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On April 3, 2014, Tides Canada named ArtReach among its Tides' Top 10 – a national annual award honouring some of Canada’s most innovative social change efforts that inspire people to take action, think in new ways and make the world a better place. - Click here to see photos - “Our Tides Top 10 award is an opportunity to shine the spotlight on some of Canada’s most innovative social and environmental initiatives,” said Ross McMillan, President and CEO of Tides Canada. “Each of this year’s recipients has demonstrated innovation, creativity and impact while working at the intersection of social, ecological and economic considerations. We’re pleased to recognize and celebrate their collective dedication to social change.” "We are honoured to receive this recognition," said shahina sayani, ArtReach Toronto's Director. "ArtReach is dedicated to supporting young leaders who create access to arts and culture and who have taken a stand to promote equity and social justice. This award reinforces the power of youth engagement and the arts." Click here to learn more about this award!

On November 27th, 2013, ArtReach hosted it’s annual Funder Speed Dating networking event. At this event, youth had the chance to meet face to face with potential funders in order to better understand the funding available to them in the City of Toronto. Youth were able to discuss their projects with funders and ask questions about getting their programs off the ground. This event was held at the Centre at 918 Bathurst. This year, funders included: Kate Fraser, ArtReach; Laurie O’Dell, Identify N’ Impact - City of Toronto; Suzanne Paes, Identify N’ Impact - City of Toronto; Lilie Zendel, StreetARToronto - City of Toronto; Jason Samilski, CUE Collective; Denis LeFebvre, Laidlaw Foundation; Michelle Miller-Guillot, Cultural Development Fund - Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration; Bushra Junaid, Outreach and Development Manager - Ontario Arts Council, Michael Murray, Ontario Arts Council, Anne-Marie Beneteau, CI Grant Program & Youth Opportunities Fund - Ontario Trillium Foundation; Andrew Suri, Community Arts Program - Toronto Arts Council; Kerry Swanson, Outreach and Evaluation Officer - Toronto Arts Council; and Margo Charlton, Theatre Officer & TAF Research Manager - Toronto Arts Council The night also included a special performance by ArtReach family member, Victoria Mejicano!

On Thursday September 12, 2013, ArtReach and City of Toronto Cultural Services, in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Grassroots Youth Collaborative (GYC), were proud to present the 2013 Youth Arts Pitch Contest. - View photos from the event - - View video from the event - Photography credit: Ebti Nabag Videography credit: Kevin Vinson An annual event, the Pitch Contest seeks to connect young local artists to the funding that they need to get their ideas and careers to the next level. This year saw eight finalists compete for $15,000 in cash prizes and $4000 in supplementary prize packs, to push them closer to their goals of professional artistry, youth empowerment, and community building. 2013's Youth Arts Pitch Contest brought Byron Photography, Francis Atta, Jason Williams of Queue, KeepRockinYou, Outburst! Young Muslim Women Project, Skittlez Gunn, The Starfish Canada, and Victoria Mejicano together on the main stage to display their goods, pitch their hearts out, and vie for the top prize. This year, we were honoured to have our panel of judges include: Garvia Bailey of CBC Radio 2; Setareh Sarmadi of Sportsnet Magazine; triple threat (actor/ dancer/ choreographer) Ofilio Portillo; Priya Ramanujam, editor-in-chief of Urbanology magazine; and groundbreaking filmmaker Romeo Candido. The ever-fabulous Femi Lawson and Shannon Boodram hosted the event, and took us on a musical, artistic, political, and comedic journey through this year's pitches. The Pitch Contest aims to help young artists secure hard-to-reach resources for unique elements of their work, provides training towards putting together a successful pitch, and assists in forging connections between the presenters and esteemed members of Toronto's arts community. All in all, the contest was a success not just for the participants, but also for the spectators who couldn't help but feel inspired by the passion and motivation demonstrated by these young artists in pursuing their dreams. And now for the results… Creative Business & Career Development Category: First: Jason Williams for Queue Second: Skittlez Gunn Runners up: Byron Photography & Victoria Mejicano Community Arts Projects & Productions Category: First: Outburst! Young Muslim Women Project Second: Francis Atta Runners up: KeepRockinYou & The Starfish Canada As always, ArtReach Toronto and our partners congratulate all participants in the 2013 Youth Arts Pitch Contest for their passion, bravery and talent!

On November 28th, 2012, ArtReach hosted it’s annual Funder Speed Dating event at Daniel’s Spectrum in Regent Park. This year featured a performance by the incredible RISE Poetry group. Youth participant Markus Starks commented, “The funder speed dating event really help me to see the available funding out there. I met many contacts and was able to shake hands and reason with most of the funding organization's ambassadors. I want to thank ArtReach and the volunteers for this amazing opportunity to learn!” Funders included: Andrew Suri- Toronto Arts Council; Nasreen Khan and Michael Murray- Ontario Arts Council; Ana Skinner- Laidlaw Foundation; Anne-Marie Beneteau- Ontario Trillium Foundation; Carol Law- Ministry of Citizenship & Immigration; Giselle Wiazek- Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Sport; Jason Samilski- CUE Collective; Derick Asante- ArtReach; Brent Bain- FACTOR; Augusto Mathias- City of Toronto; and Shequita Thompson- INI Funding.

On February 16, 2011 ArtReach Toronto hosted a Funder Speed Dating event at The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West) in Toronto. - View photos from the event here - The event was an opportunity for youth to meet with grant staff from Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Laidlaw Foundation, Ontario Trillium Foundation, FACTOR, City of Toronto Identify ‘N Impact Fund and Toronto Enterprise Fund. The purpose of the event was to provide youth with funding information, resources and an opportunity for networking. The event opened with a short krump dance performance by urban dance crew North Buck, and commenced with presentations from each funding organization. Staff from each organization talked about the types of funding they provide, eligibility/submission guidelines, general information on applying for grants, how proposals are evaluated, and what makes a grant ultimately successful. Funder stations were set up with groups of approximately 8-10 youth and young artists at each. Every 10 minutes, the groups of youth moved to a new station where funders had an opportunity to describe their programs in more detail and answer quick questions. This activity gave youth a chance to meet face-to-face with Toronto funders and discuss how their ideas and projects could be supported further. The event highlighted the critical need for funding to support youth and arts projects, and the ongoing need for capacity building supports as well as access to mentorship, space and production facilities. Those in attendance included a wide range of youth artists and creative leaders running arts projects across the city. Over 75 youth from across the City of Toronto attended the event, and many remarked that they found the event useful in that it not only provided ample information on granting opportunities, but provided an invaluable opportunity to meet other people working in the youth and arts sector. Overall a very successful event!

ArtReach Toronto, in partnership with Manifesto Festival of Community and Culture, Toronto City Summit Alliance (now known as CivicAction), Remix Project, and the United Nations Association in Canada hosted a youth dialogue between over 500 youth, stakeholders and Her Excellency the Governor General Michaëlle Jean. The event, part of the Governor General's national “Can We Talk” series, took place on Monday, September 20, 2010 from 5:00 – 7:00pm at 99 Sudbury, right before ArtReach’s third annual Youth Arts Pitch Contest. - View photos from the event here - The Governor General chose Toronto as her last stop on national Youth Dialogues tour commemorating the United Nations' International Year of Youth. The International Year of Youth is intended to increase dialogue and understanding across backgrounds and lifestyles. It aims to facilitate participation in problem-solving on the local, national, and international levels. “Where better to celebrate the power of community arts than here: one of the most multicultural cities in the world”, the Governor General noted in her opening speech. The “Can We Talk” Youth Dialogues series saw the Governor General address young people in Ottawa, St. John's, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Montreal. In Winnipeg, she visited Graffiti Gallery, a urban arts organized working across neighbourhoods to address issues confronting youth. Like ArtReach, such organizations aim to harness the power of arts and culture to empower, transform, and create meaningful arts opportunities. During the evening, the Governor General spoke about “the power of arts and culture...to carry us to a better place”. A key aspect of the Honourable Michaëlle Jean's tenure as Governor General was about “encouraging decision-makers and philanthropists of every stripe to reach out, support and include young people”. As a follow-up to that priority, the Governor General announced the creation of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation. The Foundation has been set up to support youth initiatives, and encourage networking between like-minded organizations across Canada. Once the floor was open, numerous young people took the microphone to share their experiences, ask questions, and describe the challenges and opportunities they face. The live feedback provided by individuals is that it’s crucial for young people and their individual and institutional supporters to “continue working together, in Toronto and across Canada”. Following the dialogue, the Honourable Michaëlle Jean took the time to meet the contestants in the ArtReach Toronto Youth Arts Pitch Contest. ArtReach Toronto thanks the Honourable Michaëlle Jean for her commitment, time, support and passion for youth arts. We wish her the best of luck in her new role as Special Envoy for Haiti for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Check out our selection of vignettes on a selection of ArtReach grantees!

ArtReach Toronto, in partnership with Manifesto, City of Toronto Cultural Services and Toronto Community Housing Corporation hosted a Youth Arts Pitch Contest on Tuesday, September 15, 2009, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at Whippersnapper Gallery – a Toronto-based youth art collective and hub for young talent. - View photos from the event - Youth Arts Pitch Contest: Winners' Profiles 2009 Individual Artist Category: Memo Youth Arts Entrepreneur Category: N.I.S.E Clothing Community Arts Group Category: Rated Inc. This event provided young artists, aged 16-24, with the opportunity to pitch their artistic and entrepreneurial ideas to a live and interactive panel of judges including Canadian Idol’s Farley Flex, Nawa Simon (ArtReach Toronto Grant Review Team, Actress, Dancer), Rich Kidd (Rapper, Producer), Sora Olah (Host, SUN TV's Street Eats), and Adrian McKenzie (Co-Publisher / Creative Director, Urbanology Magazine). The pitch contest is part of ArtReach Toronto’s commitment to innovation in providing young artists with resources and support to pursue their artistic goals.  It is an opportunity to fund new and emerging arts forms such as fashion arts, while also supporting youth arts entrepreneurs who often find securing funding challenging. Of the many applicants, eleven finalists were short-listed and invited to attend a workshop called “How To Make a Pitch”.  At the pitch contest, hosts FAMOUS and Hustlegirl allotted five minutes to each group to deliver a pitch that would inspire and excite the panel of industry leaders.  The groups were competing for three $5000 cash prizes in the following categories: “Individual Artists”; “Community Arts Groups” and “Youth Arts Entrepreneurs”. In addition to compelling pitches, other entertainment included 📷performances by DJ Dalia, an open mic session and an array of artistic, musical, dance, theatre, spoken word and literary arts performances.  David Lawrence took home a pair of Raptors tickets for his incredible performance during the open mic and ArtReach Toronto Program Manager, Shahina Sayani, won the hearts of all attendees with a moving Bollywood dance performance. The finalists were recognized for their creative and inspiring concepts and presentations. They include: Individual Artist Category: First: Memo (Spoken Word) Second: The Real Sun Third: Yiwei Hu, Redway, KG Makaglo Community Arts Group Category: First: Rated Inc (Dance) Second: Nomanzland Third: Miles Turner Youth Arts Entrepreneur Category: First: N.I.S.E. (Fashion Clothing) Second: Nicolas Denny Third: Trisha Henson Thanks go to all of our sponsors for supporting this initiative; Gully Klassics, Hightop, Royalz Clothing, WIT Solutions, Urbanology Magazine, Peter Franco Sneakers, Bene-Fete, The Tech Zone, C*Mango Design, Moog Audio, Stolen From Africa, Big-It-Up, Good Boy Clothing, Manifesto One City Series and Musebox.