Weston : Then and Now
This will be a free three-day event inside Central United Church that amplifies its two-hundred year old history, and while engaging artists and story-tellers to create installations in the Church around the theme “Weston Then and Now.” SIA will partner with Toronto Artscape, Central United, Weston King Neighbourhood Centre, Central King Seniors Residence and the Weston Historical Society to produce this event.
Dates:
- Friday March 25th 5pm – 9pm,
- Saturday March 26th 10am – 6pm
- Sunday March 27th 11am – 3pm
Cost: FREE!
Where: Weston Central United Church 1 King St, York, ON M9N 1K8
Please Note: Masks will be required for the full event.
Most of the artists will be exhibiting their work on all three days of this celebration. However, some artists will be performing at specific times, see below:
Kiera Publicover and Simone Matheson – Nurses of Weston
Friday March 25th: 7pm
Saturday March 26th: 12pm & 3:30pm
Sunday March 27th: 2pm
Weston Silver Band
Saturday, March 26th 2022 at 2pm in Worship Area of CUC.
Cor Klamer Quintet
Friday, March 25th, 2022 at 5pm in Worship Area of CUC
Liturgical Dance Group
During CUC’s Sunday, March 27th, 2022 service at 11am
Mini Sunday Market (Basement)
We’re pleased to host a small food and arts market on Sunday from 111am -1pm! The market will include the following vendors (with more to be confirmed)
- Just Another Cake Shop
- Sweet Baked Delights
- Lindens Gourmet Foods
- Robert Mcgregor (Artist)
- Monika – Paint Night Fun (Artist)
- Squibb’s
- WHS
- Girl Guides
- Margaret Hillyard Jewellry
- Nina Silver goods
- Asha Samosa’s
Introducing The Artists!
Akil Young
Akil Elijah is a multi media artist that shares the stories of his experiences through poetry, music, dance and film. Constantly evolving, Akil is a Toronto native but has travelled and continues to travel to compete in poetry slams across Canada and the United States. Unity Fest, and Brave New voices in Houston and Las Vegas are some of the places poetry has taken him. As his art matures, his relationship between being a poet, director, dancer and a musician continues to drive his career as an artist.
In this piece Akil will explore the ways in which a community can change, heal and grow throw time. Reflective of areas like the Weston Community and showing that this sense of community is an ever growing cycle.
Cheryl Cheung
Cheryl Cheung is a Toronto-based artist. She is an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, where she studies political science. Her research interests deal with inequality among urban communities. Last summer, she co-produced a documentary on the Chinese-Canadian community’s experiences with food access during the pandemic with assistance from the University of Toronto’s Student Engagement Grant. She is also currently producing another documentary on growing up in the inner-suburbs of Toronto as a graduate fellow at the School of Cities. She has participated in previous art shows at venues such as the Ada Slaight Gallery and Arts Etobicoke as an artist working with physical mediums like oil painting and embroidery. However, she is also interested in using film as a tool of narrative activism and outreach.
This mini-documentary captures and preserves the voices of the Central United Church (CUC). They speak to this space as not a place of worship, but also as a hub serving the community. With two food banks and a lengthy history of hosting external organizations’ events—among them funeral services and weight watchers meetings—the CUC deserves to be recognized for its legacy of servitude and for the grace of the members who make this servitude possible.
Erika Klee
My name is Erika Odessa Klee and I am a resident of Weston and a mature student at OCAD University where I primarily study painting and printmaking. I am delighted to participate in this exhibition given my interests in history, art, craft and the natural environment.
I chose to depict the history of Weston and the Central United Church by making a quilt out of paper. The overall pattern is a map of Weston and the images on each square reflect the “Then and Now” theme of the exhibition. I have made a series of translucent photos using an image transfer process that involves acrylic mediums. These are then adhered to select papers. In this way, I am integrating the past through the images and labour involved in making the quilt but presenting it in a modern manner and with very new materials. I have also used the more traditional print methods of linocut, frottage, etching and silkscreen.ars to come.
Joanna Delos Reyes
Jo Delos Reyes (she/her) is a musician, frontline worker and researcher based in Tkaronto. As of late her practice has been focused on the utility of sound as a form of place-based archiving. In addition to her art practice she also facilitates workshops and mentorships for young people using music as a vessel to touch on the complexity and diversity of the Filipino/a/x-Canadian experience and by extension the broader scope of the immigrant experience in Canada. She also performs with Polaris Prize shortlisted bands Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, and all-women Kulintang gong ensemble Pantayo.
Notable performances, exhibitions and partnerships include: Tate St. Ives (UK), Plymouth Art Centre (UK), Toronto Public Library, Aga Khan Museum, Halifax Jazz Festival, Scarborough Arts, The 519 Church Street Community Centre and Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
What does it mean to share space? Through sights and sound, “Imagine a Space” repurposes archival footage, resident interviews, and soundscapes to explore the embodied maps and memories a site holds. This includes interviews from long time Weston residents, newcomers and youth that call Weston home. This audio-visual installation is a celebration, and (re)imagination of how and what we remember from days that have passed, and what we dream and hope for in years to come.
Keira Publicover and Simone Matheson
Kiera Publicover (she/her) is a Queer multidisciplinary artist, theatre creator and actor. She is the co-Artistic Director of Arrowwood Theatre Company and a graduate of the University of Windsor’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting program. Kiera’s creative interests live in exploring themes of family, femininity and the ways in which society performs gender. Her work involves discovering and experimenting with alternative forms of theatre creation, such as physical devising, collective creation, verbatim theatre and more. Previous: herself in Contactless (Soulpepper/Arrowwood Theatre Co.), herself in Canada’s Next Chopped Model Minority (2021 Paprika Festival), 8 in The Wolves (University Players), various in ICARUS (Arrowwood Theatre Co./Toronto Fringe Festival), and more. Currently, Kiera is the Playwright in Residence at House+Body Theatre, working on an original theatre piece, Talking to Dead Cats in the Night, generously funded by the Canada Arts Council. www.arrowwoodtheatreco.com // @kierapublicover
Simone Matheson is a Queer multi-disciplinary artist, classically trained actor, and theatre creator born, raised, and presently based in Tkaronto. Simone is the co-Artistic Director of Arrowwood Theatre Co., and holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor. Simone has produced and co-created for the Toronto Fringe Festival (ICARUS, 2019), DARK CROP FESTIVAL (ICARUS, 2019; Here and There, 2018), Soulpepper’s, QUEERFUTURES2099 (Contactless, 2021), and more. Presently, Simone is co-writing an online adaptation of the Greek tragedy, LYSISTRATA (2022), generously funded by the Ontario Arts Council and Theatre Passe Muraille, a theatrical theory, “Theatre of Cringe”, as well as other original works. “I strive to reimagine our present notion of what the theatre is, what artistic experiences are, and what they can become.” www.simonematheson.com // @simonematheson
Nurses: Then & Now is an interactive, one-act theatre piece that follows an intimate conversation between two nurses as they prepare for the unthinkable – one, as she readies herself for surgery amidst a raging World War; and the other, as she faces the horrors of the front line amidst a pandemic. Audience members are drawn into two very different realms of Weston history and are given the opportunity to see this community in a brand new light.
Natalie "Rare" Chattargoon
Natalie Chattargoon better known as ‘Rare’ is a multifaceted Toronto born and raised creative, passionate in community building, creative writing and photography. In the start of her career, she became a self taught 5x published photographer with work showcased around the GTA. Rare faced many challenges through her journey that motivated her to strive for a better life. Her work focuses on spotlighting key social issues and expresses it through her many projects. Rare’s World is a platform where she hopes to help others look deeper into the mind, body and soul to find their ultimate purpose. Rare has a passion for working in marginalized communities to break down stigmas. She is truly a one of a kind, so divine and a hard to find individual.
An exhibit to highlight the past and present within the community, showcasing photos of key areas and exploring stories. Affirmations, quotes and scenery from community members. You might learn something new with this showcase or even find an authentic food spot. There are many places to explore when you come to Weston road, new changes are on the way and lots of history to dive into. There will be a magazine, photo exhibit and more.
Star Nahwegahbo
Star Nahwegahbo is Anishinaabe, Scottish and English from Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation, Ontario, Robinson Huron Treaty, currently living in Tkaronto/Toronto. Star is a mother, interdisciplinary artist, former Social Service Worker of 12 years, grassroots community organizer and expressive arts facilitator. Star’s work explores mental health, the parallels of motherhood and land, the impact of colonial violence on Indigenous families, grief, medicine and the art of braiding ourselves back into our rightful place in creation. Star acknowledges that her work is guided and co-created with ancestral and land based intelligence.
Sanctuary represents an existing Indigenous presence beyond 200 years –– past, present, future. It is a history that involves the land and all living beings as an integral part of this community. The Humber River has been a constant witness to the ever-changing landscape and generations of human activity.
Using video featuring Elder Patti Whabagoon and Jingle Dress
dancer/community organizer, Robin Rice, I represent multiple practices of prayer, worship, and sanctuary, existing simultaneously. This video is a collage of personal narrative that records my growing relationship to the Humber River though art and culture.
When I discovered that the church features a stained-glass window depicting Egerton Ryerson, one of the key designers of Canada’s Residential School System, I felt that I needed to address this aspect of the site. I created Sanctuary as a memorial for the thousands of children who lost their lives; for the parents and families who never received closure or justice stemming from the Canadian Residential School system; and for all of us who continue to grieve this act of genocide.
This memorial is a collaboration with artist Holly-Jo, who I met at OCAD University in 2018 in a “Global Experience Project” where we traveled to Naples and explored many churches and historical sites. Often, we found ourselves surrounded by themes of death and prayer for unknown victims of
war and plague. We connected around intersections of motherhood, grief, and
healing. We have become close friends, and we continue to create meaningful collaborations together. Holly-Jo’s work explores grief and the loss of a child
and invites people to understand the importance and necessity of the grieving process. Holy-Jo has graciously agreed to lend casts of her daughter’s urn from her show The Wisdom of Ruins to be included in Sanctuary. https://www.hollyjo.ca/httpwwwhollyjoca7223809-the-wisdom-of-ruins1#1
The embroideries on the banners in Sanctuary grew out of an ongoing project with Catherine Heard titled Redwork: The Emperor of Atlantis, a public
collaborative embroidery project exploring themes of injustice. As part of Catherine’s project, I created a series of embroidery patterns that speak to Canada’s Residential School system. The embroideries included in Sancturary were sewn by my mother, Sybil Eadie; aunty, Florence Nahwegahbow; cousin, Echo Nahwegahbow and my grandmother Norma Assiniwai, who is a Residential School Survivor. The public are invited to embroider these patterns as part of Redwork: The Emperor of Atlantis.
www.emperorofatlantis.com
Sanctuary invites you to consider Indigenous history, the living presence of Indigenous people in our community, and multiple manifestations of prayer and refuge. While acknowledging the ugly history and ongoing ramifications of the Canadian Residential School system, this installation offers space for reflection, meditation and Medicine.
Projection mapping and livestream provided by Maziar Ghaderi.
Tanya Rintoul, Tori Morrison and Nora Smith
Tanya Rintoul is a director, theatre maker, dramaturge, and educator currently based in Tkaronto. She has a background in devised theatre and the development of new works. She makes theatre that is rooted in collaboration that aims to challenge and question societal norms and the foundations of personal identity. Her work ranges from experimental site specific to re:contextualised classics. All in a myriad of environments from the back of a pawn shop after hours to the main stage of Soulpepper. Her most recent directing credits include: The Worst Thing I Could Be (Is Happy), Streetcar Named Desire (assistant director- Soulpepper, dir. Weyni Mengesha) The Queen’s Eulogy (Toronto Fringe 2018) The Nails (SummerWorks 2017), The Last Five Years (Rural Stages Productions), Deceitful Above All Things (The Storefront Theatre), Father Comes Home from the Wars (assistant director- Soulpepper, dir. Weyni Mengesha). Original Work: Good Girl performed in the back of a pawn shop in the 2013 Toronto Fringe, A Wake for Lost Time, a 24 hr durational performance (elephants collective), and No Time for Dreams (barking birds theatre, Toronto Fringe 2011). Graduate of the National Theatre School’s Directing program, and Humber College’s Theatre performance program.
Tori Morrison is a designer, producer, and production manager from Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, AB). She is the Executive Director and Artistic Producer of Tiny Bear Jaws and she also co-produces work with writer David Gagnon Walker as Strange Victory Performance. Recent credits include sound/video design for This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear at Found Festival, sound design and technical coordination for Alberta Queer Calener project’s podcast Without You, and sound design and production management for Premium Content at High Performance Rodeo 2020. Find out more about what she does at her website torigmorrison.com.
Nora Smith is an artist-scholar-storyteller. As a theatre performer she has toured her original work throughout Canada, the United States, and England. Her training as a physical theatre creator and performer includes Humber College’s Theatre Performance Program in Toronto and Ecole Philippe Gaulier, in France. Nora is a co-founder of the Toronto based film collective Hysterical Hearts. She wrote and performed in Hysterical Hearts’ first film Savage Breakup, which premiered at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival in 2020 and screened at the Taos Shortz Film Festival in New Mexico, Pendance Film Festival in Toronto, and the Nevada Women’s Film Festival. Nora is currently pursuing her Masters in Theatre and Performance studies at York University. Her research explores Canadian nationalism, grief, identity, settler-responsibilities, and memory in performance and storytelling.
Flour, Water, Salt & is an interactive storytelling installation in the Central King Seniors Residence. We invite you to listen to the Weston community’s reflections on meals, togetherness, and bread – and look forward to hearing your own!
Jean-Marie Boutot
Jean-Mare is a visual artist who creates loosely drawn, large figurative paintings in oil that reflect and celebrate experiences as a local resident of Weston / Mount Dennis.
An active volunteer and community advocate, long associated with a multitude of local social service agencies and organizations, Jean-Marie often explores themes in her work of community engagement, food insecurity, homelessness and advancements in economic development, advocating for those most vulnerable in her neighbourhood.
While her paintings primarily focus on community resiliency, resourcefulness and connectivity, they may also highlight neighbourhood businesses, activities and surroundings as well as formal and informal local gathering spaces.
In this series of images for Weston: Then and Now, Jean-Marie continues to explore these themes, in particular those involving children, youth and seniors and how the church has been a support in the past, where it is now and looking towards future opportunities by way of asking – how best can it serve the community of Weston, inclusively.
These reflections or depictions are simple and meant to be viewed in a community settling like this. In these everyday accessible spaces, recognizing the many positive interactions, moments and actions of individuals.
By conveying such a wide array of experiences, often seen from various demographic perspectives, each of these large oil drawings tell a story of advocacy, growth and strength, which in turn perfectly describes a strong, vibrant and healthy community. That’s what Weston is.
Weston Silver Band
Now in its 100th season, Weston Silver Band (WSB) traces its continuous history back to 1921, when it was created as the Weston Boys’ Band by George Sainsbury. Under the baton of Music Director Larry Shields, the band’s membership is made up of accomplished brass players from Toronto and surrounding areas.
The WSB has gained international recognition as a performing ensemble. Between April 2014 and April 2018, the WSB has won three National titles at the North American Brass Band Championships in the USA – the first Canadian brass band to ever do so in the history of the contest. In June 2019, the WSB embarked on their first ever tour to Yorkshire, England, becoming the first Canadian Band to compete in the 134 year old Whit Friday Brass Band Contest, placing 18th out of 122 bands. The WSB is currently ranked as one of the top 10 Brass Bands in North America in the very competitive world of Brass Bands.
Renowned for their exciting concerts and dazzling soloists, the band also actively seeks to promote the brass band tradition as an important part of the cultural heritage of this province.
For more info visit westonsilverband.ca
Carina Lam & Robet Miller (Euphonium), Avi Jacobus & Michela Comparey (Tuba)
The WSB Tuba Quartet is made up of the euphonium and E flat bass sections of the larger Weston Silver Band. In addition to playing with the full band, as a quartet they have performed at the North American Brass Band Championships in the USA and play for audiences all around Toronto.
Cor Klamer Quintet
Cor Klamer (piano), Will Garrett (trumpet & flugelhorn), Phil Myers (percussion), Martin Traynor (guitar), Ric Giorgi (string bass)
Friday, March 25th, 2022 @ 5pm
Great musicians playing the great music of the North American Songbook. They swing the hits from Broadway shows, Oscar-winning songs from Oscar-winning films, top 10 songs from the jazz and swing eras and after – you know them – the popular tunes that everyone instantly recognizes. But they surprise with the occasional little-known masterpiece from the great composers and lyricists of the 20th century as well.
Cor Klamer and his fellow travellers have the gift for bringing to life those toe-tapping treasures that have been pleasing audiences in Southern Ontario for many years – without fireworks, technicolour special effects or computer-generated graphics. The Song’s the thing and as everyone knows…
“It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing”.