Partners in Art is a Canadian charitable non-profit that funds and champions contemporary visual art projects. Working with museums, galleries and individual artists, it supports commissions, exhibitions and special initiatives such as the Artist-Direct grants and major Special Project funding across Toronto and Canada. View Partners in Art (PIA)'s website for more information.
Partners in Art (PIA) is a Canadian charitable non-profit dedicated to funding and championing contemporary visual art. Based in the Greater Toronto Area and active across Canada, PIA mobilizes philanthropy, volunteerism and education to provide financial support to artists, museums, galleries and other art organizations. Since its inception, PIA notes that it has partnered on more than a hundred projects and distributed over $6.1 million to the arts.
PIA supports a wide range of visual arts initiatives, from major institutional exhibitions to artist-led projects and public art. Its website showcases collaborations with organizations such as MOCA Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada, the Textile Museum of Canada, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Toronto Biennial of Art and many others. Project pages consistently describe PIA as “proud to support” specific exhibitions and commissions, underlining its role as a financial backer rather than a presenting institution.
Partners in Art structures its giving through several funding streams. Organization-led projects are developed with institutional partners and selected by PIA’s Project Development Committee; these grants have supported large-scale shows, commissions and Canada’s participation in the Venice Biennale. In 2024 alone, this committee awarded $247,500 in grants to organization-led projects.
A notable initiative is the Special Project stream, a major grant of $100,000–$150,000 aimed at a single transformational or foundational visual arts initiative in the Greater Toronto Area. The 2025 Special Project supports BAND (Black Artists’ Networks In Dialogue) in expanding and reimagining its gallery and cultural centre, illustrating PIA’s willingness to fund capital and infrastructure projects with long-term community impact.
In 2024, PIA launched Artist-Direct, a grant program designed to address the lack of direct funding for individual artists. With an initial budget of $30,000, the Artist-Direct Committee selected six grantees from 69 applications, each receiving $5,000 to support an upcoming exhibition and their broader practice. The program is adjudicated on criteria such as artistic merit, impact, and experimentation/innovation, and funds can be used for supplies, studio rental, production and a portion of the artist’s labour. PIA plans to repeat this program in subsequent years.
PIA’s funding portfolio spans emerging and mid-career artists, established practitioners, and major cultural institutions. Through initiatives like Artist-Direct, it prioritizes artists from equity-seeking groups and responds to structural barriers such as high living costs, studio shortages and reduced exhibition opportunities in Toronto. Through organization-led projects and Special Project grants, it helps institutions commission new work, mount ambitious exhibitions, and expand spaces that serve diverse communities.
The organization’s impact is visible in high-profile projects, including support for Canadian artists at the Venice Biennale and substantial backing for exhibitions at MOCA and the National Gallery of Canada. Testimonials from curators and institutional leaders on the homepage highlight how PIA funding enables the realization of complex commissions, immersive installations and museum-quality renovations that might not otherwise be possible.
Funding decisions at PIA are overseen by volunteer committees, such as the Project Development Committee and the Artist-Direct Committee. The site describes structured adjudication processes, including multi-session jury meetings and clearly articulated assessment criteria. Public news releases announce successful applicants and summarize budgets and grant sizes, providing prospective partners and artists with insight into how PIA operates as a funding body.
Overall, Partners in Art plays a significant role in Canada’s contemporary art ecosystem by channeling private philanthropy into strategic grants for artists and arts organizations, emphasizing innovation, inclusivity and long-term cultural impact.