Community Knowledge Centre - Toronto Community Foundation

About this organization

Mission

Harbourfront Centre’s mission is to nurture the growth of new cultural expression, stimulate Canadian and international interchange, and provide a dynamic, accessible environment for the public to experience the marvels of the creative imagination.  Harbourfront Centre has been instrumental in revitalizing Toronto’s central waterfront based on utilizing arts and culture as a methodology of urban renewal.

Harbourfront Centre’s programming mandate is to showcase the work of contemporary Canadian artists in all creative disciplines and to place those artistic achievements within a broad international context by simultaneously presenting leading-edge artists from around the world.  Care is taken to ensure a diverse cultural representation in all professional artistic programmes.  Harbourfront Centre is also committed to working with artists from diverse cultural communities who have not yet worked with a mainstream organization.  Harbourfront Centre provides professional resources to support the development of artistic efforts in these communities.  By offering a variety of performance venues for their use, as well as programming and production assistance and promoting them to a large and diverse audience, Harbourfront Centre helps artists reach beyond their own communities to a broader public, raising awareness of their cultural traditions.

History of Organization

For over 35 years, Harbourfront Centre has been showcasing the work of contemporary Canadian artists in the areas of theatre, dance, literature, music, film, visual arts, new media, fine craft, community arts and diverse cultural representation and celebration. Harbourfront Centre is a primary window through which the best in contemporary arts work by Canadian and international artists reaches Canadian audiences. It is also the only arts organization in Ontario that has made a significant contribution to professional development and excellence of the art form and artist in every arts discipline. Harbourfront Centre was incorporated in November 1990 as a non- profit charitable organization with a mandate to organize and present public events and to operate a 10-acre site along Toronto’s waterfront. Harbourfront Centre grew out of the public programming mandate of the original Crown Corporation established in 1974. Since its inception, Harbourfront Centre has been dedicated to introducing, establishing and encouraging the development of artists through annual festival and series programming and creating a context in which to experience community-based culture.

Accolades and Accomplishments

• In recognition of  its longstanding commitment to reflect and celebrate the global diversity of the people of Toronto and Canada, the Maytree Foundation recently honoured Harbourfront Centre with the Nonprofit Governance Award
• Harbourfront Centre is the most prolific arts presenter in Canada, presenting over 4,000 events and programmes (over 70% free) in the realm of theatre, dance, literature, music, film, visual arts, architecture, and fine craft each year
• Attracting more than 12 million visitations each year who directly reflect the demographic diversity of the Canadian population, Harbourfront Centre is by far the most widely attended and accessible cultural institution in Toronto and one of the largest in Canada
• In 1974, founded the only post graduate residency programme for craft artists
• Harbourfront Centre was a finalist for the 2009 Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts
• In 2008, established the first public venue in Toronto devoted to presenting exhibitions which challenge, educate and question the prevailing thoughts, ideas and practices informing contemporary architecture
• In 2006, the 25th anniversary edition of the Milk International Children’s Festival of the Arts, one of the first and largest children’s festival of the arts in Canada

Programs

>Fresh Ground new works – commisioning programme

Every year, Harbourfront Centre offers an impressive array of innovative multidisciplinary programming exploring diverse cultures through the arts.  Harbourfront Centre has always been a bold and innovative force in Toronto and Canada’s cultural scene, introducing audiences to brilliant new artists and art forms.  Our Performing Arts department presents contemporary, leading-edge presentations from the world’s most innovative artists in theatre, dance and new music.  Our World Stage season features national and international theatre, dance and music performances that excite and provoke with innovation and excellence. NextSteps features the huge diversity of local and national contemporary dance expressions available in Toronto. HATCH is an annual series for new and emerging performance companies with a mandate to encourage and stimulate new performance and artist development. HarbourKIDS is a new generation in Family programming that inspires imagination and aspires to promote understanding, creativity, expression and discovery, all through our lens of arts and culture.

Our Community and Educational Programmes department works with a wide range of local, national and international communities to explore collaborative innovation, learning opportunities, new ideas, residencies and new artistic creation. These explorations result in cultural festivals, public forums, popular music and special interest programmes.  A major initiative of this department is World Routes, a series of large multi-discipline festivals held each weekend during the summer, and other festivals throughout the year.  The department also provides learning and recreational programmes with a special focus on youth, including school visits and summer camps.

Our Visual Arts department is committed to the promotion and exhibition of a broad range of local, national and international contemporary fine art, new media, design and craft.  Works are showcased in 10 traditional and non-traditional exhibition venues including a new gallery devoted to contemporary architecture.  The Craft Studio is also home to four working studios in metal, ceramics, glass and textiles on view to the public, as well as classes, lectures and exhibitions. Our Artist-in-Residence programme is Canada’s foremost training centre for Canadian professional craftspeople offering a unique post graduate programme.

Fresh Ground new works – commisioning programme

A key component of Harbourfront Centre's mandate is to champion the creation of new artistic works, providing a platform for innovation, creation and excellence.  Recognizing that some of the most creative and fascinating work being produced across the country today is the result of artists working in different ways and through non-traditional collaborations, Harbourfront Centre launched its Fresh Ground new works commissioning programme in 2004.

The principle aim of this legacy programme is to be the catalyst for new, collaborative artistic creations that incorporate more than one discipline or field that have their world premiere in Toronto, presented in concert with Harbourfront Centre’s overall programming such as World Stage or Visual Arts.  A maximum of five separate projects, selected through a juried competition process, are commissioned for creation and presentation in a future upcoming season.

Funding and Program Partners

Fresh Ground new works commissioning programme is made possible by the generosity of major individual donors who have actively assisted in the creation of new Canadian artworks. Current supporters are: Peter Allen, William J. S. Boyle, Lionel F. Conacher and Joan Dea, Margaret and Jim Fleck, John Kazanjian and Susan Soloway, Michael and Sonja Koerner, Judy and Wil Matthews, George E. Myhal, Sonja Smits and Seaton McLean, and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the J.P. Bickell Foundation.

Program Impact

Fresh Ground new works has been a catalyst for new Canadian multidisciplinary artistic works. Through open national submission calls in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009, Harbourfront Centre has awarded over $400,000 towards 19 new Canadian commissions – which have all premiered at Harbourfront Centre and many of which are now touring nationally and around the globe to public acclaim, after their Toronto debut.

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

“Cities alive with culture attract creative people. And people in creative occupations stimulate the creative economy (one based not on the production of goods and services so much as on the creation and transfer of intellectual property)”. (Toronto’s Vital Signs ®, 2009)

Participant Vignette

Bluemouth inc’s Dance Marathon, a commissioned new work through Harbourfront Centre’s Fresh Ground new works program, had its world premiere in Toronto in February 2009. It received broad public acclaim, and since its premiere at Harbourfront Centre it was chosen as an official selection of the recent 2010 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad. Dance Marathon, a genuine endurance contest and staged performance event, enables hopeful amateurs to mix with artists under the direction of floor judges and the merciless movement of the clock to shape participation theatre. Harbourfront Centre is delighted that Dance Marathon has also been selected to be part of the Cork Midsummer Festival in Ireland, the Under the Radar Festival in New York City and will also tour in Australia.