Neighbourhood Arts Network is pleased to announce the finalists of the 2023 Community Arts Award.

This award celebrates Toronto’s exceptional arts organizations working with and for Toronto's communities, while providing access and inclusion to the arts. The award will be presented at Toronto Arts Foundation's annual awards ceremony, taking place on April 17, 2023.

The finalists for this year showcase the depth and range of Toronto’s arts landscape. Organizations that engage youth and community through the arts are being honoured. 

The 2023 finalists are: 

Tamil Archive Project (TAP) is a collective that prioritizes the participation and experiences of communities in the Greater Toronto Area with histories of marginalization. TAP came together in 2016 to document, provide and animate different forms of care which exist in racialized cultures. The collective emerged out of a need for makeshift forms of belonging in diasporic spaces by reconfiguring contemporary art practices as part of communal care. 

The assessment panel said that TAP’s work provides inspiration. It does things intentionally and thoughtfully, which, the panel noted, is particularly important given that its work is rooted in communal care. The panel said that projects such as its annual Tamil Futures magazine not only gives the Tamil community the opportunity to have their work archived and celebrated, but it provides opportunities for skills building and gives other communities access to learn.    

“This collective emerged out of a lack of spaces where you felt seen, belonged, and could bring all parts of yourself. Thank you for supporting such spaces for present and future communities.” - the TAP collective

RISE empowers youth and emerging creatives through its unique Edutainment approach, combining education and entertainment to create meaningful work rooted in self knowledge and self-expression. Its programs provide platforms for performance, learning and leadership development, using art as a cathartic practice for self-expression and community healing.

The assessment panel said that RISE “seems to have open doors for everyone to walk in,” and that its programming, which is centred around communities who uplift and support each other, is important and valuable. The panel noted RISE’s role in building community leadership and its impressive growth, now having a city-wide presence.

“We envision a world where communities are transformed because young people and emerging creatives have access to safe, inclusive spaces for self-expression and personal growth through the arts.” - Randell Adjei

The Community Arts Guild (est. 2012) is an arts and community-building organization in the Kingston-Galloway/Orton Park (KGO) neighbourhood of southeast Scarborough. It builds collaborations between professional artists and people with different levels of artistic skill, experience and confidence, using art as a means to build community.

The assessment panel noted that the Guild has a strong commitment to relationship building, and a compelling and broad catalogue of activities that provides many generations opportunities for engagement. Its dedication to the KGO neighbourhood has not gone unnoticed, as evidenced by its strong volunteer base. “Community is showing up and support is strong,” said the panel.

“Our work is about creativity and community building, and people are drawn to and return to it over time because it has a myriad of benefits, some immediate others intangible - all of which are essential to building communities where we can thrive.” - Ahmed Hegazy

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The Community Arts Award is a $10,000 cash prize with finalists receiving $1,000. This award celebrates an arts organization or collective that has made a significant contribution in Toronto by working with, in and for communities, while creating access and inclusion to arts and culture. Finalists are also awarded $1000 each in recogition of their practice.