Artsweek Peterborough

Following the Inside Out Alleyway dance and the reimagined Allies for Alleys painting, the third work at the Hunter/Simcoe Alley tour stop is a poem by Derek Newman-Stille. Throughout the poem, two voices go back and forth, one from the present and one from the future. They speak about access in their city. In the present, the voice is promised eventual access. In the future, the voice rejoices at the access that has finally arrived. This poem is available as an audio reco...rding/video and as image slides, both on our Instagram account @post_code_tour. Watch/listen to a reading of the poem here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CH0Ogy4HEL7/ Read the poem here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CH0QcDOHYGM/ Where do you think @post_code_tour is headed next? Image description: The first page of Alleys 2020/2014 by Derek Newman-Stille. The years 2020 and 2041 appear at the top of the slide on the left and right respectively. LEFT: I'm reminded, everywhere I go, that this city isn't made for me. Isn't made for people like me. RIGHT: I'm reminded, everywhere I go, that this city has been reshaped for me because of people like me. LEFT: I wander in and out of little niches in Peterborough little alleys and valleys and places betwixt and between those little places to get away from the city within the city. RIGHT: I wander in and out of little niches in Peterborough little alleys and valleys and places betwixt and between those little places to get away from the city within the city.

Post-Code Tour continues on Instagram with a spectulative newspaper article by Derek-Newman Stille about Mad Pride in 2041. In the article, Newman-Stille chronicles the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Mad Pride Parade in Peterborough. While they write of the celebrations, particularly of the Mad contributions to art, culture, and society, Derek's article also makes it clear that in 2041 Mad-identifying individuals have continued to struggle with widespread prejudice. ...The activists quoted in the article express an ongoing need to combat the violence and criminalization perpetuated against people who are Mad and under-housed. It lays bare the reality that the harm and violence experienced today could very well have a place in the future if communities and leaders remain complicit. You can read the full article on the Post-Code Tour Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/post_code_tour/ Image Description: Two pages of a fictional newspaper. The first page reads November 13, 2021, Mad News PTBO, Mad Pride Peterborough Celebrates 20 Years of Activism, by Derek Newman-Sille. There is a painting of a building and pathways at Millennium Park. The second page includes the following text: This weekend, Peterborough will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first Mad Pride. Mad Pride first began in Toronto in 1993 due to prejudice experienced by mental health service users near Parkdale. It then spread around the world with similar events being held in Australia, Ireland, Portugal, Brazil, Madagascar, South Africa, France, South Korea, and the United States. Mad Pride Peterborough began in 2021 in response to the violence toward mental health service users who were living in tents in Victoria Park. Hunter Clarke, a former resident of the so-called ‘tent city’ says: We were living there peacefully and not bothering anyone. We just wanted somewhere to live, but the city and police kept harassing us. Finally we had enough. We took to the streets with pots and pans and drummed and shouted. We were done with it all. We had enough harassment.

Congrats to JENN COLE and KERITH PAUL, winners of our Private Poetry Reading Giveaway! Thank you to all who entered.

Stroll through Downtown Peterborough to see 'Menacing Beauty,' an exhibition of paintings by John Climenhage in storefronts, depicting #Ptbo during lockdown. Closes this Friday, Nov 13. Complete list and more info: https://artsweekpeterborough.ca/the-john-climenhage-storef/ Photo of John Climenhage by Andy Carroll.

New Post-Code Tour work is up! Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/post_code_tour/ Bethany LeBlonc Allies for Alleys 16" x 20"... Mixed Media on Artboard 2020 In this work, Bethany LeBlonc paints a sustainable gathering space where an inaccessible alley once lived. The artist has imagined diverse users for this community-minded thoroughfare, with the inclusion of tenji tiles, wide lanes, and designated spaces for trash cans, which help to keep the public pathway clear. The artist has taken advantage of the site’s shelter and sun to construct a community garden complete with raised beds for easy access and braille labels that indicate the plants and crops in each section. Elsewhere in the painting, an event board dated June 2041 lists many activities and opportunities, including accessible studios for rent, an upcoming garden harvest, and an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for IGL (this is a hint for tour stops to come!). The postings are also fully outfitted with braille and an audio feature that allows passersby to listen, rather than read the announcements. Alt text: In this painting, the viewer looks down a long paved pathway way, which links one city street to another. In the distance, a large green building is seen at the end of the path. In the mid-ground, the pathway is bordered by brick buildings on the right and a community garden on the left. The viewer is situated at the beginning of the path between two brick walls, which are covered to create something like a tunnel that leads into the wider passage and courtyard at the path's centre.

Post-Code Tour at Millennium Park continues! Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/post_code_tour/ In this painting, Bethany Leblonc has introduced tactile paving to an intersection of pathways at Millennium Park. It reflects Leblonc’s interpretation for the future, one in which access measures are a top priority in the design of public space. Leblonc has also designed the public restrooms with automatic door buttons and individual gender-neutral stalls. A gree...n roof sprouts flowers and the bright colours of the walls and doors help distinguish the structure in the park. Pasted to the doors are posters for an annual Mad Pride Parade, which will feature in a text-based work coming soon to Post-Code Tour. LeBlonc’s inspiration for this work, and the others to come, evolved through collective conversations with the other artists in this project. As a sketch for the future, this work represents LeBlonc’s first attempt to imagine and paint worlds that prioritize access and is intended to prompt deeper conversations about the role of creativity, listening, and collaboration in building more accessible shared space. Image description: A painting of Millennium Park. A wide path with tactile pavement recedes into the background. A building with green bricks and red doors is located in the top right corner. Trees and grass border the pathways.

"Thank you to the local arts community for all that you do to keep our spirits high during this time. You are so appreciated." said Mayor Therrien. #Gratitude Electric City Culture Council

#PostCodeTour is underway. This Artsweek SHIFT project looks at accessibility through the lens of iconic downtown Peterborough landmarks, and reimagines these spaces far into the future. Follow @post_code_tour on Instagram throughout November and watch it develop. https://www.instagram.com/post_code_tour/

This week on PETERBOROUGH ARTS ALIVE ON SLACK, we're asking the question: "How do we encourage an arts community that is rooted in support for local artists and... the unfettered creation of work?" Read the response by local artist Esther Vincent, and join the conversation. https://join.slack.com//shared_invite/zt-f0nyvc76-3_M~m3aH Find out more: http://www.ecthree.org/pr/peterborough-arts-alive-on-slack/

Introducing the second site in the Post-Code Tour! In this video work by Sioux Lily Dickson, a wheelchair user navigates the alleyway between Hunter St. and Simcoe St. How many sidewalk bumps will be felt during the dance of the Inside Out Alleyway? Watch the video on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CHrAVCNniNi/

On Black Lives Matter The Electric City Culture Council stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and all those individuals, organizations and communities wh...o demand justice, racial equity and an end to oppression of all kinds. We want to acknowledge the deep pain and righteous anger that so many people are feeling. These are not exceptional circumstances, but reflections and results of systemic racism in our culture and in our political and social structures. For decades, Canadian artists have opened our eyes to systemic racism and the deep history of colonization that exists in our country. They have investigated, explored and borne witness to it. Artists have created songs, poems, plays, paintings, films, videos, novels and dance to tell untold stories, expose uncomfortable truths and demand change, imagining a better world. Great work - that opens our eyes, our hearts and our minds, that begs us to see, hear, listen and act to make change. Black artists, Indigenous artists and artists from multiple racialized and marginalized communities have exposed injustice, celebrated heroes, taken us deep into the souls of their experience. It’s all there, often hard fought for, as opportunity to make and present work was wrestled from closed and recalcitrant institutions protecting their own privilege. But such art work is a triumph, even in pain - a joy. It is our job as cultural leaders to commit and recommit our selves to these artists and the visions they create, to change how we do things, to learn continuously and to be proactive. So, we commit EC3, along with so many of our colleagues, to doing just that. Please learn more and support causes that matter. From: Articule https://www.articule.org//open-letter-to-artist-centres-mo And, From our Friends at Public Energy, we are sharing their list of valuable resources: Public Energy Performing Arts wishes to amplify the voices calling for justice for Black and Indigenous Communities. We want to support the work of organizations combating racism on a daily basis and share resources which combat racism, white supremacy, colonialism, and state-sanctioned violence. There are actionable things we can do within our own organization, and we will take this time to plan how we can strongly support artists of colour, artistic companies, agents, stage managers, production managers, and administration staff. We will continue to work harder to better support the voices and performing arts work of artists of colour, indigenous artists, LGBTQ2S+ artists and artists living with disabilities. We need to work harder - and we will. We can do better and we will. We encourage you to take action by donating to an anti-racism organization in your community. If your conversation about injustice does not immediately yield work, it’s the wrong conversation. -Scott Woods, Poet Opportunities to Act: Sign the petition demanding racial data on police involved deaths in Canada Sign the petition calling for Justice For Regis Korchinski-Paquet Sign the petition calling for Justice for Chantel Moore Learn More: Read the Canadian Public Health Association's statement on Racism and Public Health The Alliance for Healthier Communities issued a statement calling for the declaration of anti-Black racism as a public health crisis. Please consider donating to one of the following organizations: Donate to Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state. Black Lives Matter has put together a resource with links for direct action. Donate to BLM Nogojiwanong Go Fund Me Campaign After a successful rally on June 2nd, 2020. The organizers of the march want to use that momentum to keep the BLM movement alive and active in the city of Nogojiwanong/Peterborough. They will be using these funds to first and foremost pay back BIPOC who spent personal money on the day of the rally to ensure we had the supplies we needed. Follow their Facebook page. Donate to Black Health Alliance The Black Health Alliance is a community-led registered charity working to improve the health and well-being of Black communities in Canada. Their mission is to reduce the racial disparities in health outcomes and promote health and well-being for people from the diverse Black communities in Canada with emphasis on the broad determinants of health, including racism. Donate or become a member of the Black Legal Action Centre The Black Legal Action Centre delivers legal aid services to low and no income Black Ontarians. They work to combat individual and systemic anti-Black racism by providing legal representation, giving public legal information sessions, and engaging in test case litigation, law reform and community development to improve the laws that affect low-income people. Donate to Black Youth Helpline The Black Youth Helpline serves all youth and specifically responds to the need for a Black youth specific service, resourced to promote access to culturally appropriate supports for youth, families, schools and other youth serving institutions. Donate to Community Race Relations Committee of Peterborough The Community Race Relations Committee of Peterborough (CRRC) is a non-profit community-based organization committed to encouraging and promoting anti-racism and equitable race and community relations throughout Peterborough/Nogojiwanong. Donate to Thunder Women Healing Lodge Society Thunder Women Healing Lodge Society is a community-driven project raised out of concern and recognition of the need to break the cycle and support the healing, rehabilitation and meaningful re-integration of Aboriginal women offenders. Donate to Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre The Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre strives to enhance the quality of life and living for Indigenous people living in the city of Peterborough and the surrounding area. Donate to Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwag Services Circle Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwag Services Circle (NASC) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development and delivery of healing services for Anishnaabekwewag. Additional Resources: The Anti-Racism Resource Centre The Anti-Racism Resource Centre was created by the Community and Race Relations Committee of Peterborough to be a clearinghouse of information related to ending hate crime, racism and discrimination in Peterborough and surrounding areas. Thank you to Tamara Jones and The Theatre Centre (Toronto) for their work in compiling and circulating many of these resources.

Announcement! This Thursday at 7:00PM EST! The second workshop for #IPAAonline! Resources for Indigenous artists for dealing with COVID-19 world and what the future could look like! With Amanda Rheaume and Jade Harper from Manitoba Music

Our latest Bulletin includes summaries of new programs that can help artists and arts organizations jumpstart their online work, and how you or your organizatio...n can get involved. These programs are put on by Downtown Peterborough DBIA, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, and Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development. Read the bulletin here: http://www.ecthree.org/ec3-covid-19-bulletin-local-program/

Infrastructure, housing, recreation, transit or arts & culture? Tell us what is most important to you for the #2021Budget. Please take 10 minutes to complete the online survey: www.connectptbo.ca/2021Budget.