The Toronto Arts Council Foundation works hand in hand with the Toronto Arts Council. We share the same executive director and the majority of our board members also sit on the TAC Board. While the primary function of the TAC is to award much needed grants to individual artists and arts organizations, the foundation’s mandate is to increase awareness of the arts in the city and to improve the arts resource base – in a nutshell, raising new friends and new funds.

Leadership: This past year was both challenging and exhilarating as we faced the retirement of our executive director, Jim Garrard, whose attributes have been well expressed by Don Moffat. We moved into six months of recruitment and initiated Claire Hopkinson into her new position. The Foundation is fortunate to have such an outstanding individual guiding our growth.

Yvonne Chiu, our president, stepped down in January after six years of service on the TAC and four years on the foundation board. I have been honoured to assume the post and to attempt to fill the shoes of an individual who has made enormous contributions to arts organizations – city wide – large and small.

Part of reaching out to the community means building a strong board of directors. We were delighted to welcome in that capacity, our new treasurer Randy Levine, CFO of Vector Aerospace and Sara Diamond, the newly appointed president of the Ontario College of Arts and Design.

Our board and volunteers could not operate without an exceptionally fine but small staff group – most of whom contribute evenings and weekends above and beyond the ‘portion of salary’ that the Foundation covers.

Programs: ArtsWeek was an event that commanded the attention of the heart of our business community. Launched in the TD Centre courtyard, more performers and displays opened the week than ever before. Over three hundred community organizations which provide cultural programming throughout the year punctuated their offerings with special shows. The Toronto Arts Coalition grew by eight hundred to over five thousand individuals, organizations and corporations. Newsletters and bulletins over the year updated members on arts happenings.

Arts in the Workplace established a partnership with Investors’ Group which will be exhibiting Toronto artists in their head office location throughout 2006. Toronto Arts Online joined forces with the City of Toronto Culture Division to bring comprehensive events listings for every arts discipline to both the livewithculture and online websites.

Endowed Funds: In order to begin to meet the needs of our artists and arts organizations that make up the rich cultural fabric of this city, our endowed funds must grow. This is our challenge. This is our promise to the many artists and orts organizations that will depend upon us in the coming years.

Diana Bennett
President