as evidenced by its website\u2019s statement<\/a>:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nia Centre is a space built with purpose and dedicated to Black artists and young creatives. Designed to serve a wide array of multi and interdisciplinary arts, the Centre provides the community with a multi-purpose performance theatre, event space, a digital media lab, exhibition space and a dedicated youth hub.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Executive Director Alicia Hall speaks to the difficulty of Black artists navigating historically white and barrier-laden institutions. Describing the new centre as \u201ca vessel for our culture,\u201d there is a clear passion and community strength at the heart of this latest endeavour.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Executive Director Alicia Hall; courtesy of the Nia Centre.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first artist in residence at Nia Centre is Apanaki Temitayo Minerve, a multimedia fibre artist with a multi-disciplinary background originally from Trinidad. Her work with Nia will centre around art quilting with a Caribbean focus as she creates a quilt collection inspired by this cultural connection. Speaking to CBC, she stated, \u201cTo have a space like this, in Little Jamaica, to be run by mostly young Black women who are at the peak of their game, and engaging community is a dream come true literally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Nia Centre for the Arts.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nia Centre has already had a busy year\u2014their figures tout eighteen programs run, three hundred and seventy artists worked with, and one hundred and sixty-two mentor\/mentee pairings. They also clearly maintain their focus on youth and student programming, with three hundred youth having been helped by their Creative Connect program and a November 9th-10th audition listed for their inaugural Youth Showcase at the new centre.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Nia Centre is a clear victory for those behind it after almost a decade of work and holding a lease for the space since 2015. After three years of $12 million renovations, it\u2019s a moment of celebration more than earned. With a bright future ahead of this space and its programs, this will certainly be a meaningful arts centre to keep an eye out for.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the ongoing struggle to establish artistic spaces in North America, every accomplished endeavour feels like a tremendous victory. With the newly established location for the Nia Centre for the Arts in Toronto\u2019s Little Jamaica, the city has a victory to celebrate for itself as well as for its Black artist community. \u00a0 Nia Centre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-call-for-artists"],"yoast_head":"\n
Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre - United Arts Agency | UAA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre - United Arts Agency | UAA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the ongoing struggle to establish artistic spaces in North America, every accomplished endeavour feels like a tremendous victory. With the newly established location for the Nia Centre for the Arts in Toronto\u2019s Little Jamaica, the city has a victory to celebrate for itself as well as for its Black artist community. \u00a0 Nia Centre […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"United Arts Agency | UAA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unitedartsagency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/\"},\"wordCount\":448,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Call for Artists\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/\",\"name\":\"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre - United Arts Agency | UAA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/\",\"name\":\"United Arts Agency | UAA\",\"description\":\"Globally representing innovative artists, emerging arts, entertainers, and brands.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"United Arts Agency\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/UAA-2-e1542834753294.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/UAA-2-e1542834753294.png\",\"width\":100,\"height\":38,\"caption\":\"United Arts Agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unitedartsagency\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre - United Arts Agency | UAA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre - United Arts Agency | UAA","og_description":"In the ongoing struggle to establish artistic spaces in North America, every accomplished endeavour feels like a tremendous victory. With the newly established location for the Nia Centre for the Arts in Toronto\u2019s Little Jamaica, the city has a victory to celebrate for itself as well as for its Black artist community. \u00a0 Nia Centre […]","og_url":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/","og_site_name":"United Arts Agency | UAA","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unitedartsagency","article_published_time":"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre","datePublished":"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/"},"wordCount":448,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Call for Artists"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/","url":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/","name":"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre - United Arts Agency | UAA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-06T05:41:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/nia-centre-for-the-arts-is-torontos-first-black-art-centre\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nia Centre for the Arts is Toronto\u2019s first Black art centre"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/","name":"United Arts Agency | UAA","description":"Globally representing innovative artists, emerging arts, entertainers, and brands.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#organization","name":"United Arts Agency","url":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/UAA-2-e1542834753294.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/UAA-2-e1542834753294.png","width":100,"height":38,"caption":"United Arts Agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unitedartsagency"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uaaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}