Category: Press Releases

Villa Charities introduces scholarship program to honour Italian culture and heritage TORONTO – April 28, 2020 – Villa Charities is excited to announce it is launching a new national scholarship program for post-secondary undergraduate and graduate students. The Villa Charities Scholarship Program will be available to students of all backgrounds and faiths, who believe in and will help further Villa Charities’ mission to enrich lives through experiences and services that honour Italian culture and heritage. The new Villa Charities Scholarship Program will award a total of 16 scholarships valued at $60,000.  There are four scholarship programs, with two programs offered…

TORONTO – April 27, 2020 – For almost 50 years, Villa Charities Inc. (VCI) has been a destination and cultural leader for the Italian-Canadian community in the GTA, with support for senior care the pillar on which it was founded. During the current COVID-19 public health crisis, its top priorities are to keep employees safe, ensure service to patrons, residents and partners, and to do its part in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Although on-site operations at Villa Charities and the Columbus Centre are currently suspended, Villa Charities wants to ensure it is keeping everyone in the VCI…

March 10, 2020 – Villa Charities Inc. is proud to announce its partnership with Eataly, the largest Italian retail and dining experience in the world, as one of its official charities of choice. This partnership provides the two prominent Italian organizations with an opportunity to collaborate on initiatives bringing unique cultural programming and events curated by Villa Charities to Eataly’s customer base and the GTA at large. Eataly will also support fundraising initiatives on-site and off-site to help raise money for Villa Charities. For almost 50 years, Villa Charities has been a destination and cultural leader for the ItalianCanadian community…

TORONTO (January 28, 2020) –  Villa Charities is pleased to present concurrent exhibitions of two dynamic Toronto-based artists: Anthony Ricciardi and Peter Triantos, with an opening reception on Thursday, February 6 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. The exhibitions will run at the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery in both the Upper and Lower galleries as well as the lobby, through Sunday, April 5, 2020. The art gallery is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is wheelchair accessible. Entry is free. “Villa Charities is honoured to have the opportunity to engage its community and patrons in such…

January 14, 2019 – TLN Media Group’s (TMG) journey began 35 years ago at Villa Charities Inc.‘s Columbus Centre in Toronto, when in November 1984, Villa Charities hosted a celebration of a new Canadian multicultural TV channel, ‘TLN Telelatino’.  Now coming full circle, in January 2020, TLN Media Group’s new multichannel headquarters and studios have officially relocated to the very same Columbus Centre, on the Villa Charities campus. In honour of the new location, TLN Media Group is proud to host a VIP ceremony followed by A Felidia Experience at the Columbus Centre, an intimate reception and dinner with beloved…

Newest DLT production is a comical experience about our love for Nonnas TORONTO – OCTOBER 28, 2019 – Following the success of the Dora Award-nominated show, If on a Christmas Night…, Villa Charities proudly presents The Nonna Monologues / I monologhi della Nonna, the new immersive holiday show experience created by internationally acclaimed theatre company DopoLavoro Teatrale (DLT) and director Daniele Bartolini. A limited engagement of this production will run from December 6 – 22, 2019 at the Columbus Centre, with preview performances on December 4 and 5. Tickets are on sale now. Italy is a country founded on the…

Unique showcase features watercolours from Indigenous Canadian and Italian Artists TORONTO (September 23, 2019) – Villa Charities will present a compelling and diverse art exhibition, “International Watercolour Exhibition – Italy – Canada” at the Columbus Centre from September 27 to November 27, 2019. The exhibition is on display in the Upper Gallery of the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, which has free admission and is open to the public from Monday – Friday, 10am to 5pm. The opening reception on Friday, September 27 at 7 pm, includes a smudging ceremony, an Indigenous custom that will be performed by two of…

  TORONTO (July 23, 2019) – Villa Charities will present a unique interactive art installation,  IMPACT: A Dialogue on Art & Memory, at the Columbus Centre from August 12 – 31, 2019.  The exhibit tackles the important topics of Alzheimer’s and dementia by highlighting how people tend to associate memory with inanimate objects to create a sentimental attachment. Sara Dalla Guarda’s most recent piece, IMPACT: A Dialogue on Art & Memory, is an interactive installation artwork that discusses the topics of Alzheimer’s, dementia, and the exploration of the human’s sentimental fondness of inanimate objects. Dalla Guarda has collected antique items…

TORONTO (June 13, 2019) – Villa Charities and Leonardo Da Vinci Academy (LDVA) are pleased to announce an agreement has been finalized to move the Academy to the Columbus Centre for September, 2020. The prestigious independent Montessori-centered school is one of three organizations that will be relocating to the community centre at Lawrence Ave. West and Dufferin Street in Toronto, along with TLN Media Group and Academy of Realist Art. “I am very excited that Leonardo Da Vinci Academy will be joining the Villa Charities family as a new tenant at the Columbus Centre,” said Anthony DiCaita, President and CEO,…

TORONTO (June 11, 2019) – Villa Charities and Academy of Realist Art are pleased to announce that the Academy of Realist Art will move its facilities to the Columbus Centre as of September 1, 2019. The prestigious private institution that teaches drawing and painting in the old master tradition is one of the new organizations that will be relocating to the Columbus Centre. Villa Charities previously announced that TLN Media Group’s corporate and multicultural media production headquarters would be operating out of the Columbus Centre as of this September. “The Academy of Realist Art is an acclaimed artistic establishment and…