Inspiration and Trepidation: Starting a Community Arts Organization (Algoma, ON)

“Robin Sutherland is an emerging arts manager and community artist who has recently moved from Toronto to her home community of Algoma, Northern Ontario, to establish Thinking Rock Community Arts, a new organization that will seek to engage and build community along the North Shore of Lake Huron. This blog will follow her journey along that path.

Robin Sutherland at Big Medicine Studio, Four Lands of Nipissing Project. Photo: Sherry Guppy.

I first started apprenticing with Ruth Howard and Jumblies Theatre at the beginning of December 2012, through Theatre Ontario’s Professional Theatre Training Program. I wanted to work with Jumblies to learn more about the process of engaging communities in the creative process, and also to gain some practical insights about starting a community arts organization.

So far I’ve learned concrete skills related to the production and facilitation of community arts projects, established a growing professional network of artists and collaborators in both southern and northern Ontario, and slowly started carving out my own method of practice by learning from the work of some of the leading practitioners in community arts from across the country.

Two of the projects I’ve been part of so far are the Artfare Essentials Workshop, and Ruth Howard’s micro-residency in North Bay and Nipissing First Nation.

Photo Story: SYiM – Southern Youth in Motion (Toronto)

SYiM (Southern Youth in Motion) is a campaign of North-South Partnership for Children that aims to connect youth from southern Ontario with youth in northern Ontario’s First Nation communities through art, music, videos, etc. We’ve been following SYiM since August 2012 and they’ve accomplished a lot in the past 7 months. Their work continues to impress and inspire us and we can’t wait to see what’s next for them in the coming year. We asked SYiM’s Youth Engagement Coordinator, Lauren Akbar, to contribute regular updates to ArtBridges so we can all follow the journey of this unique and much-needed initiative so check back regularly because we have a feeling that big things are in store for them!

- Cora-Rae Silk, ArtBridges

“Southern Youth in Motion (SYiM) Showcase on December 1, 2012 brought together youth from northern and southern Ontario to share their voices, songs, paintings, drawings, poetry, spoken word and much more – all to spread awareness of First Nations aspirations and challenges. Elder Pauline Shirt facilitated the day, she started by sharing her wisdom and cultural insights with us. She provided us with wonderful traditional teachings and led a smudging ceremony. She made us all see the beauty and goodness of Spirit at the gathering. For southern and northern youth, this was a way to connect to First Nation culture in a safe and welcoming space.

During the day we had several activities taking place:

1) The young people’s fantastic art performances and presentations, where they had the chance to take the stage (some for the first time) and share their art to the whole group. The youth performances sparked emotions, conversations and was the first step to bridging the gap between northern and southern Ontario.

2) Mural art with Michael Cywink, Artist, Muralist, Curator and Author from Manitoulin Island spent the day with us at the SYiM Showcase. He drew an outline of a mural and encouraged the youth to paint freely and feel the emotions from the poems, songs, etc. while they paint. Michael shared his experiences and stories with the youth and also created a positive environment for youth to see art through their own eyes.

3) We had a videographer, Kyle Montague and a photographer, Sherry Prenevost to capture the moments of the SYiM Showcase. They each created a video to share with others the wonderful and inspirational moments of the day, these videos will be launched with the SYiMzine: Showcase Edition.

SYiM is connecting youth from southern Ontario with youth in northern Ontario’s First Nation communities through art: music, videos, etc…
SYiM is hearing youth voices…
SYiM is sharing youth voices with others…
SYiM is spreading awareness of what life is like in northern Ontario…
SYiM is bringing people together, sharing cultures and becoming one…
SYiM is Southern Youth in Motion!

If you are interested in art, music, videos, etc. and would like to get involved with SYiM please contact Lauren Akbar at lauren.akbar@northsouthpartnership.com or connect with SYiM on Facebook here.”

- Lauren Akbar, Youth Engagement Coordinator
SYiM, North South Partnership for Children

All photos courtesy of Sherry Prenevost

To read other ArtBridges’ posts about SYiM, please click here.
See ArtBridges’ Google map for contact info.

For ArtBridges/ToileDesArts sponsorship opportunities: Simon Constam, Sponsorship Director, simon.constam@gmail.com, 905-537-7227
Return to ArtBridges/ToileDesArts homepage

Happy Birthday ArtBridges! Bonne Fête ToileDesArts!

ToileDesArts fête ses quatre ans aujourd’hui! Hourra!
ArtBridges turns four today! Hooray!

Merci beaucoup à tous nos lecteurs et lectrices, contributeurs et contributrices, supporteurs et supportrices, et bien sûr, nos amis et amies!

Thank-you so much –  readers, contributors, community partners, supporters and friends!

photo credit: Uwe Hermann

Friday Morning Coffee: From the Office of ArtBridges/ToileDesArts

Happy New Year community arts partners, friends and blog viewers!

While I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I do make commitments to new activities periodically through the year whenever inspiration strikes!

Inspiration did indeed strike at a few points last week—even in between bouts of a side-splitting cough (no joke, I tore a muscle!), a rerun of Mrs. Doubtfire and hikes up Turkey Roost Road in knee-high snow with my dog jumping up all over me. Nothing like a good Canadian winter to get the creative juices flowing!

Anyhow, one of my new commitments is to write a blog post each Friday that summarizes the activities and new things we learn about here at ArtBridges/ToileDesArts over the week from our community arts friends and partners from across the country and to ask you for your thoughts too!

I talked with my colleagues, Cora and Lisa, about this the other day and they think it’s a great idea—in general, we’d like to post more stories from the field!

So, here we go!:

• This week in the ArtBridges/ToileDesArts office we are picking up where we left off before the holidays. First priorities!: turning on the heat, watering plants and buying coffee and cream. So with coffee in hand…
• Cora is back reaching out to First Nations groups that are doing community arts-based work and asking for organizational profiles to share on our blog. She heard from ArtCirq—a truly amazing arts group up in Igloolik, a communty of about 1500 people. Check out Thursday’s blog.
• We are meeting with VIUU Inc. – our web development team and nailing down the wireframe and navigation for the new ArtBridges/ToileDesArts website we are working on. This is a huge learning curve for us, it’s challenging, but, it will be worth it!
• We posted an ad for a development officer on CharityVillage to help us with setting up fees-for-service/membership fees and the beginnings of an association. Yes, we have to go this route, to supplement revenue.
• We re-hired our fundraiser—as this piece can never afford to rest for an emerging organization.
• We found out that ArtBridges/ToileDesArts will be used in a case study for an OCAD-U Masters Program project this winter!
• We got our 100th daily blog subscriber on Wednesday! (I know, small potatoes—but, you have to celebrate the small stuff too! And we do value our blog subscribers—you! In fact, if you haven’t subscribed, as thousands of readers haven’t, please do! See top right corner of our blog).

How about you? Are you inspired with any new commitments in your community arts work or in art-making this new year? Write in and tell me!: sconnell@artbridges.ca

-Seanna Connell,
Project Director of ArtBridges/ToileDesArts

Seasons Greetings from ArtBridges! / ToileDesArts vous souhaite de joyeuses fêtes!

Seasons Greetings from ArtBridges / ToileDesArts!

To all our friends and community partners, we wish you a creative and joyful time over the holidays! All the best for a happy and healthy new year!

-Seanna Connell Project Director, on behalf of the ArtBridges / ToileDesArts team

ArtBridges / ToileDesArts vous souhaite de joyeuses fêtes!

À tous nos amis et à tous nos partenaires, nous souhaitons un temps des fêtes créatif et joyeux! Nos meilleurs voeux! Nous vous souhaitons une heureuse année en santé!

-Seanna Connell Directrice de projet, de la part de l’équipe de ArtBridges/ToileDesArts

SOMMAIRE: TISSAGE/CONNEXION EN ONTARIO FRANCOPHONE – JUIN À SEPTEMBRE 2012 / SUMMARY: ARTBRIDGING/CONNECTING IN FRANCOPHONE ONTARIO – JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2012

TISSAGE/CONNEXION EN ONTARIO FRANCOPHONE – JUIN À SEPTEMBRE 2012

- J’ai commencé avec 18 contacts pour l’Ontario francophone, dont 5 ressources, 10 organisations, 2 centres d’artistes et 1 festival.
- Depuis le mois de juin, J’ai trouvé et affiché des profiles pour 5 nouveaux contacts: Voix Visuelle, La Catapulte (Club des Mordus), Théâtre Français, Focus Art, et Théâtre Action.
- J’ai rétabli le contact avec 12 de nos partenaires originaux, et j’ai pu mettre à jour les informations, puis raffermir notre désir d’approfondir nos échanges.

J’ai tellement appris de chose au sujet du secteur des arts communautaires en Ontario francophone au cours des derniers quatre mois. Débutant avec 18 contacts reçu d’Alexa ( 5 ressources, 10 organizations,2 centres d’art et 1 festival) j’ai commencé à rejoindre des gens qui n’avaient pas entendu de la ToileDesArts/ArtBridges depuis un bon bout, dans certains cas presque deux ans! Ce que j’ai trouvé à travers ce procès et une variété de réponses et de besoins. Certains de nos ressources, tel que le Réseau Ontario et AGAVF m’ont pointé dans la direction d’événements courants et de nouvelles initiatives dans la communauté. J’ai eu le plaisir de découvrir plusieurs projets, et de contribuer 5 nouveaux profiles au réseau, tel que Voix Visuelle, qui offre des ateliers de Photoshop gratuitement aux jeunes francophones, et “Le Club des Mordus” au théâtre La Catapulte, un programme gratuit pour les ados qui monte deux grandes productions par année. Ces deux-ci sont situés à Ottawa.

J’ai aussi eu la chance d’établir un bon dialogue avec quelques organizations incroyables à Toronto et Ottawa, dont Le Labo, qui continue à offrir des ateliers et des opportunités pour des artistes en arts médiatiques francophones.  Deux projets particulièrement intéressants sont une collaboration avec l’Alliance Française sur une intervention urbaine à venir au printemps 2013, et un échange cinématographique avec des maisons de productions chez nos voisins de l’est au Québec.

De plus, divers événements spectaculaires se sont déroulés cet été en célébration de la francophonie ontarienne, notamment la première Nuit Blanche à Ottawa, et “Le festival en vert et blanc” organisé par MIFO qui a eu lieu au mois de septembre.

Un des plus gros défi pour moi était d’atteindre nos contacts plus éloignés géographiquement de 2010 et 2011. Dans certains cas, des horaires chargés entraient en conflits avec l’établissement d’un contact, en outre du fait que l’été est souvent un temps plus tranquille pour beaucoup d’organisations. Aussi, malgré multiples événements et d’ateliers uniques, il y a toujours un besoin pour des projets abordables plus soutenus et à long terme, en plus d’outils pour mieux connecter avec les coins du nord et de l’ouest de la province.

Le sentiment général de nos partenaires communautaires que j’ai cueilli de ma recherche est un désir de propager leurs travaux. Les gens veulent partager ce qu’ils font avec le plus grand publique possible afin de faire croître l’intérêt dans leur programmes. Ceci à entraîné la ToileDesArts à agir comme forum ou l’on a pu diffuser des annonces de festivaux, des appels aux artistes et quelques entrevues portées sur des activités florissantes dans la province. 

Plus récemment, j’ai été heureuse d’entendre de développements intéressantes dans la région de Cornwall, SDG et Akwesasne. Il y a quelques semaines seulement, la SADC (Société d’aide aux développement des collectivités d’Ontario) a organisé un Sommet des Art, auquel la communauté a été invitée à partager de l’art et d’assister à des discussions, mais le plus important était l’élection d’un nouveaux conseil des arts pour la région. Même que le projet soit encore tout jeune, l’espoir est grand que ceci aidera à la continuation du développement d’une communauté déjà très active, et de fournir des outils et d’opportunités pour la croissance du milieu artistique. J’ai hâte de voir ce qui est à venir!

- Alli Melanson, Assistante de recherche francophone
alli.artbridges@gmail.com

Payaso by Alli Melanson

ARTBRIDGING/CONNECTING IN FRANCOPHONE ONTARIO – JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2012

- I started with 18 contacts for Francophone Ontario, 5 resources, 10 organizations, 2 art centres and 1 festival.
- Since June, I have found and profiled 5 additional organizations: Voix Visuelle, La Catapulte (Club des Mordus), Théâtre Français, Focus Art, Théâtre Action.
- I reestablished contact with 12 of our existing and previously profiled partners, updating contacts, information and letting them know we want to keep getting to know them better.

Over the course of the summer and early fall, I have gotten to know so much more about Francophone Community Arts in Ontario. Starting with 18 contacts initially reached by Alexa (5 resources, 10 organizations, 2 art centres and 1 festival) I began to reconnect with people who hadn’t heard from ArtBridges/ToileDesArts in a while, in some cases in almost two years! What I’ve found through this process is a variety of responses and needs. Starting with resources like Réseau Ontario and AGAVF, I was pointed to upcoming events and new initiatives. I have had the pleasure of discovering several projects, and contributed 5 new profiles to our network, such as Voix Visuelle, which offers free Photoshop workshops to francophone youth, and “Le club des mordus” at Théâtre La Catapulte, a free theatre program for teens that puts on two major productions a year, both located in Ottawa.

I have also had the chance to establish deeper dialogue with some amazing organizations in Toronto and Ottawa, such as Le Labo, which continues to offer opportunities and workshops to digitally-based artists, while delving into some creative artbridging of its own! Collaborating with Alliance Française on an Urban Intervention Project taking place in Spring 2013, and crossing provincial borders in a cinematographic exchange with independent Quebec production houses, this centre is making some great links. In addition, many spectacular cultural events took place over the summer in celebration of francophone Ontario, namely Ottawa’s first ever Nuit Blanche, and “Le festival en vert et blanc”, hosted by MIFO this past September.

Some challenges I faced were in reaching our more geographically remote contacts made in 2010 and 2011. In some cases, charged schedules conflicted with making connections, in addition to the summer being a slower time for a lot of organizations. Also, in spite of several great “one-off” events and workshops, there is a need for more sustained, long-term, and affordable projects as well as tools to better connect with the northern and western corners of the province.

The resonating sentiment I have gathered from this research is a desire for exposure on the part of our community partners. People really want to share what they are doing with the widest audience possible and create interest in their programs. This has resulted in ArtBridges/ToileDesArts providing a forum to share announcements of festivals, calls for submissions and a couple more in-depth looks at blossoming activities in the province.

Most recently, I have been fortunate to tune in to some interesting developments happening in the Cornwall, SDG  and Akwesasne areas. Just a few weeks ago, the CFDC (Community Futures Developement Corporations) hosted an Arts Summit, to which the community was invited to share artworks, attend special guest talks, and most importantly to elect a brand new Arts Council for the region. Though this project is still very young, hopes are high that this will insight further development of an already vibrant arts community and provide greater tools and opportunities for artists to hone their practices. I’m excited to see what happens next!

-Alli Melanson
Francophone Research Assistant
alli.artbridges@gmail.com

Innovative Idea: AFCY’s Visual Mission Statement

AFCY shows its innovative spirit by partnering with Aaron Leighton to create its first illustrated mission statement

TORONTO, ON. (September 5, 2012):

“A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. By extension, an illustration can enhance or even replace a thousand words. Arts for Children and Youth (AFCY) is so pleased to partner with Toronto illustrator Aaron Leighton to create the organization’s first visual mission statement.

“We have been talking about this for such a long time” says Julie Frost, AFCY’s artistic and executive director. “We hope representing our work in visual form will help better communicate what we do and how we do it. This is pioneering step for AFCY – to my knowledge there is no other Toronto arts organization that has translated their work into pictures. We are an organization driven by creativity; it makes perfect sense to me that we represent what we do artfully!”

“It all began when AFCY met with Aaron to see how we could partner. What resulted was that we both saw art making as a way to give back to communities in Toronto. It was that magical mix of good timing and meeting the right illustrator. His professional practice hinges on collaboration and building community through the arts, so we are really fortunate to have him on board for this project,” says Frost.

“We updated our logo and website in 2008. Creating a new visual mission statement is the organization’s push to a more unified look to all of our marketing materials and a means to showcase our high capacity to work creatively and collaboratively,” says Frost.

Leighton’s whimsical style fits the organization’s current look and brand identity. He developed a digital illustration so that we can adapt it to all the marketing and communications materials we produce, such as our brochures and newsletters and on our website and even perhaps on our social media pages.

“We had so much in common with what Aaron was doing for artists. Our goals aligned so well. At AFCY, our motto is to Cultivate Creativity, Engage Community. And what Aaron is doing with the artist collective, the Nook, is very similar, ” said Frost.

The new logo and website look reflects AFCY’s professional personality, and appeals to the organization’s audience.

This change coincides with AFCY’s exciting new 2012-13 programming.”

-posted with permission from Julie Frost, Executive & Artistic Director, AFCY

Read ArtBridges’ profile on Arts for Children and Youth (AFCY) here.
Please see ArtBridges’ Google Map for contact  information.

End of summer update -ArtBridges / ToileDesArts

photo by naserke

Bonjour à tous!
La fin de l’été approche à grand pas, et ici à la ToileDesArts nous avons hâte de voir ce que nous réserve l’automne! Après un été reposant et régénérateur, nous sommes de retour à pleine force pour continuer à souligner les dévéloppements en arts communautaires dans tout le pays, et d’approfondir d’avantages les liens entre organisations, resources, programmes et projets qui facilitent l’accès aux arts au Canada. Mettons-nous au travail!

-Alli Melanson
Assistante de recherche francophone

Soon enough, the summer heat will be making way for the fall breeze and we here at ArtBridges/ToileDesArts can’t wait! While we’ve taken some time off and had a bit of time to relax in summer slumbers,  we’re rejuvenated and now back in the office–ready to bring you more stories and developments in the Community Arts field in Canada! Please be patient…

We’re most excited and looking forward to be artbridging with you all! So give us a call or send us an email, we’d love to hear about what your Fall schedule looks like for community arts projects, programs, events, workshops, and more.! If we haven’t reached out to you or your community arts initiative yet, please get in touch with us!

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

-Lisa Tran
Social Networking and Communications Assistant

Report: “ArtBridging Ontario” Report

“ArtBridging Ontario” Report: September 2011 – April 2012

By Ania Stypulkowski, ArtBridging Ontario Coordinator

“A total of 97 profiles have been posted about Ontario-based community arts initiatives on the ArtBridges/ToileDesArts network since the network started in May 2009. Since starting my p/t position as ArtBridging Ontario Coordinator in September 2011, we have made 45 new community partners based in Ontario. These include community-engaged arts initiatives in inner-city, rural, francophone, northern and indigenous communities.

We collaborated with community arts initiatives and created profiles about organizations, programs, projects and resources that included a range of models and mandates. Some interesting examples were:

• Dixon Hall which offers a range of arts programs from subsidized music classes to a seniors health and wellness program that integrates arts
• North York Community House Digital Storytelling Program works with newcomers and community members from North York and uses storytelling as a way to empower participants and raise awareness about social issues
• ArtsCan circle, based in Newmarket, uses the arts to improve the self-esteem of Indigenous youth
• Sioux Lookout Creative Arts Circle serves artists in Northwestern Ontario, and provides promotion and exhibition opportunities
• Ottawa Inner City Ministries uses art to engage and empower at-risk homeless youth
• SuiteLife Arts for Youth provides the cost of transportation and serves lunch to youth participants so that they can take part in the performing arts workshops

We found community arts initiatives by word of mouth, online searches, and previous research. One contact sometimes led us to the next. The ArtBridges/ToileDesArts network allows information to be spread about the great things that these community- engaged arts programs, projects, organizations, services, and resources do for Ontario communities.

In addition to creating the profiles, we created 37 new posts that served to update the ArtBridges network about goings-on in the field across Ontario and Canada. This was done by asking our community partners to contribute information about their symposiums, toolkits, events, workshops, stories, videos, program updates, announcements and contests.  Our community partners also routinely sent us information to share on our Canada-wide network in order to reach out to others. We call this “ArtBridging: Creating networks and collaborations between community arts projects / programs / organizations / resources with the outcome being positive benefits to communities.” When others see value in our network, they too contribute.

I introduced ArtBridges to the Toronto art and music scene and got an article written about ArtBridges/ToileDesArts in Spontaneous Combustion Magazine, which is created and run by recently graduated Ontario Art College of Design University (OCADU) Art and Music students. This was meant to show how ArtBridges can serve emerging artists and those who would like to work or volunteer in community arts in their area.

When contacting new initiatives, I made a serious effort to increase the amount of profiles that we had outside of Toronto. In 2012, we collected more information about Ottawa, and because I spoke to the Arts Council of Windsor I was connected with arts in rural Ontario and in Windsor.  I had the pleasure of having a presentation by a Canadian Artists’ Representation/ le Front des artistes Canadians (CARFAC) representative to my thesis class at OCADU and I used the knowledge I learned at the presentation to write a post about CARFAC from my perspective as an art student and an emerging artist.

The instances of “ArtBridging” demonstrate our consistent involvement with the initiatives that we connect with. For example, after having a few phone conversations with the founder of Six Ah Wi and posting a profile about their initiative, the founder asked if we could help him find Board Members. This is the sort of thing we often do.”

 - Ania Stypulkowski, ArtBridging Ontario Coordinator

ArtBridges Summer Newsletter / Infolettre d’été de la ToileDesArts

If you haven’t been receiving our newsletters yet, you can view them here in.pdf format: ArtBridges Summer Newsletter! / Infolettre d’été de la ToileDesArts If you’d like to subscribe to future newsletters from ArtBridges / ToileDesArts, click here!
Si vous ne avez pas reçu notre bulletin, vous pouvez le visionner en format pdf en cliquant ici: Infolettre d’été de la ToileDesArts! / ArtBridges Summer Newsletter! Si vous souhaitez vous abonner pour recevoir les prochains bulletins, cliquez ici!

For a look back on our past newsletters, please click on the following links for .pdfs:

English:
ArtBridges November 2011 Newsletter!
ArtBridges December 2011 Newsletter!
ArtBridges January 2012 Newsletter!
ArtBridges February 2012 Newsletter!

Francais:
Le bulletin de ToileDesArts: novembre 2011!
Le bulletin de ToileDesArts: decembre 2011!
Le bulletin de ToileDesArts: janvier 2012!
Le bulletin de ToileDesArts : février 2012!