Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 01/09/2025

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For instance, the City could provide a career platform for emerging artists by issuing competition calls for smaller-scale, smaller-budget or temporary projects beyond murals, that may not require the same level of technical experience as larger capital projects. Such "incubator" projects would provide early-career artists with the experience needed to successfully compete for and deliver more significant commissions elsewhere in Toronto or in other cities. The City and private developers can also continue to provide mentorship oppor- tunities,where appropriate, on public art projects through StART, the Percent for Public Art Program, Nuit Blanche, and as part of other City-commissioned projects, and consider expanding these successful approaches.As part of a mentorship arrangement, an emerging artist is paired with a more experienced artist to work on a public art project. Mentees benefit by gaining valuable trans- ferrable technical and project management skills, and by taking part in hands-on training and learning opportunities.As a best practice, mentorship opportunities should be paid, and funded through a portion of a project's public art budget. In addition,the City should continue to partner with cultural incubators and artist-led organizations to advance skills development and capacity-building among emerging Toronto artists. 1.5 Create new skills development and leadership opportunities for Indlgenous artilsts, curators and art consultants in the field of public art Creating new skills development and leadership opportunities for Indigenous artists, curators and art consultants in the field of public art is one step towards the greater inclusion of Indigenous presence and values within the city-building process.This could include introducing targeted public art mentorship programs pairing emerging Indigenous artists, curators or art consultants with estab- lished professionals to gain the technical experience needed to secure their own future commissions and dedicated competition calls, providing aspiring Indigenous artists and arts professionals with opportunities to lead temporary or permanent projects. To encourage creativity and innovation,the City's Economic Development and Culture Division should endeavour to deliver a range of different public art competition types and opportunities to grow the City of Toronto Public Art and Monuments Collection. This could include open calls (currently the standard), developing an artist and curator roster, by-invitation competitions, community- engaged projects, or others. Delivering a wider variety of competition types 32 Creativity and Community— Everywhere