Work in Culture is pleased to be working in partnership with Airsa, the Immigrant Writers Association, the Institute for Creative Exchange, Paralia Newcomer Arts Network and the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council to develop and deliver Working in the Arts. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Working in the Arts: Resources and Pathways for Newcomers is a series of training sessions, and access to information and resources, to help support newcomer and immigrant artists and arts professionals achieve career success in Toronto/GTA and beyond.
This program aims to streamline the pathway to careers in the arts and culture sector by providing relevant information for:
settlement and employment service providers looking to better equip their clients.
arts organizations seeking to engage newcomer and immigrant artists and arts professionals.
newcomer and immigrant artists and arts professionals looking to build awareness and knowledge about careers and career resources in the arts and culture sector.
This pilot initiative will focus on settlement organizations, arts organizations, and newcomer artists and arts professionals in Toronto/GTA, with relevance for communities and organizations across Canada.
Resources and information on careers in the arts will be shared here throughout the program.
Interested in receiving updates on upcoming Working in the Arts training sessions and resources? Please sign up here to be added to the Working in the Arts mailing list.
Resources
Videos
Overview of the Arts & Culture Sector and Career Opportunities for Newcomers
This webinar provides an overview of career pathways in the arts and culture sector in Toronto/GTA for newcomers and immigrants looking to start or build a creative practice, provide arts management/administrative/office support for arts organizations, or explore entrepreneurship or social enterprise.
Grants & Funding Opportunities for Newcomers
This webinar provides an overview of the grant and funding landscape for the arts and culture sector, highlighting the major granting and funding bodies as well as opportunities available to newcomer and immigrant artists and arts professionals specifically.
A Panel Discussion with Newcomer and Immigrant Artists
This webinar features a panel of newcomer and immigrant artists speaking about their experience pursuing a career and supporting their artistic practice in Toronto/GTA. The panel will discuss artistic communities and networks, types of training and education available, resources for those building or supporting an artistic practice, and more.
A Panel Discussion with Newcomer & Immigrant Arts Administrators
This webinar features a panel of newcomer and immigrant arts managers/administrators speaking about their experience pursuing a career in Toronto/GTA. The panel will discuss the range of roles that exist across different arts organizations and companies, skills-building considerations, resources to sustain and grow an arts administration career, and more.
Newcomer Resources and Reflection with Neighbourhood Arts Network and Work in Culture
On Toronto Newcomer Day 2023, the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Neighbourhood Arts Network and Work in Culture collaborated to provide newcomers with information about each organization’s programs and offerings for artists and arts workers. In this video conversation, Zyrelle Endozo from NAN and Stephanie Draker and Naomi Stokes from WIC review these programs, discuss ways to support newcomer artists, and reflect on their own experiences as arts workers in the GTA.
Ditch the Elevator Pitch: Hone Your Authentic Story and Creative Career Path
In this webinar for newcomer, immigrant, and refugee creatives, career coach Betty Xie discusses how to hone your story and creative career path. Honing in on your authentic story has a ripple effect in gaining internal clarity for your career moves and positioning yourself externally to potential employers and projects.
How to Navigate the Job Application Process in the Arts
This webinar shares some good practices and tips for navigating the job application process in the arts, including how to understand a job post, write a cover letter, build a resume, prepare for an interview, and more. If you are a student, an immigrant, or someone who is new to the sector, this webinar can help you navigate the unique challenges and opportunities of the arts and culture job market.
Let’s Pay our Artists with CARFAC’s New Fee Schedule
Are you an artist looking to get paid what you deserve but do not know where to start? Or an arts professional looking to fairly compensate your facilitators and contractors? This webinar provides clarity on the principles guiding CARFAC’s recommended fee structures and how we can better support our artists and their work. This conversation will help you stay informed and help promote fair pay for artists.
Blog Posts
Resilience, Determination, and Passion – Journey of Immigrant Women Artists in Canada
What is it like to be an immigrant woman artist or arts administrator in Canada? In this blog post, artists Jieun Kim and Lulu Ladrón de Guevara and arts administrator Sair Raut share their journey and perspectives on working in the arts sector in Canada.
The Long Road to Re-Presentation
In the first installment of this Working in the Arts blog series, Sally Sampson shares her journey from performing artist to starting her own company that empowers performers from underrepresented and marginalized groups.
Where Do We Go From Here?
In the second installment, Sally Sampson talks about navigating the arts and culture sector as a newcomer and shares her strategies for how to be resourceful and move yourself forward in the arts.
Art is Not Enough
In the third and final installment, Sally Sampson talks about how every artist is an entrepreneur and how having this mindset can be empowering.
About Working in the Arts (2022–2023): Program Background
Working in the Arts is based on recommendations from a 2021 Work in Culture needs assessment that explored the challenges, barriers and opportunities of Navigating a Career in the Arts for Newcomers.
The needs assessment found that while settlement organizations (70+ in the GTA) are generally the first point of contact for immigrants and provide a wide range of helpful resources and support, they often lack insight into the arts and culture sector and opportunities for careers in the arts. At the same time, the arts community has a range of services and programs that can help immigrant artists and arts professionals navigate the Canadian arts and culture ecosystem and provide career support, but they often lack contact with newcomers.
In response, Working in the Arts brings together both settlement and arts sector organizations to create more efficient wayfinding and to enhance the resources each offer to support newcomers and immigrants who seek to pursue a career in the arts.
How Does This Program Define “Newcomers”?
Work in Culture appreciates that newcomer or new Canadian status and definitions may differ depending on a number of factors, including age, time in Canada, immigration/permanent resident status, reasons for migration, and other personal experience.
Work in Culture embraces a broad definition for newcomers or new Canadians as immigrants or refugees who are still adapting to life in Canada. To access and benefit from Work in Culture’s training and resources, newcomers do not have to adhere to a specific time period of being in Canada. These resources and training may also benefit those who have obtained permanent resident status and/or Canadian citizenship yet continue to encounter barriers to their career success in arts and culture.
In other instances, such as government programs, settlement services, and funding or grant-based programs, there may be more, stricter eligibility requirements when it comes to newcomer status. In many cases, these initiatives require recipients or applicants to have lived in Canada for less than 5–10 years. Additionally, some granting programs require applicants to have permanent resident status, or application pending, in addition to having lived in a city/Canada for at least 12 months in order to be eligible. For these external resources, Work in Culture and their partners will endeavor to clarify eligibility as part of any training and hosted information.
If you have any questions about Working in the Arts: Resources and Pathways for Newcomers, please contact:
Stephanie Draker
Program Manager
[email protected]