Ella Cooper is the Founding Director of the Emerging Arts Professional Network. As a self proclaimed Emerging Arts Professional, originally from Montreal and now based in Toronto, Ella holds an extensive background in visual arts, dance, photography, music, design and new media. Ella is the founder of the EAP Network and spent two years working with an incredible national committee of volunteers to create the vibrant online community network and volunteer run not for profit organization made up of almost 3,000 arts professionals across Canada.
Ella is an active member of the arts community as both arts manager, consultant and artist. Ella has worked in marketing and fundraising capacities for a number of arts organizations that include independent theatre companies in England, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Shaw Festival, Kaeja d’Dance & Soundstreams Canada. She has been awarded numerous grants for arts management training from the London Independent Theatre Council in England and the CCCO’s Income Managers Program and carries out a number of arts management, promotion, outreach, web design and community research contracts through her new company Ella Cooper Creative Arts.
In addition, as an emerging artist, Ella has received numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council for her dance photography and a new photobased soundscape installation called Art + Identity (touring to Calgary in January 2010). Ella sits on the Board of Directors for the Cultural Careers Council Ontario and the Creative Trust Foundation and has served on juries for the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council and the Dora Mavor Moore Dance Jury. She has also appeared as a guest speaker on a number of panels including the Canadian Dance Assembly, Canadian Public Arts Funders, the Association of Cultural Executives, Technology in the Arts Conference, TAPA Trade Forum and others.
