NAC Lantern Room Named in Honour of Toronto-based Philanthropist Mohammad Al Zaibak

August 22, 2019 – OTTAWA (Canada) – The National Arts Centre Foundation is honoured to announce a $1 million leadership gift made in support of Arab-Canadian artistic programming from a Toronto-based family who have a long history of philanthropy.

The donation by Bay Tree Foundation, a family foundation of Mohammad Al Zaibak, will go to support diversity in NAC programming in music, theatre and dance, with a focus on greater representation for Arab-Canadian artists and works.

“Mohammad Al Zaibak is a generous patron of the arts in Toronto, but also grateful to Canada for the opportunities he and his family have had since arriving in Canada in 1989”, said NAC Foundation CEO Jayne Watson. “The family’s gift underlines their belief in the importance of national cultural organizations and the role that the NAC plays in supporting performance, creation and learning in the performing arts across Canada.  We are profoundly grateful for this latest gift.”

In recognition of this leadership gift, the NAC has named one of its newest spaces located above the main entrance “The Mohammad Al Zaibak Lantern Room”.

 

ABOUT THE NAC

The National Arts Centre raised its curtains for the first time in 1969. Today the NAC collaborates with artists and arts organizations across the country and acts as a catalyst for performance, creation and learning. A home for Canada’s most creative artists, the NAC strives to be artistically adventurous in each of its programming streams — the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre and NAC Presents. The National Creation Fund invests up to $3 million of privately raised funds every year in the development of new works by Canadian artists and arts organizations from across Canada. The NAC offers training to young artists, and programs and activities for children, youth and teachers in communities nation-wide. Canadians also engage with the NAC digitally through its website, social media, podcasts, and the Kipnes Lantern, the largest transparent LED installation in North America. In the Nation’s Capital, the NAC welcomes the community to its Public Spaces, and offers a variety of free programming and events. The NAC is the only bilingual, multidisciplinary performing arts centre in Canada, and one of the largest in the world.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Mary Gordon
Senior Communications Advisor
National Arts Centre
613 947-7000 x 849
mary.gordon@nac-cna.ca