Through its Community Arts Program, Toronto Arts Council (TAC) provides Project funding to Toronto non-profit organizations and collectives to pursue one-time or time-limited community arts projects. The City of Toronto provides the funding for this program through its Community Partnership and Investment Program.
Art practiced at a community level creates a powerful sense of inclusion, understanding and the possibility of self-expression among participants. It can involve one or more art practices, such as music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and storytelling, but the collaborative involvement of professional artists1 with community members is a necessary component.
TAC contributes to the development of community arts in Toronto by supporting community-engaged arts activity that demonstrates vision and excellence. Emphasis is placed on projects that:
- highlight co-creative processes between artists and communities
- offer skill building experiences that can lead to presentation or exhibition opportunities forparticipants
- increase access to arts activity for the broader community
TAC has a broad interpretation of the term “professional” that is not related to income but to an artist’s level of experience and commitment to one or more artistic disciplines.
A professional artist is someone who has specialized training in the field (not necessarily in academic institutions), who is recognized as such by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition), who has a history of public presentation, publication and/or production and who is committed to devoting more time to her/his artistic activity if financially feasible.