We are excited to announce the launch of the Creative Spaces Mentoring Network (CSMN) 2025! This year’s program will be offered over 7 months, and is designed to connect artists, arts managers, and community leaders responsible for creative spaces in Ontario. CSMN is an amazing opportunity to gain insight and guidance when overcoming challenges and developing your creative space. Participants will be matched with mentors who have specialized experience in arts leadership and capital-related projects. Together, you’ll work on specific issues identified by the mentee to help grow, renew, or develop creative spaces.
Program Highlights:
Virtual One-on-One Mentorship: Monthly, 2-3 hour sessions with an experienced arts professional.
Webinars: Three informative webinars – Kick-Off, Mid-Program, and Wrap-Up – for networking and sharing knowledge.
Peer Engagement: Connect with like-minded peers and share resources to foster growth in the arts sector.
Apply to be a Mentee: We are now accepting applications for 15 Mentee spots for the 2025 program! To apply, complete the Application Form Please send your application by January 31, 2025.
Fees:
If selected as a Mentee, there is a $175 + HST fee once a successful mentor match is made.
Apply to be a Mentor: Are you an experienced arts professional with knowledge of cultural facilities, capital projects, or strategic planning? We are seeking Mentors for the program! If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer mentor, please complete the Mentor Application Form.
For questions or more information, please contact Eva Hellreich, Program Manager at programs@artsbuildontario.ca.
In recent years, the concept of “arts hubs” has gained popularity in creative communities. As space for artists and arts organizations becomes increasingly scarce, shared space models have emerged as a cost-effective and sustainable solution. A hub model not only provides affordable space solutions but also creates a sense of community and promotes environmental stewardship through resource sharing.
Join Dr. Terri-Lynn Brennan alongside ArtsBuild Ontario, for a working session dedicated to the intersection of allyship, Indigenous creative spaces, and self-determination. Held at the Native Earth Performing Arts Aki Studio, in Tkaronto (Toronto), on March 25th from 1pm – 4pm, this session welcomes all arts organizations to rethink their organizational structures toward building relationships as an ally and creating safe and enabling spaces rooted in Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.
Informed by Paddling Upstream and principles platformed by the Two-Row Wampum as guides, we will explore how to actively support and amplify Indigenous voices, address systemic challenges, and foster environments of equally empowered collaboration. We will unpack how Paddling Upstream can be used to support spaces in learning to navigate conversations with Indigenous artists and community, and embrace an approach to developing deeper respect and humility toward Indigenous ways of thinking, being and living.
As the final component of the Indigenous Creative Spaces Project, this workshop marks the culmination of a four-year journey. This project has been instrumental in bringing together Indigenous artists and leaders from across Ontario, creating a relational framework and network to support the work that happens in these very important self-determined spaces. Led by the Indigenous Advisory Circle and supported by ArtsBuild Ontario, the project has fostered an ecology of knowledge informed by and for Indigenous communities. Through a combination of recorded and oral documentation, the project exists to support the inter-related development of Indigenous creative spaces throughout the Province. As we move forward, we must create new models and enhance current Western approaches to build a brighter future.
Join ArtsBuild Ontario for an information session on the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Capital Grant on Thursday, January 25 at 2pm EST with Program Managers Hélène Duquette and Natalie Normand as we talk about OTF’s new grant investment framework, eligibility criteria, and other Capital Grant related questions.
Ontario Trillium Foundation Capital Grants provide funding to help organizations respond to the needs of Ontario’s communities.
Capital Grants help organizations:
Maintain or increase access to a program or service
Extend the life of a facility or space (updates to buildings or enhancement of spaces)
Purchase equipment
Improve a facility or space to make it more accessible
Ontario Trillium Foundation will be accepting applications for their Capital Grant stream, with applications available from February 7, 2024 until the deadline of March 6, 2024 at 5 PM ET.
2023 has been another busy year for ABO! Let’s look back at all the activities we did this past year.
In January we welcomed a new member to our team; Helena Ciuciura who joined as the Marketing and Community Coordinator at the beginning of the year to support our marketing, communications, and 44 Gaukel creative hub.
Creative Spaces Mentoring Network
In February, the ABO team traveled to Calgary for the Creative Spaces Mentoring Network 2023 Kick-Off Workshop in partnership with Calgary Arts Development and cSpace Marda Loop. We welcomed 34 participants from Calgary! We hosted the Ontario Kick-Off webinar in March also with 34 particpants,with projects ranging from visioning a new space to being mid-way through construction.
As the year comes to a close we are looking forward to the Wrap-Up webinars with both the Calgary and Ontario cohorts, to hearing from the pairs how the program has helped them develop as leaders in the sector, and to see where their projects are in comparison to the beginning of the program. We are excited to meet the new mentees from Ontario and Calgary in the new year.
The New Moon Dialogues touched on themes including uplifting the relationship to land, Indigenous sovereignty, and systemic barriers in developing Indigenous creative spaces.
The work of Paddling Upstream continued throughout the year as the ABO team hit the road to continue the conversations from the project’s initial travels in 2020. The Return to Community Gatherings focused on the Bundles of Knowledge in Paddling Upstream with the conversation self-determined by each community. The sessions revolved around the evolution of organizations and their spaces since the beginning of the project and their plans for the future. The gatherings were held with Aanmitaagzi in North Bay, Debajehmujig in Manitoulin Island, Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, and Friday Creeations in Temagami. We look forward to visiting the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford and Native Earth in Toronto in the new year. We will also be hosting an in-person workshop, The Ecology of Indigenous Creative Space & Allyship in March 2024. Subscribe to our e-news for registration details in January.
We partnered with STEPS Public Art for the Mentorship in the Arts Panel, a free virtual panel with Elle de Lyon, Bruno Canadien, Quentin VerCetty, and Bruce Pitkin in which we explored the importance of mentorship and the different types of mentoring seen in the arts.
We rounded out the end of the year with our sixth online auction in partnership with the KW Rotary Club. We had some amazing donations and thank all who supported us by donating and bidding on ABO’s items.
This busy year comes to a close with several exciting projects on the horizon in the New Year. ABO would like to thank all of the project partners, donors, and arts organizations that we have formed relationships with in 2023 for making this year an incredible success. And thanks to our network for your continued support. We wish you all the best this Holiday Season!
2023 marked the third year of the 
We hosted a number of webinars and workshops over 2023. In April we were joined by Tara Mazurk and Elizabeth Seip from 