John D McKellar

2016 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts

In more than 50 years as an active volunteer, generous donor and pro bono legal advisor, John D McKellar has supported dozens of performing artists and arts organizations in Toronto and beyond. His wide-ranging professional and financial contributions are based on a discerning artistic knowledge and appreciation, and he is a tireless advocate for public policy that encourages and promotes arts and culture.
 
Mr. McKellar is partner emeritus with the Toronto law firm WeirFoulds LLP. He currently chairs the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund and the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, and serves on the boards of the Glenn Gould Foundation, Off Centre Music Salon, Ontario Arts Foundation, Tarragon Theatre, and Toronto Arts Foundation. He was a founding director of Toronto’s Augusta Theatre, Theatre Toronto and Tarragon Theatre, and has also donated his time and expertise to the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (now Imagine Canada), St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Productions, among others.
 
As an impresario, he has produced or coproduced shows at the National Arts Centre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Blyth Centre for the Arts, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Princess of Wales Theatre, Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre, and Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and has several performance projects in development.
 
“There’s nothing quite like the arts for taking you out of your present world into a different world, to teach you something, to make you laugh, to make you cry, and to make you human,” he says.
 
John D McKellar is a Member of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals. In 2011, he was awarded the Edmund C. Bovey Award (Business for the Arts) for his exceptional contribution to arts and culture in Canada. In 2014, University College of the University of Toronto honoured him as one of its Alumni of Influence.