Tag Archives: Gathering Divergence

Building a Diverse Canadian Cultural Arts Management Ecology panel

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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 & 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

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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.

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.

Call for Submissions: The Gathering Divergence – Spring 2026

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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

Apply Now!

 

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