Missy Knott – Appointed to Ontario’s Art Council

First Individual from Curve Lake First Nation

News                                                                                           October 16th, 2023

Peterborough – Missy Knott becomes the first individual from Curve Lake First Nation to be appointed to Ontario’s Art Council (OAC). The OAC is the province’s primary funding body for professional artists and art organizations, made up of a 12-member volunteer Board of Directors. These individuals are community leaders with a variety of expertise in the arts, all appointed from throughout the province. The OAC seeks to foster the arts – both in creation and production to enrich the lives, communities, and economy of Ontarians. The OAC’s grants and services to professional, Ontario-based artists and arts organizations support arts education, Indigenous arts, community arts, crafts, dance, Francophone arts, literature, media arts, multidisciplinary arts, music, theatre, touring, and visual arts.

Missy Knott has made a profound impact in her community of Curve Lake and the surrounding Peterborough region. As a singer-song writer she gained popularity for her unique style and has been releasing music since 2009. She uses her experience of growing up in Peterborough, as well as her relations to Curve Lake First Nation and infuses the two community experiences into her music. She has currently returned to Curve Lake First Nation for her latest journey of starting a not-for-profit record label Wild Rice Records.

The record label began in 2018 and helps with youth outreach, mentorship, recording and community connections. Missy seeks to provide guidance to Indigenous youth to follow their passions and talents using her record label. In providing supports she wished she had when entered into the music scene; she continues to inspire and promote the next generation of local artists. She has been active within the Indigenous music, using her songs to speak to the matters close to her and her community. In 2017, she was nominated at the Indigenous Music Awards for EP My Sister’s Heart.

“I had the privilege of first working with Missy in the lead up to the Special Hockey International Tournament in Peterborough back in 2017. I am so happy that someone who has used her talents to give back to our community as a positive role model is be appointed to the Ontario Arts Council. In my position as Member of Provincial Parliament I have witnessed the impact that Missy has had not only to those in Curve Lake, but the greater Peterborough area. In my role as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, I know Missy will bring a unique and important voice to the OAC and ensure arts and culture will continue to flourish throughout the province. Congratulations Missy, you deserve it!” – Member of Provincial Parliament for Peterborough- Kawartha, Dave Smith.

“It is an honour to sit on the Ontario Arts Council Board of Directors. It is and has always been important to me to foster a creative vision and help artists realize their voice and their passions. Success is not an individual achievement, but the result of learning, engaging, collaborating and hard work. The same is true of communities, and I am so happy to be a part of this one. When we support, guide, nurture, inspire and raise each other up, we succeed both individually and as a community. I am so excited for all that I’m about to learn! Cheers to the next three years!” -Missy Knott

It has been more than fifty years since there was an appointee from the riding of Peterborough-Kawartha, with Missy Knott being the first ever from Curve Lake Frist Nation.

Quick Facts:

  • In 2022-2023, the OAC invested $55.9 million in 220 communities to support artists and organizations.
  • In 2022-2023, OAC provided 2,269 grants to individual artists and 1,023 grants to over 500 arts organization