Initiated in 2009, Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO) is a movement of Indigenous and racialized artists engaged in empowering the arts communities of Ontario. CPAMO seeks to open opportunities for Indigenous and racialized professionals and organizations to build capacity through access and working relationships with cultural institutions across Ontario that will result in constructive relationships with Indigenous and racialized professionals and organizations.

Through its initiatives, CPAMO has identified several challenges that are impacting the broader goal of equity and pluralism in the arts. CPAMO has convened numerous workshops, Town Halls, conducted research and issued reports on these matters. Several of these can be viewed on this website which has documented these sessions, many of which have been conducted with CPAMO members as workshop resources and performers. CPAMO has also included art services organizations and major funders in the planning and implementation of these activities.

CPAMO is supported by Indigenous and racialized artists who are involved in theatre, music, dance and literary arts. These artists are members of CPAMO’s Roundtable and include representatives of Sampradaya Dance, Native Earth Performing Arts, Diaspora Dialogues, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Little Pear Garden Collective, Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Sparrow in the Room, b-current, why not theatre, urban arts and backforward collective, Culture Days, Canada Council Stand Firm members, Obsidian Theatre, the Collective of Black Artists, CanAsian Dance and others. A full list of these members is at the end of this web page.

With the involvement of artists from these organizations, CPAMO is working with several arts organizations to build relationships, capacities, cultural competencies and understanding of pluralism in the arts so that these organizations engage from Indigenous and racialized artists and, thereby, enable audiences across Ontario to access artistic expressions from diverse communities on a regular basis.

Several CPAMO members are experiencing challenges in terms of their access to resources. With limited opportunities for increased grants support, a granting structure that does not fully support capacity building and few resources to dedicate to fundraising, marketing, administration and lack of time for skills development, grant writing and networking it seems imperative that CPAMO undertake a collective effort with and on behalf of its members to create working and risk capital for these artists funds and to dedicate professional support to enable its members to enhance their administrative/organizational capacities and governance including accessing capable volunteers and board members who are dedicated and have a passion for the arts. New models for governance and collaboration may be needed to achieve results.

To move on this initiative, CPAMO is establishing an Advisory Committee that can give input to the development of such a project.

Advisory Committee Purpose:

The Advisory Committee is a supportive body to CPAMO and its members that will address the challenges listed above through identification of resources and alternatives to enhance capacity and the services CPAMO can provide its members. The focus will be on two key areas: undertaking a collective or collaborative approach to fundraising to build working capital and organizational development initiatives aimed at supporting the individual and collective growth of CPAMO and its members.

The Committee will provide advice and support to CPAMO’s efforts to ensure the long-term health and stability of its members, many of whom are small arts organizations in music, dance, theatre and visual arts. The Committee will assist CPAMO in providing the tools and resources to enable its members to develop strong planning and financial skills, achieve organizational health and balance, and acquire and maintain a fund of working capital.

Advisory Committee Responsibilities:

To achieve the purpose noted above, the Advisory Committee will:

• Support and act as goodwill ambassadors for CPAMO. As ambassadors the members will help develop awareness and advance the vision for the program within their own respective constituencies.
• Act as ‘door openers’ to key individuals within their own community, company, industry or institution where CPAMO may be seeking participation and support.
• Give advice and guidance to CPAMO where needed, and may be invited to participate on working committees.

Communications and Term of Commitment:

The Advisory Committee will kept up to date on program developments and progress. Committee Membership will be for a three-year period, renewable for an additional four years, or until the completion of the program.

Advisory Committee meetings will be held quarterly and working groups may be formed to address specific issues related to this initiative.

Member Profile:

The Advisory Committee will be comprised of no more than 25 individuals from arts services organizations, presenters, funders, centres for artistic development and members of CPAMO’s Roundtable of creative artists.mmThis will include individuals who have distinguished themselves as supporters of Indigenous and racialized artists and will include representative members of CPAMO’s Roundtable.

The current members of the Advisory Committee are:

•  Kathleen Sharpe, Executive Director, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund
•  John Ryerson, former Director Cultural Services, City of Markham
•  Patty Jarvis, Executive Director, Prologue to the Performing Arts
•  Ronnie Brown, Oakville Centre for the Arts
•  Eric Lariviere, General Manager Flato Markham Theatre
•  Alicia Rose, National Outreach and Program Manager, Business for the Arts
•  Kate Cornell, Executive Director, Canadian Dance Assembly
•  Carol Beauchamp, Executive Director, Theatre Ontario
•  Warren Garrett, Executive Director, Community Cultural Impresarios/Ontario Presenters Network
•  Kevin A. Ormsby, KasheDance
•  Helen Yung, Independent Artist and Former Co-Coordinator Canada Council Stand Firm Network (Ontario and Manitoba)
•  Mimi Beck, CanDance Network
•  Jason Ryle, Exeutive Director, imagineNATIVE
•  Cindy Yip, Little Pear Garden Collective
•  Harvey Weisfeld, wind in the leaves collective
•  Anita Agrawal, Consultant and Former Co-Coordinator Canada Council Stand Firm Network (Ontario and Manitoba)
•  Charmaine Headley, Collective of Black Artists
•  Rebecca Burton, Playwrights Guild of Canada
•  Millie Knapp, Executive Director, Association of Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts
•  Soheil Parsa, Artistic Director Modern Times Theatre
•  Lata Pada, Artistic Director Sampradaya Dance Creations
•  Bea Pisano, Artistic Director Aluna Theatre

Members of CPAMO’s Roundtable:

As a resource to plan and coordinate its activities, CPAMO has set-up a Roundtable comprised of racialized and Indigenous creation-based arts organizations and individual artists from these communities.The members of the Roundtable are:

•  Anahita Azrahimi, Visual Artist
•  Denise Fujiwara, Canasian Dance
•  Charmaine Headley and Bakari Eddison Lindsay, Collective of Black Artists
•  Lata Pada, Sampradaya Dance Creations
•  Nova Bhattacharya, Nova Dance
•  Seema Jethalal, Manifesto Festival of Community and Culture
•  Anne Frost, Cultural Pluralism in the Arts/University of Toronto Scarborough
•  Phillip Akin, Obsidian Theatre
•  Marilo Nunez, Alameda Theatre
•  Mae Maracle, Centre for Indigenous Theatre
•  Brainard Bryden-Taylor, Nathaniel Dett Chorale
•  Emily Cheung, Little Pear Garden Collective
•  Spy Denome-Welch, Indigenous Playwright
•  Sedina Fiati, Actor
•  Ravi Jain, why not theatre
•  Sinara Perdomo-Rozo, alucine latino film festival
•  Shannon Thunderbird, Teya Peya Productions
•  Olga Barrios, Olga Barrios Dance
•  Santee Smith, Kaha’wi Dance
•  Menaka Thakker, Menaka Thakkar Dance Company
•  Kevin A. Ormsby, KasheDance
•  Sandra Laronde, Red Sky Performance
•  Ahdri Zena Mandiella, b-current
•  Jenna Rogers and David Yee, fu-GEN Theatre
•  Cahoots Theatre
•  Bea Pizano, Aluna Theatre
•  Korean Canadian Dance Studies of Canada
•  Millie Knapp, Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts
•  Gina Badger, Fuse Magazine
•  Harvey Weisfeld, wind in the leaves collective
•  Lua Shayenne Productions
•  Sheniz Janmohamed, Ignite Poets