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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.

On March 11, 2009, members of all ArtReach Toronto-funded projects were invited to participate in a Learning Circle event at the youth-run Whippersnapper Gallery. The purpose was to bring together all the projects funded by ArtReach Toronto to share stories, network and to discuss ways the program has supported benefited them as individuals, as well as their communities. “ArtReach has been a fertilizer to grow my organization and my own personal skills.”  -Coordinator, ArtReach Toronto Funded Project David MacCoy of First Leadership Ltd worked alongside two coordinators of ArtReach funded projects, members of the Grant Review Team and the ArtReach program manager to design the agenda and the process for the 45 young attendees. Appreciative Inquiry, an engagement approach that aims to encourage imagination, innovation and flexibility, and build on existent positives was the approach used. Two ArtReach Toronto grantees, Helena Shimeles (Young Diplomats) and Mario Murray (Beatz to da Streetz), were trained in the application of Appreciative Inquiry by the evaluator and facilitated the event. Shahina Sayani, Program Manager, kick-started the event by reviewing feedback from the 2007 Learning Circle event and updating participants on changes already implemented to improve the ArtReach Toronto program. For example, at the previous Learning Circle people expressed an appreciation for the youth arts information that ArtReach used to forward to artists throughout the week however, they requested that the information be compiled and sent out weekly. As a result, ArtReach developed a weekly mailer called “Post-it” - a collection of information about youth arts events, funding, workshops, job opportunities and much more. Currently, approximately 1000 young artists, youth arts organizations, youth groups, funders and various stakeholders subscribe to “Post-It”. Participants reported that overall their ArtReach experience had been positive and supportive. Of those that completed a survey, over 90% reported increased confidence as artists, increased number of positive relationships, as well as increased engagement in community activities and connections to other artists. Similarly, over 90% reported that they received valuable advice and support from ArtReach staff and found the workshops to be helpful. A common concern that arose was finding solutions to lack of core funding to keep these organizations and initiatives afloat so these young leaders can continue to do the work they have started.  Some grantees described ArtReach as a “bridge” that shortens the gap between them and arts councils as well as other funders. When asked what they value most about ArtReach Toronto, the most common responses were capacity building and technical supports, dedication to young artists,  provision of feedback on grants applications, working from the “inside-out” as a change agent, and feeling trusted. Participants cited that the biggest impacts of ArtReach on them were included being taken seriously, having the ability to make art for a living, as well as having access to resources and skill building opportunities (i.e. grant writing supports). The youth artists wished for more jobs and opportunities to connect them to jobs in the arts sector; increased security and sustainability; concrete connections to other funders; increased organizational development and having ArtReach as a permanent trailblazer in the funding community. The event was a great success and ended on a high note with an inspiring discussion about the groups’ most exciting outcomes which included the ability to transform ideas to projects, personal growth, increased life skills, and witnessing real change in ArtReach funded program participants. “Young people in our organization, who are part of the program now, as opposed to calling themselves marginalized, underprivileged and at-risk.. instead of identifying themselves with these labels, they are now calling themselves artists.” – Coordinator, ArtReach Toronto Funded Project