First Impressions

Last September, Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Arts Council announced their first partnership, a TTC poster project entitled “First Impressions”, generously supported by RBC Royal Bank. First Impressions is a series of 18 posters featuring historical and contemporary artists, and their impressions of Toronto. The series was launched on TTC subway cars, streetcars and buses in recognition of the City's 175th birthday, the Toronto Art Council's 35th anniversary, and the importance of arts and heritage in Toronto.

Now featured on the TTC are two contemporary artists: video artist and cultural critic Richard Fung, and composer and interdisciplinary artist Juliet Palmer, and two historic figures: anarchist, activist and writer Emma Goldman, and landscape artist Lucius O’Brien. These follow an inaugural series of artists launched last fall: author Pierre Berton, dancer and choreographer Lata Pada, theatre artist and artistic director Soheil Parsa, and artist and diarist Elizabeth Simcoe.

Profiles of the artists and additional photos are posted on both www.heritagetoronto.org and www.torontoartsfoundation.org/Our-Programs/First-Impressions

First Impressions celebrates our diverse heritage and Toronto’s arts community, past and present. The project highlights how different waves of immigration have built our city, and reveals the artists’ stories in an engaging and public way. Through its exposure on the TTC over the next year, First Impressions will reach out to a broad cross-section of contemporary Torontonians to help them realize the importance of their own stories to the historical narrative of our city.

First Impressions has been generously supported by RBC and The George Partnership.

About Heritage Toronto - Heritage Toronto works with the citizens of Toronto to advocate for, preserve, and promote a greater appreciation for our city's rich heritage. Through partnerships with local community groups and volunteers, Heritage Toronto works to heighten awareness of our shared history by providing city-wide programs and services. Programs include free neighbourhood walking tours, the annual Heritage Toronto Awards and William Kilbourn Memorial Lecture, a heritage plaques and markers program and participation in Doors Open Toronto. www.heritagetoronto.org

About the Toronto Arts Council & Foundation - Toronto is home to Canada’s largest, most diverse, community of artists. Toronto Arts Council supports the development, accessibility and excellence of the arts by offering grants programs to the city's arts organizations and professional artists. These programs are adjudicated by arts professionals and are funded, at arms length, by the City of Toronto. TAC invests in a broad range of activities from individual creation and small start-up projects to some of Canada's largest and most renowned arts institutions. Now in its 35th year, TAC annually supports over 450 arts organizations and another 200 individual artists.

Toronto Arts Foundation advocates for the arts, raising funds through donations, sponsorships, and grants to create innovative programs that support all artists: from world-renowned painters to young singers at the Regent Park School of Music, and from contemporary galleries and performing arts companies to the arts festivals that enrich our city and our lives. First Impressions is a Toronto Arts Foundation program.