As part of Toronto Arts Foundation’s ongoing research into the importance of the arts in city and community building, Arts Chats brings together a diverse array of speakers from a variety of disciplines throughout the month of March to discuss timely and understudied issues that affect them, their practice and the impacts of their work. These discussions will help guide the Foundation’s research strategy towards better supporting advocacy, programming and community building efforts across Toronto and throughout the arts sector as a whole. We want to go beyond the conditions of creating and working in the arts during the pandemic to instead use our current context as a lens through which to understand long standing problems in the sector.

Arts Chats #1: SHIFTING TO DIGITAL, OBSCURING EQUITY | March 4 @ 1 pm EST

The forced shift to digital content delivery in the arts challenged ongoing efforts to address equity in the sector. In our first session, our panelists will discuss equity in light of the shift to digital, steps that they see being taken to address equity in the sector and gaps that still exist.

Moderator: Ravi Jain Toronto-based stage director Ravi Jain is a multi-award-winning artist known for making politically bold and accessible theatrical experiences in both small indie productions and large theatres. As the founding Artistic Director of Why Not Theatre, Ravi has established himself as an artistic leader for his inventive productions, international producing/collaborations and innovative producing models, which are aimed to better support emerging artists to make money from their art.

Panelist: Daniel Carter (he/him) is a theatre artist and arts manager. He is the Interim Programming Director at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and the General Manager at Paprika Festival. As an arts manager, Daniel has worked with various companies including: Visual Arts Mississauga, SummerWorks, and Theatre Direct/WeeFestival. Daniel has performed with companies such as Buddies in Bad Times, Pandemic, DopoLavoro Teatrale, Compass Theatre; he was a member of Factory Theatre’s playwright program, The Foundry, as well as House + Body’s Playwright Initiative. He sits on Humber College’s Advisory Committee for their Arts Administration + Cultural Management Program.

Panelist: Marion Newman Kwagiulth/Stó:lō/English/Irish/Scottish mezzo-soprano Marion Newman (she/her) has been acclaimed for her roles in Barber, Carmen and Missing and was nominated for a Dora Award in Shanawdithit. Recently Marion has been working on rising to the expectations of her talented and respected colleagues who continue to give her opportunities to share her voice as a speaker, teacher, facilitator, advisor and dramaturge for various institutions and arts organizations across Canada. She is a proud Co-Founder of Amplified Opera. Upcoming appearances include Migrations in her debut with the Welsh National Opera.

Panelist: Jaclyn Qua-Hiansen is the Acting Manager, Inclusion at the Royal Ontario Museum. She oversees the ROM's inclusion and community engagement portfolio, including the ROM Community Access Network (ROMCAN) program, the ROM in My Backyard program and museum accessibility. In her role, she works across the museum and with over 100 community partners to break down barriers to access and co-create inclusive and welcoming museum experiences.

Panelist: Anisa Tejpar Dora Mavor Moore Award winner Anisa Tejpar is a dancer, choreographer, producer and contributor. She is a graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School, and has performed in works by leading choreographers internationally, as well as produced work for Human Body Expression and her commercial entertainment firm, Hit & Run Dance Productions. Currently, she assists Guillaume Côté (Côté Danse) with new creations and choreographs extensively for film and television. Anisa is on the Board of Directors of Canada’s National Ballet School and volunteers for Dancing with Parkinson’s Canada. She is also training to become an Intimacy Choreographer and Coordinator for stage and screen.

Space is limited, registration is required. Toronto Arts Foundation is committed to ensuring as accessible an environment as possible for all our programming/events. Please note that ASL interpretation will be provided for this session. Should you have other accessibility needs, please contact alexandra@torontoarts.org by February 25, 2021.

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This is Arts Chats #1, part of a four-part series. To learn more and register for our other sessions, click below:

What is Success? Metrics, Impact and Creative Practice | March 11 @ 1pm. Learn more and register here.

Technology Before, During and After | March 18 @ 1pm. Learn more and register here.

Established On Shifting Sands | March 25 @ 1pm. Learn more and register here .