Toronto Arts Foundation Vision Awards

Through the awards portfolio, Toronto Arts Foundation has honoured many of Toronto’s finest artists and arts organizations, cultural professionals and arts supporters from every creative discipline.

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Soy Arts For Youth Award

Through the awards portfolio, Toronto Arts Foundation has honoured many of Toronto’s finest artists and arts organizations, cultural professionals and arts supporters from every creative discipline. The awards highlight significant contributions by Toronto’s cultural leadership, and will be presented at the Mayor’s Arts Lunch on June 19, 2014 at Arcadian Court. All finalists will have their photo taken as part of The Foundation’s on-going Portrait Series, and winners will receive an original work of art by a Toronto artist.

Award Descriptions

Arts for Youth Award

The Arts for Youth Award is a $15,000 cash prize established in 2007 by Martha Burns, Jim Fleck and Sandra and Jim Pitblado. The award celebrates an individual, collective or organization that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to engaging Toronto’s youth through the arts and artistic creation. The winner of the Award will receive a $15,000 cash prize, with each finalist receiving $2,000 each. This Finalist Award was established in 2010 through the generous donation of Diana Bennett and Spencer Lanthier.

The Toronto Arts and Business Award

The 2014 Toronto Arts and Business Award will celebrate a local business that has sponsored the arts for the first time and made an important contribution to the arts in Toronto through innovative, transformative and entrepreneurial partnerships. Established in 2006, this award is presented in partnership with Toronto Arts Foundation, Business for the Arts and The Toronto Star.

Emerging Artist Award

The Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award is a $5,000 cash prize, celebrating the accomplishments and future potential of an emerging Toronto artist working in any discipline. The winner of this award will receive a $5,000 cash prize, with finalists receiving $1,000 each. Established in 2006, the 2014 award is intended to support the development or completion of new work. (Eligibility details listed below). The Finalist Awards were established in 2014 through the generous donation of the Bulmash – Siegel Fund.

Roy Thomson Hall Award of Recognition

The Roy Thomson Hall Award of Recognition is a $10,000 cash prize presented to an individual, ensemble or organization to recognize creative, performing, administrative, volunteer or philanthropic contributions to Toronto’s musical life. This award was established by the Volunteer Committee of Roy Thomson Hall in 1984 to recognize and thank the community that supported the conception, building and establishment of the new concert hall. Toronto Arts Foundation has managed the award since 2002 on behalf of the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall.

William Kilbourn Award for the Celebration of Toronto’s Cultural Life

The William Kilbourn Award for the Celebration of Toronto’s Cultural Life is a $5,000 cash prize is presented to an individual performer, teacher, administrator or creator in any arts discipline, including architecture and design, whose work is a celebration of life through the arts in Toronto. Established in 1996, this award is funded through an endowment made possible by private donors who wished to celebrate and remember the life of William Kilbourn who died in 1995. Kilbourn was a writer and teacher who spent seven years as a member of Toronto City Council, and served as Toronto Arts Council president from 1982 to 1984.