Tonight! Artist Q&A with Wandy Cheng, Theresa Hopkins & Jennie Town!

Our Scarborough Highlights artist Art Talk is tonight (Feb 6) at 6pm on Instagram Live.

Learn more about the three artists below, and join them online this evening for the conversation! Questions and thoughts are welcome during the event through the live "chat" option, and by messaging erin@akincollective.com in advance. This event will take place through Akin's @akinprojects Instagram Feed. To join, please follow @akinprojects and be on Instagram at 6pm!


Jennie Town is a Scarborough-based Canadian multi media artist and Indigenous Knowledge Keeper living and working in the Guildwood community for over 56 years and counting. Drawing from her experience and learnings as an Afro-Indigenous creator and teacher, Jennie's practice has covered a wealth of mediums from ceramics, jewelry and painting to beading, leatherwork, drum-making, and a variety of craft techniques that frequently use gathered and naturally-sourced materials. A great believer in sharing the creative process and nourishing the experiences of others Jennie's role as an artist extends into community engagement through workshops, guided walks and local events. Follow Jennie on Instagram at @foreverjenniedesigns


Wandy Cheng (she/her) is a multidisciplinary illustrator from Hong Kong whose work embodies contrasting textures and repeated patterns through various creative outputs, including ceramics, paper-cut and public art. She helps local businesses create a memorable presence in their communities by simplifying conceptual ideas into vibrant visuals — an illustrator illustrating illustrations. Her work is inspired by memories of lived experiences, architectures, and environments. In recent years, her illustration can be seen both on the streets of the city and within the pages of international publications. Follow Wandy on Instagram @wandy_cheng


Theresa Hopkins is a black multidisciplinary artist and arts organizer living and working in Toronto. Her work focuses on themes surrounding identity, emotion and her interactions with the world as a black woman. Using colourful, tactile materials and subject matter, her work draws on nostalgia juxtaposed with heavy, mature themes. She has shown her work at 8-11 gallery, The Whitehouse Studio Project, Whippersnapper, The Plumb gallery and most recently a solo exhibition at The Remote Gallery. Follow Theresa on Instagram @thopkinsart



Image Descriptions: 1. Beaded earrings made by Jennie Town are hanging on the edge of a clear glass jar in front of a purple background. The earrings feature many beads with angular patterns with beaded tassels hanging from the ends. 2. A mural painted by Wandy Cheng using blue, green, white and pink colors depicting an environment centered around a waterfall leading to a lake, with plants and animals in the surroundings. 3. A painting by Theresa Hopkins hanging on a wall and brightly lit. In the painting the artist sits at a poker table in a luxury casino. She is surrounded by cartoon characters. In front of her are a stack of chips and 3 tarot cards.

Artist Talk! Theresa Hopkins, Wandy Cheng and Jennie Town - Feb 6 at 6pm

Artist Talk and Q&A: FREE

February 6th at 6pm: ONLINE through Instagram 'Live'

Please join us online on Monday February 6th for a special Artist Q&A with Scarborough Highlights artists Theresa Hopkins, Wandy Cheng and Jennie Town, who were featured participants in Akin's recent Winter Exhibition and Market at the Clark Centre for the Arts in Scarborough. Among other things, we'll be asking what it means to be an artist from Scarborough? What kinds of experiences do artists face when practicing outside the downtown core? How can cities and organizations better support artists facing different barriers of access and opportunity?

This event will take place through Akin's @akinprojects Instagram Feed. To join, please follow @akinprojects and be on Instagram at 6pm on February 6th 2023! Questions and thoughts are welcome during and before the event through the live "chat" option, and by messaging erin@akincollective.com in advance.

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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
@CanadaCouncil  #BringingTheArtsToLife

Ideas Forum: Materializing the Future

‘Ideas Forum: Materializing the Future’ features seven fast-paced and fun presentations (20 slides shown for 20 seconds each) exploring the themes and questions from DesignTO’s exhibition ‘Future Retrospectives’ with a focus on materiality.

Discover the process behind educator David Correa’s (University of Waterloo) exploration on innovative material fabrication methods and Lauren Abrahams’ (Public Work) research on terrazzo. Educator Kazmy Chi (Universidad de Monterrey, Mexico) speaks about her research into biomimicry and how biomimetics can create sustainable materials for the future.

Founding partner of gh3* Pat Hanson speaks about her work on the Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool in Edmonton, while artist and curator Jessica Thalmann of Akin Ossington shares her process of reconfiguring iconic Brutalist buildings through folded sculptural forms. Quadrangle's Richard Witt discusses heavy timber construction through case studies of built work, and Chris Pommer speaks about material memory through the work of the interdisciplinary studio PLANT.

Nuit Talks: in-depth conversations with Nuit Blanche artists and curators

Art speaks volumes this autumn with the free Nuit Talks program offering in-depth conversations with Nuit Blanche artists and curators. Building on the theme – Continuum – the series of provocative events is framed under the title – A line is a series of points, connected. The insightful discussions, conversations, panels, Q&A’s and performances tackle some of the most relevant and urgent issues of our time: access, opportunity, land, geopolitics, sustainability.

Nuit Talks 2019 is curated by Rebecca Carbin.

Today from 7-8pm you can catch “Art, the Mirror: a talk by Director X at the Royal Ontario Museum!

Director X talks about his epic sequel to Death of the Sun and how art can help us understand timely and pressing issues of climate and geopolitics. What motivates an artist to focus attention on issues of such enormous scale? Can art forms and practices really play a role in catalyzing action and change?

Date: September 25, 7 – 8 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m., reception with cash bar from 8 – 9:30 p.m.)
Location: The Royal Ontario Museum
Moderator: Janine Marchessault
Participants: Director X
Cost: FREE (RSVP Required)
RSVP HERE: https://www.rom.on.ca/en/whats-on/art-the-mirror

There are addition talks on October 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10.

Nuit Talks and Nuit Blanche are produced by the City of Toronto in partnership with the Toronto arts community.

AGYU Upcoming Public Programs

Artist Tour | Wednesday April 17, 2019 @ 6:30 PM | AGYU

Join us at Toronto’s Igloolik outpost (aka AGYU) for a rare opportunity to hear Arnait discuss the development of their practice over three decades and the importance of women making art in the north. Members of Arnait will share their work in English and Inuktitut with translation. Coincides with our opening reception.

Igalaaq (Seeing Through) | April 17 and May 4, 2019 | AGYU

Step into the portal! Igalaaq promotes new configurations of Inuit/non-Inuit relations through video chat technology. On April 17 at 7:30 pm we open the portal between North and South for a conversation between installation artist, curator, writer, and educator Bonnie Devine(Serpent River First Nation, Anishinaabe/Ojibwa) and Arnait members Susan Avingaq, Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu, and Uyarak (Lucy Tulugarjuk).

On May 4 from 10 am to noon we host a special three-way transcontinental portal between Igloolik, AGYU, and Venice, where Isuma, the celebrated film collective from the North, is representing the Canadian Pavilion at the Biennale. This conversation is hosted by artist, educator, curator, and Vtape co-founder Lisa Steele, in conversation with Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu, and Uyarak (Lucy Tulugarjuk). Keep an eye on our website and socials for the time when the portal will open!

Public Talk | Thursday April 18, 2019 @ 12 pm | The Commons, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 440

Members of Arnait from three generations—Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Susan Avingaq, and Uyarak (Lucy Tulugarjuk)—dialogue about their collective filmmaking practice with writer and curator Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation). This talk will be in English and Inuktitut with translation. Presented in partnership with Images Festival.

Contemporary Art Bus Tour | Sunday May 26, 2019, 12 – 5 pm

The bus departs from OCADU (100 McCaul Street) at noon and travels to AGYU for a Curator’s Tour of Arnait Ikajurtigiit at 1 pm and continues with stops at the Doris McCarthy Gallery and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery where other CONTACT exhibitions are on view. To reserve a seat, please email Alissa Firth-Eagland, alissafe@yorku.ca. Co-presented with Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.

Student Tour Series | Wednesday May 15, 2019 @ 5:30 pm | AGYU

As Indigenous communities come to adopt new digital technologies in the North, what are the potential effects on Indigenous sovereignty of exploring their identities online? Join PhD candidate in Communication Studies at York University Ali Hirji for a tour of Arnait’s exhibition. Ali discusses the artists’ broad creative practice through his experience and research in artificial intelligence, broadband, cyber security, and Indigenous populations in remote communities like those in Nunavut. Courtesy of York U’s Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage.

Art for Lunch with Michael Vickers - Tomorrow!

Looking for something to do on your lunch break this Friday? Come out to the MacLaren Art Centre for a discussion with artist Michael Vickers, Co-Director of Akin, which provides affordable studio space to practising artists and a range of public programs in Toronto through its sister non-profit organization, Akin Projects.

Art for Lunch with Michael Vickers from Akin
When: Friday, April 5, 12:15 to 1 pm
Where: Rotary Education Centre, 37 Mulcaster Street, Barrie, ON
Admission: free

About the Artist

Michael Vickers works in sculpture, installation and painting. His practice addresses the seductive and poetic qualities of form and text, while investigating the limits of different materials and presentation methods. Vickers holds an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History from the University of Toronto and a BA from the University of Ottawa. He has exhibited his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Mercer Union, Toronto; the Siena Art Institute, Italy; and Clark House Initiative, Mumbai. His multidisciplinary practice has been featured in publications such as Art F City, Esse Arts + Opinions, Canadian Art, The Toronto Star, and GQ Magazine. Michael Vickers is a former resident of Barrie and is currently based in Toronto.

About the Gallery

The MacLaren Art Centre is the regional public art gallery serving the residents of Barrie, the County of Simcoe and the surrounding area. The Gallery has a permanent collection of contemporary Canadian art held in trust for the public and presents a year-round programme of world-class exhibitions, education activities and special events.

Art Intersections Meetup with Adrienne Crossman and Thirza Cuthand - May 16

You are invited to join Adrienne Crossman and Thirza Cuthand for a presentation and Q&A at Akimbo's Art Intersections Meetup on Tuesday, May 16 from 6:30pm to 9pm at Gamma Space Collaborative Studio (862 Richmond Street West). Free! Wheelchair accessible. Please RSVP.

Schedule:
6:30pm - Doors Open
7pm - Guest presenters Adrienne Crossman and Thirza Cuthand, plus Q&A
8pm - Networking, Food & Beverages

Adrienne Crossman is an artist, educator and curator. Her practice involves the manipulation and deconstruction of digital media and popular culture in order to create new artifacts through formal re-interpretations. In the pursuit of creating a queer aesthetic, Crossman's work is concerned with the exploration of non-normative and non-binary spaces, while attempting to locate queer sensibilities in the everyday.

Thirza Jean Cuthand has been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, youth, love, and race, which have screened in festivals internationally. In the summer of 2016 she began working on a 2D video game called A Bipolar Journey based on her experience learning and dealing with her bipolar disorder. It showed at ImagineNATIVE and she is planning to further develop it. She has also written three feature screenplays and sometimes does performance art.

Art Intersections Meetup is a meeting place for artists, moving image-makers, gamers and technologists who are experimenting with art-related digital content and how the moving image is presented in a connected world. Digital culture, social media and networks encourage new ways of storytelling, image making, idea sharing and collaboration. This Meetup celebrates artists and innovators who are embracing change leading the next wave of creativity.

Gamma Space Collaborative Studio is a not-for-profit arts organization, and community of 200+ members making, playing, and talking about videogames. They strive to be a welcoming and accessible space for everyone interested in games as art.