Arts Etobicoke, Lakeshore Arts, Scarborough Arts Council and UrbanArts Community Arts Council, are the four Local Arts Service Organizations (LASO) that receive municipal funding.

These organizations provide services that are aligned with those of Cultural Services at both the policy and operational levels. They strongly support the City of Toronto’s work in priority neighbourhoods and underserved geographic areas providing inclusive opportunities for children and youth and participants from a broad demographic spectrum through their services and programming customized to local needs.

The LASOs have been successful in reaching out to local populations that otherwise would not have not participated in the varied arts opportunities they offer. They nurture creativity, talent and diverse skill sets in the arts and cultural industries.

They are an important building block for healthy and cohesive communities and a hub that provides community arts programs and services for the benefit of Torontonians. As anchor community arts organizations in Toronto, they promote the arts at the local level, making them very much part of the daily fabric of community living and contribute to a vibrant community arts infrastructure in Toronto.

Each LASO is as unique as the community that it serves and is characterized by spontaneity to community changes; no two are exactly alike. However, the LASOs share the common goal of serving the diverse needs in their community and across Toronto, making the arts, in all its diverse forms, broadly accessible and affordable.

To maximize impact, wherever possible, these organizations actively seek partnership opportunities amongst themselves and with wide-ranging partners, utilizing existing resources and talent in Toronto to design, develop, facilitate and implement relevant arts services and programs.

The 2011 Funding Level for these organizations is:

• Arts Etobicoke: $227,530
• Lakeshore Arts: $97,840
• Scarborough Arts Council: $113,405
• UrbanArts Community Arts Council: $94,635

Total: $533,410