MANO News | January 2025
We're diving into the new year with three upcoming events, including a major launch next week.

Artists on Basic Income launch
MANO is excited to host the public launch of a much anticipated report, Artists on Basic Income: Beyond Precarious Livelihoods.
With support from the Independent Media Arts Alliance (IMAA), the launch event will take place on Zoom on Thursday, January 23 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET. Participants can register for free at this Zoom link:
About the report
Artists on Basic Income: Beyond Precarious Livelihoods is based on an artist-led commission organized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission heard testimonies from 20 artists across Canada during a two-day online event, held in 2021, whose lived experiences are summarized in the report.
Centring artists’ voices, Artists on Basic Income addresses frustrations with the gap between the cultural sector’s social and economic significance and the strained living and working conditions of artists. It explores calls to recognize artists as workers, their experiences with income insecurity and lack of social protections, the connection between precarity and mental health, and the growing housing and studio space crises.
At its core, the report focuses on how artist-testifiers understand basic income and envision its potential to transform their livelihoods, practices, sectors, and society as a whole. It also outlines practical considerations for implementing a basic income program, drawing lessons from testifiers’ experience of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). The report concludes with key policy recommendations that will be of vital interest to policymakers, arts service organizations, and artists themselves.
Members' Check-in × TAC
MANO will host its first Members' Check-in with the Toronto Arts Council on Wednesday, January 29 at 12:00 p.m. We'll be joined by Peter Kingstone, the TAC’s Program Manager for Visual & Media Arts.
This is a hybrid meeting that members can attend either in-person at 401 Richmond Street West, Studio 303, or online via Zoom.
Be sure to bring your questions about Culture Connects, the City of Toronto's new ten-year action plan for culture, which can be downloaded here.

Members' Check-in × OAC
Save the date for our next Members' Check-in with the Ontario Arts Council, which will take place on Wednesday, February 5 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Barbara Gilbert, Media Arts Officer and Lisa Wohrle, Associate Visual Arts and Craft Officer will be on hand to help members plan their operating grant submissions.
This Check-in is online only, at the Zoom link below.
Upcoming grant deadlines
OTF Youth Innovations Grant: Application period opens Jan. 6, 2025
OTF Capital Grant: Application period opens Feb. 5, 2025
OAC Ontario Arts Presenters Projects: Feb. 15, 2025