Author Archives: jini

And a new beginning

By jini | Published: Oct 29 2012

Jini Stolk, Executive Director of Creative Trust from 2002 – 2012, was appointed as the first Creative Trust Research Fellow at the Toronto Arts Foundation. Claire Hopkinson, Executive Director of the Toronto Arts Foundation/Toronto Arts Council (and Creative Trust’s founding Board Chair) announced the creation of the Fellowship last night, and said she was delighted […]

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End of an era

By jini | Published: Oct 29 2012

by Jini Stolk Creative Trust announced its closing yesterday at a joyous “sunset bash” celebrating its success and positive impact on the financial and organizational health and stability of 21 of Toronto’s most important mid-size music, theatre and dance companies. Another 35 companies participated in the Trust’s many workshops and professional development activities over the […]

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Announcing: Creative Trust materials at the University of Guelph Archives

By jini | Published: Oct 29 2012

by Jini Stolk Creative Trust Chair Suzanne Weiss and I recently had the pleasure of touring the largest collection of professional theatre archives in the country, guided by the Head of the University of Guelph Library Archives and Special Collections Kathryn Harvey. It’s a thrilling collection – which now, we are happy to say,  includes […]

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The Distillery District on steroids

By jini | Published: Oct 02 2012

This is not a post on the spectacular new Daniels Spectrum (formerly the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre) but rather on the astonishing multiplicity of repurposed factory complexes I visited during my recent trip to Poland. The city of Łódź, in particular, is home to 27 (27!) former industrial sites now containing museums, cultural […]

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Reduce, re-use…readysetrecycle!

By jini | Published: Oct 02 2012

I’ve been wondering, while working on Toronto’s Green Theatres, whatever happened to Set/Reset –Toronto’s early and successful experiment in adaptive re-use of theatre and film set materials. Started in 1993 with $1,000 in start up capital, Set/Reset was North America’s first recycling company for the entertainment industry. Occupying a 30,000 square foot warehouse in downtown […]

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Five ways to build your corporate giving

By jini | Published: Oct 02 2012

You won’t be surprised to hear that The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s recent Giving USA report predicts that corporate charitable giving is unlikely to increase in the U.S. this year. There, as here in Canada, existing budgets are moving away from the arts to other sectors – and the U.S. philanthropic world is accelerating their move […]

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It’s the law: accessibility news, funding and training

By jini | Published: Oct 01 2012

Creative Trust and Picasso PRO have been getting lots of kudos for our new handbooks on audio described and American Sign Language interpreted performances, including this from our friends at the Canada Council. “WOW. At last! a Canadian support document for arts orgs. Bravo.” We’re hoping that more than a few companies, both here and […]

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Set in Stone: the back story on cultural facilities

By jini | Published: Sep 11 2012

by Jini Stolk Some of the more explosive hazards and tensions that can surround a major building project have been brought to the fore by Factory Theatre’s situation. But there are perils in any proposed capital project in the arts. The special challenges facing small and mid-sized companies were pointed out in Kate Taylor’s thoughtful […]

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All the world’s a stage or is it?

By jini | Published: Sep 11 2012

by Jini Stolk Meanwhile, Alan Brown raised crucial new questions about arts space in his new study All the World’s a Stage, specifically about the pivotal role that venues and settings play in performing arts experiences. “All else being equal, why will some people attend programs in one setting, but not another?  What will artists […]

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Redoing the To Do List

By jini | Published: Sep 11 2012

by Jini Stolk My To Do List has become a nag…an irritant…even a scold, as items so hopefully added reappear day after guilt-filled day. Blame me or blame the list? This year I’m going to try something different. Microsoft project management specialist J.D. Meier, as reported by Harvey Schachter in The Globe and Mail’s Monday […]

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