Massey Commission History Lesson

Toronto-based stage director Ravi Jain is a multi-award-winning artist known for making politically bold and accessible theatrical experiences in both small indie productions and large theatres. As the founding artistic director of Why Not Theatre, Ravi has established himself as an artistic leader for his inventive productions, international producing/collaborations and innovative producing models which are aimed to better support emerging artists to make money from their art.

Tara Mazurk is a co-founder and Operations Group member of Mass Culture. She works at Global Public Affairs as a Senior Consultant and registered federal lobbyist. In this role, she helps facilitate engagement between arts organizations and government.

Drawing on his years of music and arts experience – Sparling has led Creative Manitoba for the past decade – providing mentorship and professional development for Manitoba’s creative sector. Sparling has also been engaged in the research and development of civic and provincial cultural policy recommendations including a Creative Cluster Strategy for Winnipeg`s Exchange District.

Kate Taylor is a Toronto cultural journalist, critic and novelist. A long-time staffer at the Globe and Mail, she currently serves as the newspaper’s visual art critic when not writing about film and cultural policy. She is the author of three novels including the Commonwealth-Prize winning Mme Proust and the Kosher Kitchen and the recently published Serial Monogamy.

Zainub Verjee is an artist, curator, scholar-critic, writer, senior arts administrator and public intellectual. As an accomplished and influential leader in the art and culture sector, over four decades, she has shaped culture policy at all levels of governments and significantly contributed to building of cultural institutions and organizations in Canada and internationally. Often invited to speak nationally and internationally, on cultural policy, contemporary art and cultural diplomacy, she has been a prolific writer on issues pertaining to Art and Culture. Her artwork has been shown internationally, including at the New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art and the Venice Biennale.