Community Knowledge Centre - Toronto Community Foundation

About this organization

Mission

ArtReach Toronto is a unique collaborative funding program that invests in creative arts initiatives developed by young people (between 13 and 29 years of age) living in vulnerable communities in Toronto. A guiding principle for ArtReach Toronto is the idea that funding needs to be accessible to youth directly and it needs to empower youth by placing ownership of projects in their hands. ArtReach has been developed as a low-barrier funding program with a high level of support to youth organizations and young artists. Youth play leadership roles in the program including participation on the Grant Review Team, whose role it is to assess proposals.

ArtReach Toronto was developed by a collaboration of funding agencies committed to the arts and youth engagement, as well as all three levels of government, known as the Funders’ Collaborative. It consists of the following members: the Department of Canadian Heritage, United Way Toronto, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Laidlaw Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, City of Toronto Cultural Services and Toronto Community Foundation.  Laidlaw Foundation is the administrative partner for the project.

History of Organization

The fund was created in 2005 through a successful collaboration between all three levels of government, as well as community and arts granting organizations. The collaborative that created ArtReach was driven by the realization that a growing population of youth in Toronto has little access to relevant arts programming.  At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that participation in the arts is a very effective means of connecting youth to community.  All partners supporting ArtReach Toronto have different mandates, yet they all recognize the power of arts and culture to engage youth with diverse backgrounds and experiences from vulnerable communities in meaningful ways, and the potential for this engagement to influence their social and economic outcomes.

The idea was formed in December 2004, at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Roundtable of Arts Funders and Foundations (IRAFF), at which the topic of youth engagement through the arts dominated the discussion. Subsequent meetings between arts funders and the City of Toronto’s Community Safety Panel reinforced the need to increase meaningful and relevant arts opportunities for excluded youth in the city.  A funders collaborative and, ultimately, ArtReach Toronto, was developed.  A vital element was the involvement of youth, in particular the Grassroots Youth Collaborative (GYC). The GYC encouraged a funding model that would be inclusive, accessible and that would provide a high level of support to applicants, and ArtReach Toronto is the result of this unique approach to program design and ultimately a new model for funding youth arts initiatives.

Programs

>ArtReach Toronto Grants
>Grassroots Organizing And Leadership (GOAL) Youth Workshop Series

ArtReach invests in arts initiatives developed by young people living in vulnerable communities. ArtReach uses a “high engagement” grant-making approach, combining project based grants with technical assistance aimed at building the capacity of individual grantees and organizations.  A high level of support is provided to groups to develop their application to the fund, request ongoing assistance in the implementation of their projects, and evaluate programs and projects.  Overall, ArtReach provides financial support, mentoring and skill training to emerging young artists and young people between the ages of 13 and 29. It supports engaging projects that are relevant to the community in which they are developed, while at the same time building the capacity of organizations and individuals to access other funding for future initiatives. 

In addition to providing one-on-one and group based technical supports, ArtReach provides workshops that are accessible to all young people in Toronto. The GOAL (Grassroots Organizing and Leadership) youth workshop series was developed in 2007, in partnership with a number of funding organizations as well as youth-led groups and organizations, to offer free monthly workshops on different topics to youth across the city.

ArtReach also distributes a quarterly newsletter and a once-per-week e-mailer entitled, “Post-it” that contains job postings, and information on youth arts events, trainings, workshops and more.  It is circulated to a mailing list of approximately 1000 young artists, arts organizations, funders and other stakeholders.

Other innovative initiatives include a “funder speed dating” events to link young artists to other funding organizations and resources. ArtReach also holds a yearly pitch contest for aspiringyoung artists, community arts groups and entrepreneurs, between 16 and 24 years of age, to compete for $5,000 to put their artistic ideas into action at a live and interactive pitch contest. Feedback is provided by an esteemed panel of judges (i.e. – Farley Flex, Canadian Idol). 

ArtReach Toronto Grants

As a funding program, ArtReach Toronto enables young people and groups to develop their own arts projects in their communities across Toronto. It supports emerging as well as popular art forms including: dance, drama, music, carnival and circus, film and video, TV and radio, new media, fashion, creative writing, visual arts, crafts, hip hop, poetry, spoken word, design, multimedia, urban arts, and others. The artistic results are presented in regular community festivals, galleries and special events organized by their groups and occasionally ArtReach Toronto itself.

One to two grant intakes are provided each year, and $150,000 is distributed each round. ArtReach Toronto supports projects that encourage creative expression through quality arts opportunities and foster meaningful youth engagement in project design, implementation and evaluation. Priority will be given to projects for youth living in under-served communities of Toronto and those from youth-led organizations. Incorporated nonprofit organizations can apply for up to $25,000 per year.  Unincorporated organizations, individual artists or groups of artists may apply for grants up to a maximum of $10,000 per year.

ArtReach puts decision-making into the hands of young people. Funding recommendations are made by the ArtReach Grant Review Team (GRT), which is comprised of youth volunteers from under-served neighbourhoods across the city of Toronto, with a range of non-profit and artistic experiences. GRT funding recommendations are then approved by the Executive Committee of the Funders’ Collaborative.

Program Impact

From 2006 to 2009, nearly 1200 youth from vulnerable neighbourhoods were reached through 75 art-based projects funded by ArtReach Toronto. This number is growing as more than half of these projects are still active. Approximately 350 young people were in project leadership roles within these initiatives. In ArtReach evaluation activities, manyyouth participants described experiences of personal transformation, greater engagement and finding meaning in their lives through arts involvement. Many spoke of developing higher level skills in their art form, increased confidence and new fundraising skills. Artists talked about getting to the “next level” within an entrepreneurial context and learning about the realities of making a living in the arts; others shared their experiences finding a place in their community as an artist.

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

“Canada’s artists outnumber autoworkers, but half earn less than $13,000 per year: median earnings for Canada’s artists are half of what the other workers bring home.” (Toronto’s Vital Signs®, 2009)

ArtReach Toronto provides grants to support art-based programs for youth in communities across Toronto. The funding allows for young artists and young people to gain employment experience as well as career and economic opportunities.

Participant Vignette

“I've learned how to connect really well, when I need to meet someone, I'm not afraid. I got a chance to perform at Trey Anthony's studio. I performed at KRS-One's concert.” Domanique Grant was a young person with a passion when she started getting involved in ArtReach funded projects in 2006. An alumni of The AMY Project, Theatre Revolve, and Elevated Grounds, Domanique is now a multi-disciplinary artist on the move, and a student in York University's celebrated theatre program. Domanique credits, “people pointing her in the right direction” for her extraordinary rise. After signing up for youth theatre programs, her mentors went out of their way to introduce her to auditions. After landing several leading roles, Domanique's singing and acting talents began to grow and develop. She now says that other young people are inspired and often come to her for advice.

Domanique stresses the importance of mentors to young artists. She says her own mentors, many of them accomplished directors and playwrights, “helped me understand who I am. I don't know what I would have done if I wasn't working with these organizations.” Mentors were also key to networking. She is currently developing the Ten Shades Project, a creative way of presenting concepts through the use of colour.  Domanique says, “the ArtReach programs gave me a platform to find my voice, and to acknowledge its significance”.

Grassroots Organizing And Leadership (GOAL) Youth Workshop Series

Grassroots Organizing and Leadership (GOAL) Youth Capacity Building Workshop Series for Youth is a free workshop series that was developed in 2007 to provide young people (between 13 and 29 years of age), youth-led groups and organizations with access to resources. The evening sessions are offered in TTC accessible locations across Toronto, and provide participants with tangible resources and templates. The sessions are normally offered on a monthly basis, and are facilitated by young people with expertise in the chosen topic. Sessions are developed based on needs identified by young people in Toronto, and are different each month.

Examples of workshops offered in the past include Fundraising 101, Grant-Writing 101 and 102, Arts-based Evaluation, Financial Management for Nonprofits, Models of Youth Work and much more.  A certificate is provided to participants who attend 5 or more workshops from 2007 and onwards.

ArtReach Toronto is working in partnership with other funders and youth groups to implement the workshop series.  The partners include Toronto Community Foundation, Laidlaw Foundation, Schools Without Borders, Grassroots Youth Collaborative, City of Toronto, Canadian Heritage, and For Youth Initiative.

Program Impact

More than 1000 young leaders from across Toronto have attended 46 workshops in the GOAL Youth Capacity Building Workshop series between 2007 and 2010. 14 youth have received a certificate for attending 5 or more workshops in the series.

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

“Education and prosperity are closely linked and successful cities rely on continuous learning.” (Toronto’s Vital Signs®, 2009)

The GOAL youth workshop series incorporates young people in leadership roles as facilitators and authors. The series provides information, resources, tools, and mentorship and networking opportunities for young people to be better equipped to carry out their work in Toronto’s communities.

Participant Vignette

“The ArtReach course was a network opportunity and workshop, but it felt like a get together of friends.” Much of Leo Zuniga's work is about creating positive spaces for youth. That is why the welcoming atmosphere at ArtReach workshops is a big draw for Leo. Over the years, Leo has been involved with a number of organizations, the Toronto Youth Cabinet, Youth Action Network and Supporting Our Youth (SOY). Even an experienced youth advocate, Leo was able to take something away from the workshops. While working on a resource guide for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender newcomer youth, Leo says he found the concrete resources – such as budget templates – especially useful. The interactive nature of the workshops helped make “difficult” subjects such as budgeting understandable.

ArtReach workshops reduce barriers, Leo says. He notes the lack of fees, TTC-accessible locations, friendly facilitators, and alternative venues used (such as cafes and galleries) as creating a youth-friendly space. Having a comfortable environment is particularly key for newcomer youth who may feel alienated by a new culture and language barriers. He strongly believes that it is important that ArtReach can continue to encourage newcomer youth through outreach and make them aware of the opportunities out there for them. ArtReach programs can help newcomer youth find a place where they can express themselves safely.