Who We Are

(un)common work to elevate arts, business, and communities

Our Mission

Our mission is to facilitate meaningful dialogue and purposeful partnerships between the arts and business communities, generating positive impact and cultivating a vibrant, creative, and resilient province like no other.

Our work strives to:

  • Foster Partnerships and Collaborations that connect and inspire artists, businesses, and creatives and build understanding, mutual respect, and strengthen our collective voices

  • Elevate Awareness of the vital role of art and creativity to enrich and improve our communities, lives, and our future as a province.

  • Build Capacity in the Arts community and strengthen its role as the centerpiece of our cultural vitality.

Programs and Services

We do this through a full slate of programs, services, and direct facilitation of collaborations. Some of our most recent work includes:

  • Programs that train and match volunteers and arts boards, and help arts organizations improve their business practices and overcome hurdles.

  • Events focused on how to find, channel, and capitalize on creativity; conversations between arts and business, featuring, for example, Rick Mercer and Taylor Young. Other events focus on novel partnerships between arts and business, like Horizon Maritime’s Indigenous Artist Residency, and MINI St. John’s Art Car. 

  • Partnerships with organizations like the Genesis Centre, Horizon Maritime, Memorial University, and the St. John’s International Airport who work with artists to commission new works, bring people together, and inspire passersby and customers.

  • Materials like the Local Holiday Gift Guide, which featured 89 NL artists and helped over 1700 customers shop local and handmade last year. 

  • …and much, much more!

Members

Our work is supported by our members; businesses and organizations across the province who believe in the power of creativity, that a vibrant creative community contributes to a resilient economy, and who embrace arts and culture as part of what makes Newfoundland and Labrador attractive and unique.

Staff

  • Amy founded her first arts non-profit at the age of 17. “Young at Art Music Society” was established to support a summer arts camp that ran for seven years. Since then, she has worked with 12 music and education organizations in Ontario, Montreal and St. John’s as Artistic Director, Executive Director and Board Member.

    A choral conductor and educator by training, Amy enjoys motivating teams of people to work together to make things greater than themselves, be they musical, social or cultural. She is the Artistic Director of Projēkt Chamber Voices, the Director of the Bruneau Centre for Excellence in Choral Music at Memorial University, and teaches singing rehabilitation classes with Growing the Voices Festival 500.

  • Anhelina holds a dual master's degree, including an MBA in Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship from Memorial University and a master's in Finance from Academy of Labor, Social Relations, and Tourism in Ukraine. This unique blend of qualifications equips her to contribute to the community by bridging the gap between the arts and business sectors. Her skills in strategic thinking and sustainable practices empower artists and foster community development.

    Anhelina is driven by a deep-seated belief in the transformative power of the arts and strives to bridge the gap between artistic visionaries and the business world. This dynamic perspective shapes her mission to foster collaborative environments where innovation and artistic passion flourish.

  • Hazel received a BFA in printmaking from OCAD University (2008) and a diploma in graphic design from the College of the North Atlantic (2017).

    As an artist and graphic designer, Hazel has first-hand experience in the arts, non-profit, and business sectors. Her unique skillset offers creative insight into the specific values and goals of contemporary arts organizations, freelancers, and independent businesses.

    Hazel considers business and the arts to be two interconnected fields that need each other to thrive. She hopes to assist Business & Arts NL to affect social change by developing programming that is an exceptional resource for education, innovation, and connectivity.

  • Linda has always been a storyteller at heart, spinning short and tall tales since she was a child. Eventually, she carried her love of the form to Memorial University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Folklore, followed by a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Linda loves local arts, taking in as many plays, concerts and festivals as she can, and is always on the lookout for the next great story. She feels fortunate to connect with so many incredibly talented and innovative artists through the Spotlight on Partnerships blog, as well as many folks from the local business community who believe in and support Business & Arts NL’s mission.

  • Lynn Panting is a Newfoundland-based artist, arts educator and arts advocate. She brings two decades of arts administration experience to Business & Arts NL. Her specializations include leadership, production, special events, professional development, and community building.

    Lynn is deeply committed to the growth of creativity and self-confidence through movement and holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Memorial University as well as a Master of Humanities concentrating in performance, dance and the body. Lynn is the owner and artistic director of Lynn Panting Dance, the Artistic Director, Producer of Untellable Movement Theatre, and a founding member of Ladies Who Lunch Productions.

    lynnpantingdance.com

Our Board of Directors

  • Business & Arts NL Co-chair

    After working in the local arts community for many years, I found Business and Arts NL a logical and necessary next step in the evolution of community collaboration. Everything good we do in this province is shot through with the creative spirit of arts practice and design intelligence, and it is time to recognize just how much arts and business activities depend on each other to make life here more rich and interesting. BANL is the home of that principle.

  • Business & Arts NL Co-chair
    Killick Capital Inc.

    I have always felt that creativity and innovation were two sides of the same coin, and here in Newfoundland and Labrador, we're lucky to have both in abundance. I have been the Co-Chair of Business and Arts since 2011, and it has been a really exciting journey to see the private and creative sectors learning from, and about, each other, and coming together more and more frequently in such meaningful ways.

  • Take the Shot Productions

    As a film and TV producer/writer, my work life is deeply immersed in the marriage between business and arts. Creative problems solving has a place in every enterprise, and so many firms can benefit from the design process to address the business needs. I am grateful to sit on the board of directors of Business & Arts, as it is the perfect environment to help celebrate the natural bond between these two important disciplines.

  • Garrick Theatre

  • Equinor

    I lead communications and public affairs for Equinor Canada, and see investing in the arts as an investment in our broader culture and society. Supporting accessibility of arts to the community, and particularly, youth, enables new ways of thinking and problem solving that benefits our entire province. I am pleased to be part of Business and Arts NL and the work we do to support creativity, collaboration and innovation across unique sectors in Newfoundland and Labrador.

  • Grant Thornton

    David A. Hood, FCPA, CPA, ICD.D, TEP is a retired partner of Grant Thornton LLP. His post-retirement practice mainly involves trust and estate planning, succession planning, strategic planning, and corporate governance.

    David is currently on the boards of Artistic Fraud of NL, Bonavista Biennale Inc, Business & Arts NL, Engaging Community & Arts NL, and Genoa Design International.

    In 2019 he was awarded the Patron of the Arts Award by Arts NL for his extensive work in assisting artists and arts organizations with governance, financial, and general business matters. He learns just as much from them.

  • Tyndrum Media & Entertainment Inc.

    I love being on the BANL Board. As an artist on this board, I am always learning from my fellow board members. They are all very versatile, creative, smart and genuinely invested in making our community and our province a more remarkable place to live. I love that this organization is inclusive, diverse and constantly brainstorming to create opportunities to bring our business and arts communities together. Though we have many program initiatives, a couple of my favourites are our artist painted Come Play with Me public pianos, and our Business Volunteers for the Arts Program. I also love our Holiday Gift Guide; it has inspired several great Christmas gifts for my family and friends.

  • Camber Arts | Metcalf Foundation

    As co-director of Camber Arts in Western Newfoundland, and Fellow on Arts and Society with the Metcalf Foundation in Toronto, finding innovative approaches to strengthening cultural non-profits is a central priority. I am proud to be on the board of Business and Arts NL, and see huge importance in the work this organization is doing, sharing the strategies and cultures of the arts and the private sector in ways that enrich both.

  • McInnes Cooper

    Long a supporter of the arts in its broadest sense, I joined with John Fisher to look a means to encourage linkages between business and the arts (initially precipitated by a need to find funding for Riddle Fence). A group was formed, thus began Business and the Arts. Pivotal to my interest was establishing forum where collaboration between the arts community and the business community could create an awareness as to how each could enhance and support each other in creative ways, beyond the traditional fudging asks and handouts. Business and Arts has been a success well beyond initial expectations.

  • Genoa Design International Ltd.

  • Mark Ploughman Consulting

    Throughout my life, I have been engaged with innovation either in the technology sector or in shaping government policy. I have learned that a dynamic business community cannot exist in the absence of a vibrant arts scene. Business and Arts NL represents the best of what Newfoundland and Labrador has on offer for a modern, creative economy. It builds on our collective talents to help shape an exciting future for this amazing place. I am grateful to have a front row seat.

  • Strategic Directions Inc.

  • Tupman Bloom

    I am proud to be involved with Business & Arts and the innovative work of the organization, which provides a forum for the two sectors to dialogue and support each other. While my professional career is in law, I have a background in the arts and believe that a thriving arts community is the heartbeat of the province and is integral to the province’s continued growth.

  • Steele Communications

  • Memorial University of Newfoundland

    I have been a proud member of the Board of Business and Arts NL since 2016. Its drive to further collisions, collaborations, synergies, and mutual creative outputs and benefits of the arts and business communities is inspiring and speaks to the core of much of my own work as an academic, academic leader, and organizational developer. Through creativity and good business we are contributing to an ever more thriving Newfoundland & Labrador.