Natasha Mytnowych to become the Inaugural Managing Director of ArtscapeYoungplace

Help us congratulate ISPA member Natasha Mytnowych on her recent appointment as the inaugural Managing Director of ArtscapeYoungplace.  Natasha was an ISPA Fellow in 2011, and we've enjoyed watching her success over the years!  Read the full press release distributed by Artscape below.

Artscape announced today the appointment of Natasha Mytnowych as the inaugural Managing Director of ArtscapeYoungplace, effective May 2013. Natasha will be responsible for the overall management and implementation of the vision of this vibrant new cultural centre. Once the facility opens in Fall 2013, it will become the largest cultural institution in West Queen West and Artscape’s fourth building in the neighbourhood.

"Among a field of very impressive candidates, Natasha dazzled our hiring committee with her infectious enthusiasm for Artscape’s work, great ideas about the Youngplace project and demonstrated ability to make the seemingly impossible happen.” said Artscape President and CEO Tim Jones. "We are proud that Artscape continues to be a place where the next generation of Canadian cultural superstars are empowered to find new ways for art and artists to build the city”

Artscape is currently in the midst of a $15.7-million redevelopment of the historic Shaw Street School (180 Shaw Street) into ArtscapeYoungplace, adding 75,000 square feet of production, rehearsal and exhibition space for artists and organizations right in the heart of Toronto’s contemporary art scene.The building will serve as an anchor for arts and the community in West Queen West, one of the country’s most creative neighbourhoods.

Natasha comes to Artscape from Canadian Stage, where she has worked for over seven years, most recently as Associate Artistic Producer. Natasha has sat on numerous advisories, grants and awards juries, and has been on the Board of Directors for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, The Artists Mentoring Youth (AMY) Project, the Laidlaw Foundation’s Advisory, and has been a volunteer with Camp Oochigeas: A Camp for Children with Cancer. She was an inaugural member of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance’s DiverseCity Fellows Program and is a member of CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders Network.

In addition to her work as an arts administrator, Natasha is an award-winning producer and theatre director. She has received the Ontario Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts for an Emerging Artist, and the Toronto Arts Council Foundation's inaugural Mayor's Arts Award for an Emerging Artist, both in recognition of her outstanding accomplishments and potential as an artistic leader and stage director. She has initiated numerous critically-acclaimed theatre and multi-disciplinary projects, and has led many programs in support of the development of artists and youth. Natasha has also been the Artistic Director for Theatre Crisis and Theatre Revolve, and the Artistic Producer for the Paprika Festival.

"I am so honoured to apply my passion and determination to this awe-inspiring project, collaborating with so many incredible tenants, supporters and community members to realize the extraordinary vision we all have for this vibrant arts centre,” said Natasha.

Her other credits include: Associate Producer for the AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival; Producer of the 26th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards; Artistic Associate for Nightwood Theatre; Associate Festival Director for Nightwood’s Groundswell Festival; Assistant Festival Director for the inaugural and second Hysteria: A Festival of Women for Nightwood Theatre/Buddies in Bad Times Theatre; Under-21 Associate Director for the Rhubarb! Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Recent directing projects include: Little One at the Tarragon Theatre, Belfry Theatre, Yukon Arts Centre and the Banff Centre, The Russian Play at Factory Theatre, Harbourfront Centre and the Magnetic North Theatre Festival; Marine Life, In Full Light and I Think of You, Erendira in the Toronto SummerWorks Festival, and Post-Democracy at the Rhubarb! Festival and the Banff Playwrights Colony. She has assistant directed for productions at the Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity, Harbourfront’s World Stage, Soulpepper Theatre, Factory Theatre, Nightwood Theatre and Theatre Direct Canada.