Established through a donation of $1 million from The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation to the Canada Council for the Arts, the awards recognize outstanding established and mid-career arts managers in Canadian professional arts organizations. Arts managers from any artistic discipline supported by the Canada Council may apply for the awards, which are intended for professional development, mentoring and related purposes.

There are two distinct awards:

• The Professional Development and Renewal award allows an outstanding established or mid-career arts manager to take part in a short-term, recognized program, seminar or workshop for professional renewal and revitalization.
• The Mentorship award allows an exceptional mid-career arts manager who is seeking to acquire different knowledge, experience and skills to be mentored by an outstanding established or mid-career arts manager.

The John Hobday Awards in Arts Management are intended for professional development of individual arts managers and not for direct assistance to arts organizations.

Two awards of $10,000 each may be given annually.

Note that meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee that you will receive an award.

General eligibility criteria for both awards

Organizations are not eligible to apply for these awards. To be eligible, you must:

• be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. You do not need to be living in Canada when you apply.
• have a minimum of 10 years’ experience (not necessarily continuous years) as a professional arts manager
• have significant expertise in arts management in one or more of the seven disciplines funded by the Canada Council (dance, music, theatre, media arts, visual arts, writing and publishing, and/or inter-arts)

Specific eligibility criteria for the Mentorship award

For the Mentorship award, you and your mentor must be employed by different Canadian, professional arts organizations. In addition, the mentor must:

• be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada
• have significant expertise in arts management in one or more of the seven disciplines funded by the Canada Council (dance, music, theatre, media arts, visual arts, writing and publishing, and/or inter-arts)
  • be working full time in a Canadian, professional arts organization
  • be an established or mid-career arts manager
  • have submitted all overdue final reports to the Canada Council.

Sarah Brown
Program Officer
Prizes Section

1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 6004

TTY: 1-866-565-5559