Julia Dickson (she/her)

Julia Dickson (she/her) is an arts producer, manager, educator, and creator based in Toronto, with a focus on theatre and the live performing arts. Her practice centres around the idea of creating supportive spaces and working to remove barriers both for audiences and for artists to experience live performance. She prioritizes providing living wages and embedding accessible working models into her working practices.

Within the performance arts sector, she has experience and an interest in work created outside of traditional spaces (including exploration of immersive and site-specific theatre, and smaller or found theatre spaces), theatre for young audiences, musical theatre, comedy, and audience engagement immersed into the production process.

One part of Julia’s practice centres around producing and production management. She currently works as the Managing Producer of ARC. She also works as a producer on a project to project basis with Single Thread Theatre Company to bring create site-specific and immersive educational experiences to young audiences in schools/communities across Ontario. Additionally, she has a freelance practice, having worked on various productions including Rockabye (Producer, ARC Stage, 2024), Lady M (Margaret) (Producer, 1s1 Theatre and Why Not Theatre, 2023), Martyr (Producer, ARC Stage, 2023), Romeo & Juliet & Action (Production Manager, Shakespeare in Action), Ladies Day (Production Manager, New Stuff Theatre, 2022); Between a Wok and a Hot Pot (Producer, Glow Collective, 2020); Ultimate Theatre Championship (Producer, Theatre Passe Muraille, 2019); Rupture (Production Stage Manager, Kingston Storefront Fringe Festival, 2018).

Julia also works in arts administration and managing positions, which use her skills and experiences in facilitation, organization, and planning. Currently, she works as the General Manager of the Paprika Festival, which is a professional development and showcase program for young and emerging artists. Previously, she has worked with Studio 180 Theatre in Marketing, Outreach, and Development roles, and with County Stage Company in Development and Audience Services positions. She is skilled in strategic and organizational planning, revenue development (earned and contributed), communications strategy, human resources, and financial management.

She also works as an artist educator. Previously, she has taught with Young People’s Theatre, instructing a variety of classes with a primary focus on kindergarten through grade 3 but expanding through grade 6, focusing on improvisation skills, story-building, and collective creation, as well as fostering empathy, collaboration, curiosity, and fun. She also continues to teach freelance workshops, most recently with Mass Culture. Education is a deep part of Julia’s practice, and she works to incorporate it anyway she can.

She has a Bachelor of Education with a focus on Community Arts Education from Queen’s University. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Queen’s with a minor in French Studies, and a post-graduate certificate in Arts Administration and Cultural Management from Humber College.