Arts & Culture Council of Burlington “ACCOB” is a not-for-profit arts and cultural organization dedicated to creating a vibrant and diverse artistic and cultural community.
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
Our dedicated team of volunteer board members, partnering organizations and supporters invest time and energy to create opportunities for Burlington’s creative and cultural community to perform, exhibit and share their work.
GRANTS
Learn how you or your organization can apply for a grant from the Burlington Arts and Culture Fund. Recently, the City increased the amount of the fund that provides grants to local artists, multicultural groups and arts and cultural organizations.
GET INVOLVED
As a not-for-profit organization, we rely on the generosity of volunteers, sponsors and donors. If you’d like to get involved or make a donation, please contact us. Thank you for your interest and support in helping build the artistic and cultural future of Burlington.
BECOME A MEMBER
Becoming a member of Arts & Culture Council of Burlington is one of the best investments you can make to support arts and culture in our community.
Revenue generated through memberships and fundraising events is invested in promotion, resources and education for our creative and arts community, helping to strengthen Burlington’s cultural fabric.
Ask how you can promote and connect with other artistic and cultural businesses and organizations.
BOARD MEMBERS
Arts and culture council of Burlington
Tim Park
PresidentTim has been a musician in the City of Burlington for over 35 years. He is the co-founder of the Live and Local Music Series at BPAC and has been a volunteer of the Sound of Music Festival for over ten years starting in 1988. He was the entertainment chair in 1990-91 and has worked with the City on other Arts and Culture related events including Culture Days in 2016.
Tim was the owner of The Music Gym which was the first hourly Music rehearsal studio in the area and became a multi-track recording studio where he engineered, produced and mastered hundreds of Local Artists’ Records.
Charles Cozens
Vice PresidentCharles Cozens is highly acclaimed as an arranger, composer and orchestrator for major Canadian artists, ensembles and orchestras and is also an accomplished orchestral and theatrical conductor, pianist, accordionist, and CD producer.
He is best known for his compelling symphony shows, featuring his arrangements for full orchestra, performed by artists that include Sir Elton John, Randy Bachman, The Nylons, Mark Masri and more. With over 200 CDs to his credit as composer, arranger, performer, conductor and producer, he has been recognized by the International Conductors Guild as a leading expert on orchestral conducting in the recording environment.
Charles Cozens is the driving force of the Burlington New Millennium Orchestra (BNMO) a 30-piece contemporary chamber orchestra specializing in a broad-based non-classical repertoire.
Evy Beraldo
TreasurerEvy Beraldo grew up in Hamilton but has lived most of her life in Burlington. A graduate of McMaster she earned a Hons BSc in psychology and a CMA (now called CPA) while working as an accountant.
Having gained experience at several manufacturing companies in Waterloo, Mississauga and Burlington, Evy joined Nalco, a U.S. owned multi-national corporation, where she worked for 21 years until retiring in 2011. The last 6 years at Nalco were as Country Administrator and Canadian Finance Manager.
Evy is Board Member for the Burlington New Millenium Orchestra and is involved in the leadership of Hamilton Estonian Society, the church council and sings in the Hamilton Estonian choir.
Emily Andes
SecretaryEmily is third generation Burlingtonian and multifaceted individual, whose life revolves around preserving history, fostering creativity, and advocating for the welfare of young people. As a photographer and co-owner of Rare Moments Media, she captures the essence of life through her lens, immortalizing precious moments. She channels her passion for the arts into nurturing the talents of aspiring musicians, writers and artists. With a diploma in Digital Photography from Fanshawe College and a Bachelors in History with a minor in English from Queens University, Emily has not only honed her artistic skills but also developed a strong understanding of historical narratives and literature. Her commitment to preserving local history and culture reflects in her advocacy efforts, as she tirelessly works to ensure the legacy of her community endures. Emily's dedication to providing safe spaces for kids and teenagers stems from her belief in creating inclusive environments where young minds can flourish without fear. Her passion for reading, writing, and education converge to empower the next generation through literature and storytelling. As a former dancer and a long-time supporter of the arts, she embodies a relentless commitment to promoting creativity and expression in all its forms.
John Hewson
Board Member“JR” loves to act and he loves to write! After retiring in 2000 from a distinguished clinical and academic career in Critical Care Medicine and Anesthesia, he turned to his other passions!
Over the ensuing decade he produced two mainstream novels, the second of which, Corbett’s Daughter, was published in 2017. He took up acting in community theatre productions, appearing in five plays between 2011 and 2015, for which he won the WODL’s Pre-Festival Award for Best Cameo Performance in 2015. Bitten by the theatre bug, he and Mark Mindorff collaborated in writing Saving Grace, a bittersweet two-act stage play set in a retirement home.
Deeply committed to adult literacy and social justice, “JR” volunteers much of his time as a mentor, a tutor, and a member of several public boards. A gifted musician, he plays piano for the lounge of a major hotel in Toronto.
Carlene Ling
Board MemberCarlene Ling aka Vanda Li is a Trinidadian Canadian who began her artistic career in the performing arts at a young age as a singer, dancer and model presenting on TV, and stage & was the first winner of Talent Search Burlington as a teen. An honours graduate of both Humber College’s Social Service Worker program and Halton Business Institute’s Administrative Studies diploma program Carlene ‘s extensive corporate and nonprofit services career has included assisting senior management with event coordination. Carlene has performs on various local and GTA community & culture events and has worked as a volunteer stage manager & media coordinator for 2 cultural music events in Toronto. Carlene has been around entertainers or those that like to entertain her whole life and this is what motivated her to eventually start her own nonprofit organization to carry on the family legacy based off the family names of Brereton & Ling . Carlene’s non profit organization , BLing Events International Entertainment (BEI) Black African Caribbean Canadian Artists Unite (BACCAU) promotes & produces cultural & music events. .On her mothers side Ling is the niece of the late Juliet Brereton Hamilton founder of Burlington Multicultural festival that ran for several years in the mid 90’s at Spencer Smith Park and on her Fathers side her uncle the late Kenneth Ling was the founder of Hamilton Ontario‘s Mardi Gras Festival aka Hamilton Caribana so she is now carrying on the legacy in her own way . Carlene’s main events in Burlington are held in June and August after she initiated the Black Music Month Proclamation & Flag raising ceremonies in 2021 & also created Black African Caribbean Canadian Appreciation month to celebrate the diversity of cultures & talent from the Black African Caribbean Canadian Community . She hosts 2 music events for each proclamation in Burlington & Oakville annually . Carlene is also a recording artist and has released several reggae r&b cover songs & one original song under her stage name Vanda Li in collaboration with a Toronto music producer & her daughter Adria Kain a Juno awards nominated contemporary r&b singer songwriter herself . Carlene is a lover of all things in the arts and through her many talents & connections since 2017 she has been able to continuously succeed in independently hosting a series of entertaining & impactful non profit events in Toronto, Halton and GTA with the help of family & friends that brings residents together through music ,arts and culture and her non profit organization was a finalist in the tourism category at the 2024 Burlington Chamber of Commerce Tourism award.
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