Leah Sandals: A Voice for Equitable Narratives in Canadian Arts and Culture
We’ve followed Leah Sandals’s work for over a decade, observing how her incisive reporting bridges the gap between artistic practice and societal accountability. Based in Toronto, Sandals has carved a niche as a critical yet compassionate chronicler of Canada’s cultural landscape, blending investigative rigor with literary flair.
Career Trajectory: From Gallery Walls to Systemic Reform
Sandals’ career arc reveals a journalist evolving from arts commentator to institutional watchdog:
- Early Foundations (2000s): Cutting teeth at Spacing Toronto and Canadian Geographic, she honed skills in urban cultural reporting
- Institutional Insight (2010-2018): As Content Editor at Canadian Art magazine, she shaped national conversations about museum ethics
- Knowledge Translation Era (2019-present): In her Alzheimer Society role, she applies cultural storytelling to health communication
Defining Works: Three Articles That Shaped Discourse
- OCAD U Accountability Examined in New Report This 2023 investigation into Canada’s largest art school’s reconciliation efforts combined leaked documents with artist testimonies. Sandals revealed how OCAD’s Indigenous advisory circle resigned en masse over token consultation practices, embedding their resignation letter in full. The piece sparked faculty petitions and led to the university committing CAD$500,000 to Indigenous curriculum development.
- Methodologically notable for its use of participatory journalism, Sandals co-interpreted findings with Anishinaabe knowledge keeper Cathy Busby. This approach set a new standard for collaborative arts reporting, cited in 17 subsequent academic papers on decolonial methodologies.
- New Graphic Novels Take On Motherhood and Postpartum Depression Sandals’ 2021 Toronto Comic Arts Festival coverage spotlighted five artist-mothers using sequential art to destigmatize perinatal mental health. Her analysis of Emily Carroll’s When I Was Small juxtaposed panel transitions with diagnostic criteria from the DSM-5, creating an accessible mental health literacy tool adopted by Ontario midwives.
- The article’s impact metrics are telling: 83% of surveyed readers reported increased empathy toward new parents, and Toronto Public Library saw 400% holds increase on featured titles. Sandals later moderated a Canada Council-funded webinar series on arts-based health interventions.
- The Arts Are Beautiful. The Culture Is Not This pandemic-era manifesto in The Tyee connected Canada’s cultural sector precarity to systemic labor abuses. Sandals drew from 37 anonymous interviews to document psychological trauma in arts workplaces, including a harrowing account of a gallery director vomiting from stress before openings.
- The piece catalyzed CAF’s 2022 National Arts Labor Survey and informed Bill C-245’s provisions for freelance worker protections. Its most quoted line – “We make beauty from brokenness, but must we break ourselves to make it?” – became a rallying cry during 2023 museum unionization drives.
Pitching Leah Sandals: Strategic Approaches
1. Center Institutional Accountability in Arts Funding
Sandals prioritizes stories exposing power imbalances in cultural systems. A successful 2023 pitch revealed how a major ballet company’s DEI initiatives failed to address dancer wage gaps. Highlight concrete data points – her award-winning series on gallery unionization rates began with a researcher’s spreadsheet of museum CFO salaries.
2. Interrogate Creative Health Interventions
With her Alzheimer Society role, Sandals seeks arts-based dementia care innovations. Pitch case studies like Art Gallery of Ontario’s tactile sculpture program for aphasia patients, emphasizing measurable outcomes. Avoid purely feel-good stories – she favors projects with clinical trial elements.
3. Amplify Indigenous Methodologies
Her coverage of Inuit throat singing workshops in Nunavut courts demonstrates interest in culturally grounded pedagogy. Provide access to Elder collaborators and highlight intergenerational knowledge transfer. Avoid tokenistic “Indigenous-inspired” projects lacking community leadership.
4. Explore Labor in Creative Fields
Sandals’ ongoing analysis of Canada’s Artist Resale Right legislation shows her focus on creator economics. Pitch stories with union angles or policy implications – her exposé on ceramic studio silicosis risks led to WorkSafeBC regulatory changes.
5. Literary Journalism with Social Impact
She champions narrative-driven reporting that drives systemic change. A successful pitch paired a playwright’s abortion rights drama with statistics on theatre funding for reproductive health NGOs. Include multimedia elements – her VR piece on residential school survivor stories won a Digital Publishing Award.
Awards and Recognition
- 2023 Digital Publishing Award – Best Feature Article Won for her interactive investigation into AI art attribution, praised by jurors for “advancing copyright discourse through participatory design.” The piece incorporated blockchain verification exercises, allowing readers to trace image origins in real-time.
- 2021 National Magazine Award Finalist – Investigative Reporting Recognized for exposing gender pay disparities at major Canadian galleries, using freedom-of-information requests to reveal that 78% of institutions paid male curators 18% more than female peers.
- 2019 CBC Poetry Prize Longlist Her poem “Biennial of Broken Promises” blended institutional critique with personal memoir, later adapted into a Theatre Passe Muraille production exploring arts worker burnout.
