Clients & Projects

Current Clients & Projects

The Royal Conservatory / Koerner Hall
 
The Royal Conservatory presents a concert season of 80-95 global music, roots, classical, and jazz concerts, as well as the 21C Music Festival and many special projects, in three venues (Koerner Hall, Mazzoleni Concert Hall, and Temerty Theatre). Koerner Hall is “magnificent in its acoustics, as much as in its design.” “The greatest venue in this city” – Toronto Star.
  • HKC Marketing provides strategy, advising, media planning & buying, coaching and other support for the marketing manager and performance (concerts) division team members. 
  • (1996 – 2022) Directed and oversaw all brand, profile, public and audience communications for Koerner Hall and all concert presentations: concert hall launch and audience development, marketing strategies, social media strategies, media planning and buying, ticket buyer communication messaging, destination marketing, outreach communications, partnerships, tourism marketing, audience development, promotions, community engagement, guest experience crafting, copywriting, media sponsorships, budget management, staff management and team building.
 
 
MOCA Toronto’s mission is to present dynamic international artists and exciting Toronto artists, and be a gathering place for provocative talks, workshops and performances. 
  • HKC Marketing oversees MOCA’s exhibition marketing, including campaign development and implementation: media planning and buying; media partnerships; copy writing and editing; collateral production and distribution; design management; advising and collaborating with internal staff members; and budget management.
  • Currently directing marketing for Fall 2023 Exhibition Season: Liz Magor: The Separation; Phyllida Barlow; and an exhibition of work from The Wedge Collection, on view September 6, 2023 – February 4, 2024. 
  • Created and directed marketing campaign for Spring/Summer 2023 Exhibition Season: Kapwani Kiwanga; Athena Papadopoulos; Susan for Susan; Serkan Özkaya; and Seeing the Invisible exhibitions, February 24 – July 23,  2023
  • Restructured the MOCA Membership program, and provided messaging and campaign planning to launch and communicate the new membership options.  
  • Directed marketing for Fall 2022 Exhibition Season: Thomas Demand: HOUSE OF CARD. September 16, 2022 – January 8, 2023.
  • Directed marketing for Winter/Spring 2022 Exhibitions: Shirin Neshat: Land of Dreams, Jeffrey Gibson: I AM YOUR RELATIVE, Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Summer. March 10 – July 31, 2022
  • Created and directed marketing campaign for Greater Toronto Art 2021 (GTA21), on view September – December 2021.

Portrait Gallery of Canada

Through the exhibition of portraits of people across Canada, the Portrait Gallery of Canada showcases stories of the country’s history, diversity, achievements, challenges and aspirations for the future.

 

Amber Smith-Quail: Nawemaa / To be related

Amber Smith-Quail is a visual artist and member of Alderville First Nation. Her solo exhibition, Nawemaa / To be related, will be on view at the Dignam Gallery, Women’s Art Association of Canada, September 8-26, 2023. 

  • HKC Marketing is providing communications and marketing planning and campaign implementation for the exhibition, including invitations, marketing exchanges, and advertising. 
 
 
Mass Culture is an arts support organization that harnesses the power of research to learn and generate new insights, enabling the arts community to be strategic, focused and adaptive. By convening cultural workers and academics, Mass Culture provides a platform for knowledge to be explored, widely understood, and mobilized.
  • HKC provides writing services. 
 
 
Bloor St. Culture Corridor, Toronto’s most diverse arts and culture district, is a partnership between 22 non-profit culture organizations. Located on Bloor St. West (Bathurst to Yonge St.), the partner organizations offer libraries, professional museum experiences, films, art exhibitions, music concerts, culture talks, classes, education programs, and some of Toronto’s most accessible cultural diversity.Partners include: the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir; The Toronto Consort; A Different Booklist Cultural Centre; the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre; the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto; Alliance Française de Toronto; the Istituto Italiano di Cultura; the Bata Shoe Museum; The Royal Conservatory; the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM); the University of Toronto Faculty of Music; the Gardiner Museum; Japan Foundation Toronto, 918 Bathurst Centre; Museum of Estonians Abroad; The Music Gallery; Soundstreams; the Randolph Centre for the Arts; Women’s Art Association of Toronto, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and the Toronto Reference Library. 
  • Heather Kelly founded the Bloor St. Culture Corridor and provides organizational leadership, and cultivates a forum for information sharing, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.
 
 
Glass has an almost magical ability to transform the light and space around it. Exploring the possibilities of color and light with glass is a joyful obsession for artist-beadmaker Carol Ann Savage.
  • Marketing strategy and plan, business identity, online store website development and management, social media strategy, marketing promotions.

 


“Heather assisted my business in developing a detailed advertising and social media strategy. The work Heather completed both in preparing our package as well as researching and learning our unique industry was invaluable. Meeting with her via virtual calls, she was able to efficiently and effectively share the plan with us and ensure our understanding to implement. I highly recommend Heather to any businesses looking to greatly improve the marketing strategies and processes.”

– Griffin Simony, Shift Accessibility Contractors


Heather Kelly is a seasoned and highly skilled communications specialist. For ten years, she worked with our team to establish and develop the brand identity of the Ryerson Image Centre and promote our exhibitions and other programs here in Toronto and internationally—via traditional and digital media, as well as beneficial press partnerships, robust tourism marketing, and well-placed advertising. Heather’s a perceptive advisor, she’s really well connected, and she’s a total joy to work with. She is, without a doubt, one of the finest professionals I’ve worked with in my career.

Paul Roth, Director, Ryerson Image Centre


Heather Kelly is a fantastic person to work with. She is quick to respond, always super positive, and full of both practical and creative ideas. Heather recently drafted an online presence inventory and a social media content strategy which were both impressive in their scope, clarity and concision. Over a short period of time she has become indispensable to me. She is always ready and fully capable to answer those nagging questions about how to best be visible before going on stage.

– Eve Egoyan



“When we identified the need for a new strategic communications plan and a major programmatic relaunch campaign, approaching Heather was the obvious choice. She delivers equally strong messages towards the public as well as to industry audiences in the cultural field. Especially, the ongoing consultancy and support she gave made all the difference. But most importantly, she is a sheer pleasure to work with, overflowing with creative energy.”

– Jutta Brendemühl, Goethe-Institut Toronto


“Her strategy read like a customized “how to run a successful campaign” hand book – it was brilliant! It was so well received by the Director and Heads of Department that it was sent to the Steering Committee in Geneva and became the AKM’s basis for our Marketing Department and future hires.”

Pascale Wilmot, Aga Khan Museum


Heather Kelly is the best in her field, supported by years of experience.

– Ron Robert, Canadian Aboriginal Festival & Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards


Heather Kelly fulfilled all of the goals. She clearly achieved the messaging and positioning objectives, delivered a total marketing value of more than 2.5 times the original budget, and generated media value worth millions of dollars.

– Doina Popescu, Ryerson Image Centre, Ryerson University


Heather is always very positive, professional and creative and she continually demonstrates great leadership and strategic marketing skills.

– Warren Salmon, First Fridays


Heather completes projects on time and on budget and achieves the desired results. She is innovative, industry-savvy, works well independently and as part of a team and is as generous with her time as she is with her outgoing personality.

– Bruce Hutchinson, Harbourfront Centre


Heather’s strategy proved effective in garnering international attention.

– Stephen Bulger


A Few of Our Past Clients

Aga Khan Museum

Art of Time Ensemble

Art Museum at University of Toronto

Artists’ Health Centre Foundation

Ashkenaz: A Festival of New Yiddish Culture

Asian Heritage Month

Audiogram Records

Bata Shoe Museum

Bravo Niagara!

Buffalo Jump Artists Collective

Canadian Aboriginal Festival & Pow Wow

Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards (CAMAs)

Canadian Multicultural Council

CanAsian Dance Festival

Craft Ontario

Dance Umbrella of Ontario

DanceWorks

Design Exchange (DX)

Eve Egoyan

Faith and the Common Good

Flick the Switch Artist Studios

Folk Music Ontario

FrancoFete

Fujiwara Dance Inventions

Gallery TPW

George Brown College

German Arts Festival

Goethe-Institut Toronto

Grant MacEwan University, Centre for the Arts

Guelph Arts Council

Guild of Canadian Film Composers

Harbourfront Centre Courses & Workshops

Harbourfront Centre Summer Festivals

Images Festival

Irie Festival

Janak Khendry Dance Company

Key Porter Books

Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC)

Lula Lounge

Mabuhay! Philippine Arts, Culture & Tourism Festival

Mi-Young Kim Dance Company

MOCA Toronto

Modern Times Theatre Company

Museum of Estonians in Canada / VEMU

Musideum

National Film Board of Canada: Mediatheque

New Music Concerts

OBJECToronto

Ontario Arts Council

Ontario Association of Art Galleries

Ontario Culture Days 

Pages Books & Magazines

Pleiades Theatre

Portrait Gallery of Canada

Putumayo World Music

Rebecca Singh – Producer, Actor, Singer, Theatre Creator

Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

Ryerson Image Centre

Ryerson University Faculty of Communication & Design (FCAD)

Ryerson University School of Image Arts

Shift Accessibility Contractors

Six String Nation

Small World Music Society

Small World Music Festival

South Asian Heritage Month

St. Philips the Apostle Anglican Church

Superior Description Services

SympaticoMSN – Digital Advertising Summit

Tangled Art + Disability

Toronto Blues Society

Toronto Festival of Storytelling

Toronto International Art Fair

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir

Toronto School of Art

Toronto Summer Chamber Music Festival

Toronto Wildlife Centre (Wild Ball)

The AFC

University of Toronto Galleries

Various Musicians, Storytellers, Curators, Artists, and Authors

Virgin Music Canada

Workman Arts

Harbourfront