2020 UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SHELLEY PETERSON STUDENT ART EXHIBITION: A MEETING PLACE FOR STUDENT ARTISTS

Heritage Moments | Carly Wolowich and Muskoka Dittmar-McCallum

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The University of Toronto Shelley Peterson Student Art Exhibition (SPSAE) is a space for exchange. An annual exhibition which celebrates the artistic excellence of University of Toronto’s tri-campus undergraduate Visual Studies students, the 2020 SPSAE offers a meeting place for students to voice ideas through their diverse artistic practice.

Originally founded by the University of Toronto’s 32nd Chancellor, David Peterson, the exhibition was an opportunity to support and exhibit the works of student artists at the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus. The exhibition—named for Shelley Peterson, an artist, author, performer, businesswoman, and the spouse of David Peterson—has continued after Petersons’ retirement, evolving from an intimate event hosted in the Chancellor’s Office at Convocation Hall to a gallery-based exhibition at the Art Museum. As curators for this year’s exhibition, our aim is to not only honour Peterson’s legacy but also cultivate new approaches to exhibiting student art.

An inquiry into contemporary art forms, the exhibition brings together works by Jasaña Alleyne, Meech Boakye, Chantel Briana Campbell, Jasmine Canaviri, Regina Caeli Dela Cruz, Gian Lorenzo Giannone, Yara Matta, Sean Morello, Liam Mullen, Purvi Qadri, sameda, Beenish Shahab, Isabella Varrasso, Jessica Velasco, Zi Yan Bai, Lana Yuan, and Agnes Zeng. The 2020 SPSAE offers nuanced reflections on contemporary issues both locally and globally. Texts, images, and stories have been transformed by these artists into installations and interventions that address themes of identity, cultural belonging, and displacement. All the artists offer gestures of questioning, of exploration, and of disturbance, inviting viewers to question the space they occupy. The exhibition abandons the traditional role of the spectator, as visitors are greeted with a multi-sensory experience and encouraged to participate with the art.

Beenish Shahab, They All Look Alike, 2019. 18x24. One of Four Photo Paper Prints. Image Courtesy of the Artist. 

Artist Beenish Shahab, a Pakistani-Canadian multidisciplinary artist, currently studying at the University of Toronto Scarborough, innovatively challenges racial stereotypes in They All Look Alike. Working with the concept of identity, challenging Western ideologies with her perspectives and experiences of South Asian culture, Shahab draws inspiration from artists like Shirin Neshat and Maria Qamar. In her sculptural photography-based project, the artist physically weaves together images of two people from the same race. Shahab’s work “examines cross-race effect, where members of one race might metaphorically perceive that members of another race all look alike” by photographing eight students from the University of Toronto who have experienced the effects of the cross-race phenomenon. 

Jessica Velasco, Statements, 2019-Ongoing. 180x120. Ink on Paper. Image Courtesy of the Artist. 

Statements, is an ongoing series by Jessica Velasco, a student from the University of Toronto Mississauga campus. Velasco notes, “being mixed race or interethnic often invites micro transgressional racism. These comments are just “subtle” enough that most who offend don’t even realize that they are doing it”. ​Statements​ explores the racist micro-transgressions that the artist has experienced throughout their life to visually assert the absurdity of “subtle racism” and just how often it occurs in today’s society, even to white-representing interethnic people. Velasco will activate this work with a performance piece, Hindi ako nagsasalita ng Tagalog, on the opening night of the exhibition.

Liam Mullen, Flat, 2019. Installation. Image Courtesy of the Artist. 

An artist and student from the University of Toronto St. George campus, Liam Mullen, experiments with photography and personal narrative. Flat​, looks to compress original pictures to create an aura-less image by way of creating a reproduced reality in a repeated pattern that obscures narrative offers an insight into the tragedy of reproduction as a means of stripping away detail in a picture. Flat is a twenty-first century reply to the writings of cultural theorist Walter Benjamin. The installation is composed of heirloom negatives, an Epson printer, and 8 ½ by 11’’ printer paper. Mullen’s work is often accompanied with a documentary video which records his installation process.

The above works are only three of the seventeen works activated in the University of Toronto Art Centre. The exhibition displays a variety of media, including; photography, works on canvas, kinetic sculpture, film, participatory art, performance art and more. Works are displayed unconventionally as they are installed on the floor, hung from the ceiling, and camouflaged into the architecture of the gallery space. Collectively, the artworks on display present current representations of contemporary art practice from across Toronto.

The University of Toronto Shelley Peterson Student Art Exhibition is projected to open April 16th and run until May 17th 2020. Due to the national response to COVID-19, the exhibition reception and opening date may change. Please consult Art Museum’s website for current information.

CHALLENGING HERITAGE: HOW ARTISTS ENVISION THE TERM

Heritage Moments | Carly Wolowich

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During my time writing for Heritage Moments I have been compelled to constantly contemplate the meaning of heritage. As museum professionals, our goal is to capture, conserve, and present heritage to the public in a demarcated manner, however, I have come to learn that values, culture, and traditions cannot be so easily delineated. I have found artists living in Canada and across Turtle Island to profoundly remind me of the intangible and ephemeral nature of heritage and the myriad of ways it can be presented. I thought I would share some of the artists whose work inspires me to challenge my own preconceived ideas of what heritage should look and feel like.

 

Shelley Niro, The Shirt, 2003. One of the nine durations transparencies. Source.

Growing up on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, near Brantford, Ontario, Shelley Niro’s art challenges the expectations placed on Indigenous people by telling their stories and heritage from her own unique perspective. In her work, The Shirt, Niro poignantly critiques colonialism with witty souvenir T-shirt slogans. Progressing from one frame to the next, an Indigenous woman is shown to literally have her shirt taken from her back, serving as a metaphor for what Indigenous people were left with after colonialism.

Niro is profoundly aware of the commodification of Indigenous women’s image. As a Mohawk artist, Niro rejects the clichéd interpretations of Indigenous people in the media by putting those she knows and loves in her work. As Niro notes,

"It’s really about having those images out there in the public, and people seeing. It’s like breaking that barrier where people see images of Native women and it becomes more approachable". 

In The Shirt is an artist and friend of Niro, Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, and Veronica Passalacqua – Tsinhnahjinnie’s real-life wife. These women boldly challenge the stereotypes of Indigenous women that persist today.

Morris Lum, Chinese Freemasons Toronto, 2017. Source.

Morris Lum is a Mississauga-based, Trinidadian born artist whose work explores the hybrid nature of the Chinese-Canadian community through photography, installation, and documentary practices.

Over the last eight years, Lum has been searching for the clusters of Chinatown communities that have been built across Canada and the United States for the purpose of settlement and growth. In Tong Yan Gaai, he aims to focus and direct attention towards the functionality of Chinatown, and explore the generational context of how “Chinese” identity and heritage is expressed in these structural enclaves. These images are what Lum notes to be “visual records of historical and contemporary cultural fixtures” such as small mom and pop shops, Chinese restaurants, and community organizations.

 

Luther Konadu, Figure as Index, 2019. Source.

A writer and artist of Ghanaian descent based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Luther Konadu’s reflective tangential practice touches on themes of identity and the power of voice. I find that his work critically discusses the integral yet flawed nature of presenting heritage itself.

Like heritage, personal identity is mutable. In his powerful photographic works, Konadu shows identity as a construction of groups and of the people around us. Konadu notes, “I’m always trying to make a photograph look more like a photograph, an object, as opposed to a portal into the realities of those who appear in my images”. By making the surface of his photographs more tactile is a means to “snap viewers out of the illusion of representation” and to create a tension between the real and the fictional. In his own words, “I essentially want viewers to second-guess what they’re looking at”.

Lucy Montgomery, Woodwose Series 1, 2016. Source. 

A common household object, known for its often familial and delicate nature, Lindsay Montgomery’s  ceramic artworks are simultaneously “fierce and fiery, radical and robust, and glorious and grotesque”.

As both of her grandmothers were painters, Montgomery’s artistic ancestry led to her attendance at Sheridan College to study ceramic art. Today, Montgomery’s more recent work is what she calls “neoistoriato”. Isoriatio was a popular style of pottery decoration made in Italy during the Renaissance that later proliferated in Europe from the 16th through to the 19th century. Inheriting this ancient form of art and its focus on storytelling in her own artwork, Montgomery has reframed Istoriato from a feminist perspective to talk about current issues that are going on in her life and the world.

“At the heart of everything I do is this idea of storytelling, of mining history. I look at so many different periods of art history, and my work is a collage of all these different times and places. That’s what’s exciting for me about being an artist”. 

-Lucy Montgomery 

Anique Jordan, Sixth Company Battalion, 2016. Source. 

Anique Jordan is an artist, award-winning writer, educator, curator, and entrepreneur. Her recent work thinks about working-class aesthetics, time travel, invisibility, Caribbean carnival, and Black Canadian futurities.

Jordan’s work Sixth Company Batallion is based on the history of a particular group of Black loyalists, who became freed people of colour, in the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago of which her family descends. According to Jordan, “I dramatize and materialize this history as a meditation on survival and an exploration on the ways in which the unacknowledged histories of the past haunt and possess present day life in incredibly complex ways”. Featuring images of her mother and two of her five aunts poised as soldiers in uniforms from the war, the images offer a “de‐colonial, gendered incursion in the archives of Canadian, Caribbean and familial history”.


To represent heritage in museum spaces can be daunting for those of us entering into the museum field. However, these artists affirm the importance of remembering the histories that have created the spaces and communities we live in today. I have come to realize that presenting heritage requires that in which museums require most; reciprocal sharing and intent listening.

What challenges your perceptions of heritage? Please feel free to comment below! 

DIVING INTO THE DIGITAL: EXPLORING HERITAGE ONLINE

Heritage Moments | Carly Wolowich

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Museums are changing. With the advent of the World Wide Web, the physical bricks-and-mortar museum has now been extended, as audiences around the world are enabled to learn and engage with heritage from their very own home. Virtual exhibitions are subverting their seeming ephemeral nature to acquire a sense of permanence—as physical exhibitions have specific opening hours, online exhibitions are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

As noted by Sara Angel, Founder, Executive Director and Publisher of the not-for-profit Art Canada Institute (ACI),

“Cultural expression is a need and a human right—one so fundamental that the United Nations General Assembly enshrined it in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Yet it is something that only 30 percent of Canadians are actively interested in or reached by”. 

With an increase in digital exhibitions over recent decades the answer as to how to interact with wider audiences seems to lie in the online realm.

Heritage Toronto, a charity and agency of the City of Toronto, celebrates and commemorates the city’s rich heritage and the diverse stories of its people, places, and events — both to make sense of our present and to inform our future. Creating programs such as Yonge Street: The Heart of Music City, a digital tour developed by Kristen McLaughlin, I find Heritage Toronto’s online presence exemplifies a sense of inclusivity and connection often remis in the walls of museums and art galleries. To learn more about Heritage Toronto’s digital creations I corresponded with Lucy Di Pietro, Manager of Marketing and Communications, to ask her some questions regarding the display of heritage online.

Image taken from Yonge Street: The Heart of Music City. Source.

In thinking of what work goes into creating web-based exhibitions and programming, Lucy notes there are two main streams which ideally should be developed in tandem – content development and digital production. The first, content development, follows much the same processes as it would for a physical exhibit or program; “the consideration of goals and outcomes, who the audiences are, and developing a strong narrative or experiences that meet the project's objectives and speaks to the audience(s) interests, needs, and desired behaviour”. According to Lucy, “in developing this content, ideally we would consider the delivery mechanism and medium. As an example, you might select a different visual for a digital project than if you were treating the same subject in a museum exhibit space”. In thinking of digital production, Lucy also notes such processes to span front-end and back-end development which could include the development of video and audio experiences. Digital production “is highly specialized, and in our case (and I suspect the same for many museums) the work is outsourced to professional contractors”.

In response to my question of what are the greatest strengths in sharing culture digitally, Lucy says there are two:

-Accessibility (assuming there is internet affordability and access to devices and equipment which is not always a given).

-Depth (you can layer a lot of information in a digital interface which you can't really address in a physical environment). This allows for customized user experiences that can be very high-level or be more like deep scholarly dives.

While there is an intrinsic malleability in the creation of web-based material, cultural institutions are still faced with determining what stories to tell, and whose voices to include in such narratives. Lucy notes moving forward, a main objective for all of Heritage Toronto’s programs (including digital) “is to bring under-represented voices and perspectives to the stories that define our city. Doing so, we believe not only contributes to sense of place, but helps create a compassionate city which honours its diverse stories so that each resident feel reflected, and has a voice, in its future”. As a result, Heritage Toronto has a broad definition of heritage, which Lucy says is best described in their recent State of Heritage Report. In this report it “includes the tangible (traditional) definition, but also the very important and defining intangible elements of behaviours, beliefs, traditions and cultural practices, etc”. Furthermore, Lucy asserts that “in all our work, an underlying priority is to pursue partnerships. This is especially the case where we are exploring the heritage of a cultural or ethnic community, to which none of our staff belong. Community members may reach out to us directly, (e.g. The Little Manila tour we offered from 2016-2018) or we may reach out to them based on a program idea/concept (e.g. The ArQuives for our PRIDE walk)”.   

Image taken from Yonge Street: The Heart of Music City. Source.

Woking in the realm of the digital affords cultural institutions a new medium for expression with new forms of communication. Online exhibitions and programming force us to rethink ideas surrounding access and inclusion and demand us to reconsider the very definition of the museum itself. Lucy Di Pietro noted “that many museums are doing fantastic digital work which is immersive and innovative”. At the beginning of a potential cultural shift, online exhibitions and programming hold the potential to reshape how society interacts with and considers heritage.

Please comment below any of your favourite online exhibitions and programs!

LETS GET SOCIAL: A DISCUSSION OF MUSEUMS USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Heritage Moments | Carly Wolowich

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Museum professionals are constantly questioning how to democratize the museum, yet many don’t realize that the answer could be potentially lying at their very fingertips. Not requiring a definition, social media is something all of us utilize or come into contact with daily. Engrained into our everyday routine, museum professionals are now faced with determining how to effectively utilize public digital platforms to support the museum and enact their contemporary mandates of inclusivity and engagement.

(Source)

As Carol Vogel notes, social media is turning museums into “virtual community centres”. On platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or any museum’s website, everyone has the opportunity to voice their opinions. Digital technologies create new possibilities for museums to utilize their collections and create value by reaching visitors in new and accessible ways. For example, by digitizing collections and archives, heritage institutions can expand audiences and share culture with original owners of objects now acquired by the museum.

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On October 27, 1997, 126,000 of Ontario’s public school teachers, awalked off the job to protest, ‘The Education Equality Act’, which became better known as Bill 160. . Bill 160 which was put forth by the Mike Harris Tory Government consisted of cuts to as well as an overhaul of the education system, which by 1997 had already seen $1 billion cut from it. The bill would essentially take decision making control away from elected school boards, to the Government and its representatives. It stripped teachers of bargaining rights for things such as class size, took control over budgets, and permitted non-certified instructors to teach some programs. . With overall support from students as well as the public teachers would strike for two-weeks before voting to return to work, as they felt they had made their point. During the strike the provincial government would spend millions on attack ads framing the strike as illegal and teachers as selfish - a response to try and reverse public opinion. And by the end of the strike, Bill 160 would go through as intended, as Harris and his provincial Tories refused to back down. However, the situation left a bad taste in the mouths of many, creating a mistrust between the public and the Government. . In a 2007 article reflecting on the Bill 160 strike, Eileen Lennon who was President of the Ontario Teachers Federation at the time said, “although we did not defeat Bill 160, we won the hearts and minds of the public. We caused people to reaffirm their belief in and support for public education. We exposed the Harris government’s true agenda of wanting to centralize power and remove billions of dollars from public education. We talked about our students, about what went on in our classrooms every day. We talked about how much we loved our jobs and cared about our students’ achievements. We all spoke from our hearts and we were believable. We advocated for our schools and our education system. We were never prouder to be teachers.”. . 📸: “Bill 160 - Students, teachers, parents” Tony, Bock @thetorontostar . . . . . . #Toronto #osstf #ontario #teachers #onted #onpoli #cdnpoli #ontarioeducation #instaontario #torontoteachers

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Watch our expert conservator Lee Ann Daffner as she explores the sensitive chemistry involved in restoring one of the oldest photographs in the #MoMACollection, an 1842 daguerreotype slowly being engulfed by tarnish. Head to link in bio for the full video and see the conserved photographs in Gallery 502! Within two years of the invention of photography, Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, a French aristocrat, assembled a team to travel the Mediterranean and make over a thousand images of the region’s cities, people, and ruins. These early daguerreotypes projected images directly onto silver plates, like a mirror imprinting a reflection onto its polished surface. Akin to Polaroids, they were unique photographic objects that offered no convenient method of replication. The daguerreotype Daffner is restoring here captures two separate images—the Arch of Septimius Severus and Capitoline Lion in the Roman Forum. #MoMAMagazine #MoMAConservation #Conservation

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However, with many benefits, an issue many museums now face is having visitors disengage with such networking services when they are actually in the museum. As Thomas P. Campbell, the then director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art said, “we’ve got to keep people in a heads-up mode, to make sure they are looking at art”. I am sure many of us have experienced the ‘Mona Lisa Moment’ during our time in museums, as visitors can be seen fighting to take a photograph of a given object rather than view it with their own eyes. As noted by Philip Kennicott the ‘Mona Lisa Moment’ involves “the annihilation of one of the essential components for viewing art, which is extended individual contemplation”. While not only faced with logistical constraints such as the staff and resources to operate the constantly changing needs of social media platforms, heritage institutions must weigh how much the public should influence what goes on their walls, and how to invite social media usage in the museum space itself.

While attempting to spark a social shift in museums, social media engagement also possesses potential financial benefits for institutions. Advertising the museum and its various merchandise, being active on social media aids in building relationships with younger audiences who are also viewed as potential new donors and patrons to the museum. This implementation of social media for monetary gain is exemplified in the Art Gallery of Ontario’s recent crowdfunding campaign for the acquisition of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room Let’s Survive Forever--now poignantly a hotspot for AGO visitors to take Instagram photos in. While the AGO did not raise its intended target of $1.3 million, $651,183 was raised from contributions made by more than 4,700 donors. Exemplifying a level of success in promoting material on social media, the AGO’s Instagram posts for the campaign also clearly exemplify the power and presence of users’ reactions. One user wrote on a post by the Gallery, “this is disgusting. What were the revenues from the exhibition? How much are you paying interns? Let’s see the books before we have this gofundme bullshit conversation”. While AGO staff were able to influence a wider audience to elicit donations, such comments reflect the inherent challenges of participating in such online platforms. With supportive comments also come the critical, but the question remains if museums are ready to listen.

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Toronto, you loved #infiniteKusama and we know you want more of one of the world’s most significant contemporary artists. Now it's time for us to come together again, and bring a new Kusama Infinity Mirror Room to the AGO & our city - FOREVER. Donate now for early and exclusive access. Those who donate before November 5 at 12pm will be entered to win an AGO sleepover. Together, #infinityAGO is achievable. Head to our website for more information on how to give. • #crowdfunding #kusama #yayoikusama #infinityrooms #artist #5womenartists #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist #torontoart #toronto #yyz #mirrorrooms

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The opportunity to involve new voices poses a necessary challenge for museums, in particular, art museums, as they must step down from their position of exclusivity. Heritage institutions are faced with dismantling the traditional colonial spaces that have persisted for centuries as they now share their historic practices with critical contemporary users. While it is visible that many museum mission statements now emphasize education and participation, rather than preservation and presentation, the organizational frameworks that have previously supported biased practices are being forced to actively change.

While seemingly mundane, heritage institutions’ interactions on social media must be critically analyzed as any exhibition or program physically inside the museum would be. While this article just scratches the surface to the necessary conversation regarding museums and their presence on social media I hope everyone will take a look the next time they are scrolling through their feeds to analyze and engage with what museums are putting out into the world wide web.

Also, if anyone has any recommendations of museum related social media accounts please comment them below!

A CALL FOR CRITIQUE

Heritage Moments | Carly Wolowich

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Heritage institutions require thoughtful critique. Steeped in colonialism and built upon patriarchal structures, museums, and cultural spaces alike, need consistent criticism to transform these often exclusionary spaces. However, the question remains as to how to ignite such interventions, especially as someone who has, whether knowingly or unknowingly, become entrenched in museum practice. When looking to gain perspective on how to challenge the museum I often turn to those that display themselves and their work inside of such institutions: artists.

Artists have been critiquing the museum for decades now. The concept of institutional criticism began in the late 1960s as artists began to create art in reaction to the very institutions that purchased and exhibited their work. During this time, art institutions were often perceived to be a place of ‘cultural confinement’ that was not fulfilling its mandate to operate for the good of the public--the very concept in which facilitated their creation in the first place. Creatively walking the line as both an insider and outsider, artists continue to challenge society’s perception of museums in contrast to the reality of their often unethical forms of practice, resourcefully resolving such conflicting tensions.

Robert Houle, an Anishinaabe Saulteaux and prolific artist, exemplifies the power of institutional critique. Houle’s artistic career has been critical of colonial structures, focusing on injustices such as cultural appropriation in museums and art galleries. He writes, “exclusion from Western representation is deeply rooted in and even protected by a structure that authorizes and legitimizes certain representations while blocking, prohibiting or invalidating others”. Some of Houle’s most poignant artistic interventions are exemplified in Toronto’s very own Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

In 1985 Houle encountered an installation by German artist Lothar Baumgarten. The AGO invited Baumgarten to produce a site-specific work for Walker Court--the center and heart of the Gallery--as part of the exhibit The European Iceberg: Creativity in Germany and Italy Today. Baumgarten created Monument for the Native People of Ontario, which was meant to pay homage to eight nations. Houle appreciated the artist’s gesture, but was displeased with his lack of research. Printed on the walls in large Roman type, some of the names were misspelled, and linguistic groups, regions, tribes, and bands were intermingled with no distinction. Furthermore, Baumgarten’s felt right to document the names was extremely unsettling.

Robert Houle, Anishnabe Walker Court, 1993, site-specific installation at Walker Court, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Throughout the 1980s in Canada, contemporary Indigenous art was still being debated by artists and curators as to whether it had a place in mainstream art galleries or if such works should remain in anthropological museums. When Houle responded to Baumgarten’s installation with Anishnabe Walker Court, he affirmed Indigenous Arts’ place in contemporary art galleries. Houle re-appropriated the German artist’s tribal names, placing them in quotation marks and re-inscribing them in lowercase letters on the outer walls surrounding the Court. Houle also featured documentation of the historic changes made to the space over time, commenting on how colonial institutions, such as the AGO, improperly and offensively memorialized individuals and history. In 2008, when the AGO underwent their major renovation, these names were removed and Houle asserted his presence once again with his work Seven Grandfathers. 

Robert Houle, Ojibwa, from Anishnabe Walker Court preliminary study #8, 1994, collage, electrographic prints on wove paper, 43.5 x 35.5 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Robert Houle, Study #10 (for Anishnabe Walker Court), 1994, gelatin silver print, photocopy, ink on coloured plastic sheet, vinyl self-adhesive letters, black porous point marker, graphite on paper, resin-coated photographic paper, and coloured transparent sheet, 43.2 x 35.7 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Today, Seven Grandfathers boldly hangs in the place where Baumgarten’s work once did. Commissioned to coincide with the 2014 exhibition Before and after the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes, the work consists of seven abstract paintings that resemble ceremonial drums. Seven Grandfathers reveals the “concepts of respect, and sharing that form the foundation of an Anishnabe way of life”. Each disc corresponds to an animal spirit and imparts one of the sacred teachings of Anishinaabe culture to AGO visitors. 

Robert Houle, Seven Grandfathers, 2014, oil on canvas, digital prints, Mylar, watercolour on paper, seven site-specific works, each 20.3 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. (Source).

Museum professionals can learn from the artists in which they exhibit. Skillfully practicing a sense of duality, reflecting on both the museum and the communities surrounding them, artists critique heritage institutions with intent and inspired innovation. Stepping foot into the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Walker Court visitors are impressed with a space of seeming inclusivity that displays art such as Seven Grandfathers. While this artwork is likely recognized as a result of self-reflection by museum staff, I credit and thank Robert Houle for this systematic shift in the Gallery and museums more broadly. I hope in reading on Robert Houle’s practice, this article will implore people to not only thoughtfully look at museum spaces but listen to what others outside of the museum world have to say.

Next time you’re visiting the AGO make sure to glance up in Walker Court and take a look at Robert Houle’s artwork. You now know a history that I hope will inspire you just as much as it did me.

WHAT DOES THE PHRASE MEAN?: ENGAGING WITH THE IDEA OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Heritage Moments | Carly Wolowich

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The topic of community engagement has been a growing trend in heritage institutions. However, I often find myself questioning what museum professionals mean when they use this term. As museum professionals slip the phrase in almost every conversation surrounding museum programming and planning, community engagement almost seems to be an over exhausted cliché that lacks a sense of substance and thought. It is easy to use the term “community engagement” to appear as a seeming noble ally, but I feel we must ask what really is community engagement and how can we take part in it?

In a search to find answers, I turned to those who are actively making a change in community organizations. The Community Arts Guild has been working in Scarborough since 2012, partnering with local residents and organizations. Run by Beth Helmers, Artistic Director, and Joanna Prescod, Outreach and Project Manager, the Community Arts Guild connects people separated from each other, inviting everyone, including those who may not normally have the opportunity to participate, to make art of all kinds.

The Cast and Crew from Unfolding, the Community Art Guild's outdoor community performance about the history and stories of Scarborough (Photograph courtesy of Katherine Fleitas/peacephoto)

Speaking with both Beth and Joanna, I quickly learnt that one of the key attributes to successful community engagement is an established sense of flexibility and thoughtful collaboration. While Beth noted that one of the benefits of Community Arts Guild’s smaller size is its agility, both her and Joanna advocated the idea of tailoring projects to things that are of interest and importance to community members. To do so, they advised that heritage institutions determine who they are communicating with and involve them early on in the planning process of a program. As Joanna noted, “community engagement needs to start with the idea”, as “rather than trying to fit community stories into a museum’s framework, they need to be placed in a context that is important for the people themselves”.

During our conversation, Beth expressed the importance of “recognizing assets in a community” and fostering partnerships. Community Arts Guild is providing free programming and thereby building relationships through other community leaders with the same values. For example, the people involved in the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communitiy's Tamil Seniors' Wellness Program, an organization closely partnered with the Community Arts Guild, share an enduring reciprocal partnership with Beth and Joanna. Beth reiterated the phrase used by Anne Gloger of the East Scarborough Storefront; “emergence is where momentum meets opportunity”. Rather than rigid one time programs, the Community Arts Guild works to produce ongoing forward-thinking connections that will continuously adapt to support positive change in the community.

Accessibility is the core value of the Community Arts Guild and must be considered in heritage institutions community outreach and programming. According to Joanna “it just doesn’t make sense to not be accessible”. While those who have capacity are welcomed to join, resources are focused on those who cannot, depending on whatever social or physical barriers they face. During my time volunteering with Beth, Joanna, and their other amazing staff and volunteers, I was able to witness how such simple acts of providing access make such a difference in community members’ lives. By just offering transportation--a concern heritage institutions are often remiss in thinking of--alleviated a considerable barrier for so many individuals.

The Community Art Guild's Interlacing project is an interactive art installation that  travelled to different sites in Scarborough, inviting people to weave their stories together (Photograph courtesy of Sonja Rainey)

Heritage institutions have the opportunity to create powerful change in local communities. Joanna stressed, “cultural institutions need to realize that they are the facilitators and not the owners of history”. I find heritage institutions' outreach programs being extractive at times, as relationships with community members are continually forged with the museum’s interests at heart. Museums and the like need to pay attention to the stories that communities want to tell to transform their rather traditional self-seeking framework. Beth voiced that storytelling is seen in all disciplines of art and heritage work, and is ultimately part of the human condition. Community members voices are vital and important, it is just a matter if museums are truly willing to listen in order to enact change.

(Photograph courtesy of Sonja Rainey)

I would implore everyone reading this article to take a moment, perhaps a Heritage Moment, and think of what community engagement means and looks like to you. I would love to hear what everyone thinks!