Toronto’s leading lights gather at the 2012 Mayor’s Arts Awards Lunch

For Immediate Release:

Toronto’s leading lights will gather on June 21 for the presentation of the 2012 Toronto Arts Foundation Awards at The Mayor’s Arts Awards Lunch hosted by Red Sky’s Sandra Laronde. This annual event, organized by Toronto Arts Foundation, celebrates artists, cultural professionals, businesses, and philanthropists who have helped build Toronto’s vibrant civic life through significant and innovative contributions to the city’s arts and culture scene. Acclaimed Hannaford Street Silver Band will kick off the event with celebratory fanfare. Juno Award winner Jane Bunnett, now celebrating 30 years of Afro-Cuban music-making, will take the stage with pianist Hilario Duran to perform duets from their latest recording Cuban Rhapsody. Following the performance at Arcadian Court, five awards, with cash prizes totaling $43,500, will be presented.Every year, more than 350 of Toronto’s dynamic artists, innovators, city builders and business leaders converge at this lively luncheon event. This year’s eclectic guest list includes: filmmaker Deepa Mehta, Roy Thomson Hall’s Charles Cutts, Manifesto’s Che Kothari, City Parks GM Jim Hart, Native Earth Theatre’s Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Civic Action’s John Tory, Luminato’s Jorn Weisbrodt, Culture Days’ David Moss, OCAD University’s Sara Diamond, Minister of Children and Youth Services Dr. Eric Hoskins, dancer Nova Bhattacharya, artist and Beautiful City advocate Devon Ostrom, National Ballet School’s Mavis Staines, director Alisa Palmer, Pan Am Games Cultural Director Don Shipley, composer Ruth Watson Henderson, Suburban Beast’s Jordan Tannahill, Artscape’s Tim Jones, and Kelly and the Kelly Girls’ Kelly Clipperton.

“Adding to our illustrious guest list are a host of local, provincial and national politicians, demonstrating a widespread appreciation of the value of the arts, as was also reflected in recent budget allocations at all levels of government.” said Claire Hopkinson, Executive Director of Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation.

The finalists for the 2012 Toronto Arts Foundation Awards are: Art Starts, Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre, and Supporting Our Youth (SOY) for the Arts for Youth Award; TELUS, The Daniels Corporation, and Sun Life Financial for the Toronto Arts and Business Award; Chris Curreri, Daniel Karasik, and Sandy Pool for the RBC Emerging Artist Award; Lydia Adams, Alan Davis and Michael M. Koerner, C.M. for the Roy Thomson Hall Award of Recognition; and Patricia Fraser, Mi Young Kim and Jini Stolk for the William Kilbourn Award for the Celebration of Toronto’s Cultural Life.

For more information on the 2012 finalists and awards visit www.torontoartsfoundation.org.
About Toronto Arts Foundation

A non-profit charitable organization, Toronto Arts Foundation has the exclusive focus and unique strengths to design effective programs which unite art making and city building. TAF leverages the knowledge and experience of its sister organization Toronto Arts Council to spearhead initiatives to strengthen arts accessibility. It seeks to achieve increased social and economic benefits from the arts for our city, increased citizen participation in the arts, increased recognition of Toronto’s artistic excellence and increased financial investment in the arts. Toronto Arts Foundation is powered by a vision, Creative City: Block by Block – a commitment to connect every Toronto neighbourhood to the transformative power of artistic activity. Toronto Arts Foundation is generously supported by the Government of Ontario, Canadian Heritage, The Ontario Trillium Foundation and The Minto Group. For more information on TAF please visit www.torontoartsfoundation.org

The Mayor’s Arts Awards Lunch is generously supported by Founding Sponsor RBC, Media Sponsors NOW Magazine and The Toronto Star, and Venue Sponsor Oliver & Bonacini. For more information on the Toronto Arts Foundation Awards and the Mayor’s Arts Awards Lunch please visit http://torontoartsfoundation.org/Our-Programs/Arts-Awards-Lunch

Media Contact:
Karen Lorenowicz, KL Strategic Communications, 416-347-9661, karen.l@sympatico.ca

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