History

ANDPVA is Canada’s oldest Indigenous arts service organization, providing support to Canadian Indigenous artists in Ontario and around the world.

ANDPVA was established in 1972 and incorporated as a non-profit of the Province of Ontario in 1974. At the time, there was little activity being generated or presented in the Indigenous arts community. James Howard Buller spearheaded the vision of this new organization leading the first eleven founding members/directors to become the voice of the Indigenous artist. It is said that his vision was that Indigenous people would create social change thorugh the arts. He and his colleagues believed that through the performing and visual arts, the legends, stories, history and social issues of Indigenous people might be revealed in such a manner that would provide entertainment as well as stir the conscience of Indigneous and non-Indigenous people alike. It was Buller’s goal to demonstrate the rich traditional heritage of Indigenous people and to ensure that Indigenous art was recognized as contributing to the cultural fabric of Canadian society.

The Association for Native Development in the Performing & Visual arts is a not-for-profit Ontario corporation and a registered charity (No. 11921 3700 RR001).

Mission

To create, support and develop a self-sufficient community of Indigenous artists who preserve our traditional knowledge, advance our respective cultural identities and reflect our evolving cultural expression.

Mandate

To provide access, stimulate and promote creativity in the arts for artists/creators/producers of Indigenous ancestry working in any discipline.

Vision

We envision a community that acknowledges, respects and supports emerging and established artists as the protectors and carriers of our Indigenous cultures and languages as well as our innovative and original Indigenous ways of knowing.

We envision a community of Indigenous artists who share and recognize the intrinsic value of their knowledge, their skills and their artistic expressions with each other, in order to preserve and advance our evolving cultural identity and enrich the cultural fabric of society, and strengthen relationships between all peoples.

We see a community where parents and elders exercise their responsibilities by nurturing children and instilling in them the importance of artistic expression for its own value as well as for a means of protecting and fostering Indigenous cultures and our relationship with Creation and all our relations.