Legacy Collective, a North York-based senior engagement initiative, found inspiration in Arpilleras of Chile and other Latin American textiles, and the results were extraordinary. The artwork, showcased in March at The North York Community House, told the important personal stories 20 Latin American Women.

Partnered with North York Arts and Neighbourhood Arts Network, Legacy Collective celebrates creativity and wisdom through peer-to- peer learning, storytelling, and art-making. The members, which are made up of individuals with diverse backgrounds and languages, participate in activities that seek to break down barriers of social isolation and depression by using the arts as a tool to foster a network of community support.

Over the past several months, the participants worked alongside artists Paola Gomez and Dana Prieto to tell their stories and explore themes of identity using textiles. According to Gomez, “[We] were particularly interested in creating space for senior women to share their wisdom and to feel pride for their latinx identity as part of the diaspora living in Toronto”.

As an extension of the project, the collective is also participating in the city-wide initiative My City My Six. This participatory public art project asks Torontonians of all ages and backgrounds to share something essential about themselves in six words. Funded by The City of Toronto, My City My Six will culminate in a public exhibition in the fall of 2017 to Celebrate Canada’s 150th.

After such a successful program, we’re looking forward to more Legacy Collective initiatives. With the generosity of the Government of Ontario, members of the collective will continue to participate in workshops lead by emerging and newcomer artists across Toronto.

Photo credit to Alex Usquiano ( www.alexusquiano.com)

BIOGRAPHY

I have decided to create a world where everything is about music and people two things I love

Benjamin de Graaf has executed over a 300+ successful events ranging from weddings, corporate leadership series, fundraisers and community events through his DJ business. He is an aspiring DJ, husband, father, sports fanatic and creator of a music and leadership program that uses the arts to make learning fun for kids called The Love

Music Initiative – with a focus on DJing, drumming, dance and spoken word.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Music has always been an art form that I have grown to love and am very passionate about. Seeing how music touched people at events I produced is where my desire to DJ grew. Growing up I couldn’t even play a recorder but took DJ lessons and the rest is history. Within 8 years I have gone from practicing in my den nightly to my biggest show last December was 800 people!

“What’s my sound?
When I mix I am looking to create a night musically with bounce, musical surprises and leave people tapping their feet on the way out- every night is fresh I don’t use pre-set playlists. DJ’ing to me is like a painter with a fresh canvas. The songs I select are like my paintbrush and the canvas is the dance floor!”

My passion for music also led me to create an alternative education based and TDSB approved program called The Love Music Initiative. It’s a program that we use to empower kids, youth and adults by using urban music, hip hop/pop culture to make learning fun for kids. Our end game is to help kids have a greater sense of self identity, self regulation, self expression and self awareness. We use music as a tool to tackle common issues that youth face such as school disenfranchisement and help them to get better connected to self and awakening their mind to the possibilities that they have in their lives.

We perform workshops focused in small class settings and also big assemblies.

In interacting with youth we have found that music, sports and pop culture are things that grab their attention so by using these platforms it gives us an in to have deeper conversations with youth about issues of race, social injustice and everyday issues that youth face

Benjamin can be reached at optraining@hotmail.com for more info or workshop availability.

Biography

Razak Pirani is an emerging tabla player and artist in Toronto who has studied the North Indian classical percussion instrument under master Ritesh Das for the last eight years. In 2011, Razak joined the Toronto Tabla Ensemble as an apprentice and over the years has become one of the Ensemble’s principal performers. He is now responsible for directing Ensemble rehearsals before concerts and mentoring apprentices. Razak has taught the tabla for the last four years training over 40 students at beginner to intermediate levels and helping develop curricula and formal examinations for the Toronto Tabla Ensemble academy. Having completed his B.Sc. at the University of Toronto, Razak is now actively pursuing the arts as a tabla performer and teacher with the Ensemble and through other independent projects.

Over the next year, Razak will continue his leadership role with the Toronto Tabla Ensemble through their concerts, recordings, and educational activities. He will feature as a performer in the collaborative concert between the Ensemble and Japanese Taiko group Nagata Shachu on April 15 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts presented in partnership with North York Arts. He will also perform in the Ensemble’s collaboration with modern dance group, Kaeja d’Dance, and in their album release concert, both to be presented at the Harbourfront Centre in 2017. Razak will be involved not only as a musician, but in the composition and production of the Toronto Tabla Ensemble’s upcoming album, Bhumika, scheduled for release in 2017.

Razak has pursued projects as a tabla soloist, accompanist, and composer through collaborative works presented at venues including Harbourfront Centre and Aga Khan Museum. This year, Razak is working on a collaboration with Persian Traditional musicians Ostaad Javad Bathaie and Mr. Ehsan Ghaffari, masters of their respective instruments Santur and Tar. They are planning to present a full concert as a trio in spring 2017. This year Razak also collaborated with choral artist, Hussein Janmohamed, and his recently established Awaaz Ensemble, contributing to the composition of a choral piece incorporating elements of the North Indian rhythmic system.

Artist Statement

The tabla is an incredible instrument steeped in thousands of years of history and culture. By studying and performing the tabla, I have learned a lot about my heritage and about myself as a person. It is important to me that this tradition be passed on to the next generation of Canadians and I am honoured to be able to contribute to this process through my role with the Toronto Tabla Ensemble. I have been active in writing grants for the Ensemble’s concerts and recordings, helping with fundraising drives to support the Ensemble’s Centre, and developing youth workshops and retreats to foster artistic and community development.

Newcomer Toronto based artist Mao Correa’s unique exhibition will be on display at the Toronto Centre for the Arts from February 9th until February 25th.

Solitary Portraits exhibition’s opening reception and artist-led tour will be held on Thursday, February 9th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Supported by North York Arts, Neighborhood Arts Network, and RBC Arts Access Fund, SOLITARY PORTRAITS is the result of a profound artist’s reflection on the immanence of the absence in his immigration process to Canada.
SOLITARY PORTRAITS, is the most extensive solo exhibition presented by Mao Correasince his arrival in Canada in 2013. The exhibition reflects MAO CORREA’s art-action of fusing artistic expression with environmental consciousness; done by creating unique pictorial pieces made exclusively from recycled and recovered materials.
For MAO CORREA, SOLITARY PORTRAITS “…is the expression of how absence, it is a vital feeling, and is inseparably attached to our being as immigrants … for me, this series reflects the existential displacement from the white to the black, from the presence of all colours to the nothingness of light, from the exuberance of the tropics to the timidity of the winter… SOLITARY PORTRAITS is definitely a confused cry between nostalgias and presents full of senses.”

For more images, more information, and RSVP for the opening reception, please contact:
Adriana Salazar 647-863-0408 / maoart2013@gmail.com
www.maocorrea.com

BIO

Sean Cisterna is a feature film and television director. He directed and produced the 2011 road trip comedy Moon Point, which played the international festival circuit to great success, winning several awards. In 2013, the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival supported his feature documentary, 30 Ghosts, which is currently available via the National Film Board of Canada.

Sean’s 2015 project Full Out, starring Ana Golja and the iconic Jennifer Beals (Flashdance), is a feature based on the true story of gymnast Ariana Berlin. The film debuted at the top of the Canadian ratings when it debuted, aired on close to 200 US television stations leading into the Summer Olympics, and is now available worldwide on Netflix.

Sean’s latest feature film, Kiss and Cry, is a romantic drama based on the true story of Carley Allison, an up-and-coming figure skater and singer who finds love just as she is diagnosed with a rare 1 in 3.5 billion form of cancer. The film stars Sarah Fisher, Luke Bilyk, and celebrated singer Chantal Kreviazuk.

The film’s hometown premiere is at the Toronto Centre for Arts on Saturday, February 4th at 8:00pm.

ARTIST STATEMENT

We went to great lengths to make sure Kiss and Cry was as true to Carley Allison’s story as possible. We shot the movie at The Cricket Club where she trained, at Bayview Glen where she studied, at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre where she was treated, at the Air Canada Centre where she performed for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and at Carley’s actual home, including her bedroom. In fact, Carley is played by Sarah Fisher, her real-life best friend. It’s a truly meaningful production in every possible way.

WEBSITE/SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook @seancisterna

Twitter @seancisterna

Instagram @seancisterna

www.seancisterna.com

Artist Statement:

Correlative action between different groups of people in one community or group of communities is essential to establish identity and culture, which are being interchanged today.

The various nexus that tug at our social connections, which are made up of everyday events, ranging from social to economical to religious to political, etc., create a halo of doubts surrounding customs and traditions. Time governs the sequence of events and the production of culture, while it simultaneously ends their continuation through some conclusive or changeable event, which gives birth to a new matrix of events. The voice which once traveled short distances through various means and the use of carrier pigeons would arrive at its destination only to have been gradually diminished. However, today’s voice has turned up its volume to travel across continents and soar to the satellites in outer space. Contemporary languages are communicated through connection: by understanding one another, the expression: to classify our understanding, and action: which proves our existence.

We wake up every morning to pursue our daily routines which we or others have established. We dress up and have some coffee or any other beverage with breakfast. Some skip breakfast, hop in the car, listen to or read the news and dash off to work or idleness till the end of the day. Will a new invention or addition create a pattern in our lives or diminish in a limited amount of time before luck strikes and it becomes a pattern?! The fun lies in our future deeds.

Short Bio

Hussain Al Ismail is a Saudi artist who devoted himself to express his thoughts, societal issues through arts since 2007. He started from Theatre Club and fine art club in college and had a great opportunity to work as a cartoonist with the university media center. Later, he occupied different positions with private companies in the creative industry. His last occupation was the gallery manager in Desert Designs Gallery in Alkhobar before he moved to Canada in 2015 to study fine arts.

Learn more about Hussain Alismail at: http://hussainalismail.com

On Tuesday, September 13, 2016, North York Arts announced its incorporation and inaugural Board of Directors at the Toronto Arts Foundation Annual General Meeting. The organization celebrates its 5th anniversary of bringing art and community together in North York.

North York Arts was founded as an initiative of the Toronto Arts Foundation in 2011, as part of their vision for a Creative City: Block by Block. North York Arts is one of six Local Arts Service Organizations in the City of Toronto, with an aim to celebrate and foster arts programming outside of the downtown core.

“We are so grateful to the Toronto Arts Foundation for their leadership and support during our incubation phase,” said Lila Karim, Executive Director, North York Arts. “Being a part of the Toronto Arts Foundation allowed us to establish our organization from the ground up, foster new relationships with artists and arts organizations in North York and evolve as a champion and leader in the Toronto arts community.”

“NYA’s accomplishments in these five formative years are impressive: strong partnerships, signature events, engagement with a broad spectrum of artists in North York and now a fully committed Board of Directors. Congratulations! We couldn’t be more proud,” said Claire Hopkinson, Director and CEO, Toronto Arts Foundation. “Kudos to Councillor John Filion who inspired us to launch NYA and to the strong team who have flourished under the leadership of Lila Karim.”

Comprising the North York Arts Board of Directors are cultural, business and community leaders from across the city, with expertise in finance, governance, marketing, programming, and fundraising: Joe Borowiec, Fallon Butler, Kristopher Dell, Councillor John Filion, Yonni Fushman, Christine Harris, Jason Ho, Afarin Mansouri, David Oliver, Diana Panagiotopoulos, Francesca Perez, Kathleen Sloan and Nina Zaslavsky.

“North York Arts has great plans and initiatives for the next phase of growth as an organization. Joining us are new board members that share in our vision for the future of North York Arts, as a place where art and community connect outside the downtown core of Toronto,” said Christine Harris, Chair, Board of Directors. “We look forward to developing more partnerships and opportunities with all of our community stakeholders.”

Celebrating five years of bringing art and community together, North York Arts will showcase local talent in music, dance and film at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, as part of the public closing event of the City of Toronto’s Cultural Hotspot North.

North York Arts 5th Anniversary and Cultural Hotspot North Closing Event
Toronto Centre for the Arts
5040 Yonge Street
October 28th, 2016
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm