The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
organization in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...
of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of
art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, OAC was founded in 1963 by Ontario's
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
at the time,
John Robarts
John Parmenter Robarts (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
Early life
Robar ...
.
Operation
OAC plays a vital role in fostering the stability and growth of Ontario's arts community. An arm's-length agency of the
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
*Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
* Ministry of Culture (Algeria)
*Ministry of Culture (Argentina)
*Minister for the Arts (Australia)
*Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)
* Ministry of ...
, OAC offers more than fifty funding programs for Ontario-based artists and arts organizations.
Grants provide assistance for a specific activity, support for a period of time, or for ongoing operations. OAC administers the Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts, offers additional prizes as well as
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholars ...
s from private funds, and further supports Ontario's arts community by conducting research and statistical analyses of the arts and culture.
Grant programs
OAC staff manage granting programs, while a 12-member
volunteer
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...
oversees the fulfilment of the organization's mandate. The board of directors is appointed by the
Government of Ontario
The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governorâ ...
for a three-year term (and may be re-appointed for one additional term).
OAC provides grants in three ways:
* Artistic discipline:
crafts
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
, dance, theatre, literature; music;
visual
The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight ...
and
media arts
New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies, comprising virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D pri ...
.
* Artistic or other activity: arts education;
community arts
Community art, also known as social art, community-engaged art, community-based art, and, rarely, dialogical art, is the practice of art based in and generated in a community setting. It is closely related to social practice and social turn. Wor ...
; touring; residencies; and capacity building/professional development.
* Cultural practice:
Aboriginal Arts and
Franco-Ontarian
Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of O ...
Arts.
List of awards
* Canadian Music Centre John Adaskin Award;
* Chalmers Arts Fellowships;
* Chalmers Professional Development Projects;
*
Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award
The Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award is an annual Canadian award, presented to the year's best song by an emerging singer-songwriter from Ontario in the genres of roots, traditional, folk and country music. The award, created in memory of Canad ...
;
*
Award, given to young professional conductors;
*
John Hirsch
John Stephen Hirsch, OC (; May 1, 1930 – August 1, 1989) was a Hungarian-Canadian theatre director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary to József and Ilona Hirsch, both of whom were murdered in the Holocaust along with his younger brothe ...
Director's Award, given to a promising theatre director ;
* K.M. Hunter Artist Award, an annually awarded grant of $8000 (2021) to six individual artists in the areas of visual art, dance, theatre, literature, film and video, and music, who have demonstrated both talent and the potential for further development.
Recommendations for the award are made by OAC;
*
Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting The Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting is a $10 000 prize awarded by the Ontario Arts Council every two years to support a selected choral conductor in furthering his/her professional career and enhancing his/her choral conducting abilities.
...
;
* Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award;
*
Oskar Morawetz
Oskar Morawetz, (January 17, 1917 – June 13, 2007) was a Canadian composer.
Biography
Morawetz was born in Světlá nad Sázavou, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic). He studied piano and theory in Prague and, following the Nazi tak ...
Award for Excellence in Music Performance;
*
Pauline McGibbon Award;
* Vida Peene Fund – Canadian Art Acquisitions;
* Vida Peene Fund – The Vida Peene Orchestra Award.
See also
*
Ontario Arts Foundation
The Ontario Arts Foundation is a non-governmental not for profit organization established in 1991 under the Ontario Corporations Act to encourage and facilitate private giving to the arts in Ontario, Canada. The group is distinct from the Ontario ...
References
External links
Ontario Arts Council
{{Authority control
Ontario government departments and agencies
Arts councils of Canada
1963 establishments in Ontario
Arts organizations established in 1963