Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

Good afternoon. It's really wonderful to be here. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you.

My name is Patrizia Libralato. I'm the proud founder and executive director of the Toronto Biennial of Art, which launched in 2019. Our biennial is a 10-week international event held every two years. We commission Canadian and international artists to create new works for a city-wide exhibition in dialogue with Toronto's diverse local contexts and communities.

Our third edition, titled “Precarious Joys”, launched on September 21 and runs until December 1. You and all parliamentarians are most welcome to join us this year.

Our biennial is unique in Canada. All of our art exhibitions, public programs, performances and learning experiences are completely free of charge for the 10 weeks that the biennial is on. Free programming is essential in making contemporary art accessible to everyone. Access to art enriches individuals, creates lasting learning opportunities and contributes to vibrant and healthy communities. Our artists reflect our city and country. In our current biennial, 90% of artists identify as Black, indigenous or people of colour, and 78% of our artists identify as women, trans or non-binary. These stories enable us to connect across cultures and differences, sparking dialogue, community connection and social cohesion.

Our festival is also a major economic driver. According to the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario's culture sector provided more jobs in 2022 than the real estate, auto manufacturing, forestry and mining industries combined. Each edition of our biennial drives over $30 million of direct economic impact and creates over 500 jobs. On average, for each dollar that is invested in the arts in Ontario, we see a return of $25 in economic impact. That's an impressive return on investment in any industry, let alone the arts, which also create innumerable positive social impacts. The arts are also a major driver of tourism. Stats show that cultural tourists spend three times more than other tourists and tend to stay longer in cities they visit.

Our biennial partners with organizations across our city and country. We take pride in serving as a collaborative sector-builder, demonstrated by collaborations with over 200 partners since our launch. This edition of our biennial also proudly takes place at 11 venues across the city of Toronto. Partners for this edition include a co-commission with the National Gallery of Canada and exhibitions with the Art Gallery of Ontario, The Power Plant, The Image Centre and many more.

Finally, the biennial is learning-focused and made possible thanks to strong partnerships with school boards across the greater Toronto area. Through our free programs, we aim to serve over 3,500 students from schools across the region each edition, prioritizing underserved students. Our tools for learning are also available online, reaching across the nation to more rural communities.

We are proud to be Canada's biennial and to share the cultural story of our city and country with the world. Our biennial has also launched and accelerated the careers of many contemporary Canadian artists, with their works acquired by national and international institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Tate Modern in the U.K. The biennial enables Canadian artists to take their rightful place on the global stage and reach their full potential.

The Government of Canada has been a partner to us throughout our development. We have been extremely grateful to receive one-off tourism grants from FedDev Ontario and project support from the Canada Council for the Arts. These grants are not just investments in our biennial, but investments in our people, our economic impact and our Canadian culture.

That said, our current funding system has us twisting ourselves to fit a round peg in a square hole. While there are a handful of project-based, one-off grants, there is no sustainable funding available to support our organization. Programs within Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts exist to support festivals and the visual arts, but because of our length, frequency and cost to attendees—which I repeat is zero cost—we are deemed ineligible. Members, this simply does not make sense. Programs at FedDev Ontario are extraordinarily helpful but represent limited, irregular investments rather than consistent, reliable funding to ensure the future of our organization and to enable Canadian artists to thrive internationally.

With this in mind, I've come to you today to ask this committee to make two recommendations for budget 2025.

The first is that the Government of Canada invest in permanent and stable funding for arts festivals, with particular emphasis on those like ours that provide free and accessible programming.

Second, as Canada's biennial, we respectfully request that the Government of Canada invest $1.5 million over two years in the Toronto Biennial of Art for the 2026 edition. With this contribution, the biennial would have predictable and stable funding to be able to deliver a world-class event that elevates Canadian artists on the global stage and that provides free access to contemporary art for all Canadians. This investment not only would be a meaningful contribution to our biennial, but also would send a strong message to private supporters of the national importance of our work.

I thank you all for listening to our presentation and for your time today, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you.