Recipient of the 2022 Silver Ticket Award
Pat Bradley
The TAPA Silver Ticket Award is bestowed upon an individual who has excelled in their career while also nurturing the development of Canadian theatre. It entitles the recipient to a lifetime of theatre tickets to any TAPA member company production. At the 42nd Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards Show Ceremony on September 19, 2022, it was presented to the established arts administrator, educator, advocate and mentor, Pat Bradley. Bradley has been an icon of arts leadership, playing an instrumental role in instigating spaces for art, advocacy and change for over 35 years.
Here is the speech from the Dora Award Show Ceremony at the Elgin Theatre on Monday September 19, 2022, from VIP presenter and Silver Ticket Chair Ken Gass, introducing Pat Bradley as the 2022 Silver Ticket recipient:
This year’s Silver Ticket Award recipient is a tireless and beloved advocate, mentor, teacher and activist in the arts sector.
Her passion and devotion to artists has contributed enormously to the health of the arts in Canada. She is known for her optimism, passion, wisdom and her fierce, no-bullshit defense of artists and the arts sector.
We all love and appreciate her, and perhaps the best way to honour her is to give voice to some of the artists whose voices she has helped to refine. These are two of many tributes that were offered in support of her nomination.
“In times of trouble for theatres there were not many who had a better friend than her. She rode to the rescue if she could. She never gave false hope or favour… She knew how every important level of government worked and how arts companies were fragile and resilient…”
– Layne Coleman
“For many of us, she was … the important touchpoint at the beginning of our artistic lives. She guided us … with great care, unwavering passion and radical generosity. She coached us through our dreams, pushed us to articulate our visions and invited us to unleash our imaginations. But most importantly: she reminded us that our collective theatrical work has the power to shape the world.”
– Nina Lee Aquino
She is a member of the prestigious Canadian Accounting Standards Board advisory committee. She teaches and lectures at multiple universities and colleges and was the Executive Director of PACT and PWAC, a co-founder of Toronto ArtsVote, and the President of both the Canadian Conference of the Arts and 12 Alexander St. She was a theatre officer at the OAC from 2001 until her retirement in 2019.
For all the reasons mentioned and more, she is a precious member of our community, whose lifetime of work has impacted the past, present and future of the arts in Canada. But what shines through most is her love of the theatre – going to it, working with the artists, and doing all she could to promote it.