Toronto Arts Foundation Awards

The 2009 Toronto Arts Foundation Awards, with cash prizes totaling $44,500 this year, celebrate artists, cultural professionals and arts supporters from every creative discipline who have made significant contributions to Toronto’s artistic and cultural life. The 2009 finalists are:

Expect Theatre I Mammalian Diving Reflex I Supporting Our Youth (SOY)

Arts for Youth Award – a $15,000 cash prize established in 2007 by Martha Burns, Jim Fleck and Jim Pitblado, this award celebrates an individual, collective or organization that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to engaging Toronto youth in the arts.

Kate Cayley I Ravi Jain I Anusree Roy

RBC Emerging Artist Award – a $7,500 cash prize presented to an emerging Toronto artist working in any medium or performing arts discipline in celebration of current accomplishments and future potential. Established in 2006 by RBC Foundation, this award is intended to support the development or completion of new work. This year, in addition to increasing the value of the award from $5,000 to $7,500, RBC Foundation will also award $1,000 to each of the runners-up.

Marie-Josée Chartier I Christopher House I Menaka Thakkar

Muriel Sherrin Award for International Achievement in Dance – a $10,000 cash prize presented to an artist or creator who has made a contribution to the cultural life of Toronto through outstanding achievement in dance. The recipient will also have participated in international initiatives, including touring, studying abroad and participating in artist exchanges.

Miriam Adams I Sally Jones I Ross Manson

Rita Davies and Margo Bindhardt Cultural Leadership Award – a $10,000 cash prize sponsored by Margo Bindhardt’s family and Toronto Arts Foundation. This award is presented biennially to an individual who has demonstrated creative cultural leadership in the development of arts and culture in Toronto. Administrators, volunteers, artists and creators are eligible for consideration.

The Globe and Mail Toronto Business for the Arts Award – recognizes a Toronto-based business that has made a significant contribution to the arts in Toronto. Established in 2006, this award is presented in partnership with Business for the Arts. The recipient will receive an original work of art created by Nobuo Kubota.

• In the five years since its opening, The Drake Hotel has come to be known as an energetic hub for visual and performance art as well as dining and hospitality. Through its cultural programming, The Drake strives to provide a platform for nurturing culture while exposing diners, hotel guests and the local community to the works of artists in a variety of media including musicians, dancers, painters, photographers, video, performance, and installation artists.

• Over the past ten years, Scotiabank and its employees have provided more than $23 million to Arts & Culture initiatives, including contributions in support of programs, projects and organizations in the communities in which we live and work. Scotiabank is a major supporter of the Art Gallery of Ontario, The Canadian Opera Company, The Canadian Stage Company, the National Ballet of Canada, Soulpepper Theatre Company and Scotiabank Nuit Blanche.

• Tim Hortons storeowners have supported Art Starts programs since 2006. Since that time Tim Hortons has continued to fund innovative, creative programs at Art Starts sites and other Toronto venues. The impact of Tim Hortons’ arts-based support has extended through Art Starts to over 500 children and youth ranging from 4 to 24 years of age.