Canadian Arts Summit

Co-founded by The Banff Centre and Business for the Arts in 1998, the Canadian Arts Summit is a unique national leadership forum, which is held in March of each year. It brings together the chief executives, artistic directors and board chairs of Canada's largest 50 not-for-profit cultural institutions: symphony orchestras, theatres, opera and ballet companies, as well as art museums - primarily those with budgets over $4 million.

The Summit is predicated upon the belief that these influential leaders - volunteers, artists and managers - can, by working together, develop the strengths required to support Canadian artistic aspirations. The first principle behind the Summit is that it is a gathering of leaders, the outcome of which is shaped by the participants. For that reason, the Summit has become, over its first nine years, not just a weekend event in March, but an ongoing network of arts leaders working together, through the Steering Committee, throughout the year.

The Steering Committee for the 11th Annual Canadian Arts Summit is chaired by Chip Vallis, past Chair, CanStage, Toronto. His Committee members are: Tricia Baldwin, Managing Director, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir; David Banks, Chair, The National Ballet of Canada; Victoria Dickenson, Executive Director, McCord Museum; Donald Douglas, Board Chair, EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts; James Fleck, O.C., Art Gallery of Ontario Foundation; Julia Foster, Chair, National Arts Centre; Jean Giguère, Past Chair, Royal Winnipeg Ballet; Jean Grand-Maître, Artistic Director, Alberta Ballet Company; Stanley Hamilton, President, Arts Club Theatre Company; Marie Lavigne, Directrice générale, Place des Arts de Montréal; Jackie Maxwell, Artistic Director, Shaw Festival Theatre; Kelly Meighen, Chair, Stratford Festival of Canada; Victor Rabinovitch, President & CEO, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation; Penny Ritco, Managing Director, The Citadel Theatre; Albert Schultz, Artistic Director, Soulpepper Theatre Company; Bruce Wright, Chair, Vancouver Opera Association. The President of The Banff Centre, Mary Hofstetter, and Business for the Arts Arts Interim President, Nichole Anderson, serve ex-officio.