For the first timer, Curve Lake First Nation will be represented on the Ontario Arts Council following the appointment of singer-songwriter Missy Knott.
The announcement was made Monday by Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, who also noted Knott is the first council appointee from his riding in more than 50 years. The appointment is a three-year term.
Knott was born in Peterborough and has extended family in Curve Lake First Nation, just north of the city. She released her debut album For No Reason At All in 2009. She has used her experiences in both communities to forge her music, earning the Peterborough Folk Festival’s Emerging Artist Award and in 2017, she was nominated at the Indigenous Music Awards for EP My Sister’s Heart.
She returned to Curve Lake First Nation in 2018 to help launch the not-for-profit record label Wild Rice Records, which helps with Indigenous youth outreach, mentorship, recording and community connections.
“It is an honour to sit on the Ontario Arts Council Board of Directors,” stated Knott. “It is and has always been important to me to foster a creative vision and help artists realize their voice and their passions. Success is not an individual achievement, but the result of learning, engaging, collaborating and hard work.
“The same is true of communities, and I am so happy to be a part of this one. When we support, guide, nurture, inspire and raise each other up, we succeed both individually and as a community. I am so excited for all that I’m about to learn. Cheers to the next three years.”
The volunteer 12-member OAC is the province’s main funding body for professional artists and art organizations. The OAC’s grants and services to professional, Ontario-based artists and arts organizations support arts education, Indigenous arts, community arts, crafts, dance, Francophone arts, literature, media arts, multidisciplinary arts, music, theatre, touring and visual arts.
Smith said he first worked with Knott in 2017 in the lead-up to the Special Hockey International Tournament in Peterborough.
“I am so happy that someone who has used her talents to give back to our community as a positive role model is … appointed to the Ontario Arts Council,” he said. “In my position as Member of Provincial Parliament I have witnessed the impact that Missy has had not only to those in Curve Lake, but the greater Peterborough area.
“In my role as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, I know Missy will bring a unique and important voice to the OAC and ensure arts and culture will continue to flourish throughout the province.
“Congratulations Missy, you deserve it.”
Smith notes in 2022-2023, the OAC invested $55.9 million in 220 communities to support artists and organizations. During the same timeframe, the OAC provided 2,269 grants to individual artists and 1,023 grants to over 500 arts organizations.
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