Toronto Arts Council Board of Directors |
John D. McKellar,
C.M., Q.C.
Chair |
Lawyer with the firm WeirFoulds LLP. Mr. McKellar
is known for the many performing artists and arts organizations
he has advised, counselled and supported. He is Vice-Chairman
of the Ontario Arts Foundation and the Ontario Cultural Attractions
Fund, Chairman of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts,
an advisor to the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts,
and a board member of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts,
Tarragon Theatre, Off-Centre Music Salon, The Glenn Gould Foundation
and Fundamentally Film Inc. He has, alone or with others, produced
shows at ArtWord Theatre, Blyth Centre for the Arts, the St.
Lawrence Centre for the Arts, the Princess of Wales Theatre,
the Wintergarden Theatre, the National Arts Centre, The Manitoba
Theatre Centre and the Kennedy Centre in Washington and has
several other theatrical projects now in development. He is
a past president of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and
a past member of the Canada Council for the Arts Board of Directors. |
Karen Tisch
President |
Executive Director, Ashkenaz Foundation. Long-time
film programmer and cultural worker, Karen is past Managing
Director of the Hot Docs Festival. Other past positions include
Grants Officer at the Canada Council for the Arts and Toronto
Arts Council, Programming Director of the Images Festival of
Independent Film and Video and President of A Space Gallery.
Karen is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada
and the Ontario College of Art and Design and has worked as
a film critic (radio) and arts consultant. |
Don Moffat,
FRAIC, RCA
Past President |
Architect. Principal, Cannon Design.
Academician of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. Former member
of Hamilton Public Art Commission. Past chairman of Etobicoke
Municipal Arts Commission. Former president of Etobicoke Community
Foundation. Board member, Toronto Arts Council Foundation. |
| Margo Bindhardt
President Emeritus |
Past Chairman and Past President, Canadian Opera
Company. Trustee and Past President, Art Gallery of Ontario.
First Vice-President, Toronto International Festival. Past board
member of Ballet Opera House Corporation, Toronto Arts Awards
and Young People's Theatre. |
Richard Fung
Vice-President
|
Video artist, cultural critic, teacher, activist.
One of Canada's most widely exhibited artists working in video,
showing in festivals and curated programs in major institutions
such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art and grassroots
cultural organizations such as Vancouver’s Chinese Cultural
Centre. Associate Professor in the Faculty of Art at the Ontario
College of Art and Design. Member of the V Tape Board of Directors
and the Mayor's Roundtable on Arts and Culture. |
Jini Stolk
Vice-President |
Founding Executive Director of Creative Trust,
Jini is an acknowledged leader in the arts and culture community
with senior management experience in a range of producing and
membership organizations. Previous positions include: Managing
Director of Toronto Dance Theatre, Executive Director of Toronto
Theatre Alliance, Associate Director of the Association of Canadian
Publishers and General Manager of Open Studio. She continues
her involvement in many community and cultural advocacy activities
and is President of the Board of Hum dance theatre and a director
of the 215 Centre for Social Innovation. She previously served
as President of Toronto Artscape and Six Stages Theatre Festival.
|
Mark Opashinov
Secretary |
 Lawyer.
Partner, McMillan Binch Mendelsohn LLP. Focus of practice is
corporate/commercial and competition law. Mark writes widely
and speaks extensively in his field and has a long list of publishing
credits. He has a professional and personal interest in the
arts and, in addition to advising the Framework Foundation volunteer
art auction, collects art himself. Mark also has an interest
in human rights issues and is Secretary and Past President,
Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada. |
| Randal
Levine
Treasurer |
Chartered Accountant with over 25 years of finance
and management experience. Randy has held a variety of senior
financial management positions and is currently the CFO of Vector
Aerospace, a TSX listed company. He has experience in all aspects
of treasury and finance. He has served on a number of Boards
including not-for-profit and charitable organizations. |
Curtis Barlow
|
CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.
Curtis Barlow has held leadership positions in the arts and
government throughout his career. Prior to joining the ICC,
he was Deputy Secretary (Policy, Program and Protocol) to the
Governor General of Canada, with responsibility for the Governor
General’s domestic and foreign policy program, as well
as constitutional issues. Past positions include Director of
the International Arts Promotion program at the Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), CEO of the
Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Cultural
Counsellor in both London and Washington with DFAIT, and Executive
Director of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. |
Diana Bennett
|
Chair, Toronto Arts Council Foundation
Board of Directors. Visual artist, educator, senior executive.
Owner of Zephyr Studios, a studio that designs, develops, and
exhibits works of art. Past positions include Managing Director
of Corporate Affairs, Marketing and Development at TVOntario,
Executive Director, Zoological Society of Metro Toronto, and
15 years with the North York Board of Education as a teacher,
department head and principal. Member, Canadian Foundation for
Investor Education Board of Directors, Trudeau Centre for Peace
and Conflict Studies Advisory Board, University College Principal’s
Advisory Committee. Past member, Toronto Stock Exchange Board
of Directors. |
|
Brian Current
|
One of North America's leading young composers,
Brian Current is a 2005 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the
2003 Barlow Prize. His music, renowned for its energy, wit and
daring bravado, has been performed across North America and
abroad by the American Composers Orchestra (Carnegie Hall),
the Esprit Orchestra, the Oakland Symphony, the Indianapolis
Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony, the Warsaw National Philharmonic,
the Deagu Ensemble (Korea), the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Nouvel
Ensemble Moderne, the Gryphon Trio, the SIRIUS ensemble and
others. He began his music studies at McGill University and
later completed his Ph.D. in composition at the University of
California at Berkeley, where he was also active as a conductor.
He has since been featured conducting his own music and other
works with New Music Concerts, Soundstreams and the Esprit Orchestra’s
New Waves Festival. |
Melanie Fernandez |
Director of Community and Education Programs
at Harbourfront Centre and Artistic Director of the summer festival
season. She is responsible for community cultural development
initiatives, the multidisciplinary festival activities, life
long learning programs and volunteer services. Past positions
include Community Arts Officer at the Ontario Arts Council and
Head of Education at the Art Gallery of Ontario. She currently
teaches a course in community arts at the Ontario College of
Art and Design and has written extensively in the areas of cultural
diversity and cultural production, aboriginal cultural production
and community arts. Melanie has served on numerous Boards and
advisory committees including: Cultural Pluralism in the Arts
(University of Toronto), Community Arts Ontario, A Space Gallery,
Art Starts Neighbourhood Cultural Centre, the Canadian Commission
of UNESCO, and Canada Council for the Arts Racial Equity Committee. |
Kamala-Jean Gopie, O. Ont.
|
Educator, community leader. Numerous awards have
acknowledged her work organizing and fundraising for community
organizations. Board of Trustees, United Way of Greater Toronto;
Board of Governors, Roy Thomson Hall & Massey Hall Corporation.
Past President, Urban Alliance on Race Relations. Past Member:
National Ballet of Canada Board of Directors; Harbourfront Corporation
Board of Directors; Governing Council, University of Toronto;
Advisory Council, School of Women's Studies, York University.
Member: Immigration and Refugee Board. |
Danis Goulet
|
Executive Director of the imagineNATIVE Film
+ Media Arts Festival. Danis is Metis, originally from northern
Saskatchewan. She brings with her significant experience in
film and media arts. Her short film, Spin, has screened
at several festivals, including the 2004 Sundance Film Festival,
and her latest short, Divided by Zero, premiered in
2006 at the Message Sticks Film Festival at Australia’s
Sydney Opera House. Danis has been affiliated with various film
and new media organizations over the years, including V tape,
Nelvana and the Aboriginal Youth Career Fair. Currently she
is a member of the Images Film Festival Board of Directors,
Worldwide Short Film Festival Programming Committee, and Planet
IndigenUS Festival Advisory Committee. |
Katherine Govier |
Author of 8 novels and 3 short story collections.
Her most recent work is Three Views of Crystal Water
(2005). Previous works include Creation (2002), The
Truth Teller (2000); Angel Walk (1996); and The
Immaculate Conception Photography Gallery (a collection
of short stories, 1994). Her novel Hearts of Flame
(1991) won the City of Toronto Book Award. She has been Writer-in-Residence
at the Toronto Reference Library and the Toronto Public Library
System, with its 98 branches. With teacher Trevor Owen she founded
and ran the school program "Writers-in-Electronic-Residence"
through The Writers' Development Trust. She was President of
PEN Canada in 1997-98, and from 1989-1992 chaired the Writers'
Development Trust, a charitable organization promoting Canadian
literature and writers. Visit her website at www.govier.com |
Mark Grimes |
City Councillor for Ward 6, Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
City appointment to TAC Board of Directors. |
|
Joy Hughes
|
Treasurer and Administrator of Cedar Ridge Studio
Gallery. She has been an active volunteer in the Scarborough
arts community since 1967 and she is the recipient of numerous
awards recognizing her volunteer work, including TACF’s
William Kilbourn Award (2002). |
Norm Kelly
|
City Councillor for Ward 40, Scarborough Agincourt.
City appointment to TAC Board of Directors. |
Alice Klein
|
Editor/CEO and co-founder/owner of NOW magazine,
Alice combines a strikingly creative approach to problem solving
with a hard-nosed and highly detailed financial appreciation
of publishing. She credits her first generation immigrant roots
for the ability to do a lot with very little that has been fundamental
to NOW's success from the very beginning. Her lifelong passion
for social change and her connection to the cultural vanguard
are a result of early experiences. In 2006, she was named one
of the 100 Graduates who shaped the Century by the University
of Toronto Alumnae Association. Facing the challenges of being
an employer and a mother of two has led Alice to broaden her
passion for social change to include the exploration of inner
peace. As a writer for the paper, she continues to draw on her
experience in politics, business and psychology to focus on
issues related to archetypal evolution and the global economy. |
Natalie Lue
|
Director of Operations & Theatres for Toronto
International Film Festival Group. As part of the senior management
team, she contributes to the organizational development of TIFFG
and participates in the design development and operational planning
for their new building, the Bell Lightbox. Prior to joining
TIFFG, Natalie was Director of Planning at Harbourfront Centre
and played a leadership role in the development, management
and implementation of long term strategic planning for major
organizational and program initiatives. |
Pam McConnell |
City Councillor for Ward 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale.
City appointment to TAC Board of Directors. |
Andy Moro
|
Co-founder and director of Red Pepper Spectacle
Arts, an active community arts organization and storefront in
Kensington Market. Red Pepper produces the Kensington Market
Winter Carnival Festival of Lights and the Kensington Market
Harvest Festival. It also facilitates the Handmade Theatre Workshop
in schools across the GTA and in fly-in communities in Ontario’s
far north – collaboratively creating community-based festivals
and theatrics from conception to public celebration. Red Pepper
hit the road in 2005 with ARTBUS, a fully equipped mobile art
studio. Andy is also a theatre designer and has worked with
such companies as VideoCabaret, the Centre for Indigenous Theatre
and da da kamera. |
Gregory Oh |
Pianist with graduate degrees from both University
of Toronto and University of Michigan. He is Artistic Director
of new music ensemble Toca Loca, plays with The Lollipop People,
teaches at the University of Toronto and performs with a wide
variety of ensembles across Canada. |
Gord Perks |
City Councillor for Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park.
City appointment to TAC Board of Directors. |
Teresa Przybylski
|
Architect, theatre designer. Well-known as a
designer for opera, theatre, dance and film, her credits include
designs for Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Canadian Opera
Company, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Pacific Opera, Calgary
Opera, Young Peoples Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre,
Canadian Stage Company, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Blyth
Festival, Theatre Smith-Gilmour, Theatre Columbus, Rhombus Media
and others. She teaches theatre design at York University. Member,
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and Associated Designers of Canada.
|
Edward Roy
|
Edward Roy is a director, playwright, dramaturge
and actor who has worked extensively on stage, film and TV.
He has been the recipient of the Pauline McGibbon Award for
directing, the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award for writing
and two Dora Awards for outstanding productions. Ed is the Artistic
Director of Topological Theatre, Company Dramaturge and Associate
Artist at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Director of Training
at the Queen Street Mental Health Centre and a guest instructor
at Humber College. His plays, including Bang! Boy Bang!,
The Other Side of the Closet and Daredevil,
are frequently produced in Canada and United States. |
Kerri Sakamoto
|
A writer of fiction, film scripts and visual-arts
criticism, her first novel, The Electrical Field, was
a finalist for a slew of awards and won the 1999 Commonwealth
Writers’ Prize for Best First Book and the Canada-Japan
Literary Award. In 1999 she spent three months working on her
second novel in Japan as a guest of The Japan Foundation and
One Hundred Million Hearts was published by Knopf Canada
in 2003. With Helen Lee, she co-edited an anthology of writings
on video artist Richard Fung Like Mangoes In July (Insomniac
Press, 2002). Kerri is an advisor for Gendai Gallery, Nisei
Legacy Project and Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
She is also a member of PEN Canada and Writers’ Union
of Canada. |
Gerry Trentham
|
Artist and educator. He is the founder and Artistic
Director of pounds per square inch performance, a company dedicated
to fostering environments that encourage and enhance artistic
endeavour. His major performance work integrates live dance,
theatre and music with video design. Mr. Trentham’s writing,
choreography and direction have developed to include the creation
of over 25 original works for the stage, including the epic
Cathedral. His most recent work, Autobiography:
Chapters One through Five, an international multi-media
collaboration, was produced at Premiere Dance Theatre and received
national critical acclaim. He has taught at York University
in both graduate and undergraduate theatre programs and is presently
Assistant Professor in the Performing Arts Department at SUNY
Buffalo State where he is Head of Voice and Movement. |
Adam Vaughan
|
City Councillor for Ward 20, Trinity Spadina.
City appointment to TAC Board of Directors. |
Jessica Wyman
|
Writer, curator, and art historian. Jessica Wyman
teaches in the Faculty of Liberal Studies, Ontario College of
Art and Design. She has worked with artist-run organizations
YYZ Artists’ Outlet and Fuse magazine, with Active 18
Association, and has curated numerous exhibitions for commercial
and artist-run galleries. Her writing about contemporary art,
and most recently about art history and performativity, has
appeared in magazines and journals across North America and
in Europe, and her three-volume edited book, Pro Forma:
language/text/visual art was published in fall 2007. Wyman
received the 2004 Untitled Art Awards Emerging Curator Award
and was shortlisted that year in the category of Best Art Writing. |
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