Banff Centre’s Application, Student Registration and Payment Systems, including the Student Portal, will be unavailable from 4pm Monday June 22nd to noon Tuesday June 23rd due to planned maintenance. Any questions please contact admissions@banffcentre.ca.
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Photo by Rita Taylor
How do you know you're making the right decision for yourself, your organization, and your community? What does it mean to lead well in today's arts and culture sector? What does it look like to be strategic and thoughtful while managing risk in a rapidly evolving sector?
Leadership in the arts and culture sector is complex, dynamic, and deeply connected to community. This program invites emerging and experienced leaders to explore leadership through the lens of Indigenous wise practices, right relations, deep listening, self-inquiry, and leadership as a means, not a destination.
Over six days, participants will reflect on their leadership values and experiences while learning alongside a peer cohort of cultural leaders. Participants will be given an opportunity to bring cultural challenges into the room and work through them using wise practice principles.
Together, we will delve into areas such as governance, strategic thinking, organizational development, cultural policy and protocols, and community engagement — not as isolated skills, but as interconnected elements of resilient, values-based leadership.
Program highlights
This program is designed for arts, heritage, and creative industries professionals working in organizations of any size and across all art forms, including visual arts, galleries, museums, theatre, dance, opera, film, music, and literature.
It is well suited to:
Applicants working outside the arts, heritage, and creative industries must demonstrate in their application how their work will benefit from this program.
Applicants must be 18+ at the time of the program start date.
Domestic and international applications are welcome.
Visa Eligibility Information:
We welcome applicants of all ages (18+), backgrounds, gender identities and expressions to apply. Participants from historically underrepresented and equity deserving groups are especially welcome.
Participants are required to dedicate approximately 40 hours during the week to this program.
Itinerary is subject to change.
Sunday
Welcome and smudge
Program overview and introductions
Monday
Wise practices model
Opening the circle: legacy effects and wellbeing
A leader's journey
Evening homework: journal reflections
Tuesday
Dream house
Leadership competencies
Outdoor or group activity
Wise practices pathways plan
Wednesday
Fireside chat with sector leader
Wise practices leadership challenge
Art-based session
Thursday
Land-based deep listening
Designing for action: social network mapping
Sharing our wise practices leadership
Friday
Leadership commitments
Closing circle and reflections
Based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh first nations, Kenji’s experiences are diverse and grounded in his passion for the arts, education, and building community, and influenced by his Uchinanchu heritage. He brings with him over 20 years of experience within the cultural sector working within national and local contexts, and across sector disciplines. Kenji is the Executive Director of the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance focusing on strengthening sector capacity, advancing advocacy efforts, and building community.
He is the co-lead of Pathways an equity and access learning program, which has seen more than 125 organizations across B.C. participate in the first two years, as they navigate complex organizational and community realities. He has also taught the Thriving as a Cultural Entrepreneur at Simon Fraser University since 2019 to support the next generation of artistic and cultural leaders. Kenji is thrilled to be back at Banff Centre as an alum of Banff’s 2019 Cultural Leadership Program, to both offer his experiences and to learn from the participants.
He loves spreadsheets, chewy chocolate chip cookies, and his husband Alan.
Tareyn Johnson is Anishnaabe and a member of the Chippewa of Georgina Island First Nation.
She has been the Director of Indigenous Affairs at the University of Ottawa since 2017, as the inaugural leader of the portfolio. She was the project lead for the development and implement the Indigenous Action Plan, the first Indigenous strategic plan at the university. She had been a professor in the Indigenous Studies program since 2021, developing and delivering the Introduction to Indigenous Studies course, as well as the selected topics course, Listen to the Stories: Indigenous Cultural Schemas.
Using a credit-based system to dine on campus, our flexible meal plan allows you to select meals according to your own needs during your stay. Banff Centre can respond to most dietary requests.
The meal plan is equivalent to a $73 credit per day, equivalent to three meals at our buffet service.
Your program fee includes a single bedroom on the Banff Centre campus for the duration of your program.
Get connected with other artists on campus and focus on your projects in a creative environment while we take care of the day-to-day essentials.
Group seminars and workshops with faculty.
The Paul D. Fleck Library and Archives are delighted to support Banff Centre Participants, Artists, and Faculty
$65 for individuals, $35 for applicants who identify as Indigenous.
The application fee is non-refundable. 100% of this fee goes towards the cost of administering the application in SlideRoom.
Limited funding is available to support up to 18 arts-sector participants, with priority given to those working in small Canadian non-profit arts organizations.
Key details:
Information on our cancellation policy can be found here.
Banff Centre is a post-secondary institution in the province of Alberta. We are required to issue tax receipts for applicable financial assistance and awards received, and eligible tuition charged, as per the Income Tax Act and Canada Revenue Agency. To learn more, please visit Tax Information for program participants and/ or P105 Students and Income Tax 2025.
Learn more about the steps to Complete Your Application.
Please login with the username and password emailed to you on completion of step 1.
A two-page resume or C.V. describing academic, professional, and other relevant experience.
Applicants have the option of a written or video submission. Please keep videos to under five minutes.
Be sure to complete the Financial Aid question in SlideRoom to be eligible for the financial assistance.
Participants are chosen by an adjudication panel comprising of internal and external assessors. The selection criteria include:
Our programs are highly competitive with a limited number of places available. Applicants will be notified of their selection status as soon as the adjudication process is complete. Due to the high volume of applications individual feedback will not be provided.
All programs, faculty, dates, fees, and offers of financial assistance are subject to change. Program fee is subject to applicable taxes. Non-refundable fees and deposits will be retained upon cancellation. Any other fees are refunded at the discretion of the Banff Centre. The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
For questions on preparing your application, please contact Admissions:
