Archival photo from Poetry Is Not a Luxury, a collaborative installation with Sandra Alland, Anna Camilleri, and Karen Augustine, pesented by Mayworks Festival.

Poetry Is Not a Luxury is the title of an essay by Ms. Audrey Lourde.

HIRING COMMUNITY ART YOUTH APPRENTICES

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY for LGBTTQ YOUTH
Community Art Apprentice Positions

Project runs: January – June 2010
Flexible/variable hours: afternoons, evenings, weekends
Remuneration: up to a maximum of $2000 (based upon $15/hour for 133 hours)

Red Dress Productions is proud to lead the 519 Community Centre’s new community engaged mosaic project. The primary goal of the project is to conceive and create a permanent large-scale outdoor public artwork at the 519. The project is aimed at community members and program participants of all ages and abilities drawn from the diverse communities that call the 519 home.

The project is conceived in three phases:

1) January-March 2010: development of ideas/design with community members through consultations, and storytelling and visual art workshops;
2) April-June 2010: mosaic build with community participants;
3) July 2010: unveiling and inauguration of mosaic.

Three equity-seeking LGBTTQ youth (under the age of 25) will be hired as Community Art Apprentices to work directly with the Lead Artists. The apprentices will be involved in every stage of project development, and will play a key role as part of the leadership team.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Youth apprentices will work with the lead artists to help run a safe, fun, and welcoming community project environment. Responsibilities will include working with the lead artists on:
o community meeting facilitation
o research
o material/supply purchase and prep
o workshop set-up and maintenance
o hands-on training and support to participants
o post-installation finishing work (seaming grout work and sealing)

Skills and Experiences:

Applicants don’t need any prior experience/training/education in community art, visual arts, or facilitation, but must be interested in community art, being a reliable team member (which includes showing up on time, with a positive, and friendly attitude) and be prepared to learn and take direction. Applicants must also:

o Openly identify as an LGBTTQ person who is under the age of 25;
o Be interested in working in an anti-oppression framework;
o Have knowledge of the 519 Community Centre and its programs;
o Be able to take direction in an applied learning environment;
o Have an ability to work with a diversity of community members;
o Be interested in learning about all aspects of community engaged art, and particularly mosaic;
o Be comfortable working as part of a team;
o Be comfortable working with people;
o Have good work habits: punctual, reliable, and conscientious;
o Have a sense of humour.

To apply:

Please submit an email application to with the following attachments:
1) a letter of interest outlining why you’d like to work on this project, and any relevant skills or experiences
2) resume
3) the name and phone number of two employment/character references to:

The subject line should be titled “Hiring Committee – Community Art Apprentice”. Emails with a different subject line may be deleted without being considered.

NO EMAIL OR TELEPHONE INQUIRIES PLEASE.
Application Deadline Friday, January 15, 2010
Late applications will not be considered.

Red Dress Productions actively encourages applications from members of all equity seeking groups. Short listed applicants will be invited to an interview during the weeks of January 18 – 29, 2010.

5 1 9 COMMUNITY CENTRE LAUNCHES MOSAIC IN JANUARY

We'e very excited to bring in the new year with a community engaged project with the 519--Toronto's LGBTTQ community centre.

The 519 Mosaic is a new community-engaged, hands-on, large-scale mosaic project that is for/with participants of all ages, and abilities drawn from the diverse community members and program participants that call the 519 Community Centre home. Our goal is to create an original mosaic to be permanently installed as an outdoor public artwork at the 519 Community Centre.

519 Mosaic will be led by Anna Camilleri and Tristan R. Whiston of Red Dress Productions (RDP), along with three equity-seeking Youth Apprentices. We'll work with community members at all stages of development from concept, to design, to build. No prior experience or knowledge is required to participate (we mean it!).

Our first public meeting--open to anyone who is interested in being a part of creating a new public artwork in Toronto--is taking place at the 519 Community Centre on Wednesday February 3, from 7 to 9pm. Snacks and art supplies provided. 519 Community Centre is located at 519 Church Street, just a few doors north of Wellesley Street.
For more information visit: http://www.the519.org/

The St. Lawrence Co-ops Community Mosaic | August 2009

More than 50 children and elders between the ages of 3 and 80 joined together over several months to create this community-based public artwork. The St. Lawrence Co-ops Community Mosaic--a project of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto-- was led by artists Anna Camilleri and Tristan R. Whiston of Red Dress Productions, youth apprentices Kelsey Desmond and Angelica Batalla, and community outreach worker Randy Padmore.

RDP is very proud to have worked with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT) on this community-engaged public art work. Hats off to CHFT Executive Director Tom Clement for being a tireless proponent of safe and affordable housing, and healthy communities through engagement in the arts.

Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT) is a member-supported organization representing more than 45,000 people living in more than 160 non-profit housing co-operatives located in Toronto and York Region.

www.coophousing.com

Unveiling & Reception of St. Lawrence Co-ops Mosaic

We talked, brainstormed, and told stories about diversity, environmentalism, urban development, the changing St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood, co-operative housing, community development, and how this might be reflected visually. We produced individual and group sketches. Anna Camilleri produced the design based upon a shared vision.

Postcard design by Tariq Sami.

CHFT Community-Engaged Mosaic Launch

Not sure how to get this link to go live, so here it is:
http://pammcconnell.ca/2009/10/08/mural-art-project/

In the Workshop

Contributors include Philip Conlon, Tina Conlon, Rosemary Copeland, Gianna Cordari, Edith Ginsburg, Maria Moreno, Delana Munroe, Lynda Stokes, Cassandra Padmore, Hussein Ahmed, Ahmed Ahmed, Kevoni Clarke, Timioni Langoya, Tajahn Gumbs, Daniel Hatton, Cyril Hoferica, Maleeka Black, Tahnee P. Duncan, Lemme Shafi, Tavaree Daniel-Simms, Sabry Shafi, Amal Absiy, Ayub Ismail, Wedad Shafi, Zyiad Mohammad, Shelby Desmond, Yusuf Abdullah, Hassen Ahmed, Tan Truong, Tandra Truong Verge, Gabriela Beltran, Kim, Ryan, Dylan, Greg Villamar, Steven Awahware, Maysam Abukhreibeh, Karen Lam, Hamsa Ismail, Jerrom Ogenrowt, Rebecca Tekle, Blane Bessesse, and Nasir Robertson.

Seriously Messy Business

The St. Lawrence Co-ops Community Mosaic, a project of the Co-op Housing Federation of Toronto in partnership with Red Dress Productions, thanks the citizens of Toronto and Ontario for their support through the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council, St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre, and the OWN Housing Co-operative.

Special thanks to Tom Clement, Maria LaVida, Esther Forde, Frank Roias, Dave Hains, Rob Haas, and the OWN Housing Co-operative Board of Directors.

At times, the workshop buzzed with the energy of as many as twenty participants. While we worked, we talked about subjects ranging from soccer tryouts, Amharic, Palestinian Arabic, and racism, to Rihanna and Chris Brown. At other times, we turned up the radio, and practiced dance moves in between tile nipping.

Turtle Island

The compass/Turtle Island motif is an element that is carried through all four 32" x 60" panels that constitute this public artwork.