2003 Award Recipients

Fraser Elliott

Fraser Elliott receiving his award from the Awards Sponsor and Honourary Patron, The Honourable Henry Jackman 
 

Michael Koerner, President Canadian Overseas Investments Ltd. & Fraser Elliott, Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year 

For over a quarter of a century, R. Fraser Elliott has provided philanthropic leadership and exceptional financial support for two of this city’s cultural icons, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Canadian Opera Company.

Mr. Elliott’s generosity, with his time, expertise and resources, has helped shape the governance of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), its growth through two expansion projects, the permanent collection, the exhibition and publication programs, the advancement of scholarly research and the current transformation of the Gallery. The Betty Ann and Fraser Elliott Gallery, one of the AGO’s prominent exhibition spaces, was created thanks to a lead gift from the Elliotts in the Stage III expansion in the early 1990s. Fraser Elliott’s vision and generosity has strengthened and expanded the Gallery’s publication program. His annual gifts have supported a multi-year book publishing program on senior Canadian artists such as Greg Curnoe, Paterson Ewen and Betty Goodwin.

Mr. Elliott has nurtured the Master Print & Drawing Society at the AGO since 1988 and he has sponsored a remarkable series of exhibitions that profile contemporary Canadian artists. Another recent, lead gift to the Transformation AGO Campaign is an endowment supporting the R. Fraser Elliott Curator of Prints and Drawings. This is the first endowed position for the AGO and secures the future of this rich and significant collection at the Gallery.

R. Fraser Elliott is a member of the Canadian Opera Company (COC)’s Golden Circle, the company’s highest level of annual individual giving. Over the years, he has provided significant funds for the campaign to create the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre, a COC resource for performances and production development. His outstanding support made possible the COC’s first compact disc recording, Rarities by Rossini and Verdi expanding the company’s reach to ever-widening audiences at home and abroad. In 2001, Mr. Elliott founded the Gifted Young Artist Fund, giving young artists career-enhancing performance opportunities with the COC orchestra. These performances highlight new singers and showcase the talents of members of the Ensemble Studio and the COC orchestra. In April of this year, Mr. Elliott made a most generous gift to the Capital Campaign for the COC’s new home, The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. In recognition of his support, the Four Seasons Centre auditorium will now be known as R. Fraser Elliott Hall.

Appointed to the Order of Canada in 1980, Mr. Elliott is also the Founding Chair of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board. He is a generous supporter of many health care institutions, including the University Health Network (UHN) where he is Chairman Emeritus of the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation. His commitment there is evident in the R. Fraser Elliott Building and the R. Fraser Elliott Emergency Department. His support is also responsible for the creation of endowed Chairs in Cardiac Anesthesia, Vascular Surgery and Transplantation Research. With his further involvement in educational and cultural institutions in Canada, R. Fraser Elliott embodies the true philanthropist: he is innovative, passionate, a strategic giver, and ever looking to the future to celebrate and preserve our cultural heritage.