Save the Date: The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026

📍 Venue Confirmed — Save the Date!

🎉 The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Spring 2026

Join us for this three-day hybrid festival and conference:
🖥️ May 12 – Online only via Zoom
📍 May 14–15 – In person (and hybrid) at the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre in Toronto

The Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre is a vibrant cultural arts hub created through a unique partnership between Tapestry Opera, Nightwood Theatre, and St. Clare’s Housing. The venue is only one year old, and we’re excited to gather in this inspiring space.

A special thank you to Pip Bradford for the wonderful tour!

Gathering Divergence centers Indigenous, Black, racialized, Deaf, disabled, Mad, women, and other historically marginalized artists and arts communities. The festival features performances, literary readings, visual arts exhibitions, panels, workshops, and creative investigations across diverse artistic practices.

Stay tuned for more details—registration opens soon!

📩 If you’d like to receive an email when registration launches, please contact us at info@cpamo.org

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.

Welcoming Alana De Florimonte, Chair of the Board

Dear friends and colleagues,

We are pleased to welcome Alana De Florimonte as the new Chair of CPAMO’s Board of Directors.

Alana brings a dynamic blend of executive-level administrative expertise, community engagement, and a deep-rooted commitment to equity and cultural pluralism. With over a decade of experience across finance, real estate, and the arts, she consistently centers people-first approaches and fosters inclusive collaboration in every space she enters.

In her current role as Senior Administrative Assistant at IG Wealth Management, Alana also leads programming for the Black Business Resource Group, curating events that elevate Black artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. She is both a strategic organizer and a natural storyteller and advocate, with a strong ability to build partnerships and meaningfully engage diverse audiences.

Alana’s lived experience as a Black Caribbean woman, combined with her operational expertise and natural ability to bring people together, makes her uniquely suited for this leadership role. Her work—ranging from coordinating Grant Thornton’s inaugural Toronto Caribbean Carnival social, to facilitating conversations on anti-Black racism, and organizing panels for Black History Month and Emancipation Day—reflects a deep and ongoing commitment to building inclusive communities.

Her values strongly align with CPAMO’s vision, and we are excited for the insight, continuity, and care she brings to this next chapter of our leadership. We are confident that Alana will not only support our mission, but help amplify it with integrity and a unwavering commitment to cultural equity.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Alana to the Board.

Board of Directors.


Meet Alana De Florimonte

a black-and-white photo of a smiling woman wearing a white shirt and black blazer.
Alana De Florimonte is an accomplished administrative leader and equity advocate with over a decade of experience across finance, professional services, real estate, and the arts. She currently serves as a Senior Administrative Assistant at IG Wealth Management, where she also leads community engagement for the company’s Black Business Resource Group. In this role, Alana curates culturally resonant programs and fosters partnerships with Black artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to advance equity and representation across the organization.

Her career journey reflects a deep commitment to cultural pluralism, with past roles at KPMG and Grant Thornton LLP, where she not only supported executive leadership but also took initiative to create inclusive spaces—most notably organizing Grant Thornton’s first-ever Toronto Caribbean Carnival social. A natural connector and storyteller, Alana has organized internal panels, facilitated dialogue on anti-Black racism, and led programming for events such as Black History Month and Emancipation Day.

Alana’s contributions extend beyond the workplace. She has served on charity event committees such as Bay Street Hoops, co-founded Grant Thornton’s first women’s basketball team, and continues to support grassroots arts and cultural initiatives across Ontario. As a proud Black Caribbean woman, she brings lived experience, strategic insight, and heartfelt dedication to her work in advocacy and the arts.

Alana is passionate about building inclusive communities where diverse voices are heard, celebrated, and empowered—and she is committed to advancing this mission through leadership, storytelling, and meaningful collaboration.

Call for Submissions: The Gathering Divergence – Spring 2026

 

On a red and purple background, CPAMO’s logo and text on the right:
Call for Submissions
Deadline: April 3, 2026
Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts
Festival & Conference Spring 2026
Now and for the Future: Steps Towards Dismantling Inequities in the Arts
On the left a drawing of women’s faces

Topic: The Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference SPRING 2026 | Now and for the Future: Steps Towards Dismantling Inequities in the Arts

When and Where:
May 2026
Online / In-Person events
Location TBA (Toronto)

The Gathering Divergence Interdisciplinary Festival & Conference is a festival and conference with a specific focus on Indigenous, racialized, deaf, disabled and mad, women and other historically – marginalized arts communities. Held over 2 days, GDMAF/C features performances, literary readings, visual arts exhibition, panels, workshops and creative investigations from diverse practices.

We facilitate

  • an interactive space where arts organizations artists and attendees share
  • dedicated to advancing, visual arts and performing arts , while advocating for pluralism in the arts
  • dialogue on common interests, experienced and strategies towards a better more equitable and inclusive arts sector

We believe
and encourage change can achieved through collective, creative action, and seeks to:

  • create, support and learn through open-source resources and toolkits
  • advance strategies to understand how we are influenced by issues of equity and digital technology in and out of
  • amplify the artistic practices and administration of IBPOC individuals

We aspire? We hope that everyone arrives at a better understanding of the many ways in which we support, create from and within the Arts sector as indigenous / ethno-racially identified artists with a pluralist lens.

APPLY NOW! Deadline: April 3, 2026

What we offer:

An Opportunity to:

  • Display your art
  • Showcase your performing / performance arts pieces (NO more than fifteen minutes in length)
  • Facilitate a workshop / professional development opportunity to arts workers, attendees or artists

Required for consideration:
Explanation of how your proposed work relates to the Conference / Festival through the following:

  • Broadening capacities for IBPOC Arts makers
  • Implementing creative processes for the future
  • Advance Equity, Diversity and Inclusive Learning
  • Professional Development for IBPOC Artists and Arts Organizations

Successful submissions will:

– AMPLIFY works where contributors / artists or those self identify as IBPOC
– SUPPORT works by Black / IPOC artists and Organizations
– INCLUDE Artist / Organization Website URL, Social Media Info, Biography (150 words)
– SUBMIT Headshot / Company Image / Bio Image 300 dpi
– ADD links to previous work(s) or work proposed.

For Visual Artist

  • PROVIDE Size, medium, title
  • INCLUDE installation requirements
  • UPLOAD 3-5 High Res JPEGS of work complied in a PDF Document
  • SUBMIT 300 Word Artist Statement
  • ADD 300 Word Explanation on how your work applies to the CPAMO Call for Submissions

For Performances or Workshops

  • INCLUDE Set up and installation requirements
  • SHARE Estimated time for set up and striking
  • INDICATE Whether assistance is needed or included
  • ADD 300 Word Explanation on how your work applies to the CPAMO Call for Submissions

Compensation Range varies:

– Dance / Theatre / Music Honorariums between $750 – $2000
  (based on the number of artists)
– Literary Readings between $500 – $700
– Workshops $500 (1 hour maximum)
– Visual arts* between $500 – $700 (for week’s showing)
  * CARFAC fees according to “Exhibitions in Other Public Places”


Selection Process:
Administered by a Selection Committee: CPAMO Board member(s), Co-Director/Curator of Programming and Engagement, Convenor/Co-Director Curator of Transformational Change, and Pluralism in Organizational Change (CPAMOPOC) participants.

AN IMPORTANT NOTICE: CPAMO operates in a Cloud-based platform. Documents MUST be submitted via (Google Drive, Box, One Drive, Dropbox etc.) and the link should not require permission for the Selection Committee to view.

Please make sure all submitted links are functional and include accessible links to a headshot and your support materials. Personal links from your computer / laptop should not be sent. Please upload all required.

QUESTIONS?

Contact: Kevin A. Ormsby programming [at] cpamo.org

If require accessibility accommodations please email programming [at] cpamo.org

Applicants will be notified by April 17, 2026

 

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