2nd Annual ‘A Show’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2nd Annual A Show celebrates the work of emerging artists and collectives from across the city

CONTACT:
Platform A: Liz Forsberg | liz@artstarts.net | 416-953-0981
Toronto Arts Council: Kerry Swanson | kerry@torontoartscouncil.org| 416 392 6802 x209

June 11th, 2015

TORONTO – Platform A partner organizations Arts for Children and Youth, Art Starts, Jumblies Theatre, and SKETCH and CUE are proud to present the artistic work resulting from 48 grants made possible through City Council’s increased investment to the Toronto Arts Council. The A Show exhibition takes place Thursday, June 18th at SKETCH’s Creative Hub in Artscape Youngplace, and features visual art, live music, literary performances, fashion, video, and community art projects.

The Platform A initiative was launched in 2013 with $1,000 grants awarded to emerging underrepresented, marginalized, and newcomer artists and collectives to develop new projects with professional mentorship and organizational support. A Show features artistic work that engages residents across the city in diverse art forms at a local, grassroots level, and marks the culmination of the second round of funding from the Platform A initiative, which is in its second year of a three-year commitment of over one-million dollars.

“That the Toronto Arts Council has recognized the need to make arts grants more accessible and inclusive to the many diverse artists in our city represents a huge step forward in Toronto’s evolving arts and culture,” says Phyllis Novak, Artistic Director of SKETCH. “A Show is a demonstration of the art that is possible when a major arts institution partners with community-based groups to make funding available on the street-level.”

For a complete list of artists and projects supported, please see: http://platformatoronto.com/micro-grant-recipients-2014-15/

WHO: Platform A
WHAT: A Show
WHEN: Thursday, July 18th, 6 – 11 p.m.
WHERE: SKETCH Creative Hub at Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw St. Lower Level

Platform A is a collaboration between four of Toronto’s leading community arts organizations: Arts for Children and Youth, Art Starts, Jumblies Theatre, and SKETCH with CUE. These organizations have all emerged from grassroots initiatives to become key community builders in Toronto’s arts sector, engaging thousands of children, young people and adults annually through diverse and accessible programming. Each is committed to mentoring and partnering with new practitioners to ensure equitable opportunities for building careers and broadening public experiences in arts and culture. In 2015 $48,000 in funding was disseminated through this initiative. For more information, please visit http://www.platformatoronto.com

About Partner Organizations:

Arts for Children and Youth (AFCY)
Celebrating 20 years, AFCY is an award-winning organization whose mandate is to engage young people living in priority neighbourhoods in high-quality, accessible arts educational programs that are meaningful, relevant and collaboratively developed with community and education partners. AFCY positions arts programs in schools and neighbourhood venues as a means of building community, and empowering marginalized children and youth to reach their full potential as artists and social contributors.
http://www.afcy.ca

Art Starts
Art Starts is an award-winning charity that creates vibrant Toronto neighbourhoods through community-building arts initiatives. They inspire long-term social change in Toronto’s underserved neighbourhoods. Art Starts uses the arts to engage residents, collectively work to overcome challenges and create a shared sense of identity. Their collaborative approach to art-making celebrates communities, nurtures resiliency, cultivates life skills and inspires personal growth.
http://www.artstarts.net

Jumblies Theatre
In operation for over ten years, Jumblies is an inclusive and community-focused inter-disciplinary company offering multi-year residencies, studio training, mentorships, and innovative collaborative projects. Jumblies is an award-winning organization increasingly cited as a pioneering and inspirational example of art that embraces and intertwines aesthetics with social engagement.
http://www.jumbliestheatre.org

SKETCH and CUE
SKETCH is a nationally recognized, award-winning community arts enterprise based in Toronto engaging young people living homeless and on the margins, ages 16-29, coming from across Canada. SKETCH creates equitable opportunities for diverse young people to experience the transformative power of the arts, build leadership in the arts and cultivate environmental and social change through the arts.
http://www.sketch.ca

A collaborative partner of SKETCH, CUE is a radical arts initiative dedicated to supporting new generation artists who live and work on the margins. Since 2008, CUE has disseminated over $220,000 to support the creation of 220 art projects in multiple disciplines.
http://www.cueartprojects.ca

TORONTO ARTS COUNCIL
Toronto Arts Council, an arm’s length body of the City of Toronto, funds artists and arts organizations across the city through its grants programs. In 2013, Toronto City Council approved a funding increase of $4 million to Toronto Arts Council’s grants program.  In 2013, TAC disbursed nearly $14 million in grants to 1014 individuals, collectives, and organizations through its discipline and strategic initiative programs.
http://www.torontoartscouncil.org

JUMBLIES: Micro-grant Updates!

A little update from a Toronto Arts Council – Platform A micro-grants:

Marissa Zinni has begun exploring physical theatre actions and narratives with the Arts4All Players. Workshops have focused on partnered improvisational movement and the effect that specificity and awareness of story detail have on the expressivity of the performer.

Katherine’s two community photo sessions with the Arts4All Players put film and digital cameras into their hands and saw them photograph their neighbourhood, as they see it. Participants also got an introduction to event photography with performance rehearsal photo sessions. The Players are looking forward to documenting Arts4All’s actual upcoming event on June 15th!

JUMBLIES: Another Micro-grant Update

An update from Junyee Wang on her Toronto Arts Council Micro-grant through Platform A!

“Silk is a precious gift from nature. Recognizing the beauty, strength and poetic connections that silk brings, cultures around the world have woven the textile into their history and traditions. Ubiquitous is the fascination about the origins of silk, legends and folktales recount its origin through the ages.

With the assistance of the Community Arts Guild, we conducted two workshops with Japanese and Tamil seniors. We began with telling an old Chinese legend and then painting on silk. Using a variety of techniques, the seniors created silk handkerchiefs and silk-screened canvas boards.”

JUMBLIES: Micro-grantee Exhibition

At The Ground Floor (132 Fort York Blvd) until April 9th, we are continuing to show art work of two Jumblies artists, from their Toronto Arts Council – Platform A Micro-Grants:

Miranda Sharp – The MUSEUM OF FOUND OBJECTS: comics with CityPlace residents.

Mackenzie Konecny – Preview of PAPER CONNECTIONS

Open times: Tuesday and Thursday (April 7 and 9), 2:00-6:00pm
and other times on request (info@jumbliestheatre.org)
Come by and have a look!

JUMBLIES: Event Showcasing Micro-grant, Bridging, and Interns

Jumblies is holding a festive gathering on SATURDAY MARCH 28th: sharing results of winter art-making at THE GROUND FLOOR.

The event includes a work-in-progress presentation of three short compositions fusing community and professional music-making, in partnership with Tapestry Opera, with a wonderful array of musicians and artists, including:

Composers: Norbert Palej, Kyle Brenders, Martin van de Ven
Librettists: Liz Rucker, Ange Loft, Ruth Howard, with poetry excerpts by Victoria Freeman
Singers and Musicians: Vania Chan, Adrian Kramer, Rosary Spence, Christine Duncan, Allison Au, William Beauvais, Britta Johnson, Ryan Scott, Martin van de Ven, Arie van de Ven, Melanie Fernandez-Alvarez
Choirs: Making Room and Ground Floor Community
Choirs directed by Shifra Cooper, with Jackie Omstead, Lisa Bozikovic, Jess Shane
Musical Director/ Musical Dramaturge: Michael Mori
Director/ Performance Dramaturge: Liza Balkan

Also Featured:
Storytelling by Joseph Naytowhow
Comics and Art on display by Miranda Sharp, Mackenzie Konecny & Phil Cote
Movement performances by local children, led by Jackie Omstead and Julia Hune-Brown.

2:00 – 4:00 – Open House, Exhibition, Interactive activities and refreshments (at The Ground Floor, 132 Fort York Blvd)
4:00 – 5:00 – Musical Performances (upstairs at 150 Dan Leckie Way)

Reserve for the performance as seating is limited.
Exhibition – FREE
Performance – PWYC (suggested $5-$20)
Contact and reservations: info@jumbliestheatre.org

This event will also open our Touching Ground Exhibition, featuring comics by Miranda, art-in-progress by Mackenzie and other art-work from Winter Art-Making. The exhibition closes on April 10th. Call or email for open times.

The musical explorations are part of our Jumblies At Large initiative, funded by the Metcalf Foundation’s Creative Strategies Incubator Program, Toronto Arts Council’s Platform A Project and Canada Council for the Arts Music ACCP. Jumblies’ work is also supported by the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and others funders.

JUMBLIES: Micro-grant Update Part I

Comics at the Ground Floor

Hello! Miranda from Jumblies here. For the past month I’ve been leading a group of community members in making comics at the Ground Floor as part of my TAC Platform A microgrant. We’ve been talking about the strange and mysterious things that can be found in our neighbourhood, writing and illustrating stories both real and bizarre, and creating our own little Museum of Found Objects. It’s amazing to see all the different ideas that people come up with – I couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s gone!

JUMBLIES: Past Micro-grant Recipient News

We are delighted to announce our colleague and last year micro-grant recipient Faten Toubasi’s Window Show exhibition “Palestinian Diaries”. An opening reception will be held next Friday Jan, 23 from 6:00 – 8:00pm at A Space Gallery. The show will be up until March 14.

Faten Toubasi is a visual artist and community arts instructor. Toubasi produces artwork that is politically engaged, drawing from current events to bring awareness of the struggles that are ongoing in her homeland of Palestine. She explores the symbols of life, economy, resistance, and concepts of displacement through her art. Toubasi’s current four part project Palestinian Diaries focuses on the suffering of the people of Gaza, and offers narratives not found in mainstream media. The themes she explores are common to all people – freedom, justice, community, and expression.

Toubasi was born in Jerusalem, completed her MFA in Drawing and Painting in Saint Petersburg Russia, and currently lives in Toronto. Working in printmaking, painting, drawing, and embroidery, she is also the recipient of a Platform A, TAC micro-grant with Jumblies Theatre. She has served as a Board member at A Space Gallery, and is an active instructor at Arts Etobicoke. In 2014 she was the keynote speaker and workshop leader at the Rebuilding Alliance event in San Mateo California.

image credit: Demolished, lino print on paper, 2014

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Palestinian Diaries
Faten Toubasi
January 23, 2015 – March 14, 2015
Opening Reception: Friday, January 23rd from 6-8pm    

Faten Toubasi is a visual artist and community arts instructor. Toubasi produces artwork that is politically engaged, drawing from current events to bring awareness of the struggles that are ongoing in her homeland of Palestine. She explores the symbols of life, economy, resistance, and concepts of displacement through her art. Toubasi’s current four part project Palestinian Diaries focuses on the suffering of the people of Gaza, and offers narratives not found in mainstream media. The themes she explores are common to all people – freedom, justice, community, and expression.

The first print in the series is Resistance Through Hunger which engages the hunger strike held in 2012 when Palestinian prisoners demanded basic rights while in detention. Uprooted Olives, the second print in the series illustrates how Palestinians are deprived of their main source of income as land is confiscated for settlements. Thirdly, Demolished addresses the the ways that everyday life under occupation is diminished. Toubasi was in Ramallah during the recent war, and created the final print in the series War on Gaza 2014 which highlights the devastation that will take years to rebuild.

Toubasi was born in Jerusalem, completed her MFA in Drawing and Painting in Saint Petersburg Russia, and currently lives in Toronto. Working in printmaking, painting, drawing, and embroidery, she is also the recipient of a Platform A, TAC micro-grant with Jumblies Theatre. She has served as a Board member at A Space Gallery, and is an active instructor at Arts Etobicoke. In 2014 she was the keynote speaker and workshop leader at the Rebuilding Alliance event in San Mateo California.

 

CUE: Recap of Fall 2013 Micro-Grants

In partnership with Platform A, CUE’s Fall 2013 micro-grant cycle supported a total of 22 artists. Throughout the development and production process CUE artists achieved many successes. Artist Jesi the Elder not only finished her animation entitled Blossom, but also took part in CUE’s first ever 2-week residency program, where she gained access to SKETCH’s ceramics studio and completed a series of abstract ceramics mugs. Some of these pieces were exhibited at Jesi’s solo show at Xpace gallery in 2014.

– Jesi the elder

Artist Heather Fulton completed an experimental photography project, went on to sit on CUE’s grant review team, and later become one of the lead organizers for CUE’s 2014 group exhibition, Margin of Eras.

– Heather Fulton

 

Many other artists realized similar leaps and bounds in their careers and practices, selling work, securing other grants, and gaining public exposure.

With support and partnership from Platform A, CUE aims to not only provide accessible arts funding, but also offer employment opportunities and help open up other avenues for emerging artists in developing their creative careers.

JUMBLIES: More Recipient News!

Exciting news from another of Jumblies Toronto Arts Council Micro-Grantees from last year – Tamar Swartz. Her latest creative project has been accepted to be developed during an artist residency in Budapest next year. She’s launched and Indiegogo campaign in support of this project.

– MORE –

JUMBLIES: Micro-grant Recipient Album Release

Y Josephine received a Toronto Arts Council Micro-Grant last year, though Platform A and Jumblies. Now she and Ama Kuda are releasing the CD. Congratulations  to them!

– MORE INFO –

Photos by Sonia Blayde