Resourcing Creative Resistance featuring Kelly Langgard

[AI ] TRANSCRIPT:

“So this is the time to really value the arts. Whether it's a big expression on the stage, listening to music, reading a book or a community project. Arts makes a difference to how we live and how we understand what is happening to us and what's happening around us.”

Today we get to talk about Resourcing Creative Resistance with Kelly Langgard. I'm Heather Kelly and this is a High Five for arts leaders and creative entrepreneurs. And with me today is Kelly Langgard, who is an incredible arts leader and cultural relations expert. She is dedicated to uplifting artists, championing equity and fostering collaboration. Kelly is the director and CEO of both the Toronto Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Foundation. And in her role, she gets to fund, empower and celebrate the arts. Welcome, Kelly. Thank you so much for being with us here today.

Thank you Heather. Thank you for having me. And thanks for that introduction. Heather, when you asked me to come on to this forum with you, I was thinking that I might talk about my experience as a funder and as an advocate for artists, and also my passion for connecting what we do in the arts with the people that we're doing it for. And I've been making the case a lot lately in my role for how the arts connects to what matters to people and communities on a local level, and how arts experiences improved mental health, social cohesion, economic prosperity. And all of this is true. And now, if you are like me, you are glued to the news every day. Every day there's a new crisis. There's a new injustice. Something else is happening that we never thought would happen. It's it's a horror show, really, of a very real global threats to human life, human rights, democracy, the planet. And it seems to have no end.

So as an arts leader, thinking about being on this, on this podcast with you and grappling with this, I really want to focus right now on where I have the most to contribute. And through the Toronto Arts Council and the Foundation, fundamentally, what I do is I put funds and resources into the hands of artists. And this is so important right now that I can work with my colleagues and my partners to essentially resource a creative resistance in these times that we're in.

So the insights that I want to share today are for artists really, because artists open windows when doors are shutting, and we really need that right now.

So the first insight I have is that in dark and sinister times, making and sharing art is critical and stories have to be told. Artists tell powerful human stories that can't be ignored. They show people that they matter, that their identities are not invisible. And I've said this before. Artists are, I believe, the storytellers of our collective journey. And Ursula Gwyn says it a bit better than I. She says that storytelling is giving people the words to know their own experience, and this helps us to know who we are and what we want. So this is the time to really value the arts, whether it's a big expression on the stage, listening to music, reading a book, a community project.

Arts makes a difference to how we live and how we understand what is happening, happening to us and what's happening around us.

So my second insight then is that creative and artistic freedom matters and it has to be protected. Toronto Arts Council is an arm's length public funder, and this is what we stand for. The role of arm's length arts funders is to uphold the right of creative and artistic freedom, which enables critical discourse in the coming forward of many voices, many perspectives, to help us understand and really interrogate some really complex issues that we're dealing with us as a society. So in these times, there will be pressure on many sides to compromise on this, to say that some voices should be heard, not others. And we can't allow this. We really need to protect creative freedom and artistic autonomy.

Last year, I was at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and there was an exhibition on the top floor about John F Kennedy and his support for the arts. And I was so inspired. Last year I took full actually took photos of the quotes on the walls. And last week, when Trump took over that institution, I went back to those photos and Kennedy said, above all the arts incarnate the creativity of a free society. And he also said, when power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

And so my third insight is actually some advice for artists, and that is know your power.

There is a reason why Donald Trump took over the Kennedy Center is because art is powerful and he wants to control it, and he wants to contain it. But we know the transformative and healing and motivating and rallying power of the arts. And that is especially needed in these dark times. So I really want to encourage artists to be bold and also to know that so many of us are going to be behind you.

And then my fourth insight is that artists need partners. They need allies, resources and champions. Everyone has a paint box. And for us at the Toronto Arts Council, ours are the grants and services that we provide. Last year, there was more than 23 million that we were able to give to 525 arts organizations and collectives, 361 artists at the Toronto Arts Foundation. We provided over 100,000 in grants, in awards, rather, for artists for the work that they do, which is really critical recognition to them and resources for their practice. We also match newcomer artists with mentors and resources and, you know, we have an Arts in the parks program that was active in providing free arts experiences to people across the city.

Many and diverse partners help us to do this work. We need all those partners right now. So for some, it's the dollars that they can give. For others, it's the venues that they keep the lights on in so that artists have a stage for politicians. It's their policymaking ability. Arts champions are really everywhere, and everyone out there doing that work is making a vital contribution.

And the last thing I want to share is let's respect and celebrate our differences. And let's always invite dialog.

I worked in the international, cultural relations sphere when I was at the Canada Council for the Arts. And, you know, there I did, artists exchange country to country. I was involved sometimes working with global affairs on public and cultural diplomacy initiatives. And in this context, shared arts experiences facilitated by artists are often the most effective in reaching across divides and building bridges. And I think we have all had this experience. You know what I'm talking about. This is critical to maintain.

And as an arts leader, also speaking to my peers, I want to say let's really fight for a dialog, even in our own sector, for the respect and valuing of a wide range of experiences and perspectives and contributions that have drawn so many of us to do the work that we do.

We don't have to have all the answers. We don't have to be certain of what to do next. We can lean on and we can learn from each other. And this circle of support for me is what's been giving me a lot of energy lately.

Such powerful insights and Kelly, you mentioned the dialog. How can people continue the conversation with you online? Where can people find you?

They can find me on LinkedIn personally, on LinkedIn. Also Instagram getting their also if, you know, for artists and those are interested in the work of the Toronto Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Foundation, and we have a lot of information on our websites, including, you know, the programs and awards that we offer that support artists for the work they do.

Thank you so much for being with us and sharing your insights with us today. Kelly, it's such a pleasure to see you again.

Pleasure. Thank you so much, Heather.

Well, thanks to Kelly for sharing such powerful insights and her leadership of the arts sector right now, all of us as arts leaders can think about and focus on where we do have influence where we can contribute to the impact the arts can have on society and creating the world we want to live in.

I'm Heather Kelly, and this has been a High Five for arts leaders and creative entrepreneurs.