Koffler Centre of the Arts
Koffler Arts is a broad-based cultural institution established in 1977 by Murray and Marvelle Koffler and based at Artscape Youngplace in the West Queen West area of downtown Toronto, Ontario.
History
Koffler Arts was established in 1977 as part of the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre in the North York area of Toronto on Bathurst Street. On July 1, 2009, the Koffler was incorporated as an independent not-for-profit charitable organization.The Koffler was home to the Jewish Book Fair, the Toronto Jewish Literary Festival and the Koffler Chamber Orchestra.
In 2008, Koffler Arts was rebranded and restructured, with a multidisciplinary program department that ran complementary to the Koffler Gallery. Unlike the Gallery, with its mandate to exhibit, interpret, and document works in the visual arts, focusing on contemporary Canadian art and programming of interest to the Jewish community, the multidisciplinary programs focused more specifically on Jewish arts and culture from Canada and internationally.
The Koffler Gallery moved its programming off-site in 2009 when the original Koffler Gallery was demolished along with the BJCC. Koffler multidisciplinary programs were also programmed off-site around the GTA, with events located downtown, mid-town and the north GTA.
In 2013, after five years programming off-site, Koffler Arts opened its administrative offices and a new Koffler Gallery at Artscape Youngplace in downtown Toronto. The Artscape Youngplace facilities showcase Koffler Gallery exhibitions, public programs, expanded school and education programs, as well as programs in partnership with Artscape Youngplace tenants and other neighbourhood organizations. Koffler multidisciplinary programs now take place at Artscape Youngplace, as well as various locations across the GTA. Starting in summer 2014, the Koffler no longer offers studio classes in visual art and ceramics at the Prosserman JCC on Sherman Campus. Classes at that location are now offered under the management of the Prosserman JCC.
Leadership and Funding
From 2001 to 2014, Tiana Koffler Boyman was the Board Chair. From 2006 to 2013, Lori Starr, former Senior Vice President and Museum Director, Skirball Cultural Center and former Director of Public Affairs and Communications, the J. Paul Getty Museum and J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, was the Executive Director. In February 2013, Starr left the Koffler for the position of Executive Director of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. From 2014 to 2019, Cathy Jonasson was the Koffler Arts’ Executive Director. Karen Tisch was Executive Director from 2019 to 2021.Koffler Arts is supported and funded by the Koffler Family Foundation as well as its patrons, members, donors and corporate sponsors. The Centre receives annual support from the Ontario Arts Council through the Community and Multidisciplinary Arts Organizations Program, and received funding in 2013 for renovations to its new space at Artscape Youngplace through the Ontario Trillium Foundation. CIBC Wood Gundy is the Koffler’s Cultural Season Sponsor. The Centre receives financial support from the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, and is included on the list of the UJA Federation’s Partner Agencies, Programs & Departments.
The Koffler Gallery is a public gallery supported by the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Fundraising to support the Koffler’s diverse programs is achieved through several charitable events, philanthropic donations to its exhibitions and programs, and galas. Two fundraisers in 2009, ARTFUL DISH and The Wrecking Ball, were catalysts to support expansion of programs and reach new audience members and patrons. In 2010, the ballet gala ‘’Stars of the 21st Century’' was the Koffler’s major fundraiser.
In 2012, the Koffler partnered with Luminato, Toronto’s Festival of Arts and Creativity, to present the opening night of Batsheva Dance Company‘s North American premiere performance of ‘’Sadeh21’'. Funds raised from the evening supported Koffler Arts and its programs. The evening included a pre-performance dinner at a private residence for Koffler patrons, the contemporary dance performance of ‘’Sadeh21’' at the MacMillan Theatre, University of Toronto, and a post-event celebration at the Gardiner Museum. The evening also honoured Senator Linda Frum and Howard Sokolowski for their philanthropic support of the arts. In 2013, the Koffler’s major fundraiser was Koffler Rocks! - a benefit evening featuring music performances by Randy Bachman, The Sadies, and Melanie Fiona. The event took place at Artscape Wychwood Barns on May 2, 2013. On May 15, 2014, the Koffler revived its ARTFUL DISH fundraiser, featuring intimate dinners in private homes with cultural luminaries and well-known chefs. Luminaries included Ian Brown, Johanna Schneller, Adad Hannah, Barbara Astman, Deepa Mehta, Anne Michaels, Bernice Eisenstein, Colin Mochrie, Debra McGrath, Louise Pitre, Veronica Tennant. In 2015, the Koffler’s major fundraiser was Art Privé: 3 Nights in June, three intimate evenings in exclusive private settings featuring modern and contemporary art collections.
Activities and Facilities
The Koffler presents exhibitions of contemporary Canadian and international art with the Koffler Gallery, and is home to the Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature. It presents year-round literary events, concerts, education programs, film screenings, theatre programs, and discussions on contemporary art and culture. Rooted in the Jewish community of Toronto, the Koffler specializes in an interdisciplinary mix of programs to bring artists and the community together. In 2009, Koffler Arts was incorporated for charitable status in Canada.Koffler Arts at Artscape Youngplace
In November 2011, Koffler Arts announced that it was joining the Artscape Youngplace project in Toronto’s downtown art and design district. The organization signed a five-year lease with Artscape to occupy a prominent space on the main floor of the new arts and cultural centre located at 180 Shaw Street, just north of Queen Street West, in the historic Shaw Street Public School.Artscape Youngplace is a 75,000 sq. ft. centre for creative collaboration in a variety of disciplines, as well as arts, community and social mission organizations. Other owners and tenants include Luminato Festival, Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Inter-Galactic Arts Co-op, College-Montrose Children’s Place, Paperhouse Studio, Red Pepper Spectacle Arts, SKETCH, Small World Music Society, Typology Projects, The Developing Tank, and artists Barbara Astman, Eve Egoyan, Heather Nichol, Shabnam K. Ghazi, and Vid Ingelevics.
Starting in fall 2013, Koffler Gallery exhibitions, related education and public programs, as well as Koffler Arts’ multidisciplinary programs will be based at Artscape Youngplace.
Artscape Youngplace opened in November 2013. The Koffler Arts administrative offices and the Koffler Gallery are located in a 4,600 sq. ft. space on the main floor of the building.
Programs
2018-2019
The 2018-19 season featured Books & Ideas, a series of author talks and on-stage interviews, with Indigenous authors Joshua Whitehead and Arielle Twist; Indian writer and journalist Amitava Kumar and Shani Mootoo; and The New York Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris and CBC’s Amanda Parris. The 2018 Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature were announced and presented at a ceremony at the Windsor Arms Hotel.The Koffler Gallery season featured the group exhibition ‘’Through lines’' guest curated by Noah Bronstein and featuring artists Lise Beaudry, Scott Benesiinaabandan, Michèle Pearson Clarke, Leila Fatemi, Maria Hupfield, Raafia Jessa, and Nadia Myre. ‘’Never Never Land’' was the first solo exhibition in Canada for Tehran-born Iranian-Canadian artist Ghazaleh Avarzamani. Israeli-artist Nevet Yitzhak’s ‘’WarCraft’' was a Primary Exhibition of the 2019 CONTACT Photography Festival presented in partnership with Images Festival. ‘’Peter’s Proscenium’' was London-based painter Christian Hidaka and Paris-based sculptor Raphaël Zarka’s first exhibition in Canada.
2017-2018
The 2017-18 season included literary events and conversations featuring authors Nicole Krauss, Nathan Englander, Eric Beck Rubin, Danila Botha, Gwen Benaway, Katherena Vermette, 2017 Man Booker International Prize winning author David Grossman in conversation with Michael Enright, and American author and public speaker Fran Lebowitz. The second annual Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature were announced and presented at a ceremony at the Park Hyatt Toronto.The 2017-18 Koffler Gallery season featured ‘’Staring Back at the Sun: Video Art from Israel, 1970-2012’', an international, touring exhibition featuring 38 artists and curated by Ilana Tenenbaum, Sergio Edelsztein, Yael Bartana and Avi Feldman. ‘’Nicole Collins: Furthest Boundless’' was a major, new mixed media installation by Toronto artist Nicole Collins. ‘’Esther Shalev-Gerz’' was Paris-based artist Esther Shalev-Gerz’ first solo exhibition in Toronto, a Primary Exhibition of the 2018 CONTACT Photography Festival. ‘’José Luis Torres: Question d’adaptation’' is a site-specific, multi-roomed, maze-like sculptural installation created by Argentinian-born, Québec-based artist José Luis Torres.
2016-2017
The inaugural Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature were announced and presented at a ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Toronto in September 2016. In October 2016, Koffler Arts – together with Why Not Theatre and Complicite Creative Learning – co-presented the Toronto premiere of the theatre/performance project ‘’Like Mother, Like Daughter’', featuring pairs of immigrant and newcomer mothers and daughters on stage in unscripted conversations. In May 2017, the Koffler presented the Toronto premiere of Joshua Harmon’s internationally produced play, ‘’Bad Jews‘’. Other programs included author Olive Senior in conversation with Toronto playwright Ravi Jain at the International Festival of Authors; ‘’YidLife does Kensington’', a web series by Yidlife Crisis creators Eli Battalion and Jamie Elman, focusing on the Jewish history Toronto’s eclectic Kensington Market neighbourhood; Israeli author Etgar Keret at the Toronto Public Library; and Koffler Salon, a series of cross-disciplinary conversations that included evenings on the 2017 Women's March on Washington, identity and dislocation, and artists as disruptors.The Koffler Gallery season included the large group exhibition ‘’Yonder’' featuring twenty Canadian artists from diverse cultural backgrounds whose works examine the immigrant condition. ‘’No Work, Nor Device, Nor Knowledge, Nor Wisdom’' was Montreal painter Leopold Plotek’s first survey exhibition. ‘’His and Other Stories’' was a survey of Montreal-based artist/performer 2Fik’s work, and was a Primary Exhibition of the 2017 CONTACT Photography Festival. Mary Anne Barkhouse: ‘’Le rêve aux loups’' is the first Toronto solo exhibition for the Vancouver-born artist and sculptor.