trace tours: Dawson City, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Montreal

Red Dress Productions is proud to present 

the 2015 trans Canada tour of:

trace

a performance and an interactive installation

one man. many voices.

created by Tristan R. Whiston and Moynan King

 

REGINA

JANUARY 16, 2015 at 7:30 pm

Artesian, 2627 13th Avenue

Co-presented by Queer City Cinema

DAWSON CITY

JANUARY 24, 2015

 (s)hiver: one long night of art & light

Odd Fellows Hall, 902 Second Avenue
Co-presented by Klondike Institute of Art and Culture

WHITEHORSE

JANUARY 31, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.

The Old Firehall, 1105 Front Street

YELLOWKNIFE

FEBRUARY 6, 2015 at 6:00

Old BMO Space, Centre Square Mall

Co-presented by Yellowknife Artist Run Community Centre

Montreal

November, Gallerie La Centrale

More info TBA

Admission for all shows is pay-what-you-can with a suggested minimum of $10

St James Town Community Perspectives and Winchester Public School

Winchester Public School

Last week we visited the St James Town Service Providers Network where we presented our 4-year Promise in the Park project with the hope to develop new community partnerships, and we also facilitated a simple art activity designed to explore community perspectives on St James Town. Thanks to the network Co-Chairs Diana Mavanduse (Community Development, Dixon Hall) and Niv Balachandran (Newcomer Health Team, Sherbourne Health Centre) for the invitation.

We also visited our young friends in Lee Hicks' classroom at Winchester Public School where we explored the legend of Fisher and Skyland (described in a previous post) through storytelling, drawing, and curating a timeline of moments that stood out for students. 

Promise in the Park: Tornado of Wings

We're continuing with conceptiual development of Promise in the Park, a four-year public art project, through arts workshop with community members and organizations in Toronto's Winchester Park neighbourhood.

Ideas that emerged earlier this year have led us to explore stories of loss, spring, and transformation including the Greek Myth of Persephone and Fisher and the Seasons, an Anishinabe Legend.These sketches were produced a couple of days ago during our workshop with Maggies: The Toronto Sex Workers Action Project.  

Fisher, a fierce fox-sized animal, who -- with the help of Wolverine, Otter, and Lynx -- jumps through a hole in sky land where is it warm and summer-like. There, all the worlds birds are in cages. Fisher chews through the rawhide that binds the cages and frees the birds that spiral up into a great dark cloud, and then spiral down down through the hole in the sky and re-enter the world below. As the hole is made larger, the warmth of summer leaks into the land below and melts the snow.

Throwback Thursday #1

In the spirit of "throwback thursdays," we're posting images from our visual archives over the next few weeks. With a staggering 30,000+ photographs that document our work since 2005, there's a lot to choose form. 

We produced a 5' diameter mosaic sign for the Riverdale Hub in 2012, shortly after the Hub had moved into a historic tenement building at 1326 Gerrard St. East. Founded by Riverdale Immigrant Women's Centre, a grassroots women’s organization, the Hub’s historic century-old building has been re-imagined as an environmentally sustainable space that promotes community economic development through social enterprises.

We're not generally in the business of sign-making but we wanted to be a part of the realization of this important Gerrard Bazaar neighbourhood project.

 

Promise in the Park: The Winchester Park Public Art Project

We're in conversation with the City of Toronto, Parks, Forestry & Recreation staff about sites for community engaged permanent public in the Winchester Park neighbourhood. We're grateful for support from Ward 28 Councillor Pam McConnell's office, which has been unwavering since the inception of this project in 2013.

We've scouted the Winchester Park area numerous times in search of public art sites -- for in situ stone mosaic -- that capitalize upon already existing City of Toronto infrastructure.  The brick pads, which once hosted public benches, are embedded in brick paths used by pedestrians travelling between high-rise tenant dwellings in the Winchester Park area. Enhancement of these public spaces may further increase use and enjoyment of area parks, and by extension, increase a sense of safety.

Winchester Square Park, north of Carlton Street

Winchester Square Park

Winchester Square Park

Winchester Square Park

Walkway between Diane Frankling Co-operative Housing, Fieldstone Housing Co-operative,
and Hugh Garner Co-operative Housing.

Bleecker Street Park, north of Fieldstone Housing Co-operative

Bleecker Street Park, north of Fieldstone Housing Co-operative

Pedestrian walkway between Winchester Park North and Winchester Park Junior and Senior Public School.

Pan Am Path/ Para Pan Am Path Public Art

Invitation to Promise: Art Installation and Celebration of Communities on June 23, 2014

Red Dress Productions is delighted to present

Promise: A Celebration of Communities

Connecting Through Art

An interactive gallery installation about the promise of spring and the local stories

and art of Winchester Park and St James Town communities.

Where: Diane Frankling Co-operative Homes, 85 Bleecker Street

(east of Sherbourne St., north of Carlton St.)

When: Monday June 23, 2014 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

food & drink, art activities, and presentations

This installation and celebration is the culmination of our first year of Promise in the Park,

a four-year community art project in Winchester Park and St James Town communities.

Over the next three years, we will create collaborative mosaic public art for area parks,

and also a community play presented by and for local communities. 

We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funding partners: Ontario Trillium

Foundation, Toronto Arts Council, and Ontario Arts Council, and our community partners:

Diane Frankling Co-operative Homes, The Rekai Centres (at Wellesley Central Place and

Sherbourne Place), Elizabeth Frye Society Toronto, Winchester Junior and Senior Public

School, Mid Toronto Community Services, Sherbourne Health Centre and Supporting Our

Youth, Hugh Garner Housing Co-operative, Maggie's, and Jumblies Theatre. 

RED DRESS PRODUCTIONS led by founding artistic directors Anna Camilleri and Tristan R.

Whiston is an arts company that works with/in communities to create interdisciplinary

theatre projects and visual public artworks. www.reddressproductions.org 

Contact:

Project Coordinator Chantelle Gobeil

Email: promiseinthepark@gmail.com

Phone: 416-574-9232

The Winchester Park Public Art Project | Dispatch # 7

More work created by the awesome Winchester Public School children in Lee Hicks' classroom who we've been working with over the past two months. The illustrations depict students' wishes and intentions for their friends, family, and, in some cases, for those who are unknown but recognized for our shared humanity. 

Photography by Katie Yealland.