For the second year in a row, North York Arts is partnering with local organizations and facilitators to run Second Act – an ESL theatre program for youth. Second Act provides a series of free theatre-focused workshops for youth to feel more comfortable and confident speaking English.

Juan Poveda, a newcomer from Colombia and a student in the Social Service Worker program at Seneca, is excited to bring his passion for service into his role as coordinator for the program.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Juan Poveda, I was born in Colombia and I came to Canada two years ago. I am studying social service work at Seneca College and I am very passionate about service.

In regards to Second Act, what are you looking forward too?

I am looking forward to helping people, to giving newcomers like me the opportunity to improve their English and their skills through arts. I find the arts to be a very powerful and safe space for people to explore the city and to explore themselves.  

How do you define service and why do you see service as an art?

To me, service is a combination of a lot of skills, but mainly it is to put all of your accumulated experience in front of another person for them to take what is helpful for them. That’s what service is to me.

I see service as an art in every single way because it involves a lot of arts, like the art of listening, the art of conversation, of being willing to be vulnerable. There are a lot of opportunities to use other kinds of arts like more traditional understanding of arts such as dance, theatre, writing, painting, etc. All of those arts are tools for people to explore themselves and to get to know themselves better.

Why is it important to for the newcomer community to have access to arts and culture programming?

I feel like arts are an important transformation tool to improve society and reduce inequality. When you’re a newcomer, you experience a lot of shocks; the culture shock first but then you have to overcome any other obstacles that are there in society. Through arts programs, you can get to know other people which will help you to overcome these barriers because you’re going learn that you are not alone. Also, arts programs provide a safe space to talk about things and improve your English.

North York Arts (NYA) is pleased to announce that four new members have been appointed to the Board of Directors. NYA has already seen tremendous growth in their programs, operations, and organizational presence since 2011. The new leadership will complement the existing members expertise and will support NYA to further achieve its strategic goals both now and in the future.

“We are thrilled to welcome these new members to NYA,” says Kristopher Dell, Chair, Board of Directors. “Their expertise and passion for the arts will be a meaningful addition to our team as we plan for new arts programming opportunities and more community engagement.”

The new members will accompany the current Board of Directors who are cultural, business and community leaders from across the city, with expertise in finance, governance, marketing, programming and fundraising: Joe Borowiec, Kristopher Dell, Yonni Fushman, Jason Ho, Millean Kung, Afarin Mansouri, David Oliver, Diana Panagiotopoulos, Kathleen Sloan and Nina Zaslavsky.

Joining the NYA Board are the following new members:

•   Umair Jaffar, who has over 17 years experience in the arts sector. Umair is the founder of the Institute for Preservation of Arts & Culture (IPAC) in Pakistan and, since migrating to Canada in 2014, he has worked in senior roles at major cultural organizations such as the Aga Khan Museum and Harbourfront Centre.
•   Kirsten Kamper is a dedicated fundraising and operations professional, passionate about the social and financial impact of arts and culture. She has worked for over 18 years in the non-profit sector, currently as Vice President, Operations and Campaign with the Royal Ontario Museum Governors.
•   Susan Karnay is an entertainment lawyer with over 20 years of experience in the Canadian cultural industries. A long-time North York resident and arts enthusiast, she currently sits on the Board of Directors of Women in Film & Television and is the co-founder of Bob Lake Productions.
•   Bill Stephenson is a senior finance professional who assists clients who are undergoing transition to solve problems, improve processes and systems, implement internal controls, and execute and transfer knowledge. Bill believes that a finance professional should serve as a business partner who helps create value and drive strategy.

The Board will continue to provide leadership and strategic oversight to carry out NYA’s purpose as one of Toronto’s six Local Arts Service Organizations (LASOs), with the mission to collaborate with artists, arts organizations, and partners to develop, strengthen, and promote cultural programming and initiatives for North York communities.

Photo Credit: Kayla Wondergem

North York Arts is piloting a new initiative called “Evolve! Performing Arts Program.” The program provides new generation and diverse theatre and dance artists with the opportunity to develop their work during the creative incubation phase using high-quality, professional theatre space, with minimal costs.

“Evolve! is a response to gaps in resources for performing artists in Toronto who are still in the developmental stages of their work,” said Lila Karim, Executive Director of North York Arts. “The goal of the program is to help support the capacity of the theatre and dance community.”

The program will take place at the Toronto Centre for the Arts (TCA), a major theatre facility located in North York that is part of Civic Theatres Toronto. Specifically, Evolve! will be held in the Studio Theatre, a “black box” style 180-seat theatre equipped with professional lighting and sound systems. This is made possible thanks to the long-standing partnership between North York Arts and the TCA, as well as their shared vision to work collaboratively to bring art and community together in North York.

North York Arts has four groups who are participating during their pilot year, and the plan for the future is to have a juried selection process.

The first group to participate is Cinematoscape – a local multi-disciplinary arts company that focuses on projects for the screen and stage. Simeon Taole, one of Cinematoscape’s founders, says his participation in Evolve! is “like a concert pianist having an opportunity to practice on a piano that’s actually in tune.” He says, “as a theatre artist, being able to workshop the play where you would actually perform is fantastic.”

The other participating artists and arts groups include Victoria Mata, dancer and choreographer;  Dance Immersion, a not-for-profit organization that produces, promotes and supports dancers and dances of the African Diaspora; and Possibilities of Dialogue, an exchange of energy and awareness by dance artists Marielis Garcia and David Norsworthy.

North York Arts is thrilled to be partnering with another visual artist this fall to showcase their work to the North York community. The show is titled Rhythms of the Mind – Aesthetic Self Reflection by Chinese Calligraphy artist, Katherina Kwan.

Katherina Kwan, an accountant originating from Hong Kong, is a passionate calligraphy artist that wants to make the art form more accessible. Her exhibition pushes viewers to look past language and cultural barriers.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Katherina Kwan. I immigrated from Hong Kong in December 1990. Chinese Calligraphy is like “living” art for me. I have learned over so many years and I have truly discovered the joys of calligraphy. I found that it is a freedom to express myself. I started to have exhibitions to share my joys with people and to show that the art is so lovely. That drives me to keep working on the calligraphy almost every week.

How and why did you get involved with Chinese Calligraphy?

When I was a teenager, I went on a trip with my family. We were with a touring company and two of the members were a retired couple. The old man and woman taught in primary schools, but they loved the arts. They taught me about the culture, the arts and a lot of philosophy about Confucius (a Chinese teacher and philosopher). When I got home, we kept writing letters to each other. Close to my graduation, they mailed me a handmade bookmark. The front side was a painting and the backside was calligraphy writing. I loved the writing, I said “wow writing can be so beautiful”. At that time, I started finding teachers to teach me how to write proper calligraphy and then I learned calligraphy in Hong Kong.

Why is it important to engage communities outside the Chinese community with calligraphy?

People who don’t know Chinese always have questions like, “I don’t have the cultural background, I cannot understand what [Chinese Calligraphy] is.” This is something that people struggle with. But my thinking is different – Chinese Calligraphy is like music. I don’t know Italian, I don’t know French, but when an Italian or French singer sings a song, I can feel their mood and emotions. I can enjoy the sound. I don’t know the background and I don’t understand a lot, but I still love it. Chinese Calligraphy is the same. You don’t need to understand Chinese. You can still understand something very pure about the art. That’s what I want to show people.

What does the title Rhythms of the Mind symbolize?

It’s an Asian philosophy about life. The Chinese title means “No Shape, Big Picture.” There is a bigger scenario beyond the shapes you see. Don’t rely just on the shapes to make meaning. That is the “rhythm” I refer to in the English title. The rhythm is not some planned construct, but an instinctual expression. Each stroke of the brush represents my most raw feelings, and from these feelings I illustrate meaning.

As Katherina’s nephew puts it: “You know how to see a picture as a physical thing whereas [Katherina] is trying to paint a concept, and a concept is intangible.”

Rhythm of the Mind will be showcased in the Toronto Centre for the Arts from September 18, 2018 to October 2, 2018. To find more information click here

Simeon Taole and Danielle Ungara are the founders of Cinematoscape, a multi-disciplinary arts company based in Toronto. The organization excels in visual storytelling with a focus on projects for the screen and stage.

Danielle and Simeon are excited to be participating in North York Arts’ pilot program called “The Incubator”. The Incubator is a residency program that aims to respond to gaps in resources for Toronto-based artists. The program gives theatre and dance artists accessible professional theatre space and services to develop their work.

Tell me about yourselves and Cinematoscape.

S: I’m a writer, actor and director working and based here in North York. I have worked in theatre, film and television and I co-founded Cinematoscape.

D: I’m a producer with Cinematoscape. The easiest way to remember our name is cinema-to-escape. When we thought about developing our company we wanted to look for opportunities to develop our own projects, and we are proud to be North York based. Currently, we have an award-winning production company where we do film and stage.

Can you elaborate on the Cinematoscape creative process?

S: We believe in the power of story; it’s key to everything that we do. We look for things that interest us and see how we can explore them. I tend to write about personal experiences and reflect on the past while also trying to imagine the future. We try to find things in the world and within ourselves that spark interest and then take that idea from there.

D: Once we have an idea of what we want to develop, Simeon will start writing; honing characters, plot and research. Then we see what we can do with it on the screen or the stage. With our most recent script, we are excited to continue to develop it and see how it grows.

What are you looking forward to in regards to the Incubator?

S: So looking forward to that! I’ve spent quite some time working on this script for the stage. When you spend so much time in front of a computer, just typing away, it’s all in your head. I’m looking forward to workshopping the play, bringing other actors in, getting the text on its feet, and exploring the story to see what new ideas come from collaborating with other artists.

D: It gives us an opportunity to explore what really works in the atmosphere that it would be produced in. So from a production lense we can start to imagine what the score looks like and what the set design looks like. It will give us that unique opportunity that we haven’t done prior.

Why is it important that artists have accessible high quality space?

S: I think it’s important because as an artist you get to explore the work in a space that you would hope your final product would be in. I’ll use this analogy – It’s like a concert pianist having an opportunity to practice on a piano that’s actually in tune! If you’re a theatre artist, being able to workshop the play where you would actually perform is fantastic!

D: I think it gives us an opportunity to keep work that we’re developing in North York. This is a growing community and more accessible space for artists means more accessible spaces for audiences. The more opportunities we have to support creating arts, means that people will have more options to attend the arts. It’s sort of a win for everyone.  

The Incubator will be held at the Toronto Centre for the Arts Studio Theatre. For more information visit: www.northyorkarts.org/programs. Learn more about Cinematoscape at http://cinematoscape.com/

As Toronto continues to heal after the terrible Yonge St. incident, we are seeing many initiatives and acts of support that are helping inspire and unite the community.

Recently, quilter Berene Campbell led an installation piece called the “Toronto Love Project.” Located in the North York Centre, The Toronto Love Project is comprised of 4″ by 22ft colourful banners with messages of love, made by quilters around the world.

In an interview with Berene, she talks about her decision to start the Toronto Love Project and reminds us of the incredible power of community collaboration.

Tell me a bit about yourself and your artwork.

I am South African, and have lived in Dubai, England, and in Canada for 25 years. I am a graphic designer and a quilter. I teach quilting, make quilts, design patterns and co-ordinate collaborative projects within the quilting community.

Your community projects have been so Impactful around the world. Can you tell me a bit about this and your decision to start the Toronto Love Project?

My first community project was small. I organized a quilt for a friend who had brain cancer. I invited his friends – big hockey guys – to embroider a message on fabric, which was made into a quilt. They’d never threaded a needle, but embraced the process. It was very moving.

In 2013 the Boston bombing occurred, and I felt upset. I decided to make peace and love flags. My local Vancouver quilt guild joined in my project called “To Boston with Love”. We posted it on social media, and within 6 weeks we had almost 2,000 flags from around the world. They were hung in the Museum of Fine Arts – it was amazing! I learned that doing something positive not only makes you feel better, but it makes those participating feel better too. Everyone seeing that energy feels better.

When the Toronto van attack happened, it was so shocking. I felt that this is my town, and I wanted to help the city heal. Again, I wanted to enable people to participate in doing something that would make them feel better. And for the community that receives the gift of the installation, when they walk into that space – they will be uplifted. It’ll be beautiful.

What is the significance behind the hearts in Toronto Love?

I didn’t know North York area, so my husband, Cosmo, and I came up here to look at spaces for the project. As we were walking, Cosmo noticed that just south of Mel Lastman Square there are little bronze hearts embedded into the sidewalk. The fact that they were scattered around where the tragedy occurred seemed so poignant that I just couldn’t ignore them. I designed some heart cards for messages from the community, which hang from the banners.

What role do you think art can play in the healing?

As a person who struggles with anxiety, I find that being creative is helpful, and collaborating with other people prevents you feeling isolated, and makes us part of a bigger picture. I could make all those banners myself and it wouldn’t be as powerful as it if they were made by a community. If you give people a plan to be a part of something good, they jump on board. Collaborative energy is a very powerful thing.

North York Arts would like to thank all who have contributed to this project in support of our community.

North York Arts is excited to have two new summer staff members! They came to us through our internship program which we offer to students looking to enhance their career and gain school credit with practical experience.

Akshata is studying arts administration at Humber College, she will be working as the Event and Sponsorship Assistant. She looks forward to growing her insights through impactful arts and cultural works at North York Arts and gaining a complete understanding of various cultural sectoral needs in present day and in the future.

Tell me a bit about yourself and who you are as an artist

My name is Akashta and I am a newcomer to Canada; I came from India. I did my studies in visual arts and I did my major in painting.  Since my graduation, I have been working on art projects that engage communities through large art installations. I had my first solo exhibition in the UK in 2016 where I put around 1500 paper boats on display as a part of an art installation for newcomers, immigrants and refugees affected by crisis across the globe. I recently had a show as part of a project at the Coldstream Fine Arts gallery in Toronto. It was very similar to what I did in the UK two years back, with 700 paper red boats put across the gallery. That’s my artistic process and journey.

Where does your passion for the arts come from?

I remember as a child I was always drawn to creative activities. I loved painting and enjoyed drawing. Since then, I’ve been drawn towards the arts and this helped me decide to make it my career path. I think with respect to visual arts, my art practice is something where I like to involve the audience into the art and not just let the audience be a viewer from a distance. That is what drives me towards art.

Why did you decide to work in the Arts and Culture Sector

I think the arts and culture sector is one of the most sensitive sectors and, with today’s new technology and complications around the globe, the sector is needed and necessary! I think art is one thing that brings people together, that brings humanity together. The larger reason for being in art is to bring peace through art.

What excites you about interning at North York Arts?

I think it’s the space, the people, the projects, and the activities that they have lined up. I am interested in working with them and growing with them as a Local Arts Service Organization. I think there is a lot to learn about how an organization works at an administrative level and understanding their strategic plans.