Toronto Arts Council appoints new Chair and President and elects 7 New Members to Board of Directors

Toronto Arts Council Foundation augments its board with six prominent members of Toronto’s cultural community

At this evening’s Annual General Meeting, the members of Toronto Arts Council elected seven arts and community leaders to join its 29 member Board of Directors. A new team of officers were appointed including John McKellar, C.M., Q.C. as Chair, Karen Tisch as President, Richard Fung and Jini Stolk as Vice-Presidents, Mark Opashinov as Secretary and Randal Levine as Treasurer.

John D. McKellar, C.M, Q.C. is a well-known lawyer and very active volunteer in the arts community. Mr. McKellar has been a Board member of the Canada Council for the Arts and is currently Vice-Chair of the Ontario Arts Foundation and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund. He is also Chair of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts and on the Board of Directors of St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Tarragon Theatre, Off-Centre Music Salon, The Glenn Gould Foundation and Fundamentally Film Inc. "I am very excited to be working more closely with the TAC which is doing such good work for the arts in Toronto - my city, where I have always lived and worked," said Mr. McKellar.

Karen Tisch, Vice-President of TAC since 2002, is stepping into the role of TAC President. She is currently Executive Director, Ashkenaz Foundation and before that was Managing Director of the Hot Docs Film Festival. Ms. Tisch has served as a Co-Chair of TAC’s Visual and Media Arts Committee for the past six years.

After ten years, including five years as President, Don Moffat has retired from the TAC Board. Board members congratulated him on his years of service and exceptional leadership. In his time in office the arts council’s budget has increased by 20% and its programming is reaching more artists than ever before. ”It has been a wonderful experience working with so many different artists and City Councillors on the Toronto Arts Council Board over the last ten years. The Council has a dedicated staff who together with the Board will continue to provide outstanding leadership and service for the City and its artists” commented Mr. Moffat.

Other board members stepping down after many years of service to the arts community include: David Baile, André Galipeault, Mei Kelly, William Lau, Richard Shoichet, Yvonne Singer and Cyrus Sundar Singh. During the AGM, Don Moffat thanked them warmly for their tremendous contribution.

Other Board members elected last night include: Curtis Barlow (CEO, Institute for Canadian Citizenship), Danis Goulet (Executive Director, imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival), Natalie Lue (Director of Operations and Theatres, TIFFG), Gregory Oh (Artistic Director of Toca Loca), Gerry Trentham (Artistic Director of pounds per square inch performance) and Jessica Wyman (curator, writer, instructor and activist).

Earlier in the evening, Toronto Arts Council Foundation, the sister organization of the Toronto Arts Council, added six new arts and cultural leaders to its board, bringing its total complement to 14.

Diana Bennett, Chair of Toronto Arts Council Foundation, is delighted to announce the election of six new members to its Board of Directors. “It is a great pleasure to welcome Rana Florida (CEO, Creative Class Group), Gerald George (The George Partnership), and Janice Price (CEO, Luminato) to our Board along with cross-appointments with the TAC Board: Curtis Barlow, Natalie Lue and Karen Tisch. Each new director is a highly accomplished leader in Toronto’s arts and culture community and together they signal the importance of new partnerships to TACF and the value of working together to contribute to this wonderful creative community.”

Claire Hopkinson, Executive Director of TAC and TACF said that “I am delighted at the prospect of working with all our Board members. Each individual liaises TAC and TACF with a different sector of the city and is reflective of the vital role the arts play in Toronto”.

Please see www.torontoartscouncil.org/tac-directors.htm and www.torontoarts.org/Board.htm for more information on TAC and TACF and for brief biographies of board members.

For more information:

Susan Wright
Director of Operations
Toronto Arts Council/Foundation
416-392-6802 x211
susan@torontoartscouncil.org

- 30 -