Panels, Workshops & Performances: View the Full Schedule for the Gathering Divergence Spring 2026

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On a red and purple background, on the left CPAMO’s logo and in the middle text: The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026 . On the right a drawing of women’s face

 The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026

May 12, 14 and 15, 2026

Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre

877 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W 3M2

This three-day hybrid festival and conference centers Indigenous, Black, racialized, Deaf, disabled, Mad, women, and other historically marginalized artists and arts communities.

Featuring performances, literary readings, visual arts exhibitions, panels, workshops, and creative investigations across diverse artistic practices, Gathering Divergence is grounded in cross-sectoral understandings of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Pluralism (EDIP). The festival explores transformative change in the arts through critical reflection, collaboration, and visionary practice.

Panels

  • Building a Diverse Canadian Cultural Arts Management Ecology
  • Access Panel: Strategies for Increasing Access in the Arts in partnership with Tangled Arts
  • Can Your Work Tour? Building an IBPOC Touring Network and Supporting Artists to be Tour Ready
  • From EDI to What? The Changing Landscape of Equity and Inclusion in the Arts
  • Steelpan – The Versityle Musical Instrument!

Workshops: 

  • Worldbuilding The Collective Dream
  • A Time Was Had!: Navigating the Urgency and Impact of Black Out Nights

Artist performances: Deborah Dinshaw, Ana Luísa Ramos, Nekeisha Garrick / Uche, charles c smith, Nathaniel Hanula-James, Juan Jaramillo, Prathyusha Dwibhashi, Victoria Miller, Yukiko Tsutsui, Donné Roberts, and Vismaya Sreekumar.

Plus:

  • Key note by Katelyn Brennan
  • Key note by Pamela Sugiman
  • Land Acknowledgment by Katelyn Brennan

Visual Arts exhibition featuring work by Anupa Khemadasa, Kelita Braithwaite, Sara Oveissi, and Yafang Shi

More details coming soon!

View the Schedule

 

Join us online or in person

 

🎟 Tickets: $20 General | $15 Artist / Arts Worker / Accessibility

If ticket prices are a barrier to attending, please email info@cpamo.org to request a complimentary ticket.

Accessibility: 

Online:  Otter closed captions will be available. ASL will be provided for the  Access Panel: Strategies for Increasing Access in the Arts panel. 

In person: the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre: all spaces are accessible to most; many are barrier-free. For more information: https://jackmanperformance.ca/how-to-find-us/

We aim to host a fragrance-free event. Please do not wear perfume, cologne, or other scented products.

Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO) is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.

Building a Diverse Canadian Cultural Arts Management Ecology panel

Posted on by
On a red and purple background, on the left CPAMO’s logo and in the middle text: The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026 . On the right a drawing of women’s face

 The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026

May 12, 14 and 15, 2026

Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre & Online

 

This three-day hybrid festival and conference centers Indigenous, Black, racialized, Deaf, disabled, Mad, women, and other historically marginalized artists and arts communities.

Join us for Building a Diverse Canadian Cultural Arts Management Ecology panel
Part of Gathering Divergence Spring 2026

📅 May 12 at 12:15 PM
📍 Online via Zoom 

Register: https://Gathering-Divergence-Spring-2026.eventbrite.ca

This panel brings together cultural leaders, arts administrators, and consultants to discuss the future of arts management in the Canadian arts ecosystem. It asks what it means to build an “ecology” of arts managers that supports diverse needs, practices, and communities. Framed through the concept of ecology, the conversation explores relationships that shape the arts, including those between consultants, arts workers, artists, organizations, funders, and other stakeholders.

In a country defined by geographic scale and cultural diversity, arts management extends beyond organizational leadership to creating conditions where creativity can thrive across contexts. Panelists working at different levels of the cultural sector will share insights into current challenges, emerging needs, and future possibilities for arts workers, managers, and consultants. Topics include: mentorship, capacity building, and strategies for fostering both practical tools and long-term sectoral change.

Designed for arts leaders, administrators, and students, this session invites reflection on how to support future generations of arts management practitioners and build a more inclusive, sustainable, and dynamic arts management ecology in Canada.

Moderator: Sabrina Richard
Speakers: Michelle Yeung, Joyce Rosario, and Victoria Steele

Tickets

  • General Admission: $20
  • Artist / Arts Worker / Accessibility Pricing: $15

If ticket prices are a barrier to attending, please email info@cpamo.org to request a complimentary ticket.

Accessibility: 

Online:  Otter closed captions will be available 

May 14 and 15: Hybrid – in person & online 

In person at the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre
Register: https://tapestryopera.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0SOF000002aPZp2AM

Online – Register: https://Gathering-Divergence-Spring-2026.eventbrite.ca

The Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre: all spaces are accessible to most; many are barrier-free. For more information: https://jackmanperformance.ca/how-to-find-us/

Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO) is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.

From EDI to What? The Changing Landscape of Equity and Inclusion in the Arts

Posted on by
On a red and purple background, on the left CPAMO’s logo and in the middle text: The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026 . On the right a drawing of women’s face

 The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026

May 12, 14 and 15, 2026

Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre

877 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W 3M2

This three-day hybrid festival and conference centers Indigenous, Black, racialized, Deaf, disabled, Mad, women, and other historically marginalized artists and arts communities.

Join us for From EDI to What? The Changing Landscape of Equity and Inclusion in the Arts
Part of Gathering Divergence Spring 2026

📅 May 15 at 10:30 AM
📍 Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre + via Zoom

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) has become a central framework for how many organizations—including those in the arts—approach accountability, representation, access, and impact. In the arts sector, this work shapes not only who is supported, but whose stories are told and how audiences engage with them. At its core, EDI aims to focus on addressing systemic inequities, expanding access to opportunity, and fostering environments where differences are not only acknowledged but meaningfully supported.

At the same time, we are seeing a scaling back of EDI commitments in some institutions, from reduced funding to shifts in priorities or language. This raises important questions: Are arts organizations refining their approaches, or stepping away from accountability? And what does this mean for artists, cultural workers, and the communities they serve?

This shifting landscape raises important questions:

  • What does it mean to sustain EDI efforts in a time of constraint or controversy?
  • Are organizations reassessing strategy—or retreating from accountability?
  • How do we distinguish between meaningful integration of EDI principles and symbolic or performative efforts?

This panel brings together diverse perspectives to explore what is changing, what is at stake, and how EDI can be sustained with clarity and purpose in a shifting landscape.

Moderator: Kevin A. Ormsby
Speakers: Tamla Matthews, Nathaniel Hanula-James, and Dharmini Thirukumaran

Join us online or in person

Tickets

  • General Admission: $20
  • Artist / Arts Worker / Accessibility Pricing: $15

If ticket prices are a barrier to attending, please email info@cpamo.org to request a complimentary ticket.

Accessibility: 

Online:  Otter closed captions will be available 

In person: the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre: all spaces are accessible to most; many are barrier-free. For more information: https://jackmanperformance.ca/how-to-find-us/

Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO) is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.