Gary Slaight celebrated in the Globe and Mail as 2022 arts icon

On December 20th, 2022 The Globe and Mail named Gary Slaight "Canadian Arts Philanthropist of the Year" and one of "The Canadian cultural icons who made the arts better in 2022". Brad Wheeler's write-up is reproduced below.

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He can’t sing and he’s not known for soliloquies, but Gary Slaight’s performance in 2022 deserves some kind of ovation. He is president and chief executive officer of the Slaight Family Foundation, a private organization that supports a wide variety of humanitarian and cultural causes. On Sept. 22, the foundation donated $10-million to Canada’s music industry aid program, the Unison Fund. The money is to be dispersed over five years to the existing Unison Industry Assistance Program (for Canadian music workers) and to the newly announced Slaight Family Foundation Legacy Program, which offers financial support to retired individuals in the music community and to those who experience long-term medical challenges.

For those helped by the Unison Fund, it’s not just about the money: “It’s about caring,” Montreal-based singer-songwriter John Cody told The Globe and Mail. “If I’m in trouble, they help.”

One week after the Unison announcement, the Slaight Family Foundation revealed a $15-million gift to 22 Canadian theatre companies to support the industry as it continues to recover from pandemic-related closures.

“Without exaggeration, the foundation’s support will change what we imagine to be possible in the coming two years and set theatres up to emerge stronger and with more resilience once this awful chapter finally closes,” said Gideon Arthurs, executive director of Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre.

This season, Soulpepper, which received $1.5-million, mounted its song cycle, The Golden Record, performed and co-developed by members of the Slaight Music Residents collective and Slaight Family music director Mike Ross. It tells the story of a phonograph record sent by NASA into space in 1977 to help explain humanity to extraterrestrials through music. Gary Slaight and his foundation sang a similar tune in 2022.