Our community is home to world-renowned artists and an epicentre for the cultural industries. Arts and culture is a staple for our residents and is part of our experience as Torontonians. The cultural industries, including Film and Television, are a significant creator of employment in our community and city.

As Chair of the Toronto Film, Television & Digital Media Board, I am working to ensure that Toronto remains a major player in the cultural sector, and that Ward 14 continues to attract these good, local jobs. Working with artists, residents and businesses, I have worked to ensure our community enlivened with art, and our community is able to attract performances from all over the world.

Learn more about the Toronto Film, Television & Digital Media Board.

I encourage you to also sign up for CultureTO, a weekly e-newsletter produced by the City of Toronto's Economic Development & Culture Division that focuses on available resources and supports to help Toronto’s culture sector. Sign up for CultureTO.

You can also sign up for my weekly e-newsletter.

East End Arts

East End Arts is a non-profit community arts organization that serves the east end of Toronto. We provide inclusive arts programming and events to our local communities, including youth, newcomers, seniors and priority groups. We also provide professional development opportunities to both emerging and established artists and arts organizations.

Our service area includes wards 14 and 19, which are loosely defined to the north by the Don Valley Parkway and Sunrise Avenue, as far south as Lake Ontario, as far west as Don Valley Parkway, and as far east as Victoria Park Avenue.

The east end is an area that is brimming with artists, arts and cultural organizations, and a wide array of creative communities and projects. The neighbourhoods we serve include Blake-Jones, Danforth Village, East Chinatown, East Danforth, East York, Greektown, Greenwood-Coxwell, Leslieville, O’Connor Parkview, Old East Danforth, Pape Village, Parkview Hills, Riverdale, Studio District, The Beaches, Topham Park, West Danforth, Woodbine Gardens and Woodbine-Lumsden.

Crow’s Theatre

Resonating with Toronto’s civic, community and cultural milieu – Crow’s Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest adapts and evolves as the social, economic, cultural environment of the city adapts and evolves. Crow’s Theatre is distinguished as a preeminent cultural destination for its far-reaching imagination, ideas, exchange, diversity and grassroots belief in how artists and their work can change and sustain the life of communities. Crow’s Theatre is accessible to people of all backgrounds and ages. Crow’s Theatre is a catalyst in the community focusing on transformative experiences in unexpected places through the universality of the arts.

In our home at Streetcar Crowsnest, Crow’s Theatre is a unique addition to the ecology of Toronto’s non-profit arts scene, filling a long-standing need for a year-round venue in the East End of Toronto. In our third year, Crow’s has quickly become a stimulant for a year-round flourishing arts and events space.

xoTO Schools

The City of Toronto in collaboration with the local screen industry, has established xoTO Schools, a pilot program with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to enable enhanced access for location filming in 11 pre-approved TDSB properties. The scouting and permit application processes are streamlined for each of these properties, with the program offering a special daily rate card and 72-hour permit turnaround. More information on the program and the 11 sites currently participating are available through Ontario Creates and the city’s news release.

Murals

Ward 14 is full of beautiful street art and murals. You can find them on the sides of buildings, in lanes, along fences and in our parks.

StreetARToronto (StART) is a suite of innovative programs designed specifically for streets and public spaces. Initiated in 2012 as an integral part of the city’s Graffiti Management Plan, StART has been successful in reducing graffiti vandalism and replacing it with vibrant, colourful, community-engaged street art. StART programs encourage active transportation (walking and cycling), make our streets more beautiful and safe, showcase local artists, mentor emerging talent, reduce overall infrastructure maintenance costs and more.

The East End Bridges to Art Project was a project I initiated in 2017 with the idea of painting a series of murals on the rail bridges in Toronto-Danforth. 

Leslie Barns Art

As part of the site plan agreement for the TTC's Leslie Barns in 2009, I negotiated a major contribution for public art to anchor Leslie Street as the gateway to the Leslie Spit. Following a nation-wide art competition, artist Dean Baldwin was awarded the contract by the City of Toronto in 2017.

You will find the magnificent "Typha" – an homage to the Leslie Street Spit – now at the south-east corner of Lakeshore and Leslie. This piece is constructed of Toronto streetcar railway track, rods and other profiles of Corten weathering steel, which have been sculpted into an impressive collection of reeds, rushes and cattails bundled into a five ton flower arrangement.

I heART Main Street Art Challenge

To support our city and the culture that brings our communities together, STEPS recently launched the "I heART Main Street Art Challenge."  STEPS is providing artists and Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) with the opportunity to increase feelings of trust and community through DIY art installations.

The 42 new artworks currently underway were brought to life in collaboration with 25 local creatives; many of whom identify as emerging or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) artists who have been impacted by a loss of income as a result of the pandemic.

East End Bridges to Art - Carlaw Underpass Art Concepts

StreetARToronto (StART), a program of the City of Toronto, Transportation Services Division is working with the local community and Councillor Fletcher to install a mural on the east and west sides of the underpass on Carlaw Avenue at Gerrard Street East, as well as the wall facing into the parkette that connects the Carlaw Underpass and to the Gerrard Street underpass. This is the third mural in the East End Bridges to Art series.

East End Bridges to Art – Coxwell Underpass Street Art Project

The City of Toronto invites artists who identify as Indigenous persons to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to participate in the East End Bridges to Art - Coxwell Underpass Street Art Project. The goal of this Expression of Interest (EOI) is to obtain a roster of artists who will be eligible to participate in this project. The goal of this project is to beautify and animate the underpass with a mural representative of the local, historical indigenous perspective. This Expression of Interest is facilitated by Denise B. McLeod. Denise is Anishinaabe (Ojibway) who’s home territory is Sagamok Anishinabek First Nation on the north shores of Lake Huron.

East End ‘Bridges to Art’ concepts selected for Carlaw-Dundas area underpasses

The City of Toronto announced today that street artists Kirsten McCrae and Jason Pinney have been awarded commissions to create artwork on the underpass on Gerrard Street East at Carlaw Avenue, and on Jones Avenue between Gerrard Street East and Boultbee Avenue.

"I am looking forward to watching artwork from Kirsten and Jason come to life at these sites. These are the first two – of nine – that will bring together the rail line that runs through Toronto's east end,” said Councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth).

East End "Bridges to Art" Underpass Project

I am very excited to announce the East End “Bridges to Art” Underpass Project.

This is a project I initiated in 2017 with the idea of painting a series of murals on the rail bridges in the Carlaw-Dundas area as part of the Carlaw Dundas Community Initiative.

The Carlaw-Dundas area is a former industrial area that has transformed into a hub of cultural and creative businesses and residents. As part of the larger initiative, a suite of public space improvement projects are being undertaken.

East End Arts leaving Dawes Rd. - Moving to St. Matthew's Clubhouse!

April 17, 2018 Josh Sherman

EAST END Arts, one of six city-funded organizations across Toronto that exists to promote local art, is moving out of its Danforth Village digs.

The group, which began supporting the arts in Wards 29, 30, 31, and 32 in 2013, moved into a third-floor office at the Silver Mill (10 Dawes Rd.) after spending a year above the Linsmore Tavern (1298 Danforth Ave.).

Cinespace to transform PortsToronto marine terminal into Port Lands studio space

News provided by Cinespace Film Studios Inc. Mar 02, 2018, 11:00 ET

TORONTO, March 2, 2018 /CNW/ - Toronto Mayor John Tory and Cinespace Film Studios (Cinespace) today announced the signing of a multi-year lease with PortsToronto to occupy and develop Marine Terminal 51 and the Cruise Ship Terminal into film and TV production facilities.

Video of the current space and a designer's rendering of the new space can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/257582603

Toronto council backs 50 per cent property tax reduction for culture hubs

By Samantha Beattie, Staff Reporter Mon., Feb 12, 2018

City council has voted to reduce property taxes by 50 per cent for some culture hubs and creative spaces.

With these spaces facing significant increases in property assessments in recent years, much like businesses on Yonge St, Councillor Joe Cressy (Trinity-Spadina) led the effort to establish a new tax subclass to make operating in Toronto more affordable.

East End Arts January Update

Happy New Year from East End Arts! We have a big list of artist opportunities and local events to warm up your January and kick off your creative year ahead.

Call for Submissions: What's Your Story?: Submissions are now open for Ontario Book Publishers Organization's What's Your Story? Short Prose and Poetry Comptetition for Emerging Writers. There is a $1,000 prize for each winner, and East End Arts will be a parter in presenting an event featuring the local winning writers' works in spring 2018. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2018.

East End Arts Community Consultations

Make your voice heard! East End Arts invites community members to participate in a Community Consultation process to help them #GrowForward. Share your ideas and feedback about arts, culture, and community within Toronto’s east end.

ATTEND A COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

There is a Community Consultation scheduled for each of the four City of Toronto Wards that East End Arts serves (Ward 29-32).

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