|
Ontario’s artists make OTF funding count
If “all the world’s a stage,” then OTF is supporting its players.
Capitalizing on its province-wide impact, OTF is enabling arts groups to build partnerships and share expertise. This means that arts groups that take their show on the road are now doing much more than just a series of straight performances. In addition, they are building local arts capacity and leaving a lasting impact. Nowhere is this more needed than in small towns and villages, which is why Prologue to the Performing Arts was awarded a $297,000 four year grant to perform in rural Ontario.
L’Association des auteures et auteurs de l’Ontario français (AAOF) is another good example of investing for impact. The group received a $46,500 OTF grant to support Franco-Ontarian professional writers and artists across the province. The project Libérés sur parole “arose through the need to bring literary art to high school students, especially in far away regions,” said AAOF executive director Marie-Thérèse Boily.
With an OTF grant of $31,000, the London Fanshawe Symphonic Chorus and the Gerald Fagan Singers are taking Music and Artifacts of the Mennonites on the road. “It’s beyond just the singing: It’s the added concept of going into communities with a multi-layered mosaic of many art forms,” said Gerald Fagan. “The bottom line is that it maintains and improves heritage, education and culture.” Starting with a creative vision, the strategy is to build it, and then to share it by connecting communities from across the province.
|