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.

Expect Theatre

Expect Theatre has fused social activism with the urban arts to combat violence in high-risk neighbourhoods in Toronto for over thirteen years. Under the Artistic Direction of Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley, Expect works to unleash the positive potential of youth through multidisciplinary shows, programs, and workshops that value leadership, community and social change.

Mammalian Diving Reflex is an interdisciplinary company that creates opportunities for youth to be valued creators in their own right and have their voices respected in collaboration with adults through various youth-driven events, theatre-based performances, theoretical texts and community happenings. Most notable programs for youth include their international touring projects Haircuts by Children and The Children’s Choice Awards, and local projects Parkdale Public School vs. Queen St. West I & II. MDR is helmed by Artistic Director Darren O’Donnell and Producer Natalie De Vito.

Supporting Our Youth (SOY)

Supporting Our Youth (SOY) is a dynamic volunteer project that works within an anti-oppression framework to create opportunities for queer and trans youth and adults to build an inclusive, welcoming community together. The annual success of SOY’s photography and writing workshops, as well as their youth arts festival each year at Pride, prove that through artistic processes, young people who are all too often relegated to the margins of society are able to explore and expand their reality and engage with the world in ways that are creative, innovative and exciting.