Ontario honoured the contribution of artists and arts organizations to the province's culture and economy with the announcement of the 2009 Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts.

Ron Mann, who received the award for Individual Artist, is best known for his internationally acclaimed documentaries exploring fringe pop cultures, including Comic Book Confidential (1988), Twist (1992), Tales of Rat Fink (2006) and Know Your Mushrooms (2008).

Toronto Artscape, which received the award for Arts Organization, is a not-for-profit urban developer that creates affordable spaces for artists to live and work. Artscape's Toronto complexes at Liberty Village, the Distillery District and the Wychwood Barns have benefited artists and arts groups and helped revitalize their neighborhoods.

The Premier's Awards' Emerging Artist prize winner, selected each year by the winner of the Individual Artist award, went to Charles Officer, a Toronto actor and film-maker whose first feature Nurse.Fighter.Boy premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September.

Ontario's culture sector employs over 250,000 people, including 52,000 professional artists, and generates nearly $20 billion of the province's Gross Domestic Product.