Diaspora Dialogues

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Rebecca Fisseha

Brampton Quilters’ Guild

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Contrary to the stereotype, members of the Brampton Quilters’ Guild do not sit around a quilting frame sewing by hand at their monthly meetings. Rather, the 100 current members—grown from 14 at its founding in 1987 to as high as 160 at one time—get inspiration from quilting projects, quilting techniques, colour combinations, patterns, fabrics from guest speakers; browse the Guild’s extensive library; participate in workshops taught by expert quilters; take time to sew many items that are donated to charities; and socialize around food and drink, sharing tips and other information related to a shared love of quilting in all its forms.

There may have been a time when quilters only made bed quilts, but this is no longer true. Now there are a wide range of fabrics, battings, and machines specifically designed for quilting. A dedicated Community Projects committee makes kits to sew the items, stores the items donated throughout the year and organizes the donations of items made by the Guild’s members to various charities at Christmas. To date, they have made children’s cuddle quilts for shelters, placemats for Meals on Wheels, lap quilts for seniors, gift bags and tote bags for the Elizabeth Fry society, pet mats for the Brampton animal shelter and, as part of the perinatal bereavement program at Brampton Civic Hospital, memory quilts for couples or families. On invitation by Fashion Arts teachers, the Guild has also run quilting workshops in Brampton high schools.

Traditionally, quilting was a style of sewing cotton and wool and cutting up pieces of worn out fabrics to create new, three-layered quilts to keep families warm. Today, all items made by Guild members for donation are made from new cottons. The art form has evolved over time so that nowadays, there are many fiber-artists using quilting techniques to make abstract wall-hangings, patchwork and other creative pieces.

Quilting in Canada started as a life necessity of British and American immigrants and is considered an international art form, more than the public might perceive. Quilting traditions exist in Australia, Britain, Europe, Japan and some African countries. As long-term residents may know, the Town of Brampton was first settled by Scottish immigrants and, as such, the majority of the Guild’s membership is of British and European descent who are invested in continuing that cultural heritage.

Every second year the Guild, which is a member of the Brampton Arts Council and the Canadian Quilters’ Association, hosts a Quilt Show. This is when members have the opportunity to showcase quilts and quilted items they have made including large bed-quilts, wall-hangings, post-card sized items, wearable pieces and bags. Some members choose to sell their items, while the majority create items for personal use and are only interested in exhibiting. The next Quilt Show is planned for early May 2015.

Rose Theatre Brampton

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Before Brampton’s Rose Theatre opened in 2006, the only theatre catering to the residents of Brampton was the Heritage Theatre on Main. The arrival of the Rose, its name a nod to Brampton’s past as Canada’s centre of flower-exporting, has made world-class entertainment available to Bramptonians in their own city. With state-of-the-art facilities and broadcast capability, residents have a chance to see entertainment otherwise available only in Toronto or other major cities. This has had a positive ripple effect on local business; although the Rose does not currently offer packages, area restaurants gladly pair meal discounts for theatre ticket-carrying patrons.

A majority of the Rose’s patrons are Brampton residents in the 45+ age range, but the theatre also has youth and family programming intended to instill, from a young age, a lifelong love of the arts and an attitude towards the arts as an integral part of a balanced life. Free outdoor summer programs for children, educational events and Arts Adventures are some examples. Contests are another way through which the Rose keeps audiences engaged throughout the year.Spring Breakers (2013)

When planning each new season, the Rose’s Artistic Programmer Terry Bachtis looks at the previous Fall season, both of what has done well in other markets and what will appeal to the diverse tastes, as represented by feedback from the theatre’s subscribers and overall city demographic, to create a well-rounded season that has a variety of entertainment for everyone. The Rose’s summer theatre series, however, is produced in-house, using local talent. Rock shows, musicals, and and comedy acts have been the Rose’s best-sellers so far. Some big-ticket names that have passed through the Rose are Natalie Cole, Engelbert Humperdink, Rick Springfield, Gino Vinelli, Jann Arden, the Just for Laughs Roadshow, The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, and the Amazing Kreskin.

Art Gallery of Mississauga

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The Art Gallery of Mississauga is a public, not-for-profit art gallery located in the Mississauga Civic Centre, north of Celebration Square. The Gallery is open every day and offers free admission and guided tours. Founded in 1987, the AGM has undergone a recent reanimation that will continue into the future with a vision to try out new programs and reaching new audiences. A major facility expansion in the works is opening a Gallery entrance onto Celebration Square, which will elevate its visibility and put an end to the common misconception that the Gallery is located in the Living Arts Centre. Some of the Gallery’s current exciting initiatives include the Art of Yoga evenings, an exhibition on art and activism featuring the New-Delhi based Sahmat Collective coming this summer; an AGM/Girls on the Run Team in the Mississauga Marathon in May; and Roots and Branches—an educational program in schools funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Art of Yoga

The wealth of non-profits and social services available in the Mississauga area is probably not well reported, as well as the fact that there is a large interest in the arts among its population. An indicator of interest is shown via the organizations in region such as Visual Arts Mississauga, the Mississauga Arts Council, Studio 89, Fair Trade Café and Artademic Resource Centre, creative writing youth collective Ink Movement and Peel-based poetry collective Pages on Fire.

The AGM’s mission begins with a statement that also begins dialogue at the Gallery: Engage. Think. Inspire. Its programming decisions are made with an interest in delving into broader lived experiences that represent diversity in a profound way to reflect the social fabric of the city. The Gallery aims to begin and maintain a conversation with the city. For those that are unfamiliar with art, it wants to pique their curiosity and develop visual literacy—knowing how to approach and look at art. For those who are more familiar with art and would be considered mature viewers, the Gallery aims to keep them challenged and intrigued by the works brought in and/or by how through various activities surrounding the artworks within the gallery work to delve deeper into themes in contemporary art.

A little known aspect of Gallery work is the amount of community engagement that is involved, which can run the gamut from skate parks to community gardens. As much as the Gallery’s work is around displaying aesthetics and technique, it also is aware and active regarding conceptual backing, linking art to social practice and the process and experience of interacting with an artist.

Because the AGM is interested in creating specific kinds of experiences, its Artists-in-Residence don’t always come from Mississauga, as is the case with the current holder of the position, Camille Turner. Turner was chosen because her work is very accessible, making her a great match for a Gallery that believes the public shouldn’t be required to be art savvy in order to enjoy art.

One of the participatory components of Turner’s residency is the (un)settler Community Journal, a project inspired by the importance of stories and informed by the awareness that some stories are often marginalized. The project crowdsources residents’ feelings of home and belonging in Mississauga. Thus far, besides individual participants, (un)settler has sourced stories through the delivery of free workshops to communities at the Dam Youth drop-in centre, India Rainbow, Malton Community Centre, MIAG Center for Diverse Women and Families, Peel Senior Link, and V!VA retirement communities.

The Gallery relies on all of its media partners for publicity in addition to its own social media presence, pulling from print sources like Spirit of the City and the Mississauga News to RogersTV, and the Region of Peel’s community listserv ZZG. A recent publicity highlight was a social mixer with YouTube comedian JusReign, who produced a vlog on the event and AGM’s F’d Up! fibre art exhibit which received more than 32, 000 views.

F’d Up! exhibit

The Gallery recently presented a community conversation called On Edge, a three-part discussion on the role of contemporary art in an Edge City, and how the visual arts can contribute to a more stimulating city. The first event featured Peel Region TorStar Urban Affairs Reporter San Grewal, AGM Artist-in-Residence Camille Turner, Matt Boscariol, President of the Canadian Association of Student Planners, and Mark Warrack, Cultural Planner for the City of Mississauga.

ArtsCan Circle

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When it comes to the arts: you can, and we are all a circle, connected. This is the reasoning behind the name ArtsCan Circle, an organization founded by professional harmonica player Mike Stevens.

ArtsCan Circle works in remote Northern Regions including Pikangikum, Fort Hope, Mishkeegogamang and White Dog, Ontario. ArtsCan Circle sends groups of 3 to 4 artists twice a year to run arts workshops with youth. The hope is that this initial workshop will inspire youth to continue learning art and use it as a creative outlet to tell their stories from their unique perspectives.

ArtsCan Circle has been returning to the same communities for 10 years. They are committed to building trust and relationships within each of these communities. This is shown through their continued work in the communities; they are there because they want to be and not because they’re being paid to, the community members are valued, and participation is not a one-off thing.

Recruitment of artists is ongoing but applying does not guarantee that the artist will be sent out to the community. The ideal artist possesses a balance of artistic talent, teaching and self-coordination skills. On top of that, they have to be resilient enough to deal with some of the challenges of daily life that is present in some of these communities. Such responsibility can be equal parts overwhelming and eye-opening for the artists.

Since space is so limited, only the bare minimum of workshop personnel goes out to the communities. That is, just the artists. ArtsCan staff coordinates all aspects of the workshops on the ground, so that the artists know who they will see and what they will do, but it is up to the artists alone to make it happen once in the community through liaising with schoolteachers and the community. The workshops change each time, but aim to introduce students to an art form over four days, culminating in a one-day presentation.

ArtsCan’s central office is in Newmarket because a lot of its support comes from within Ontario, but staff, board and volunteers are scattered throughout Canada. The organization is mostly run by volunteers. They are composed of professional artists of various disciplines, including musicians.

With the cost of flying just four artists up north running at close to $5000, ArtsCan Circle is grateful for any and all support. They are a registered charity that runs on funds from individual donations, government grants, private foundations and sponsors. They stay visible mainly through word of mouth among the artists who volunteer (whether in-office or virtually), sit on the board or travel to the communities as workshop leaders.

Non-artist volunteers are needed as much as, if not more than, artist volunteers for tasks such as social media, outreach/marketing, administration, donor appreciation, accounting, driving (instruments to/from drop-off locations and storage), and probably more tasks that only become apparent when a member of the public steps forward with his/her set of unique skills.

ArtsCan has just celebrated its tenth year and has seen a visible improvement in the five communities that it works in. Compared to when they began, schools are newer, there are more kids in class, safety issues have lessened and there continues to be amazing moments when keen students gravitate toward the music lessons and learn how to handle a guitar, ukulele or harmonica.

ArtsCan Circle has made and kept to its conscious decision to not heroically solve the problems of a community, but to simply provide a service where it is lacking, in the hope that it gives a creative outlet to people who need it.

For more information about the genesis of this organization in Mike Stevens’ own words, please visit: here.

Here in Brampton

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Here In Brampton is a quarterly online and print magazine currently in its first issue. It grew out of what publisher Robin J. Osbourne, who has fifteen years of marketing experience, saw to be the limited self-promotion opportunities available to Brampton businesses. She also noticed an information gap where residents—many who are new to the area—did not know what their city has to offer.

Given Brampton’s increasingly diverse demographic, Osbourne believes that a strategically-run business could do very well in Brampton. The magazine which she named with an effectively simple, catchy, and to-the-point title aims to bridge the gap between business and consumer. Here In Brampton also exists to make residents aware of cultural offerings which they might not have known were situated right there in Brampton, such as the Farmer’s Market and Wild Water Kingdom.

The magazine took two years from inception to first issue. Osbourne runs a core managing staff of three and a total staff of twenty two, including two interns, most of who are from Brampton. They are at work on a number of high-profile feature articles and interviews for upcoming issues. An anticipated increase in the magazine’s online and social media presence means that she’s always looking for more writers and bloggers from anywhere in the GTA.

Having celebrated its first highlight of getting out of the station, this little engine that could continues to get the word of its existence out to the Brampton community, and has solid hopes of attracting more Brampton business advertisers, increasing the visibility of these to residents, and generating more frequent issues in the coming years.

Sheila’s Story

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Sheila Murray’s involvement with Diaspora Dialogues predates the launch of its long-form mentorship program. About five years ago when DD was still running short-form mentorships, she submitted “Street Movers,” a short story. However, after her acceptance into the program she and mentor Martin Mordecai decided to work on an excerpt from Edward instead since its themes were a better fit with DD’s mandate to promote works that reflect the diversity of Toronto. At the end of the mentorship, that excerpt, “On a Night Like This,” was selected for publication in TOK: Writing the New Toronto—Book 6.

Title of work: Edward
Genre: Novel
Mentor: Cynthia Holz

Edward is Sheila’s first novel. Race being one of the main issues with which the story grapples, she had written the first draft from the perspectives of five characters, giving each equal weight. Following on the success of “On a Night Like This,” and knowing that the novel needed a lot of work, she submitted the full manuscript to DD’s pilot long-form mentorship program, going on to become its first mentee.

Her mentor Cynthia Holz read the manuscript and gave Sheila two crucial notes: the story would be better told from just two perspectives instead of five; and by making this change, Sheila could directly approach the politics of her political novel, which she had been unknowingly avoiding by writing from so many perspectives. In this way, the story could be saved from being a mere surface look at the politics of race in Toronto.

Apart from writing classes at Ryerson’s Continuing Education program and receiving short-form mentorship from Martin Mordecai, Shelia had not had a mentor or equivalent prior to DD. Trusting Cynthia’s judgment, she rewrote the novel from two perspectives, after which Cynthia read it again and gave her chapter-by-chapter notes for rewrites.

For future mentees, Sheila advises trusting your mentor enough to respect the notes he or she gives you. One way into this trust is by learning about your mentor, about what is important to him or her, by familiarizing yourself with their works beforehand so that when the notes come (and come they will!) you will understand the reasons. Choosing to accept the notes is up to you, of course, but such an understanding of the mentorship process is vital.

Sheila had another full pass at the manuscript while in Jamaica with her family over the Christmas holidays. She also “made notes on the notes” by consolidating two sets of feedback: from four friends and fellow writers, and from her post-mentorship meeting with Helen Walsh and an outside reader hired by DD.

It was family that inspired Sheila to begin writing Edward, which is told from the perspectives of two black men living in Toronto. Cyril is a recent immigrant from Jamaica mourning the recent death of his mother and living in the Kensington Market area. Edward is a mixed-race child born at the turn of the century who was surrendered to an orphanage by his very reluctant white mother and goes on to lead a hard, itinerant life. Edward’s old age coincides with Cyril’s arrival to Canada. Sheila wanted to write about race and about someone’s father growing up in Toronto as a black person back then in order to explore how contemporary racial experience measures up and things have changed, if at all.

Sheila finds that the enormous growth in the visible minority population in Toronto since her teens—when she used to be one of only three “dark” people at a very large high school where she attended grades 12 and 13—means that there is a greater awareness of racial tension. Through Edward, she hopes to increase this awareness, especially of how tensions manifest in outlying communities of newcomers. For the latter aspect, she relies on her extensive experience working and speaking with newcomers, while for the historical details she refers to the resources available at Toronto Archives, the Black History Societies of Toronto and Ontario, as well as City Hall and the Toronto Reference Library.

Some of Sheila’s favorite passages in Edward show characters speaking out or taking action about racial tensions: Cyril participates in a demonstration at Nathan Phillips Square, a mother speaks about her murdered son. In upcoming drafts, Sheila will be tightening the internal passages in which Cyril ruminates about his work and life situations. While the character of Cyril, true to his name, is an enigma, Sheila aims for clarity overall. As she writes, she tries to sustain a balance between a conversation with her mind, as Marilyn Robertson puts it, and the perceptions of her future reader.

“Difference” seems poised to be Sheila’s next theme, which she will explore in a new novel about a wacky/funny/spiritual friendship between a man and a woman. She is excited to start work on it as soon as she is satisfied with the next draft of Edward.

In answer to Leslie Kruger, a former writing teacher, who once asked her “What is your writer-life theme? ” Sheila had given the answer “absence and loss,” and adds that she also keeps coming back to “finding a place.” Anticipating that more writer-life themes will emerge as she writes new novels and short stories, Sheila looks forward to the discoveries.

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