HAMILTON ARTS COUNCIL · HAC
Hamilton Arts Council convenes and advocates for arts and culture across the Greater Hamilton Area.
HAC is a registered charity, founded in 1969. It serves Hamilton and the communities of Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Glanbrook, Stoney Creek and Waterdown, and works with Six Nations of the Grand River.
CONNECTING ARTISTS
CREATING OPPORTUNITY
INSPIRING CHANGE
THE ROLE
What HAC does
The Council's work rarely shows on its own. It shows in partnership and collaboration: when an artist is paid for a festival appearance, when a policy submission reshapes a funding program, when a first-time applicant receives a grant.HAC is not a venue and does not present a season of its own. It works one layer down: convening the people who make and present art here, carrying the sector's position into municipal and provincial policy, and maintaining the infrastructure that individual artists and small organizations cannot build alone.
PROGRAMS
The work that carries the mandate
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Hamilton Arts Week ↗
A city-wide multidisciplinary festival, established in 2015. Arts Week provides unique opportunities to engage with and discover local creatives.
NEXT EDITION JULY 2027
Hamilton Literary Awards ↗
Annual awards for books by Hamilton writers, established more than thirty years ago and presented in partnership with Hamilton Public Library and gritLIT, Hamilton's Readers and Writers Festival.
City of Hamilton Arts Awards ↗
Hamilton's civic arts awards. HAC runs nominations, adjudication and the ceremony on behalf of the City's Tourism and Culture division.
ARTIST DEVELOPMENT
hArt Music ↗
Musician career development paired with paid presentation opportunities for Hamilton artists, running since 2021.
hArt Dance & Film ↗
Portfolio development paired with a cinema screening event. Established in 2022.
NEXT EDITION 2027
Placements and career development
Subsidized and student placements that give early-career workers supervised experience inside an arts organization. Recent partnerships include YWCA Hamilton, Mohawk College, York University and the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
To inquire about a placement partnership, get in touch.
PLATFORMS AND BROADCAST
The Arty Crowd ↗
Discover artist and organization profiles, event and job listings, venues and blog posts.
The Arty Crowd Out Loud ↗
An award-winning monthly television series with Cable 14, running since 2023, featuring artist interviews and venue profiles.
Building Cultural Legacies ↗
A digital archive and storytelling platform documenting the history of visual art in Hamilton from 1950 to 2000.
CONSULTATION AND SELECTION
Artist calls and selection
The Council designs and runs open calls for other organizations — developing the selection criteria, guiding applicants through the process, and briefing and supporting the panels that make the decisions.
To commission a call or a selection process, get in touch.
ADVOCACY
Where the sector's position gets carried
Hamilton Arts and Culture Collective (HACC)
A standing table of arts and culture organizations from across the region, chaired by HAC's Executive Director. Its hybrid meetings serve as the communication link between City staff, the Hamilton Music Advisory Team and the wider cultural sector. Since November 2025 its agenda has carried a standing City liaison item.
Alliance of Arts Councils of Ontario (AACO)
HAC is a founding member of AACO and holds a seat on its executive board, giving Hamilton provincial representation and direct access to policy-makers and funders. The Council hosted the network's 2026 symposium.
MUNICIPAL ELECTION · OCTOBER 26, 2026
Putting arts and culture on the agenda
Every registered candidate for mayor and council was invited to answer the same four questions: on arts and culture's place in the city's economy and community life, the City Enrichment Fund, keeping affordable cultural space, and how they would work with artists and organizations. The survey was produced by Hamilton Arts Council, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and HAMILTON CITY Magazine, which published the answers on September 28.
THE ORGANIZATION
How the Council is governed and funded
HAC is directed by a volunteer board and run by a small staff. Just over three dollars in every five come from grants. The rest is earned, sponsored or given.
How the Council is funded
62.7%GRANTS22.5%EARNED REVENUE13.1%SPONSORSHIPS0.4%MEMBERSHIPS1.4%ENDOWMENT, DONATIONS AND OTHER
Audited financial statements, year ended March 31, 2026. Shares are rounded. About four dollars in every five of the grant share came from federal, provincial and municipal government, and the rest from foundations.
The Council is led by Executive Director David Hudson, who also chairs the Hamilton Arts and Culture Collective and sits on the executive board of the Alliance of Arts Councils of Ontario. Day-to-day work is carried by a small staff, supported by student and subsidized placements, and the organization is governed by a volunteer board.
GET INVOLVED
Working with us
IF YOU MAKE WORK HERERegister on The Arty Crowd and your profile, events and opportunities appear where people already look for them. It's free, and you keep control of your own listing.IF YOU PRESENT OR PRODUCEWe work with venues, festivals, libraries and community organizations on programming, promotion and Arts Week. Tell us what you're planning and we'll tell you where we can help.
IF YOU NEED TO FIND ARTISTSCompanies come to us when they need to run an open call. We develop the selection criteria, brief and support the panel, and guide applicants through the process — so the call reaches past the usual networks and decisions hold up to scrutiny.IF YOU FUND OR GIVEMoney given to the Council reaches artists as fees, development resources, commissions and awards. We'll tell you exactly where it went.
Land acknowledgement
We are situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas. We further acknowledge that this land is covered by the Between the Lakes Purchase, 1792, between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
Today, the City of Hamilton is home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island (North America) and we recognize that we must do more to learn about the rich history of this land so that we can better understand our roles as residents, neighbours, partners and caretakers.