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First-time operating grant recipient, the Elora Centre for the Arts (ECA), celebrates on October 16, 2009. From left, ECA board members, Jeff Ostic and Paul Valeriotte, OAC Associate Visual and Media Arts Officer, Lisa Wöhrle, ECA programming coordinator, Roisin Gormley Young, and ECA General Manager Arlene Saunders. (Photo: Sarah McGoldrick) |
Remembering Yvonne Chiu
We are greatly saddened by the sudden death of Toronto board member Yvonne Yan-Kiu Chiu on September 27
th. The board and staff will greatly miss Yvonne’s warmth and the energy she brought to the OAC board. She was fiercely dedicated to the arts and a vital member of Toronto’s Chinese community. Her long history of volunteer work spans decades and cuts across many sectors.
“Yvonne was a person tremendously committed to the arts, especially music. She attended not only opera, ballet and music productions, but it sometimes seemed that she was there at every possible performance of these productions. Her enthusiasm for education saw her giving many pre-performance talks. I’ll never forget bumping into her on a Saturday morning several years ago as she was on her way to Scarborough, where she met regularly with the Chinese community so she could tell them about the pleasures of opera. She was a remarkable and knowledgeable philanthropist,” said John Brotman, OAC Executive Director .
In 2001, Yvonne became a Member of the Order of Canada. She was also named one of the “Great Minds” of the Faculty of the University of Toronto on the occasion of the University’s 175th Anniversary. And in 1995, Ms. Chiu was awarded the C.Y. Lee Memorial Award for outstanding service and contribution to the Chinese Canadian community.
Yvonne is survived by her husband, John Hung-Cheung, and son, Derrick Man-Fung Gregory, and her siblings, Donna Tang, David Tang and Ada Siu.
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Important information for applicants about incomplete applications
We want you to make the best possible application. Before you submit your application, check to make sure your application is complete, signed, accurate, legible and organized in the correct order, and with the correct number of copies. To avoid any problems, use the checklist included in your application form. If your application is incomplete, we will not follow up on the missing pieces, nor do we accept materials after the deadline has passed.
Please note: If you send in an incomplete application, it will not proceed to the jury process. We will return your application to you by mail after the deadline.
Two most common reasons applications are incomplete:
- Not enough copies of documents. We use every copy of your application in our juries and panels. If we don’t receive enough copies, your application won’t move forward.
- Key information missing. Double-check for your name, address, phone, residency status, signature, project description, project dates, budget (where applicable) and support materials. We need all these elements to assess your application. Without them, we cannot proceed.
If you are applying to a project program, you can refer to the Project Grant Basics 
document for details. Be sure to read this document carefully. Please note that we will not process your application if you skip any of the requirements listed in your application.
Feel free to contact your program officer for more information if you have any questions or concerns.
Review your audio-visual support materials
before handing them in
The most important part of your application is your support materials, because the panel/jury uses these to assess the artistic quality of your work. When you prepare audio-visual support materials, a lot can go wrong if you’re not paying attention.
Tips to keep in mind as you prepare your audio-visual support materials:
- Double-check the format of your support materials. Have you saved your support material in a compatible format? Check with us to find out what formats we are using to view your work. Refer to the support material checklist in your application package.
- Review all your materials. Make sure you test your videos, CDs, CD-ROMs and DVDs before you submit to the OAC to ensure they run smoothly, and that you have recorded and cued them properly.
- If you are submitting to an OAC program that accepts support materials posted on a website, please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee that internet service will be interruption-free when your material is viewed by the panel. You must also provide instructions on how to navigate your website.
For more details about support materials, refer to the Project Grant Basics document.
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Claudette Jaiko appointed OAC Franco-Ontarian Arts Officer
We are pleased to announce that Claudette Jaiko has joined OAC as the new Franco-Ontarian Arts Officer. Claudette replaces Eric Dubeau, who left in August to become the Executive Director of the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF).
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Mary Lue Hinds and Bill Hughes re-appointed to OAC Board
We are pleased to inform you that Mary Lue Hinds and Bill Hughes will continue their work on the OAC board of directors for another 3 years.
Mary Lue Hinds joined OAC’s board in July 2004 and was named vice chair in October 2006. She was reappointed as vice chair in October 2009.
Bill Hughes was appointed to the board of directors in November 2006. His term renewal takes effect in November 2009.
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John Brotman to retire in 2010
OAC executive director John Brotman has announced plans to retire in 2010. The search for his successor will begin in the new year.
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OAC strengthens support for individual arts managers
The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has strengthened its support to arts managers through the Compass program. Both individual managers working within an arts organization and independent arts managers are eligible to apply for assistance in job shadowing, coaching, mentorship and other professional development initiatives.
The Professional Development component expands on the program’s previous mentorship category. The Compass program continues to provide organizational development support to help organizations engaged in not-for-profit professional arts activity. Organizational development funds cover the costs of bringing in a specialist to assist with activities such as strategic planning, governance and fundraising.
With this change, OAC is responding to a key recommendation from the 2007 Compass program evaluation: to support the management capacities of people working within arts organizations, and not just the organizations themselves.
The Compass program deadline is December 1, 2009; more program details are available here. Please read carefully.
For more information
Contact Pat Bradley, Compass and Theatre Officer, 416-969-7433 or 1-800-387-0058, extension 7433 pbradley@arts.on.ca
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Harmonized Sales Tax Update: Transitional Rules Now Available
In our last issue we mentioned that we would post updates on the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which will come into effect on July 1, 2010.
The government recently released its HST Transition Rules; you can view them on the Ministry of Revenue website. Key measures in the transitional rules will affect the arts and culture sector, including how ticket sales are processed:
- Goods and services — effective May 1, 2010, the HST will apply to amounts paid or payable on or after this day for goods or services provided on or after July 1, 2010.
- Subscriptions to newspapers, magazines and other periodical publications — The HST will not apply to subscriptions paid for before July 1, 2010.
The HST is just one part of a comprehensive tax package that, over three years, will provide $10.6 billion in direct payments and permanent tax relief for the people of Ontario.
Details are available on the Ministry of Revenue website.
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John Brotman reports on 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture
The 4
th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Johannesburg, South Africa, was a wonderful opportunity to meet arts delegates from around the world on the theme, “Meeting of Cultures: Creating Meaning through the Arts.”
Over 450 people attended the conference organized by the National Arts Council of South Africa on behalf of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA).
Two panels stood out for me. Njabulo Ndebele, author and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, gave a compelling presentation on how we view and experience what we see as “other,” “different,” even “strange.” This topic resonated with me because of the multicultural context in which we live in Canada. Ndebele spoke about the need to acknowledge our differences by engaging each other. It is by first experiencing the “other” that we can gain understanding. This, in turn, can build genuine closeness and appreciation of our differences.
Cultural Diversity: Essential for Peace or Root of All Conflict, a presentation delivered by Madeeha Gauhar, founder of Ajoka, a theatre group based in Pakistan, was equally powerful. Gauhar conducts theatre training workshops in different parts of Pakistan for community, women, minority rights activists and children. Together with other speakers, she gave examples of how art is utilized as both a vehicle for liberation and expression in conflict zones; and how art can be co-opted by opposing factions to deliver political messages.
Having grown up in South Africa, I found it inspiring to see the changes that have swept through the country since the end of the Apartheid era in 1990.
I encourage anyone interested in the conference to visit the IFACCA website. For a complete list of the speakers and their presentations, click here.
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