Big Ideas / Civic Engagement

Museum, art gallery program for youth: Michael Anthony’s Big Idea

Michael Anthony has a great idea about civic engagement and responsiveness: Create a program to encourage youth and young adults to go to a museum, art gallery, theatre, photography exhibition or culture centre, and make them more affordable

Name: Michael Anthony

Issue: Civic engagement and responsiveness: How Toronto can make people feel they belong

What’s the big idea: What if the youth and young adults of Toronto had a way to financially afford the amazing museums, arts and cultures that our city has to offer? What if there was a program designed to encourage them to go to a museum or art gallery, to take in a play or a photography exhibition, or to visit one of the many culture centres in our fair city?

The Map Card and Map Passport would do just that.

The Map Card would give Toronto residents under the age of 25 free entrance to publicly funded museums and art galleries, as well as discounted tickets to participating theatres, dance performances and private galleries.

The Map Passport would engage our youth and young adults and encourage them to visit many of Toronto’s incredible attractions through an incentive program. The basic idea is that the more stamps that a Torontonian gets from different attractions, the bigger and better the prize. We’re talking about gift cards/certificates to restaurants and movie theatres — the kind of prizes and awards that youth and young adults would value and want.

How will the big idea work: Toronto is home to so many exceptional attractions. Yet, many people that are born and raised in Toronto, or that move to Toronto, are unaware of just how much there is to do here. The Map Card and Map Passport will provide young Torontonians with new and exciting things to do in the city. It will further integrate people into our social and cultural fabric, starting at a young age. It will inspire people to do great things through their exposure to new and wonderful ideas, and encourage them to follow through on their inspiration by actually taking action.

If you influence someone at a young age, you’ll have him or her for the rest of his or her lives.

If that is not transformative for an individual or city, I don’t know what is.

How much will your big idea cost, and how would it be funded: The framework for this already exists through the Museum-Arts-Passes (MAP) program that runs through the Toronto Public Library and is funded by Sun Life Financial.

The program would require the design and creation of the card and the passport. There would need to be one to three new positions created to reach out to galleries, museums, and theatres to get them to be a part of the Map Card and Map Passport program.

Money would also be needed to advertise the program in libraries, schools and on transit.

To fund this program, a mix of public and private funds would be used. Sun Life Financial would be approached to extend its support of the program, but other corporate partners could also come to the table to support the program.

How will you implement your big idea: The Map Cards and Map Passports would be available for free to youth under the age of 25 at all Toronto Public Library branches. Youth would get free entrance to publicly funded museums and galleries and discounted tickets to participating theatres, dance companies and private galleries.

Youth and young adults would get their Map Passports stamped at various locations they visit within one calendar year. Once they have filled in the Map Passport, they will bring it to any branch of the library. It will then be sent on to the staff for the program who will then email or mail the gift card/certificate to the recipient.