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Cheering on Artistic Creation
May 31, 2024As summer bursts into life, the Fund’s season also blooms with new artistic creations. Let’s cheer these artists on as they take big artistic leaps. Let’s be fans of each other and show up ready for delight and a challenge. Let's find our summer art crushes and fall into sweet summer…
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Kimiko’s Pearl: A ballet forged across generations
May 29, 2024A tribute to the strength and resilience of the Japanese Canadian community The internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II is the inspiration behind Kimiko’s Pearl, premiering at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines on June 22. Supported by the National…
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Creation as an act of friction
May 15, 2024We have so much to update you on at the National Creation Fund. This month marks two new investments and an exciting list of Fund-supported shows on tour, including an unprecedented FIVE premieres. Also, the NAC’s 2024-2025 season was just launched! It features a record-setting ten…
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Sustaining artistic risk
March 18, 2024The Creation Fund’s tag line is We fund risk. Artistic creation is inherently risky, conjuring creative and logistical ingredients together in entirely new ways, all driven by the question “What if...?” One of the beautiful/infuriating truths about artistic creation is that there is no…
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Championing Francophone creativity
March 14, 2024In recent months, the National Creation Fund, fuelled by donors, has played a pivotal role in amplifying the voices of Quebec artists and propelling their creative endeavors to new heights. Projet Polytechnique Since November, the documentary theatre company Porte Parole has been touring…
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Investing in creativity and new beginnings
February 8, 2024Is there such a thing as a true beginning? Whether we’re talking about the start of a year, a new creation, or – in my case – a job, the word beginning can feel not quite right. For example, does creation begin with the spark of an idea, the first time you describe a concept to someone…
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National Creation Fund’s new Artistic Producer encourages bold artistic dreams
January 11, 2024Sarah Conn loves dreaming with artists. “Listening to artists share early whispers of creative dreams is one of the most beautiful things,” she says. “Often these whispers are cryptic clues – a question, a feeling, an image, a sound.” The newly-appointed Artistic Producer of the NAC’s…
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Producers, the “Alchemists” of the Performing Arts
December 7, 2023For the second consecutive year, the National Arts Centre (NAC) hosted the National Producer Gathering. Held from November 20 to 25, this gathering was an opportunity for the dozen participants to share their knowledge and find solutions to the issues they face. Despite the crucial role…
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Orienting ourselves in the dark
November 30, 2023And suddenly, it is the end of November. For those of us in the Northern hemisphere, this means a time of shorter days and expanding nights. Here in Ottawa, brief sunrises accompany rumours of snow and the kind of cold that clears your mind. As we ease into darkness, I simultaneously…
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A story that one learns over a lifetime: Mahabharata
November 6, 2023Your generous support of the NAC’s National Creation Fund recently helped a new production make waves across the pond. After having its world premiere at the Shaw Festival in March 2023, Mahabharata, written and adapted by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes of Why Not Theatre, had its…
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Wild visions for a new season
October 11, 2023New season, new Sarah! In truth, I am not so new… I started as Artistic Associate the day the NCF was born, arriving during a time of big dreams and big questions. The process of bringing the Fund to life was itself pure creation – feeling our way through the unknown, experiencing moments…
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Creation: bringing new Canadian works to the stage
August 15, 2023Donor support of the National Creation Fund provide the time, space and resources for performing artists to bring new works to their full potential. I Forgive You was created in response to a violent homophobic attack that left choral director Scott Jones paralyzed from the waist down in…
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Materials for Creation: Leaving a trace of the ephemeral arts
June 15, 2023“Creating something beautiful to celebrate the first five years of the National Creation Fund”: that’s what Sarah Garton Stanley (SGS) and Sarah Conn, co-editors of the book Materials for Creation, had in mind a year ago. Launched this month in Montréal and Toronto, the book is also a…
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The NAC is Alive with the Sound of Students
March 27, 2023You know when it’s student matinee day at the NAC. On those days, a quick trip to Equator coffee shop begs the question: “Do I weave my way through the hundreds of excited kids, or do I wait until later?” The caffeine enthusiasts among us will jump into the crowd and share the thrill, while…
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Jayne Watson to step down as CEO of the NAC Foundation
February 9, 2023The National Arts Centre has announced that Jayne Watson will step down as CEO of the NAC Foundation on May 31, 2023. Jayne Watson joined the NAC in 2001, serving as Director of Communications and Public Affairs until 2009 before she was appointed CEO of the Foundation. Under her…
