Toronto Arts Foundation (TAF) has announced the fifteen finalists for the 2012 Toronto Arts Foundation Awards, celebrating those individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to Toronto’s vibrant artistic and cultural life.

This year’s nominees were chosen by a stellar multi-disciplinary jury which included Francisco Alvarez, Hilario Duran, John Farrell, Darlene Gilliland, Angela Grabham, Bonnie Kim, Moynan King, Richard Lee, Chris Lorway, Shauna McCabe and Natalyn Tremblay.

Arts for Youth Award: This $15,000 cash prize established in 2007 by Martha Burns, Jim Fleck and Jim Pitblado, celebrates an individual, collective or organization that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to engaging Toronto youth in the arts. The three finalists will each receive $2,000, made possible by Diana Bennett and Spencer Lanthier.

Nominees:
Art Starts is an arts-based community development organization operating five Toronto sites. Since 1992, Art Starts has combined hands-on community consultation with a collaborative art-making approach. Their programs celebrate communities, foster collaboration and innovation, and respond to local needs.

Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre is a not-for-profit organization that has been located in the heart of Regent Park, Toronto for 21 years. The centre is a not-for-profit organization that has been located in the heart of Regent Park, Toronto for 21 years.

Supporting Our Youth (SOY) is a dynamic community development program at Sherbourne Health Centre, which strives to improve the quality of life for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi and trans) youth across Toronto. It works collaboratively to create opportunities for youth to build an inclusive, welcoming community together with supportive adults.

Toronto Arts and Business Award: This award celebrates a local business that has made an important contribution to the arts in Toronto through innovative, transformative and entrepreneurial partnerships. Established in 2006, this award is presented in partnership with Business for the Arts, The Toronto Star and Toronto Arts Foundation.

Nominees: 
TELUS has made investing in the arts a main pillar of its Toronto corporate giving since greatly expanding its presence in Eastern Canada a decade ago.

Nominating The Daniels Group is a recognition of this firm’s commitment to and belief in the transformational power of the arts for the wellbeing of society.

Sun Life Financial joined forces with Culture Days in 2009 as the first corporate partner of this new pan-Canadian grassroots arts and cultural participation movement and annual event.

RBC Emerging Artist Award: This $7,500 cash prize is presented to an emerging Toronto artist working in any discipline in celebration of current accomplishments and future potential. In addition, finalists will receive $1,000 each. Established in 2006 by RBC Foundation, this award is intended to support the development or completion of new work.

Nominees: 
Chris Curreri is a Toronto-based artist, who works predominantly with film, photography and sculpture. He holds a BFA from the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University and an MFA from the Milton Avery Graduate School for the Arts at Bard College. Recent exhibitions include: Beside Myself at Daniel Faria Gallery in Toronto (2011), Something Something at the University of Toronto Art Centre (2011).

Daniel Karasik is a writer, actor, and artistic director of Tango Co., an independent theatre company. The grand prize winner of the 2012 CBC Literary Award for Fiction and the 2012 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Award, he has developed and presented new drama at many of Canada’s leading theatres, including Tarragon Theatre, the Canadian Stage Company, Factory Theatre, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. His plays The Innocents and In Full Light were both hits at Toronto’s SummerWorks Theatre Festival.

Sandy Pool is a poet and multi-disciplinary artist. Sandy holds a degree in Theatre Performance and English from the University of Toronto, as well as a MFA in Creative Writing from the University Guelph. Currently, she is a doctoral student at the University of Calgary, where she is the editor of Dandelion Magazine. Sandy has been published in various literary journals and was most recently anthologized in The Best Canadian Poems in 2011, published by Tightrope Books.

Roy Thomson Hall Award of Recognition: This $10,000 cash prize is presented to an individual, ensemble or organization to recognize creative, performing, administrative, volunteer or philanthropic contributions to Toronto’s musical life. This award was established by the Volunteer Committee of Roy Thomson Hall in 1984 to recognize and thank the community that supported the conception, building and establishment of the new concert hall. In 2002, the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall asked the TAF to manage the award.

Nominees: 
Lydia Adams is a conductor, pianist, composer, producer, and arranger who demonstrates a true dedication to Canadian choral music and its growth. She conducts and is Artistic Director of the Amadeus Choir and Elmer Iseler Singers, both national leaders in commissioning, premiering, performing and recording Canadian choral works.

Alan Davis’ dedication to Toronto’s artists and audiences of diverse backgrounds has provided over 400 concerts to tens of thousands of people involving nearly every cultural community in the city. At the forefront of Alan’s work is collaboration; bridging cultural barriers through innovative programming and educational outreach; celebrating diversity and inclusion. The charitable organization he founded, Small World Music Society now plans to open a new community hub for world music space at the Artscape YOUNGplace.

Michael M. Koerner, C.M. is the President of Canada Overseas Investments Limited. He was named a member of The Order of Canada in 1984 and is currently Chancellor of The Royal Conservatory.

William Kilbourn Award for the Celebration of Toronto’s Cultural Life: This $5,000 Cash prize is presented to an individual performer, teacher, administrator or creator in any arts discipline, including architecture and design, whose work is a celebration of life through the arts in Toronto. Established in 1996, this award is funded through an endowment made possible by private donors who wished to celebrate and remember the life of William Kilbourn who died in 1995.

Nominees: 
Patricia Fraser studied at York University (Hons BA Dance) and in London, England and New York. She began her performance career with Dancemakers in 1975 (Co-Artistic Director 1980-1985), has taught and performed extensively across Canada, Europe, and the United States, and is a founding director of the Teachers’ Collective.

Mi Young Kim has established herself as one of the leading figures in the Korean-Canadian cultural scene. She works as a dancer, choreographer and teacher; and founded the Korean Dance Studies Society of Canada in 1979. Mi Young has created and remounted more than 120 dance works. In order to celebrate diversity in Canadian dance, Mi Young established the Soo Ryu Dance Festival in 2003, which has provided many performances and professional development opportunities to culturally specific dance artists.

Jini Stolk is the Founding Executive Director of Creative Trust. Jini is an acknowledged leader in the arts and culture community with senior management experience in a range of producing and membership organizations. She continues her involvement in many community and cultural advocacy activities and is a director of the Centre for Social Innovation and a member of the Steering Committee of the Ontario Nonprofit Network.

In addition, each award winner will receive an original work of art commissioned by the Toronto Arts Foundation. This year TAF has chosen Toronto-based artist An Te Liu, renowned for his sculptures and installations, to create the piece. Also this year, each finalist will be photographed as part of the Finalists Portrait Series. These beautiful stills will be shot by Denise Grant Photography, and will be featured online, courtesy of NOW Magazine.

Winners of the 2012 Toronto Arts Foundation Awards will be announced on Thursday, June 21, 2012 at the Mayor’s Arts Awards Lunch.