Over 33 years, TAIS has evolved into an artist-run media arts production centre with a growing membership that supports animation production, presentation, and skills development.
Milestones: Incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1990, TAIS opened our first studio space in 2002. We became a registered charity in 2012, and then in 2013 we moved to our current home, a 1560 sq.foot space located on Dufferin Street north of Dupont, in downtown Toronto’s north/west-end. This facility allows us to better facilitate artists’ research and creation, and deliver public outreach programs.
As a production centre, TAIS supports creation by our members and guest artists. We commission new animation through special projects and residency programs, present curated programs of animation art by artists from Toronto, across Canada, and around the world, and each year we invite guest artists to screen their work, give lectures, and teach workshops. TAIS prioritizes the involvement of artists from diverse practices, backgrounds, and communities. As part of our commitment to reaching new audiences for animation, we have presented over a dozen projects of community engagement by artists in the last 15 years. Today and into the future, TAIS seeks to present and support work by artists who reflect upon and investigate artistic (social, political, and creative) concerns and prioritize experimental production techniques inherent to contemporary forms of animated art making.
