate the rich diversity of Toronto’s communities as our strength. Bringing together an array of local arts organizations that provide cultural activities that support connection and exchange, TOgether Through Art aims to get more Torontonians involved in the arts where they live, to encourage social connection, foster understanding of different perspectives, and support the well-being of individuals and communities. “The arts help us see each other. Through artistic and cultural expression, we share in each other’s perspectives and ways of life and we build common bonds and understanding with people from all backgrounds. The TOgether Through Art campaign is about building this empathy and fighting against divisiveness. Toronto’s arts and culture organizations are stepping up to give a message of unity and I support them wholeheartedly.” ―Mayor Olivia Chow “Arts events, festivals, shows, and workshops offer creative and welcoming places for people to gather. At a time when life feels increasingly lonely, Torontonians can tap into the rich cultural offerings of its many creative hubs to find community and human connection. Together Through Art invites everyone in Toronto to experience the transformative power of creativity in their lives.” ―Kelly Langgard, CEO, Toronto Arts Council & Foundation TOgether Through Art will feature an active listing of events and activities happening across Toronto. All Toronto arts and culture organizations offering community-building and social connection activities are invited to join this initiative and submit an event. If you wish to participate by submitting an event, please click here to access the event submission form. TO ACCESS THE EVENTS REGISTRY, PLEASE CLICK HERE. More events are added each week! Toronto Arts’ inclusion highlights our Arts in the Parks program, presented in partnership with the City of Toronto and Park People. Arts in the Parks offers free, family-friendly performances and workshops in the city’s beautiful parks all summer long. To find out more about Arts in the Parks events happening in your neighbourhood, visit: artsintheparksto.org.
We’re developing a Newcomer Workforce Development program The program is made possible thanks to support from the TD Ready Challenge March 28, 2025 Thanks to a three-year, $1 million grant from TD Bank Group (TD) through the TD Ready Challenge, we’re increasing our support to newcomer artists through a new workforce development program. This new initiative will better connect newcomer artists to sustainable career pathways and strengthen their presence in education, media, and other creative industries. This program will be under-pinned by partnerships with industry leaders in workforce development in the arts and education, to ensure that artists gain specialized training, mentorship, and job placements, bridging the gap between artistic talent and professional opportunity. Toronto Arts Foundation, through our Neighbourhood Arts Network, has been a leader in ensuring the contributions of newcomer artists to our city and country are recognized, celebrated, and protected. Not only do newcomer artists strengthen Canada’s cultural, social, and economic landscape by bringing fresh perspectives, techniques, and traditions that enrich the country’s diverse arts scene, but their work fosters creativity, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression while promoting cultural exchange and understanding. Through collaborations, storytelling, working with traditional or new techniques, newcomer artists play a crucial role in community building and shaping Canada’s evolving identity. We launched our first dedicated program to support newcomer artists in 2014, which has since evolved to offer recognition, resources, mentorship, and professional development opportunities to help newcomer artists navigate Canada’s creative sector. Team members from Neighbourhood Arts Network have spent years forming lasting relationships with these exceptional artists and adjusting our programs based on what newcomer artists tell us they need most. For many – who come to Canada as accomplished artists – the barriers they face to enter Canada’s cultural scene are limiting. Having to navigate different systems, ways of securing arts funding and needing to form entirely new networks from scratch are just some of the hurdles that newcomer artists face. Added to this, we know from our research that 80% of artists struggle to earn a living wage, with many relying on freelance work to get by. A competitive sector, lack of community-building opportunities, workforce models that fail to support sustainable careers for artists; it’s clear that newcomer artists need even more of a helping hand. Our new, enhanced program for newcomer artists will follow a workforce development approach. We’ve had the privilege of working on a similar approach through our ArtWorksTO program – offered to youth media artists (18-29) who are Indigenous, Black and People of Colour in partnership with our Neighbourhood Arts Network, the City of Toronto, The Remix Project, and Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD U). Through ArtWorksTO, we’re equipping individuals with the training and skills needed to advance in their careers, securing stable employment and increasing earning potential. The Newcomer Workforce Development Program will function the same way – meeting a growing demand for specialized training, networking, and mentorship to help artists navigate common barriers such as credential recognition, employment obstacles and limited networks. Over three years, annual cohorts of 25 newcomer artists – who are either media artists or education professionals – will gain entrepreneurial skills, paid work experience and access to industry networks. The goal of the program is to promote their economic independence, personal and professional growth, social integration and long-term career success. Details about the program will be rolled out in the coming months. We’re incredibly grateful to the TD Ready Challenge and TD for helping us realize this expanded program that will benefit not only newcomer artists, but all of Toronto and Canada, with lasting impacts on our creative sector.
ArtWorksTO Impact Report 2023 Between 2020 to 2022 ArtWorksTO delivered its programming with funding from the Future Skills Centre and the City of Toronto. This impact highlights report underscores impacts of the program during this time with information gathered and analysed by independent consultants Kris Erickson, PhD and Fiona Scott. The impact report was jointly authored by Laura Metcalfe from the City of Toronto and Angie Aranda from the Toronto Arts Foundation. Access the report here.
Margo Charlton Research & Evaluation Internship All Toronto Arts Foundation initiatives are made possible by the support from our wonderful donors. Our initiatives offer critical arts programs in various areas, including not only awards and free art events, but also professional development opportunities designed for our Toronto arts community. One such example is the Toronto Arts Foundation Margo Charlton Research & Evaluation Internship. Established in 2023 with the support of The Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation, the Internship supports graduate students in advancing research and evaluation skills and interests, broadening knowledge of the cultural sector and connecting to a national network of arts funders, charities and researchers. The Intern receives an honorarium of $2,500. The Internship was created to honour Margo Charlton, Toronto Arts Foundation’s first Research & Impact Manager, and her contributions to research and evaluation in the arts, and to support the next generation of arts researchers, evaluators and advocates. During her internship with us, Deanne Kearney, a Ph.D. Candidate in Dance Studies at York University, created an annotated bibliography of academic literature on program evaluation. As the Research & Impact team develop a long-term evaluation strategy and build a cyclical program evaluation process, Deanne’s work is integral to fostering an internal culture of evaluative thinking. Her contributions will help to ensure that the Foundation’s evaluation processes are rigorous and advance greater understanding of the vital role of the arts in society. Deanne will also be co-authoring a book chapter on evaluation and impact assessment in the forthcoming De Gruyter Handbook of Creative Industries with the Foundation’s Senior Manager, Research & Impact, Dr. Shawn Newman, and Evaluation Manager, Kadija Da Paula. About her experience, Deanne commented: “I want to sincerely thank Dr. Newman, Kadija, the staff at Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation, The Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation, and Margo Charlton for this opportunity. This internship was an incredible experience that provided me with hands-on learning about Canadian arts funding approaches. The mentorship I received from TAC and the Foundation was fantastic and supportive, furthering my academic and professional goals in the arts funding landscape as I wish to continue working in Canada’s cultural sector past the completion of my Ph.D.” It has been a pleasure having Deanne as our intern, and we also would like to thank The Zita and Mark Bernstein Family Foundation for their incredible support. Our donor community’s commitment to advancing and supporting the arts sector is truly inspiring and helps us maximize the transformative benefits of the arts through our innovative, responsive and strategic initiatives. Deanne Kearney is a Ph.D. Candidate in Dance Studies at York University, where her research focuses on the impact of different funding models on the Canadian dance sector, with a particular emphasis on federal funding and the Canada Council for the Arts. As a dance writer, researcher, and critic, she has contributed to notable publications such as Dance Magazine, The Dance Current Magazine, and Dance International, and currently reviews dance on her websites, The Dance Debrief (DanceDebrief.ca) and DeanneKearney.com.
In conversation with Michelle Yeung, Creative Champions Network Lead Michelle Yeung, Managing Director at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, joined Toronto Arts Foundation as Creative Champions Network Lead in June 2022. The program offers workshops, resources and networking opportunities for arts board volunteers and arts leaders to learn more about governance; including roles, responsibilities and effective working models. Michelle, having served on many arts boards including Mass Culture, Prologue Performing Arts and Cahoots Theatre Company, and as an arts leader herself, is bringing her knowledge to inform and organize a new round of topics and workshop sessions. During her previous tenure at Toronto Arts Foundation, Michelle worked closely with Jini Stolk to develop Creative Champions Network (CCN) from conception to reality. We spoke with Michelle about board work, the program and what participants can expect. 1. Describe a good, functioning board. Why are arts boards so vital to the health of an organization? A good, functioning board should be balanced with expertise and represent what the organization needs at that moment in time. It should take the lead from the organization, know when to step in and step out, and should always be evolving. It should support its leaders, and themselves, to lead responsibly and sustainably. A good, functioning board should exist in collaboration with the organization. 2. What can go wrong with arts boards? What are the risks? The biggest thing that can go wrong with arts boards is not having the proper processes or plan to recruit, nominate and onboard new board volunteers. Board succession is frequently dealt with passively. It isn’t one person’s fault – sometimes there are just other priorities on a day-to-day. Aside from not meeting board standards, the biggest risk is having an ineffective board. An ineffective board can add more strain to an organization, stretch its resources, and affect an organization’s culture and its mission-driven work negatively. 3. You supported Jini Stolk in the creation of Creative Champions Network in 2015. What was the need then? Has it changed? The need in 2015 was to galvanize a group of senior volunteers who were in isolation of each other, to bring them together, to help board members be more informed and engaged and be better volunteers. The learning, sharing and networking is still needed but now we need to take it to the next level. The arts sector continuously experiences resource scarcity and board members play a pivotal role in balancing organizational deficits. Our focus now is to bring this learning to life for board members and leaders, and into action, together. 4. What challenges do arts boards experience, and what can board members gain from CCN? The biggest challenge arts boards experience is their passive function in balancing many priorities. The arts is a unique and complex sector. It is difficult to engage through economic, artistic, individual and collective priorities with a volunteer board but it is possible. The CCN will aim to provide some insights and tools to overcome these challenges. 5. What kind of discussion topics are you thinking about for the future? Upcoming topics will be informed by the many similar questions I have received over the past two years. This includes the partnership between board and arts leaders, board succession, leadership succession, financial oversight and organizational health, and reimagining governance. These topics will be structured around how an organization, both leaders and board members, can work collectively together to move their organization forward. 6. What are your goals for the program over the next two years? How will CCN evolve under your leadership? What can someone new to the program expect? The goal over the next two years is to provide support to arts organizations where it is most needed and to address some of the immediate concerns of the sector for small to mid-sized arts organizations. Partnerships will be very important in our programming and new voices will be brought forward to challenge our assumptions about governance and the complexity of these relationships. For those who are joining for the first time as well as returning members, expect dialogue, learning and sharing, and putting these valuable conversations into action. Together we will build better arts boards and stronger organizations through our recovery from the pandemic.
Azadeh Pirazimian, former recipient of the Newcomer Art Award May 1, 2022 Moving to Canada from Iran, some of the challenges that Azadeh Pirazimian faced were the same that thousands of newcomers’ face. As an artist, Azadeh identifies “lack of accessibility to resources, professional art programs and networks” as being the most frustrating ones. In 2015, at the age of 36, Azadeh moved to Canada, leaving behind not just an established artistic practice, but also her social network, cultural connections, families and friends. A multidisciplinary artist who works in illustration, painting and acting, Azadeh taught visual arts in arts schools and universities in Tehran before she moved to Toronto. Shortly after her move she came across a grant writing info session for newcomer artists organized by our Neighbourhood Arts Network (NAN). “As a newcomer artist, I didn’t know what were some of the resources available for artists before I came across this session,” she said. Since her initial engagement, her relationship with NAN has only strengthened. In 2016, she received NAN’s Newcomer Arts Award (previously called the RBC Art Access Fund) which supports newcomer artists looking to jump-start their art projects, and in 2021 she was a recipient of the Newcomer Space Award. The award, she said, helped her overcome some of the barriers that she faces in Toronto’s arts scene as a newcomer artist. “The most influential [impact] is the recognition I’ve gained through this award from the art community. Additionally, it provided me with a space to work on a series that I had already started during the pandemic,” she said. As part of NAN’s effort to further help newcomer artists establish industry connections in Toronto, we formed a partnership with Toronto Arts Council to help identify mentors for newcomer artists seeking to apply to TAC’s Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship funding program. Through this mentor matching program, Azadeh was able to connect with Alize Zorlutuna, an interdisciplinary artist, writer and educator. They received the grant in 2021. “One aspect that my mentor is helping me is with the language barrier; helping me write about my work in a manner that my artwork is not misunderstood or ignored,” she said. Since moving to Canada, Azadeh has had considerable success as an artist, with her work being exhibited at Toronto Centre for the Arts, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, City Hall, Mekic Gallery in Montreal and several others. “One good thing about NAN programming is that they are designed based on the lived experiences of newcomers and refugee artists,” she said. “These programs play an important role in helping the artists get back the resources and the community that they deserve…The different programs that NAN offers, workshops, chats, gatherings, etc. have given me a sense of community and belonging as a newcomer artist.”
COVID-19 Response Ensuring artists shared in the recovery of COVID-19. Toronto Arts Foundation worked with civic minded partners, including the Toronto Arts Council, to help with mitigation, resilience and recovery during the COVID-19 crisis in Toronto. Toronto Arts Foundation COVID-19 efforts included: The Toronto Arts Foundation Resiliency Fund provided support for artists and arts workers who suffered significant financial loss throughout the pandemic. The Resiliency Fund was launched on March 9, 2022, thanks to a generous lead donation of $1 million from the Hal Jackman Foundation. Soon after its launch, The Slaight Family Foundation contributed a matching gift of $1 million. The Fund directed support to registered arts charities for expenditure on artists/arts worker fees, while also offering increased stability to organizations affected by pandemic closures. Thanks to these transformational gifts, eighty small and mid-sized charitable arts organizations, from a variety of disciplines, affected by depleted earned revenue due to COVID-19 closures, received financial support. The first round of applications for performing arts organizations closed in April 2022, and the second round of applications for community-engaged arts charitable organizations closed in October 2022. The final round of applications for visual, media and literary arts organizations closed in February 2023. The intention of the Fund was to support artists and arts workers. The Resiliency Fund launched at a time when Toronto and the world continued to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the arts sector, the financial losses endured between 2020 – 2022 – with four mandated closures of arts venues – were great, with Stats Canada documenting greater losses in the arts sector than almost any other. At the time of the launch of the Resiliency Fund, Canada’s overall labour force had already rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but this was not the case for self-employed artists. Applications were open to charitable organizations with budgets under $7.5M from a variety of artistic disciplines. Applications were reviewed by Toronto Arts Foundation staff and Donation amounts were determined by considering the information provided in the application, financial information available through CADAC (if applicable), the availability of funds, and general priorities specified by fund donors (for example donors may select from various categories including arts discipline when making their contributions). Click here to jump to a list of frequently asked questions regarding The Resiliency Fund. Previous: Toronto Arts Foundation partnered with Toronto Arts Council, with assistance from the City of Toronto, to create the TOArtist COVID-19 Response Fund to provide immediate support to Toronto’s artists. 100% of all donations to the Fund went directly to artists, including musicians, actors, writers, dancers, community and visual artists — all of whom faced potentially devastating financial strains due to loss of income from cancelled events and performances. Thanks to the hundreds of individual Canadians, foundations and corporate partners who stepped up in support of Toronto’s affected artists with a collective contribution of $386,347, adding to the Fund’s starting amount of $450,000, the Foundation provided $836,347 to 982 Toronto artists. Although this Fund has now concluded and all funds have been dispersed, the Foundation continues to develop programs and work with partners to support artists. Research and Shared Resources: Collecting data and sharing information during this time is crucial. We are working with Ryerson University and other partners to ensure we not only track the impact of the pandemic on the arts, but we share information to help artists and arts organization plan for recovery. This includes designing and testing new operational practices for back of house operations in theatres, creating new guidelines for occupational and public health standards, and providing resources for artists on financial relief, mental health, virtual arts entertainment, data collection and accessibility. If you are interested in hearing more about these projects, please contact our Research Manager, Kadija de Paula at kadij[at]torontoarts.org. Toronto Arts Foundation partnered with Ryerson University’s School of Creative Industries and Toronto Arts Council, with support from the City of Toronto, TO Live, SOCAN and the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts to create the Lights-On Venue Reopening Guide. The guide offers continually updated resources to performing arts organizations for the future safe reopening of their venues and is now an approved resource for the Safe Travels Stamp from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. Knowledge sharing workshops: The Foundation quickly pivoted from providing general information on board governance to Toronto’s volunteer board members to sharing critical, current information to help support their arts organizations. The online workshop Surviving Extraordinary Times: The Board’s Role in Organizational Resilience and 10 Principles for Navigating Through Critical Times remain on our website to be accessed to Toronto’s board members at any time and at no cost. Mentorship: A new Mentor-in-Residence program for artists with developing community arts practices has been developed with North York Arts and other partners to support the re-designing and reimagining of artistic work. Toronto Arts Foundation welcomes contributions to support our suite of COVID-19 response initiatives. Please consider making a donation today. Show your support for Toronto’s arts community by using the hashtag #TOArtsTogether For more information on making a donation, please contact Dane Bland, Director, Development & Engagement, at dane[at]torontoarts[dot]org. tHE RESILIENCY FUND: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS PURPOSE Q: Why did Toronto Arts Foundation launch the Resiliency Fund to provide support for artists and arts workers? A: Stats Canada documented greater losses in the arts sector than almost any other, with four mandated closures of arts venues in Toronto between 2020 – 2022. Although Canada’s overall labour force rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, this was not the case for self-employed artists. Artists still needed our help. Q: What was the structure of the Fund? How did it work? A: Toronto Arts Foundation received a lead donation of $1 million from the Hal Jackman Foundation, and a matching gift of $1 million from The Slaight Family Foundation, to provide financial support to artists and arts workers. These initial donations were allocated to performing arts charitable organizations in the first out of three rounds of funding. The second round of applications for community-engaged arts charitable organizations closed in October 2022. The final round of applications for visual, media and literary arts organizations closed in February 2023. Eligible organizations were asked to fill out a short application form. ELIGIBILITY Q: Why was the Fund only open to organizations? A: By directing support to arts charities for expenditure on artists/arts worker fees, the Arts Resiliency Fund aimed to improve the lives of Toronto’s artists. Arts organizations are a large employer of artists and production personnel. The Fund also intended to offer some increased stability to organizations affected by potential pandemic closures. Q: Why not give directly to individual artists? A: As directed by Revenue Canada, donations from Toronto Arts Foundation must only go to charities. Therefore, the Foundation cannot give a donation to an individual. Q: Toronto Arts Foundation gives awards to individuals. What is the difference? A: Different Revenue Canada rules apply to awards, which are provided in recognition of past work. Q: Toronto Arts Foundation gave to individuals through the TOArtist COVID Relief Fund in 2020. What’s the difference? A: The TOArtist COVID Relief Fund was administered by our affiliate, Toronto Arts Council (TAC), a funding body that is able to give funds to individuals. The money raised through Toronto Arts Foundation’s fundraising efforts were directed to TAC to distribute. The efforts of TAC in administering the funds for the initiative were extensive, requiring eight full time staff over a six week period. With the Resiliency Fund, Toronto Arts Foundation simplified the process, ensuring more funding was available for donations. Q: The application was only open to charitable organizations that received a Toronto Arts Council grant in the last two years. Why? A: In order to process applications quickly and efficiently, Toronto Arts Foundation’s close affiliation with Toronto Arts Council assured the Foundation and our donors that all eligible applicants were well run organizations of merit that would spend the donation as it was intended. This standard of excellence means that less time needed to be spent vetting organizations and that more funding could get out to the arts community in short order. Q: Did organizations need to create a new project beyond those described in their Toronto Arts Council application? A: No. This Fund did not wish to create additional hardships for arts organizations. THE APPLICATION PROCESS Q: How do I get an application? A: All rounds for the Resiliency Fund are closed. Eligible organizations that applied were asked to fill out a short application form. Q: How long was the application? A: The application had five simple questions that took less than half an hour to complete. Q: What questions were included in the application? A: The application asked: 1. The name of the organization and its Revenue Canada Charitable Number2. Total Annual Revenues3. Current budget for artists’ fees (not including the requested donation):4. Current budget for arts workers’ fees (not including the requested donation)5. An explanation of the organization’s plan for the expenditure of donated funds in the event of renewed health restrictions or closures. Q: Did the applying organizations need to describe the projects or give names of the artists involved? A: No. That was not required. Applications were not judged on the specifics of an artistic project or vision. Q: Is that all? A: Organizations were also allowed to give permission to the Foundation to access CADAC financial forms (if applicable). A CADAC profile was not a requirement for application; however, the amount of donation may have increased if financial information was verified through CADAC. FUND ALLOCATIONS Q: How did Toronto Arts Foundation make its decisions as to who got a donation? A: All eligible organizations that committed to spending the donation on freelance artist or arts worker fees received a donation. Recipients of this support agreed to commit to paying the donation amount in artist and arts worker fees in the 2023 calendar year, regardless of changing pandemic regulations. Q: How did Toronto Arts Foundation determine how much organizations received? A: Applications were reviewed by Toronto Arts Foundation staff, and analysed through a financial lens. Donation amounts were determined by considering: the information provided in the application especially regarding projected artist and freelance production fees, financial information available through CADAC (if applicable); and the overall availability of funds as compared to number of requests. SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS Q: If organizations were successful and receives funds, did they have to pay the artists even if they had to cancel or postpone the production? A: Yes. But only to the amount of the donation received. Q: What if the organization didn’t cancel or postpone any productions? A: If an organization’s productions were not cancelled or postponed, we encouraged them to consider using the donation to expand the scope of artist expenditures. Depending on the organization’s overall financial health, they may have increased artist fees, added extra rehearsal time, or additional freelance artistic personnel such as an assistant director, assistant stage manager, an understudy or an artist in residence. Q: Could organizations spend it on operating costs, like rent or marketing? A: No. We expected that organizations had already budgeted for these expenditures. The intention of the donation was to support artists, production, and creative team members. The goal of this funding was intended to offset the risk of planning and producing performing arts activities, despite the pandemic, in 2022/2023. Q: Were there other considerations? A: We also encouraged arts organizations to take into account equity considerations and power dynamics that affect who gets paid and how, including artists who have protections under union agreements versus those that do not. Q: Did organizations need to submit a report? A: A simple report on the expenditure of the funds was required. TORONTO ARTS FOUNDATION VS. TORONTO ARTS COUNCIL Q: What is the difference between Toronto Arts Foundation and Toronto Arts Council? A: Toronto Arts Foundation is an incorporated charity with its own Board of directors. Our mission is to spark creative connections, spotlight artistic excellence, and support vibrant cultural growth throughout our diverse city through private sector investment. Toronto Arts Council (TAC) is the City of Toronto’s funding body for artists and arts organizations, and is a separately incorporated charity with its own Board of directors. TAC’s mission is to support artists and arts organizations with responsive and innovative granting programs. Q: What is the difference between a TAC grant and a Toronto Arts Foundation donation? A: TAC is funded by the City of Toronto to support artists and arts organizations with responsive and innovative granting programs: TAC grants come from public sector funds. Toronto Arts Foundation encourages philanthropy to the arts and relies on the generosity of private donors and sponsors to invest in programs which serve the arts sector and the City through the arts. Foundation donations come from private sector funds. FOR DONORS: FUNDRAISING FOR THE FUND Q: Why did Toronto Arts Foundation fundraise for the Fund? A: The first round of Fund allocations made to performing arts organizations was made possible thanks to a $1 million donation from the Hal Jackman Foundation, and a matching gift of $1 million from The Slaight Family Foundation. We also wanted to help support artists working in other disciplines, hence the need to raise more money. Q: How much did you aim to raise? A: Our goal was to raise $2.5 million by the end of 2022. Q: How much of my donation went to artists? A: 97% of all donations went directly to eligible organizations for paying fees to freelance artists. Q: What were the levels of giving? A: All gift levels were welcome and appreciated and were directed to the general fund. Q: I made a donation. Will I receive a tax receipt? A: Yes. All donations will receive a charitable tax receipt for the full amount of the donation. Thank you!