Toronto's Third Annual Arts Day at the City is Tomorrow, 11/13

The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) along with Friends of the Arts will meet with over 25 Toronto City Councillors at Toronto City Hall on Tuesday, November 13 to discuss the importance of the arts and their impact on Torontonians.

Arts supporters, donors, artists and arts administrators will spend the day in meetings with councillors representing a range of wards from across the city. Discussions will focus on the Creative Capital Gains Report issued in May 2011 which City Council unanimously supported. A key message is to remind Council that they voted for the City’s per capita spending on arts and culture to be increased from $18 to $25. In addition, participants will be highlighting the important role of the arts in addressing a number of Toronto’s priorities, such as job growth. Notably Toronto’s culture sector generates $9 billion of the city’s GDP26 and employs 130,000 artists and arts workers. Additionally, participants will be discussing global competitiveness, and ensuring healthy safe communities across all 44 wards. The arts industry plays an important role in enhancing Toronto’s global position as a cultural capital.

Friends of the Arts maintains that the arts industry is an essential part of Toronto’s internationally competitive economy and positively impacts jobs, businesses, international profile and quality of life. Cultural amenities retain and attract a talented workforce through the ideas, innovations and amenities that flow from a vibrant cultural life and scenes.

Friends of the Arts is a network of arts supporters including the following organizations:
Arts Vote Toronto, Arts Etobicoke, BeautifulCity.ca, Business for the Arts, Lakeshore Arts, North York Arts, Scarborough Arts, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, and Toronto Arts Foundation. Follow the conversation on Twitter #artsdayTO.

The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) is an arts service organization that represents 185 professional theatre, dance and opera companies and is committed to nurturing an environment in which the performing arts may flourish and play a leadership role in the vitality of the City of Toronto. Programs and services provided by TAPA include: T.O. TIX - Toronto's Official One Stop Ticket Shop at Yonge-Dundas Square and online at www.totix.ca; the Dora Mavor Moore Awards; Toronto’s official Theatre Guide featuring Toronto’s only theatre map; hipTIX, offering $5 tickets to students between the ages of 15 and 29; citySPECIAL; the Commercial Theatre Development Fund; TRIP - the Travel Retreat Initiatives Program ,and the TAPA TRADE SERIES that provides ongoing professional development and workshops for TAPA members. For more information visit www.tapa.ca and www.totix.ca.

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