Toronto, April 9, 2021 – The Ontario Arts Foundation and The Gordon Foundation are pleased to announce the 2020 grants from the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program:
Acquisition Grants
Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa $7,500
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener $9,000
Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa $5,000
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay $10,000
Development Grants
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston $6,000
Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford $7,500
“The Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program has been a welcome source of additional funding that Ontario art galleries can tap into to help build their permanent collections and strengthen community engagement,” says Alan Walker, Executive Director of the Ontario Arts Foundation. “It is heartening to see, even under the immense challenges galleries have faced this past year amidst the pandemic, they have come forward with innovative community building projects and inspiring new acquisitions – supporting their mandate and honouring their donor and gallery supporters desires to deepen their collections.”
Acquisition grants are matching grants for private donations raised by public galleries and museums for the acquisition of Canadian works of art for their permanent collection. Development grants support initiatives that increase the public’s knowledge of collecting or a gallery or museum’s permanent collection, and help make a gallery or museum’s permanent collection more accessible to the public.
The grant decisions were made by an Ontario Arts Council jury made up of arts professionals with broad knowledge and experience of public gallery activities in Ontario. The 2020 jury members were Carolyn Bell Farrell (Barrie); Linda Grussani (Ottawa); and Sally Frater (Hamilton).
The Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program aims to foster a broader appreciation of Canadian visual art and artists by assisting public art galleries and museums in Ontario to grow their permanent collections, and support community engagement between a gallery or museum and its local community.
For information, please contact:
Alan Walker, Executive Director
416-969-7413 | awalker@oafdn.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2019-2020, the OAF paid out over $4.25 million in endowment income and $270,000 in awards and scholarships.
The Gordon Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to protecting Canada’s water and empowering Canada’s North. We seek opportunities to amplify underrepresented voices, elevate emerging issues, and collaborate with like-minded organizations to drive powerful, sustainable outcomes.
About Elizabeth L. Gordon
Elizabeth L. Gordon, a founder of The Gordon Foundation, held a lifelong interest in art, history, and culture. Her passions and interests, in addition to friends and family, were about art, museums, for showing and sharing art publicly, and for the public value of good design. Her contribution to the Gordon Foundation was to insist on grants for the arts. For many years, she volunteered regularly with the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario), taking great interest in stimulating Gallery membership. Through The Gordon Foundation, Elizabeth Gordon encouraged emerging art galleries and museums across Ontario by providing grants to enable them to purchase original works of art. To honour her, the Foundation established the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Program, providing an enduring memory of Mrs. Gordon’s patronage and appreciation of Canadian art.