News
Arts community welcomes The Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture
The arts community gave a warm welcome to Minister Chan at a reception hosted by the Ontario Arts Council on March 23, 2010. Approximately 400 artists, arts administrators and members of arts organizations turned up at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts to connect with Minister Chan and his staff.
A number of artists from across the province also sent welcome messages to the Minister because they were not able to attend in person. We displayed these photo greetings at the event. We also kept our Twitter subscribers tuned in by sharing excerpts from Martha Durdin’s speech and event details with them.
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Aengus Finnan appointed Touring and Audience Development Officer
The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has hired artist, educator, producer and arts administrator Aengus Finnan as Touring and Audience Development Officer. He replaces Mark Hammond, who served as Interim National and International Touring Officer from June 2008. In his new role, Aengus will work to reinforce OAC’s ongoing commitment to touring, presenting and audience development for the arts.
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Three new Ontario Arts Council board members
Bela Ravi, Hugh O’Neil and William Aitchison were recently appointed to the board of directors of the Ontario Arts Council.
William Aitchison is based in Stratford where he has been involved in local 
community life for almost 30 years. He was appointed to the OAC board in May 2010. More
Belleville-Trenton-based Hugh O’Neil was appointed to the board of directors in April 2010. In addition to his 20-year political career, Mr. O’Neil’s professional background includes work as an elementary school teacher and real estate broker. More
Bela Ravi was also appointed to the board of the Ontario Arts Council in April 2010. She was a member of the Sudbury Theatre Centre’s Board of Directors from 2005 to 2008, and from 2007 to 2009, Ms. Ravi was on the Mayor’s Panel for the establishment of a Performing Arts Centre. More
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The Ontario Arts Council joins the Culture Days movement
The
Culture Days movement launched across the country on April 20, 2010. The
Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is taking part in
Culture Days by hiring
Aubrey Reeves as Ontario’s
Culture Days Animator/Coordinator for the next six months.
Aubrey will be a resource for Ontario artists and arts organizations interested in participating in this volunteer-driven, grassroots activity. Culture Days invites Canadians to explore their own creativity as well as the vitality of our communities by bringing together creators and the public. It is a collaborative, pan-Canadian celebration of arts and culture involving artists, arts organizations, municipalities, public funding agencies, provincial governments and the private sector.
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Hip Hop Dancer Justin Barkie performs at the Culture Days launch in Toronto's Distillery District.
(Photo courtesy of Culture Days) |
From September 24 to 26, 2010, this free annual event will invite the public to participate in and explore the arts and culture in communities across the country. All artists and arts organizations interested in participating in Culture Days should visit www.culturedays.ca.
About the Culture Days Animator
Aubrey will work in partnership with the Ontario Culture Days Task Force and the national steering committee. She will
- Provide organizing advice to potential presenters on how to develop a free, participatory activity for Culture Days or incorporate an existing arts activity on that weekend;
- Connect groups or artists in the same community that wish to share spaces or other resources for their Culture Day activity;
- Work with the national steering committee to develop tips and tools for successful events;
- Facilitate communication and networking between Ontario Culture Days participants;
- Support alliances between artists and municipalities.
In 2009, Aubrey was the Artistic Producer and Project Manager for spOtlight, a pilot project of the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Ministry of Culture, which took place in Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, Stratford and Waterloo. Prior to leading spOtlight, Aubrey was the Programming Director at Trinity Square Video in Toronto for almost five years. In this role she worked closely with artists and orchestrated and managed large events.
Contact
To find out more about participating in Culture Days in Ontario, contact
Aubrey Reeves
Culture Days Animator/Coordinator, Ontario Arts Council
Email: on@culturedays.ca
Phone: Toll-free 1-800-387-0058 ext. 5077, or 647-258-5077 in Toronto
Links
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New Reports Profile Arts and Culture Donors and Volunteers in
Canada
Two recent reports in the Statistical Insights on the Arts series, by Hill Strategies Research—
Individual Donors to Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2007
and
Volunteers in Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2007 — provide an interesting profile of Canadian arts and culture volunteers and donors.
Key findings include the following:
- Over three-quarters of a million (759,000) Canadians made financial donations to arts and culture organizations totalling $101 million in 2007.
- Similarly, about 700,000 Canadians volunteered for arts and culture organizations in 2007. Together, these arts and culture volunteers contributed a total of 73.5 million hours, which is equivalent to about 38,000 full-time, full-year jobs and represents a value of $1.1 billion.
The reports also provide a demographic profile of arts and culture volunteers and donors, identify donor/volunteer motivations and barriers and provide context on the competition facing arts and culture organizations in attracting donors and volunteers. Some provincial or regional breakdowns are also available, including Ontario data.
Both reports—Individual Donors to Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2007 and Volunteers in Arts and Culture Organizations in Canada in 2007—are based on Statistics Canada’s 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating.
The Statistical Insights on the Arts series is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Learn more about the arts in Ontario
Browse OAC’s Research section for research publications organized by topic, and learn more about Ontario’s arts sector.
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