Ontario. Ministry of Culture and Recreation. Arts Services Branch.

• Arts Services Branch

The Arts Services Branch was formed in 1979 under the Cultural Division of the Ministry of Culture and Recreation. The Arts Services Branch was made up of four programs: Cultural Exchange Program, Festival Ontario, Outreach Ontario, Public Art Galleries Grants. In 1983, the branch was replaced by the Cultural Agencies and Enterprises Branch as part of the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture.

The Arts Services Branch developed policies and programs to encourage excellence in the arts and wider participation in arts activities. The branch provided operating grants to provincial cultural institutions and agencies, provincial arts service organizations, and certain arts training institutions. The Art Services Branch also coordinated the Wintario Program Grants (Arts) Program. The branch was made up of the following four programs: Cultural Exchange Program, Festival Ontario, Outreach Ontario, Public Art Galleries Grants.

The Culture Exchange Program provided information and/or grants to community associations, individual artists and arts groups involved in interprovincial or international cultural exchanges. Criteria used for assessment included public accessibility, community support, artistic excellence, financial accountability of group, and the 'special' versus on-going nature of the project. Levels of funding were determined on a competitive, juried basis. A variety of cultural exchanges between Ontario and Quebec were assisted under the auspices of the Ontario-Quebec Permanent Commission.

Festival Ontario coordinated exhibitions from major cultural and arts institutions (e.g. Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Centre, Ontario Educational Communications Authority (OECA), Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Film Theatre, Royal Botanical Gardens, McMichael Canadian Collection, etc.) and made these available free of charge to communities to augment festivals or special events.

Outreach Ontario worked to decentralize the Province's cultural resources by encouraging Toronto area cultural institutions to diversify their programs, expand extension services and undertake cooperative projects. Cultural agencies and facilities involved included: the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, the Ontario Science Centre, the McMichael Canadian Collection and regional public libraries.

The Public Art Galleries Grants program assisted eligible non-profit community art galleries through grants for basic operating and administrative expenditures. Galleries had to meet eligibility criteria and provide detailed financial and operations information.

Ministry of Culture and Recreation

RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

KWIC Index, 1979-1983.

Archivist(s):
Delle Palme