Jason van Eyk

Gov­er­nor (Ontario)

In May 2011, Jason van Eyk was named Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of ArtsS­marts — an inno­v­a­tive model of arts-centred, in-school part­ner­ships that push the bound­aries of learn­ing, rede­fine the envi­ron­ment of school­ing, and re-imagine stu­dent success.

Jason may be new to ArtsS­marts, but he is no stranger to the trans­for­ma­tional power of the arts, per­son­ally and pro­fes­sion­ally. While his first love is music – Jason holds an M.Mus from the East­man School of Music – his prac­tice has been aligned with arts edu­ca­tion and admin­is­tra­tion activ­i­ties for many years. Merg­ing these worlds into one, Jason com­pleted an MBA from the Schulich School of Busi­ness at York Uni­ver­sity, spe­cial­iz­ing in art and media admin­is­tra­tion in 2000.

Since then, Jason has demon­strated his pas­sion for an expanded role for the arts in Cana­dian life, a flare for teach­ing, and an appetite for launch­ing new ven­tures wher­ever he works. You only have to look at the Cana­dian Music Cen­tre, where he was the Ontario Regional Direc­tor 2003–2011, or the Uni­ver­sity of Toronto, where he was Found­ing Direc­tor of the U of T Art­sZone, to find exam­ples of his impact. Add in his class­room expe­ri­ence and it becomes clear why Jason can con­nect with the ArtsS­marts mis­sion in a deeply per­sonal manner.

Jason vol­un­teers with the Advi­sory Coun­cil of the Uni­ver­sity of Toronto Scar­bor­ough Arts Man­age­ment pro­gram and the Advi­sory Coun­cil of Arts­Build Ontario.

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