4CO Films Clint Butler by Fabian Di Corcia Actor Clint Butler steps behind the camera for socially responsible storytelling WORDS BY ALLISON CHOW ISSUE 11 | TORONTO There is often a powerful correspondence between crisis and creativity. During the pandemic, many homebound people fought back stagnation with new hobbies like sourdough baking, but for Clint Butler — a Toronto-based stage, screen, and voice-over actor — the uncertainty of the pandemic yielded new ways to entwine creativity, innovation, and community. Turning his attention back onto filmmaking, Butler launched his independent production company, 4CO Films, in 2021, with an emphasis on socially responsible storytelling and creating art as a means of healing. With several projects in development, Butler has been exploring a return to the boundless simplicity of youth. Crafting stories from tender, intimate narratives around care, heritage, and isolation, his latest film, Mudder’s Hands , turns his lens on his own mother and her baking skills. Through 4CO, Butler seeks to share the kind of magic with the world that transforms words into force fields and reveals the sublime in the mundane. CAN | The name "4CO Films” has its origins in your childhood. How does this inspiration relate to your company's mandate? CB ── My older brother says that as a child, I had a very active imagination. He tells the story that whenever he would pretend to come at me, I would throw up my hands like a sorcerer and yell, “Forcefield! Pew! Pew!” I was so young, and I pronounced it, “fore-see-oh.” The older I get, the more I’m reminded that no matter how old we are, our inner child is still very much alive just below the surface, waiting for those negative voices to quiet down so it can come out and play. The idea of reparenting as an adult and healing those parts of the self that may have felt unsafe as a child has been coming up for me time and time again, and I think this draw towards self-directed empathy and healing is something that I am leaning into. Launching 4CO Films was a way to honour this child, trust my inner voice, and reconnect with my joy. I am fired up by the idea of extending this care to others through my vision and creation. It’s a privilege I am grateful for. And I think it is reflected in my work. Still from "Mudder's Hands" - Cinematographer: Tristram Clark CAN | You speak of aspiring to “socially responsible storytelling” in your work. How would you define that, and how does this definition instruct the choice of projects you develop? CB ── I’ve been an actor for over 20 years, which has been a self-centred journey at times. Lately, I’ve been reflecting heavily not only on my own unique voice as a storyteller, but also on how I got here, and the people who have influenced me along the way—people like my friend Heather Williams, the subject of my next film, Little Feet . I’ve also been paying closer attention to the impact of the words and images we share, how I am personally affected by what I allow myself to consume, and how the projects I am a part of may, in turn, affect others. Of course, there is a place for projects that exist solely to entertain, to make us laugh or cringe, or to pass the time. But as a documentary filmmaker — aside from being gifted the task of telling someone else’s story or capturing a particular moment in time — I find great purpose knowing that if I can dig deeper and find the poetry, I may also be able to affect change in my own small way. To amplify a voice that may have otherwise remained unheard, to allow someone to feel seen, or to shed light on an issue so as to move us collectively into a space of more compassion and curiosity, I guess that is what I mean by “socially responsible.” Still from "Mudder's Hands" - Cinematographer: Tristram Clark CAN | After working as an actor all those years, you recently initiated a second path for yourself as a filmmaker. What were some of the motivations for undertaking this new venture? CB ── I studied documentary production years ago, and I set it gently aside, knowing I would someday return to it when I wasn’t working steadily in the theatre world. I have many little creative nuggets that I have been cradling for years, but Mudder’s Hands was born entirely out of a pandemic pivot. As a Newfoundlander, I was also proud member of the Toronto company of Come From Away , telling the story of community and generosity in the wake of tragedy and isolation. When the lights of our entire industry went out overnight in March of 2020, I thought, if I don’t demystify the producorial process now, I never will. I enrolled in Centennial College’s Film and TV Business Program, and as luck would have it, I found myself being instructed by incredible independent producers, many of whom were working primarily in the documentary field. It reignited a spark in me. Clint Butler's Mom - Courtesy of Allison Morgan We were in pitching sessions when I had a lightbulb moment: “Write what you know.” I missed my mother dearly, who, despite crippling arthritis, continued to send me care packages of traditional homemade raisin bread. I started with the idea of a cultural time capsule and began interviewing her remotely: the steps of making bread, how she learned, how it made her feel, and how her arthritis got in the way. Suddenly, I had a triptych of themes─memories of youth, pains of age, and the spirit of generosity that tied it all together. After witnessing the struggle of many seniors during the pandemic, I thought it a nice way to remind people of the value in their stories and lived experiences, and to honour my mother in the process. At the end of the day, whether acting or directing, it’s all storytelling.

CONVERGENT DIVERGENCY Peter Kelly, Yuichiro Inoue, Megumi Kokuba, Rachana Joshi, and Purawai Vyas in “helix” choreographed by Atri Nundy. Lighting design by Noah Feaver. Costume design by Valerie Calam. Photo by Marlowe Porter TDT ends it's season with explosive juxtapositions WORDS BY MILES FORRESTER | Toronto Dance Theatre MAR 23, 2023 | COMMUNITY Convergent Divergency is the kind of title that would be familiar to anyone who's ever had to put a group of artists together. It sounds like theory and it's open enough for most practices to reside in its dialectic. That said, the success of Toronto Dance Theatre's last show of the season owes a small part of its success to the seed that title planted. Atri Nundy's helix (a Bharatanatyam-informed minimalist exploration of forms) and Danah Rosales' GIVE ME ONE (a joyous exhibition from Toronto's kiki ballroom scene) are both excellent works. When paired, they're an incredibly cohesive program. It's not that one departs from the other, or one creates the ground for that departure; each piece has something revealed by their compliment.

Oriah Wiersma Oriah Wiersma What does support for independent Canadian contemporary dance really look like? Words by Rebecca Lashmar ISSUE 12 | TORONTO | IN MOTION Whether at the municipal, provincial, or national level, funding for the arts is usually one of the first categories to receive cuts in periods of austerity. Artists have long been praised for their ingenuity in creation—owing mostly to a lack of resources—and it’s become the norm that they will always find a way to make do with what little is provided. But as rental prices even outside city centres and rural areas skyrocket, this ingenuity is placed in a chokehold, and creatives increasingly question how the Canadian government can better support the country’s arts sector. As Canadian artists struggle with everything from long-term career investments to getting groceries for the week, the accessibility of resources has never been more important. These resources come in many forms beyond direct funding; they also include opportunities such as residencies and the availability of rehearsal spaces. How are artists able to sustain themselves and their practices when rehearsal spaces are increasingly pinched by rent hikes? What does this mean for the future of the arts sector, and opportunities for multidisciplinary Canadian artists, when funding for the arts is the first thing to go when the going gets hard? Oriah Wiersma by Omid Moterassed at YLDE Showing These are some of the questions that multidisciplinary artists like Oriah Wiersma have to contend with. As a dancer and bodyworker specializing in craniosacral therapy and Thai massage, Wiersma’s artistry is a perpetual exploration of the relationship between art and mind-and-body wellness. With a love for both small towns and city skylines, Wiersma’s radiant curiosity for movement realizes the communality and isolation that coexist in both urban and rural Canadiana. Reflecting on her residency with Winnipeg’s Young Lungs Dance Exchange , Wiersma pinpoints the cruciality of accessible rehearsal spaces, residency opportunities, and the resilient power of the Canadian dance community ─a community that, like many others, is navigating the post-pandemic creative terrain and striving to claim both digital and brick-and-mortar spaces. YOUNG LUNGS CAN | How do programs like the Young Lungs Dance Exchange Research Series Residency broaden the scope and accessibility of contemporary dance in Canada? OW ─ As an organization, Young Lungs is developing and fostering something profound in the Winnipeg community, which I had the privilege to engage with while I was there. Something that distinguishes this residency is its interdisciplinary approach. Writers and visual artists are brought in and paid to creatively respond to the work of the in-residence artists, allowing for exchange across disciplines and multiple in-depth perspectives on the research. Also, the act of going elsewhere and having the opportunity to connect, share, and converse with artists from different geographical areas of Canada is particularly rewarding and informative. Oriah Wiersma by Zahra Saleki I think contemporary dance can be insular, and interdisciplinary exchange opens up possibilities of the form and increases accessibility. Throughout my career I’ve seen new audiences interact with contemporary dance in spaces it is not typically seen, such as a bar show, and this is pretty exciting. AN OPEN LETTER TO OLIVIA CHOW CAN | How do you feel the funding opportunities for independent contemporary dancers fail to meet their dynamic needs on a consistent basis? OW ─ While I have no doubt that every performing arts sector experiences their own set of challenges in relation to the artistic funding that is available, in my own experience as an independent dance artist, the problem that I continually bump up against is the lack of physical space available to practice and research my craft. These spaces are few and far between and generally are not very affordable. The funding structures in my opinion are too focused on project-specific grants; it would be supportive to artists to have grants available to cover the rental of studio space. At this point in my career, I’m particularly interested in investigating the artistic process. My practice is definitely one that does … not … rush … the … process. I work from a place of body-out, as opposed to mind-down, and with this method of working more time and space is required. Oriah Wiersma by Kayla Jeanson at POP Montreal I have lived in Toronto for the past decade and, in my time here, have witnessed dance spaces continually close rather than open. I already struggle to be able to afford space and now it is difficult to even find spaces to rent because they don't exist, or the ones that do are booked so far in advance because the market is saturated. This is upsetting because many buildings stand empty that would be perfectly suited for dance. I don’t require a lot of space, just an empty room and an okay floor. There’s so much potential in this city to expand the art sector and foster it, but instead I see artists being pushed out as the rent market continues to inflate. I would love to see the city fund a designated building for artistic research, where artists are able to access studio space at a subsidized rate. A building that is a multi-disciplinary artistic hub where artists can connect and research without the worry of how to afford space to do the thing we’re meant to do. I believe this is a larger problem than the funding bodies and city alone, and I wonder how this can shift to a place of community, on a grass roots level, rather than requiring granting systems and municipal support. There are spaces that currently exist that could be shared. PAN-CANADIAN CAN | It seems you’ve built a dance community that spans the country. How has this pan-Canadian community of dancers supported you through recent periods of isolation? And in what ways do you wish this community was more accessible? OW ─ The importance of community was heightened for me during isolation, and that is something that has stayed with me. During such a precarious time, I was supported by fellow artists, navigating the uncertainty from a place of mutual understanding. The community kept me inspired. We discussed and dreamed, planting seeds for projects to emerge when possible, and they did. At first this meant a shift to working online─music videos, creative films, and online festivals. This experience opened up how I view the possibilities for projects now. It has also made the country feel smaller in some sense, as I got used to working online. It’s something I do more regularly now: I’m currently continuing working with my Winnipeg-based mentor. Oriah Wiersma by Kayla Jeanson in Winnipeg There’s also something to be said about what is gained from working in isolation. Out of necessity at the time, of not being able to work with others, I dove into my solo practice. This experience created a foundation and gave me time to learn about what I value and how I work. With these discoveries, I am now able to enter into collaborations from a more rooted place. I see great value in both understanding one’s own practice and working in collaboration with others. This July I’m heading to the Winnipeg Fringe Festival to perform a new solo on a triple bill with my dear friends Alex Elliott from Winnipeg and Kayla Jeanson from Montreal. It’s amazing to be performing live again.

MOCA Spring 2025 Justin Ming Yong, Blur, installation view, MOCA Toronto, 2025 As Toronto’s Sterling Road evolves into a vibrant creative hub, its resident museum-cum-gallery space stays ahead of the curve with innovative exhibits Words by Gus Lederman | Photography courtesy of MOCA ISSUE 15 | TORONTO | SPACES L: The Tower Automotive Building designed by John W. Woodman in collaboration with C.A.P Turner, 1920 R: MOCA Toronto Exterior. Photo: Gabriel Li For the last seven years, Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has been quietly thriving on Sterling Road, as a vivid artistic node at the center of what was once an industrial hub. These days, Sterling Road is a uniquely sensorial experience: from the gustatory delights of the chocolatey scents wafting from the resident Nestlé factory, to the staccato chatter of people grabbing a pint on the Henderson Brewing Company patio, before checking out the Sorauren Farmers’ Market. This stretch of town is slowly being revitalized from a relic of a manufacturing era, to a multipurpose and communal neighbourhood with commercial ambitions. At the heart of this burgeoning artery in Toronto’s west-end is MOCA’s residence, a former aluminum foundry which has recently been reopened as a mixed-use tower, containing office and exhibit spaces. With each new exhibit opening, the first three floors occupied by MOCA get a complete makeover. Extensive renovations welcome fresh batches of artists for seasonal runs. While Sterling Road is a long string of construction projects, MOCA’s interiors interrupt the monotony of steel and concrete with a wonderland of colour, texture, and unconventional integrations of art and architecture. Its interiors are variously outfitted with smooth fabrics and rough edges, bright shapes and muted landscapes─the mundane turns ethereal, and the fantastical turns tactile. For MOCA’s Spring 2025 exhibit, the distance between these contrasting states is expanded to maximum effect. L-R: Jessica Stockholer, Justin Ming Yong, Margaux Williamson This season’s lineup brings an eclectic set of works by Jessica Stockholder, Justin Ming Yong, and Margaux Williamson─plus an encore appearance of Alex Da Corte’s fan favourite exhibit from the fall, Ear Worm . Stockholder utilizes the majority of the first floor for her site-specific installation, The Squared Circle: Ringing , with a life-sized boxing ring as the focal point. The ring, like much of the exhibit, is striking in its colour pairings: the canvas is an unhemmed salmon-coloured fabric, while the ropes are a glossy yellow. Stockholder’s iconic use of unconventional materials is clear, with puzzle mats sticking out from underneath the salmon canvas, and, in a nearby piece, neon pink cords tangled with lightbulbs and lamp wires. No wall or tile goes unconsidered: bright shapes and poetic tidbits hide in plain sight, along the exhibit walls. The tessellation of triangles, including a formation of chopped-up wooden tables, appears to be a recurring motif. Entering this exhibit feels like interrupting a conversation: from structures, to vinyl stickers, to paintworks, to poems. The interactivity is palpable. Elements overlap, clash, and complement each other, drawing the viewer’s eyes in a loosely wandering zig-zag. Likewise, Stockholder’s set enters in conversation with the MOCA’s architecture. It becomes up to the visitor to decode this textural dialogue of static gestures. CANNOPY x Jessica Stockholder Jessica Stockholder, The Squared Circle Ringing, installation view, MOC A Toronto, 2025 You’re known for your use of unconventional materials: The Squared Circle : Ringing is fitted with lamps, bungee cords and sliced wooden tables. How does this relationship between convention and subversion inform you as an artist? JS ─ Art history has for many decades included artists working with all kinds of materials: my work is in dialogue with that history, and with the world around me. I make things, or orchestrate moments, using all kinds of materials from the world that we are all moving around in, materials that were also made by other people. I don’t understand my work to be subversive, rather it is resonant with what we live with. Jessica Stockholder, The Squared Circle Ringing, installation view, MOC A Toronto, 2025 Walking around the first floor, it became difficult to tell where the museum’s architecture ended, and your exhibition began. You’ve completely transformed the space, right up to the front desk. What is your process like for first getting familiar with, and then metamorphosing MOCA’s space? JS ─ I orchestrate an experience that raises questions about frame, edge, boundary, and autonomy. This experience rattles with metaphor in relation to so many parts of life. The Squared Circle: Ringing is distinct from the space, and also inseparable from it. I thoroughly enjoyed placing the monitor with the shaking hydrangeas next to the air vent of similar proportions! The recorded wind and the real wind coming through the vent, in concert with one another. Jessica Stockholder, The Squared Circle Ringing, installation view, MOC A Toronto, 2025 The image of the boxing ring, as well as some of the poetic works on the wall, refer to the space as a sort of stage for performance, transformation, and confrontation. To what degree is this confrontation, or invitation, intended? JS ─ I hope that the work as a whole makes space to contemplate the complexity inherent in public dialogue of all kinds─art exhibition, politics, gaming, theater…. How we create unity and agreement in the midst of a cacophony of feeling, agreement, and disagreement. Justin Ming Yong, Blur, installation view, MOCA Toronto, 2025 If you can draw your eyes away from Stockholder’s captivating installation, softness awaits on the other side of the room. Justin Ming Yong’s Blur is a practice in reimagined textiles, quilting his way across the walls, and around a massive wooden block suspended from the ceiling. What isn’t so obvious at first is that the work extends all the way into the elevators. Playing with the way elevators are fitted with drab fabrics to prevent damage when transporting large objects, Yong lines the elevator walls with gorgeous quilted geometry. The incorporation of the elevators in the exhibition speaks to MOCA’s dedication to total transformation, and their celebration of the transitory process. Yong calls on the traditional quilt-making knowledge passed down to him by his mother to create his nontraditional works. He doesn’t emphasize symmetry or exactitude in his shapes, instead letting purposeful imperfection bleed into the meticulous craft. The asymmetry of the patterns on the quilts draws the eye to the stitching, which mixes vertical and horizontal lines to create a veiled pattern of its own. The exhibit asks you to take your time admiring the three main pieces, more so than you can afford to do in the elevator, with only seconds between floors. The most eye-catching piece is the suspended block wrapped with overlapping quilts, in which softness and sharp edges provide pleasant contrast, as the cube’s angles are dulled by the fabric. Alex Da Corte, Ear Worm, installation view, MOCA Toronto, 2024 The second floor opens up to reveal an uncanny air of nostalgia with Alex Da Corte’s Ear Worm , which isn’t a new addition to the gallery. The exhibit earned itself an extension from the Fall/Winter collection, when it first caught Cannopy ’s eye. Ear Worm is a mixology of pop-culture, sexuality, violence, cinema, children’s literature, art and design history . His series of short films ( Rubber Pencil Devil ) and “Mouse Museum” invite the viewer into a nostalgic fever dream, that includes such scenes as Bugs Bunny reclining on a crescent moon, while Frank Ocean’s sultry “Moon River” croons over and over. “Mouse Museum” is a life size plywood tunnel which doubles as a cabinet of curiosity, offering frivolous glimpses into Da Corte’s collection of small toys and sculptures (that range from a deflated rubber sphere, to Harry Potter’s magic wand). Elsewhere, another screen exhibits Da Corte himself, morphed into Dopey—one of the seven dwarves—holding a fluorescent blue candle, as he saunters up a never ending staircase. CANNOPY x Margaux Williamson Margaux Williamson, Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars, installation view, MOCA Toronto, 2025 The top floor of the MOCA exhibit space is reserved for the deeply contemplative family of pieces by artist Margaux Williamson, entitled Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars . Walking through this exhibit evokes the feeling of exploring someone else’s house, appreciating all the little pieces and imprints of a life. Williamson depicts quotidian scenes: bedrooms, living rooms, rivers─all while bringing a fascination to the mundane. She abandons the rigidity of traditional perspective and blurs edges, leaving space for the audience to make out what lies beyond the scene of the painting. These obscured borders compliment the third floor nicely with the first, as a subtle theme of rough edges seems palpable. Williamson’s scenes are largely naturalistic and rural, often with a distinguished object placed in their midst. She has a pattern of placing laptops and other common gadgets in her paintings and, with her brushstrokes and muted tones, mangages to envelop unsightly technology with the surrounding rustic aesthetics. Margaux Williamson, Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars, installation view, MOCA Toronto, 2025 How did you arrive at this orientation towards technology as the disruptor , rather than the default and inescapable context of our daily lives? MW ─ I don’t see plastic or laptops or phones as disruptors in these works. For these paintings, it has been best if I see everything around me equally, just all atoms: a flower no different than a piece of garbage, a phone no different than a dinner plate. It is my preference to take as much symbology away, so I can better see all the elements around me. Hopefully, then, people in front of the finished work can be present in the time and space of the work, and the space that they’re in, without being taken off on the task of puzzling out meaning. Margaux Williamson, Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars, installation view, MOCA Toronto, 2025 Your process is quite intriguing: apparently, you begin with one object, then paint the scene around it without planning it out. How did you arrive at this process? Presumably, you’ve tried more conventional processes of creation─what constrictions did they place on your creative outlet that this more improvisational approach resolves? MW ─ I’ve always improvised and followed the work intuitively, as it is much more interesting and complex for me to be surprised by what I make. When I have seven or so paintings finished, then I think about where I’ve gotten to, like the paintings are studies. I work on my notes, which are a bit like poetic fragments, or accounting lists of understanding what I have made. Then I go back, with a bit more of an understanding or blueprint of where I am going and why I am going there, to make seven more—hopefully to be surprised a bit more, and so on. I make paintings based on these notes. For instance, there are two in the exhibition—“Birds” and “White Blanket”—that had the same note. The note was about a space that was so empty that the main grounding weight was just from a blanket at the bottom. With one, I started with a mirror in the middle, and with the other, I started with a rug and a laptop in the middle. They are very different paintings, but they both have that emptiness and a blanket at the bottom, a counter-intuitive weight. I don’t paint the most important thing at first. I just paint one thing I am feeling that day, and then another thing I am feeling the next day, and then another thing. It’s a pleasure moving slowly, not correcting anything, not laboring too much in the transitions, and letting the painting be what it is. Margaux Williamson, Shoes, books, hands, buildings, and cars, installation view, MOCA Toronto, 2025 Your works evoke a sense of tranquility, framing mundane, everyday views with soft, blurred edges. How does your studio space inspire these settings? Or rather, how do your paintings inspire a space you aspire to create within? MW ─ I have always felt best in an empty studio. Somehow, alone in a studio, I feel more connected to the world, more present, the potential for depth right there. I think what I can see of these paintings, looking back now on so many, is that I have tried to bring that way I have in the studio to spaces outside the studio—no matter how mundane or how much trouble I had seeing them. At first glance, the MOCA can seem inaccessible, both because of its location, and because of the various assumptions people may have about contemporary art being esoteric and academic. MOCA’s efforts to de-snobbify the space extend beyond these exhibits, as they offer free creative programming for all ages, with family-friendly Community Sundays (first Sunday of the month), and a weekly drop-in Art Hive on Monday nights. While the surrounding area of Sterling Road continues to evolve, it seems MOCA has already arrived at the destination to which this neighbourhood is heading.

elijah woods elijah woods On "what if it was great?", the self-starting singer and producer breaks new creative ground WORDS BY CALEB FREEMAN | INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK ISSUE 12 | TORONTO | HOMEGROWN In 2022, elijah woods made the decision to pack up and leave Ottawa, the city where he launched his career. The singer and multi-instrumentalist bid farewell to the large basement studio where he had written, produced, recorded, and mixed his 2021 EP look what I did , downsizing to a smaller studio in Toronto. This new space served as the home base for what if it was great? , woods’ second EP, out now. In 2018, woods skyrocketed into the spotlight after winning the Canadian music reality show The Launch as one-half of the electropop duo Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine. The group’s blend of pop, R&B, and electronic elements caught the attention of record executive Scott Borchetta, who signed them to his label Big Machine and executive produced their debut EP 8:47 . Their song “Ain’t Easy,” co-written by Camilla Cabello and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, was certified platinum later that year. Since going solo in 2020, woods has balanced meeting fan expectations with establishing a musical identity separate from his collaborative work with Fine. He has slowly inched away from the pulsing R&B-inspired beats and soaring choruses of his earlier production, opting instead for simpler and more atmospheric instrumentation. what if it was great? is moodier than wood’s earlier work, a lyrics-forward collection of confessional songs focused largely on big loves and ill-fated relationships. The production is more restrained than his first EP, and the vocals lack the grittiness that characterized his collaboration with Fine, though the anthemic climaxes are still there. Songs like “make believe” with its surprising use of breakbeat and vocal modulation, and “easier said” also flirt with experimentation, making this EP stand out from prior releases. woods has described the creative process for this EP as “a journey inward.” With his relocation to a smaller studio in a new city and his experimentation with new sounds on the EP, the characterization makes sense. But that doesn’t mean the EP is an exercise in unrestrained creativity. As woods has stepped away from the mainstream spotlight he once shared with Fine, he has found a devoted following online, with millions of viewers regularly tuning into his videos on TikTok. what if it was great? is a streaming-friendly release crafted with these listeners in mind, a step away from woods’ previous output, while still maintaining the pop sensibilities of his career so far.

Elsewhere: Two unconventional communal spaces presenting art Michéle Provost - "Spot the Difference" Anishare and HUM Microgallery are two exhibition platforms closing the gap between space and spectator Words by Glesni Williams ISSUE 15 | OTTAWA & TORONTO | SPACES The stereotype of the “white cube” exhibition space has long been left behind. From institutional museums and commercial galleries, to independent art spaces, both the presentation and collective experience of visiting exhibitions, artworks, and installations are undergoing revolutions. Traditional white walls—an aesthetic practice dating back to the early 20th century in response to the increase in abstract works which required a neutral background—are no longer a given. Instead, new forms and aesthetics of space, curation, and public engagement are reshaping how we view and interact with art. Exhibition spaces themselves are social containers, and should not be viewed or treated as static environments. Evermore today, these spaces must understand their public as heterogeneous and multicultural, moving away from the exclusivity and elitism often reinforced by the social norms of the art world. Galleries are becoming spaces of gathering. This represents a shift away from historical conventions of the museum, which have not always prioritized dialogue, or sustainable social practices which value interaction between the viewers themselves, within the context of the art space. Today, the digital realm is as significant a space for art as physical galleries, offering a parallel dimension for artistic engagement that holds equal cultural value. Emerging “third spaces” — hybrid venues blending physical and digital elements — are forming within communities, taking root as active hubs for art and culture. These unconventional spaces defy the need for traditional structures, such as four walls, or shopfronts. Instead, they thrive through an “architecture of persons:” existing and gaining recognition through the communities that gather around them, whether online or in person. Anishare is one such digital space. Created by Toronto-based Software Developer Javan Graham, Anishare is a collaborative social platform, which brings together online users the world over, encouraging participants to create, share, and view animations — whether designed by friends or artists. Only recently available through invitation, having been launched in the summer of 2024, Anishare is very much a developing shared space. The space invites online users of varying skills and experiences to discover the world of animation, and shared collaboration and creativity. Unconventional in its approach to reaching an audience, its existence relies on the establishment and participation of an online community, and therefore an architecture of persons. Together, those who enter into the space experience creating, sharing, and enjoying design, digital art and animation. Javan Graham Today, the digital realm is as significant a space for art as physical galleries, offering a parallel dimension for artistic engagement that holds equal cultural value. Emerging “third spaces” — hybrid venues blending physical and digital elements — are forming within communities, taking root as active hubs for art and culture. These unconventional spaces defy the need for traditional structures, such as four walls, or shopfronts. Instead, they thrive through an “architecture of persons:” existing and gaining recognition through the communities that gather around them, whether online or in person. Anishare is one such digital space. Created by Toronto-based Software Developer Javan Graham, Anishare is a collaborative social platform, which brings together online users the world over, encouraging participants to create, share, and view animations — whether designed by friends or artists. Only recently available through invitation, having been launched in the summer of 2024, Anishare is very much a developing shared space. The space invites online users of varying skills and experiences to discover the world of animation, and shared collaboration and creativity. Unconventional in its approach to reaching an audience, its existence relies on the establishment and participation of an online community, and therefore an architecture of persons. Together, those who enter into the space experience creating, sharing, and enjoying design, digital art and animation. THE DIGITAL THIRD SPACE What inspired you to create Anishare as a digital gathering space, and how do you hope the platform’s blend of elements of GarageBand and TikTok will foster artistic collaboration? JG ─ My biggest inspiration for creating Anishare comes from my experience with using Flipnote Studio on my Nintendo DSi, back in 2009. That was my first time really animating, or using a social platform, and so it defined my prototypical social media experience. It was amazing seeing what other kids around the world could create. Since we all had access to the same tool, it gave you that feeling that, with time and effort, you could make anything you could imagine. On Anishare, the emphasis is on real-time collaboration, which takes the labour of animating, and turns it into a fun, creative, spontaneous game — especially when you're in the same room, or on a voice call with your collaborators. The editor is also meant to be simple and accessible to all skill levels and devices, so the focus shifts from perfectionism towards free flowing self expression, and just seeing your drawings come to life. Once the animations are complete, the creators can publish them on the platform for other users to engage with, as you would on other social sites. Users can follow, like, comment, and even remix animations if allowed by the creators, which is a great form of asynchronous collaboration and "meme generation". This is what gives all these creations, and their creators, a place to call home. Moving towards the non-linear, exhibition spaces morph in form and size. Today, it is no longer necessary for art lovers to physically step inside a space, in order to view and enjoy an installation or show. HUM Microgallery—created by artist Lynda Cronin—is exactly as it says on the tin, a very small art gallery. Similar to a postbox in size (5x7.5cm for scale), HUM is a small, accessible public space, located on a suburban Ottawa street, open to the elements, where anyone can get up close and discover contemporary art, and ideas, presented in an innovative way. Part of an international movement of miniature spaces for small scale contemporary artworks, HUM first opened in April 2022, and has since hosted a variety of exhibitions—from the inaugural poetry work of Laurie Koensgen, to Sue Ukkola’s found objects, and miniature theatre set up by Peter Wallis. The gallery invites viewers up close to the exhibition, thanks to its small size. This way, a personal connection is made between space and spectator. This is not always possible in traditional exhibition spaces. Visitors leave with a sensation of having seen and experienced an exhibition like no other. UPSIDE TO DOWNSIZING HUM Microgallery showcases intimate, small-scale works. What inspired this, and how do you believe these smaller pieces offer a unique experience? LC ─ Many years ago, I was walking around Leslieville in Toronto’s East End, and came across an art installation, in a small exhibition space along an urban street. There was something so special and unique about this encounter — unexpected, an embracing of contemporary art in a community setting. This kindled my interest in wanting to someday offer such an experience to my community, and to connect with artists in a more direct way. Many years later, I installed HUM in my front garden and, through Instagram, have been able to develop a relationship with many other micro galleries in various countries. The micro gallery is far-removed from the commercial art gallery, where economics play a central role. These small spaces offer multiple ways of engagement, and encourage experimentation on a small scale. Artists can produce work that are diminutive or expansive, free to imagine larger works without the expenditure of full scale production. The concept of a micro gallery suggests a close, personal interaction between the artwork and the viewer. How does this intimacy influence the way people engage with and interpret the pieces on display? LC ─ The micro gallery is set within an urban community, where exposure to contemporary art might be minimal. Often, locations are where the owners live, and the intentions are as varied as the individuals that create them. Social media compliments the physical space, by broadening the exposure for artists, and connecting with other like-minded individuals who want to support artists in this way. The artists that have supported HUM have come from Mexico, the UK, the US and within Canada. There is a sense of unity among the artists who have chosen to exhibit at HUM. A belief in the benefit and progressive role that these alternative spaces provide, and where they can contribute to broadening the kind of interaction artists can have in a community. Often, I will get a message from a runner or a dog walker who has recently seen an exhibition, and is eager to share their experience. This is the intimate experience that these spaces have to offer. Viewers can interact with the artwork on their own terms, casually, and without any expectations or preconceived notions about having to “understand” contemporary art practice. There is a curated aspect to HUM, which attempts to provide space for innovation and experimentation, and to bring this perspective to someone who may not have the time to visit a museum or other commercial gallery space. How does HUM create a “third place” for gathering? LC ─ Micro galleries are everywhere: on the sides of buildings, front gardens, and in store fronts. What they all have in common is a willingness to be experimental, and to offer more opportunities to working artists. Small spaces can contribute to building large works ─ some artists working on a concept use these small spaces as a form of maquette building, a scaled-down version of a larger installation, or public art piece. Micro galleries are not intimidating. They offer a safe and easy way to explore ideas, in a no-fuss setting, within a local community space. With the gallery so exposed, are you at all worried about vandalism or graffiti? LC ─ HUM has been in operation for close to three years, and there has not been any kind of interference other than the weather ─ last year, snow and ice damaged the sign. This was kindly replaced by an online follower. Such are the benefits of having an interested and engaged international, online community, as well as a local focus.

A Job Board for Working Artists Presented by TOP PICKS SR. GRAPHIC DESIGNER Manitobah Mukluks | Remote View Job PROJECT MANAGER Perchance Theatre | Cupids, NL View Job POST-PRODUCTION STUDIO AUDIO ENGINEER Village Sound | Halifax, NS View Job ASSOCIATE PRODUCER, AS IT HAPPENS CBC/Radio-Canada | Toronto, ON View Job RETAIL ASSISTANT Wild Prairie Soap Company Inc. | Edmonton, AB View Job Select a location to view jobs Province / State City RESULTS Executive Director Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals | Remote Ceramic Studio Technician Craft Nova Scotia | Halifax, NS Operations Coordinator Independent Media Arts Alliance | Montréal, QC Music Teacher Lynwood Academy | Toronto, ON Fashion Designer VELLUTO FASHION INC. | Aurora, ON Graphic Designer Fair Waves Coffee Inc | New Westminster, BC Voice Instructor Delta Community Music School | Delta, BC Associate Art Director AbCellera | Vancouver, BC Digital Collections Consultant Museum of Vancouver | Vancouver, BC Retail Assistant Wild Prairie Soap Company Inc. | Edmonton, AB Assistant Professor Sculpture & Expanded Media University of Alberta | Edmonton, AB Preparator MOCA Toronto | Toronto, ON Art Instructor Paint Cabin | Toronto, ON Technical Director The Second City | Toronto, ON Audio Visual Project Manager CCR Solutions, Inc | Toronto, ON Product Manager – Audio Quantum Management Services Ltd | Pointe-Claire, QC Assistant de galerie d'art Galerie Blanche | Montréal, QC Community Learning Program Coordinator Dartmouth Learning Network| Dartmouth, NS Music Teacher Newfoundland & Labrador English School District | Blaketown, NL Art Lead HB Studios | Remote 3D Artist and Animator ZenFri Inc. | Winnipeg, MB Creative Writing Instructor City of Burnaby | Burnaby, BC Office Manager & Casting Coordinator Six Degrees Music & Sound | Calgary, AB Graphic Designer Greenscape Design & Decor | Calgary, AB Chess Instructor Chess World Inc. | Richmond Hill, ON Music Producer Blueberry Records Inc | Concord, ON Art Director Signifly | Montréal, QC Youth Dance/ Rhythm Teacher Langmobile | Brossard, QC 2D Toonboom Harmony Animator Huminah Huminah Animation | Remote Graphic Designer Carbon6 | Remote Graphic Designer Paper | Remote Freelance Illustrator The Urban Writers | Remote Patron Experience Manager Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts Inc. | North Battleford, SK Freelance Content Writer Vellgus Red Light | Calgary, AB Baking & Pastry Arts Instructor SAIT | Calgary, AB Graphic Designer Royal Craft Construction Ltd. | Surrey, BC Music Teacher St Emile School | Winnipeg, MB Storyboard Artist Tit Mouse Inc | Remote Guitar Teacher The Canadian Mobile Music School | Toronto, ON Music Teacher Mississauga School of Music | Mississauga, ON Product Coordinator BookNet Canada | Remote Multimedia Production Artist Mysa | St. John's, NL Illustration Instructor Edison College Canada | Victoria, BC Sample Maker ASELECTFEW | Vancouver, BC Administrative Coordinator North Van Arts | Vancouver, BC Music Instructor North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission | Vancouver, BC Content Editor / Author / Writer Everybody Loves Languages | Remote News Writer Collider | Remote Fashion Product Developer Ugroupe | Montréal, QC Curator - Indigenous Culture & Heritage City of Hamilton | Hamilton, ON Voice Teacher Long & McQuade Musical Instruments | Kanata, ON Program Facilitator Harmony Movement | Toronto, ON Art Teacher Woodbridge Fine Arts School | Woodbridge, ON Art Model Alberta University of the Arts | Calgary, AB Director UNIT/PITT Society for Art and Critical Awareness | Vancouver, BC Lighting Artist Crafty Apes Llc | Vancouver, BC Music Teacher Custom Music Lessons Ltd .| Calgary, AB Art and Design Instructor Young Guns Studio | Vancouver, BC 3D Artist Emerald City Games | Burnaby, BC Partnerships & Business Development Manager Almost Real Things Magazine | Austin, TX Graphic Designer Logo.com | Remote Storyboard Artist Bardel Entertainment Inc | Remote Narrative Designer A Thinking Ape | Remote Video Editor DoubleJump | Remote Art Director (Visual Design) Ubisoft Montréal | Montréal, QC Coordinator The Royal Conservatory | Toronto, ON Journalist Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. | Toronto, ON Managing Director SummerWorks | Toronto, ON 2D Harmony Animator Mercury Filmworks | Ottawa, ON Voice Instructor Little Chopin Academy | Toronto, ON IT Consultant NIA Centre | Toronto, ON Executive Assistant NIA Centre | Toronto, ON Freelance Photographer Photos Unlimited | Amherst, NS Illustrator Submissions smART Magazine | Remote Assistant Manager, Venue Operations Lighthouse Immersive | Detroit, MI Photography Submissions smART Magazine | Remote Pianists Goh Ballet Academy | Vancouver, BC Programs Coordinator Whistler Multicultural Society | Whistler, BC Dance Instructor Shadbolt Centre for the Arts | Burnaby, BC Visual Effects Instructor Continuing Studies Department at Emily Carr University of Art + Design | Vancouver, BC Indigenous Artist - in - Residence Kwantlen Polytechnic University | Surrey, BC Video Journalist The Miracle Channel | Lethbridge, AB Musicians Key Mobile Music | Edmonton, AB Director of Production & Facilities Theatre Network | Edmonton, AB Animator /Motion Graphics Artist Tartan Energy Group | Calgary, AB Illustrator / 3D Artist Braintrust | Remote GENERAL AND ARTISTIC CO-DIRECTOR CLARK Arts and Dissemination Center | Montréal, QC Executive & Artistic Director Workman Arts | Toronto, ON Podcast Producer The Globe and Mail | Toronto, ON Digital Illustrator Web Clinik | Winnipeg, MB Videographer & Editor Pela Case | Kelowna, BC Ballet Instructor Dawson Creek Dance Co| Dawson Creek, BC Art Warehouse Assistant Thiessen Art Services | Vancouver, BC Seamstress Sunny's Bridal Gallery | Surrey, BC Graphic Designer 5centsCDN Inc. | Edmonton, AB Production Assistant Temple Audio Design | Warman, SK Christmas Display Installer Display Arts of Toronto | Toronto, ON Videographer & Editor Manyfox Media | Toronto, ON Associate Producer, As It Happens CBC/Radio-Canada | Toronto, ON Animation Artist Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies Inc.| Toronto, ON Infographiste Bain Magique | Saint-Eustache, QC Music Lecturer Mount Allison University | Sackville, NB Bhangra Dance Instructor World Gym Dartmouth | Dartmouth, NS Junior High English Language Arts Instructor Government of the Northwest Territories | Inuvik, NT Piano Teacher Lesson With You | Remote Dance Instructor Dasmesh School Winnipeg Inc. | West St Paul, MB Graphic Designer OK TOUR COMPANY LTD | Burnaby, BC Cartoon Artist Cakeworks | Calgary, AB Hip Hop Dance Teacher Thriver Company | Tillsonburg, ON Dance/Gymnastics Coach TAC Sports Groups | North York, ON Front of House Coordinator Burlington Performing Arts Centre | Burlington, ON Audio Programmer Wizards of the Coast | Montréal, QC Audio Visual Technician Encore Global | Saint John, NB Animation Director ICON Creative Studio | Remote Character Concept Artist Boredom Kills Creative | Remote Freelance Editor The Urban Writers | Remote Senior Illustrator Odyssey Interactive | Waterloo, ON Marketing Coordinator Momentum | Calgary, AB Producer, Visual Storytelling CBC/Radio-Canada | Calgary, AB Audience Services Coordinator Firehall Arts Centre | Vancouver, BC Clothing Designer Cottonland Fabrics LTD. | Surrey, BC Content Manager (Writer/Editor) Jumpfactor | Remote Creative Director BenchSci | Remote Front Desk Coordinator Melody School of Music | Toronto, ON Digital Art Instructor Arts on Fire Ajax Inc. | Ajax, ON Graphic Designer Mayk Ideas | Remote Emerging Indigenous Curator Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design | Sydney, NS Clothing Designer Aritzia LP | Vancouver, BC Acting Academy Manager Realwheels | Vancouver, BC Interim Education Director Out On Screen | Vancouver, BC Voice Teacher Phoenix Dance | Burnaby, BC Graphic Designer Glimpse | Remote Fashion Graphic Designer Psycho Bunny | Saint-Laurent, QC Artist Bluberi Gaming | Drummondville, QC Communications and Online Coordinator Canada China Business Council | Toronto, ON Tailor Prada Tailor Prada | Toronto, ON Art Installer Artstall | Toronto, ON Voice & Piano Teacher Forte Coffeehouse | Winnipeg, MB Programming & Communications Manager Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers | Calgary, AB Creative Studio Assistant OAK+FORT | Vancouver, BC Industrial Sewing Machine Operator MEE SPORTS | Saskatoon, SK Magazine Editor Page One Publishing Inc | Victoria, BC Editor & Staff Writer Alive Publishing Group Inc. | Richmond, BC Multimedia Journalist Black Press Community News Media | Remote within Yukon Multimedia Journalist Postmedia Network Inc | Nipawin, SK Audio Engineer Apocalypse Studios Inc | Remote 2D & 3D Map Designer Snack | Remote Associate Scientific Writer Alimentiv | Remote Writer Narcity Media | Remote Audio Director Larian Studios | Quebec City, QC Curator Textile Museum of Canada | Toronto, ON Freelance Writer World Atlas | Toronto, ON Programming Manager The Corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall | Toronto, ON Artist Management Assistant Admiral Creative Group | Barrie, ON Artist Liaison City of Brampton | Brampton, ON Operations Coordinator The Royal Conservatory | Toronto, ON Music Director Caper Radio | Grand Lake Road, NS Junior Graphic Designer North Creative Inc | Yellowknife, NT Writer Submissions smART Magazine | Remote Venue Technical Supervisor Lighthouse Immersive | Columbus, OH Freelance Graphic Designer Richmond Night Market | Richmond, BC Curator Bill Reid Gallery | Vancouver, BC Lifestyle Writer Victoria Buzz | Victoria, BC Music Instructor Shadbolt Centre for the Arts | Burnaby, BC Haunted Immersive Performer Maan Farms | Abbotsford, BC Marketing Manager Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs | Vancouver, BC Visual Arts Instructor YMCA Calgary | Calgary, AB Theatre Technician YMCA Calgary | Calgary, AB Clothing Designer Jassal Tailors & Boutique LTD. | Edmonton, AB Lighting Designer National Music Centre | Calgary, AB Seamstress / Tailor McCallum & Sons Studios | Halifax, NS Project Manager Independent Media Arts Alliance | Montréal, QC Marketing & Programming Lead Toronto Outdoor Art Fair | Toronto, ON Project Coordinator Bank & Vogue Holdings | Ottawa, ON Apparel Designer FXR Factory Racing Inc. | Oak Bluff, MB Graphic Designer Purdys Chocolatier | Vancouver, BC Music Marketing Manager Monstercat | Vancouver, BC 3D Artist Stormborn Studios Inc | Vancouver, BC Creative Writing Instructor Kwantlen Polytechnic University | Surrey, BC Drummer Punjabi Heritage & Folk | Edmonton, AB Assistant Coordinator University of Toronto | Toronto, ON Art & Technology Instructor CCAF | Toronto, ON Audio Visual Field Service Technician Ignite Technology | Toronto, ON Producer (Editorial) The Globe and Mail | Toronto, ON Bollywood Fitness Instructor Fusion Cardio Toronto | Toronto, ON Fashion Graphic Designer Frank Lyman Design | Pointe-Claire, QC Post-Production Studio Audio Engineer Village Sound | Halifax, NS Project Manager Perchance Theatre | Cupids, NL Game Designer Cloudhead Games | Remote Communication Technologist City of Winnipeg | Winnipeg, MB Scenic Builder Greenscape Design & Decor | Burnaby, BC Theatre Technicians Abbotsford School District | Abbotsford, BC Dance Instructor Dance Foundations | Calgary, AB Arts and Crafts Instructor Dre's Lodge Inc | Sunderland, ON Visitor Experience Animator London Children's Museum | London, ON Senior Graphic Designer MARS | Bolton, ON Audio/Video Assistant McGill University | Montréal, QC VFX Artist White Bay Search | Remote Original Content Associate Scribd | Remote Sr. Graphic Designer Manitobah Mukluks | Remote Freelance Writer The Urban Writers | Remote Visual Arts Teacher Toronto Newcomer Support Services | Toronto, ON Associate Artistic Director Theatre Calgary | Calgary, AB Airbrush Artist Studio Y Creations | Calgary, AB Development Manager Bill Reid Gallery | Vancouver, BC 100 Mile Free Press Editor Black Press Community News Media | 100 Mile House, BC Freelance Illustrator Boredom Kills Creative | Remote Narrative Designer Reflector Entertainment | Montréal, QC Audio Engineer Midnight Studios | Scarborough, ON Background Designer Tit Mouse Inc | Remote Audio Visual Technician O'Reilly's Irish Newfoundland Pub | St. John's, NL Art Gallery Manager Whistler Contemporary Gallery | Whistler, BC Designer Assistant Brunette the Label | Vancouver, BC Artistic Director Realwheels | Vancouver, BC Communications & Outreach Coordinator DOXA | Vancouver, BC Art Director Fortis Games | Remote Fashion Intern Modern Scientist Global | Remote Video Game Proofreader Keywords Studios | Montréal, QC Fashion Design Instructor GLOW College | Brampton, ON Silk Screen Printer Breakaway Distributing | Hamilton, ON Fashion Stylist The Webster | Toronto, ON Studio Coordinator Harding Display | Scarborough, ON Graphic Designer Indigpro Inc | Winnipeg, MB Music Instructors Squamish Academy of Music | Squamish, BC Graphic Designer MEC Mountain Equipment Company | Vancouver, BC Graphic Designer / Project Manager Graphic Ad Ltd | Humboldt, SK Editor Vancouver Island Public Relations Ltd. | Victoria, BC Arts Learning Programs Administrative Assistant The ACT Arts Centre | Maple Ridge, BC Administrative Associate Photographic Center Northwest | Seattle, WA Senior Graphic Designer Brandt | Regina, SK Senior Designer Jory & Co | Remote Jr. Environment Artist Navigator Games Ltd | Remote Concept Artist Inflexion Games | Remote Marketing Assistant HarperCollins Canada | Remote Dance Instructor Position Danforth Dance Arts | Toronto, ON Performance Artist Facilitators Unity | Toronto, ON Voice & Piano Teacher Long & McQuade Music Lessons Centre |Orleans, ON Studio Assistant Town of Oakville | Oakville, ON Arts Program Assistant DramaWay | Toronto, ON Creative Director of Design Art & Science Digital Experience Design | Toronto, ON Creative Arts Worker Baycrest | Toronto, ON Content Writer Digital 22 | Halifax, NS Columnist Conduit The Uniter | Winnipeg, MB Review Pitches smART Magazine | Remote Exhibit Associate Lighthouse Immersive | Columbus, OH Marketing & Events Associate Goh Ballet Academy | Vancouver, BC Art Program Facilitator Family Services of Greater Vancouver | Vancouver, BC Character Artist Full Circle (EA Studio) | Vancouver, BC Animation Instructor Continuing Studies Department at Emily Carr University of Art + Design | Vancouver, BC Background Artist Bardel Entertainment Inc | Vancouver, BC Visual Art Model Red Deer Polytechnic | Red Deer, AB Gallery Director Art Gallery of Swift Current | Swift Current, AB Fashion Advisor Chanel | Calgary, AB Music Instructor The Asylum for Art | Calgary, AB Social Media Specialist Big Rock Brewery | Calgary, AB Got a job you'd like to post here? Email us at advertise@smartbylighthouse.com Issue 10 Issue 9 Issue 8 Issue 7

Jackelin Aguirre LAS VEGAS — AiR TOUR — Issue 9 "Vincent van Gogh” by Jackelin Aguirre Jackelin Aguirre sM | What were some of the highlights of your residency? JA ── During my residency I accomplished beyond what I had envisioned. I was able to create both van Gogh-inspired pieces and pieces that are true to my own art style, which is portraiture in watercolour. I also had the opportunity to network and meet incredible people who appreciate art as much as I do. I accomplished selling original pieces, as well as prints, and overall put myself out there as a local artist in the city of Las Vegas. Lastly, I acknowledged my own talent and skill in a way that lets me see open doors in the future and all the great things that come with being an artist. Continue the AiR tour in print: ISSUE 9 | ISSUE 10 Sign Up to K eep Up! Our newsletter brings you the best in the visual and performing arts. Exclusive interviews. Global coverage. Local perspectves. sM | What inspiration do you get from artists around you? JA ── I am inspired by people as a whole because I believe that we all are unique and that there is beauty in deviance. So when it comes to artists and self-expression, I’m inspired by how artists are not afraid to express themselves to the fullest extent and that they are able to put that expression and uniqueness into their art. I enjoy drawing people and seeing how other artists can turn a face into a story by adding different expressions, or by using specific colour palettes, is very inspiring to me and it helps me become a better artist in return. sM | How has the pandemic transformed your mission as an artist, and priorities as a creative? JA ── The pandemic brought forth a lot of spare time for most of us and that includes creatives. Although it might have been difficult to be inspired and motivated to create overall, it has transformed the way I view art as a whole. Art comes in many different forms and all my life up until this point I had been using traditional art, such as drawing and painting on paper, but now as we are progressing through the pandemic, I’ve found more appreciation for the digital art world. It has given me the drive to become a part of that world, thus making it a priority to learn how to create digitally while still using traditional art as training wheels to help me excel in this new creative endeavour. PREVIOUS NEXT

Paris in the Time of Neo-Impressionism What does ‘independent’ really mean? WORDS BY ELLINA SAVITSKY | MONTRÉAL | VISUAL ARTS ARTS & LETTERS MAR 21, 2023 | ISSUE 4 Illustration by Jeremy Lewis ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ “What are we going to do?” my husband asked, sadly. “It’s July, and our plans to fly to Italy were cancelled by the pandemic. Maybe it’s time to get more familiar with our own country?” So we decided to join a tour with Irina International and head on a four-day trip to Quebec for some whale-watching on the Saguenay River. I was happy that we’d be stopping in Montreal for a couple hours since I’d read about an extraordinary exhibition in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), titled Paul Signac and Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism . Signac is one of our favourite painters! Though the museum was closed due to the pandemic, the exhibition was open. But to our disappointment, the guide said that we would not be going through Montreal but driving directly to Quebec City. However, a small miracle happened right as our trip started. The bus’s air conditioner decided to stop working—unsurprisingly, since the tour bus hadn’t been busy for a few months by then. The day was extremely hot and it was increasingly clear that something had to be done about it. So when our guide decided to stop in Montreal for a couple hours to fix it, we succeeded in booking online tickets as soon as we arrived in Montreal and 15 minutes later, via Uber, we were in the MMFA! Walking around this exhibition was two hours of pure happiness, filling our souls with the colors, sounds, and people of Paris during the Belle Epoque . This collection has been shown in part at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Musée des Impressionnismes in Giverny, but the exhibit in Montreal, unequaled in its holdings of Neo-Impressionist art, is being shown in full for the first time. The exhibition was subtitled “Paul Signac and the Independents,” referring to the group of painters led by Signac. What does ‘independent’ really mean? It’s a question as relevant today as it was in 1884 when Paul Signac and a group of avant-garde artists came together to form the Société des Artistes Indépendants, also known as the Salon des Indépendants. Promoting the idea of an exhibition free from judgment and absent of reward (under the motto ‘sans jury ni récompense ’), the founders of the Salon shared a fundamentally democratic vision and a profound belief that art could encourage social good. In the words of Signac, “Justice in sociology, harmony in art: same thing.” From its inception until the onset of World War I, the Salon des Indépendants provided an exhibition platform for the most significant movements in modern art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Neo-Impressionism, Nabism, Symbolism, Fauvism and Cubism. For the first time, and exclusively in Montreal, this exhibition brought together over 500 magnificent works from exceptional private collections that took us on a journey through the major artistic movements associated with the Salon between 1884 and 1914, and through the Paris in which they lived. Much like our own time, the Belle Epoque witnessed the birth of new technologies and unprecedented freedom of expression, but also great social and political unrest. More than a survey of Signac and the Salon des Indépendants, this exhibition is a celebration of the Post-Impressionist era’s independent spirit, characterized by freedom of expression and experimentation, boundless imagination, the drive for women’s emancipation, challenges to existing societal norms, and art posted on every street for everyone to see. In establishing the Salon des Indépendants, Paul Signac and his colleagues were continuing the legacy of a number of maverick artists who created alternative spaces for exhibition outside of the official, state-controlled Salon. Up until the second half of the nineteenth century, that Salon had served as the single most important exhibition and opportunity for recognition for French artists. In 1857, a remarkably high number of submissions were refused by the Salon’s jury, largely made up of members of Académie des Beaux-Arts who were decidedly unreceptive to works that strayed from their academic tradition. But in 1863, the year Paul Signac was born, an exhibition of works rejected from the Salon was held in Paris on the order of Napoleon III. Named the Salon des Refusés , the exhibition featured works by numerous rejected artists associated with the emerging avant-garde such as Édouard Manet and Paul Cezanne. A decade later, a group of artists now known as the Impressionists (also referred to by contemporary critics as the Independents), came together to establish their own exhibitions. Held in the spring of 1874, the first Impressionist exhibition was organized by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot and Camille Pissarro, who would join forces with Signac and other modern artists to found the Société des Artistes Indépendants. While they adopted a number of the Impressionists’ professional strategies, many moved away from Impressionism’s emphasis on intuition and the instantaneous, turning instead to science and social theory for creative inspiration. Impressionism and the subsequent development of the Salon des Indépendants also coincided with the rise of feminism in France. Although professional opportunities for women artists expanded through the last decades of the 19th century, their careers generally remained marginalized relative to those of their male peers. And the increasing prominence of women artists was hardly uncontested; chauvinist attitudes towards their work persisted among male artists and critics alike. Despite these obstacles, several women Impressionists left a lasting mark on the history of French art. One such woman was Berthe Morisot, who studied under the renowned artist Edouard Manet alongside fellow painter Eva Gonzales and made a name for herself as the only woman to exhibit alongside the Impressionists at their inaugural exhibition in 1874. She was also influential in organizing the Impressionists’ annual exhibitions, which featured works by other important women artists of her generation such as Mary Cassatt. Morisot also exhibited with a number of artists among the Indépendants, including Paul Signac, Odilon Redon and Maurice Denis, among others. Working within the constraints imposed by society based on their gender—prevented from entering the cafes, bars, brasseries and art academies that provided inspiration and training to men—Morisot, Gonzales and Cassatt pushed back against the conventions of what and how a woman should paint. Trailblazers for the next generation of women artists, many of whom exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, these acclaimed Impressionist painters are celebrated in numerous works produced by their male peers. Manet painted countless portraits of Morisot throughout their lifelong friendship, two of which were on display at this exhibition. Auguste Renoir, also a close friend of Morisot, often used her daughter (and Manet’s niece) Julie Manet as his model. Likewise, Edgar Degas frequently depicted Cassatt, who is shown at the Louvre in the lithograph on view. There were a number of works of Neo-Impressionists at this exhibition, a form which both built upon and challenged the methods of the Impressionist painters. The term was coined by the French art critic Félix Fénéon in August 1886 during the annual exhibition by the Salon des Indépendants. Many of the canvases shown employed the divisionist technique, in which small strokes of complementary colors are placed next to one another to construct an image that, when viewed from a distance, appears as a radiant, harmonious whole. Championed by Georges Seurat, Divisionism drew upon the contemporary scientific theories of colour advanced by many contemporaries. While Signac aimed to create balanced, luminous paintings, his desire to achieve visual harmony echoes the spirit of social harmony for which he advocated throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. The Montreal exhibition gave a wide, brilliant and colorful picture of Paris of that time – with pieces by Signac and fellow avant-garde artists, Impressionists (Monet, Morisot), Fauves (Dufy, Friesz, Marquet), Symbolists (Gauguin, Redon), Nabis (Bonnard, Denis, Lacombe, Sérusier, Ranson, Vallotton), Neo-Impressionists (Cross, Luce, Pissarro, Seurat, Van Rysselberghe) and observers of life in Paris (Anquetin, Degas, Ibels, Lautrec, Picasso and Steinlen). We left the exhibition feeling that even if our tour wasn’t a success, we’d already had our dreams come true. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Tekahionwake The double life of Emily Pauline Johnson’s Poetry WORDS BY ROWAN SKY | ARTS & LETTERS FEB 28, 2023 | ISSUE 11 Pauline Johnson Tekahionwake ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Continue reading in Issue 11 A printed poem is experienced visually─text displays the whole poem at once, and readers contemplate rhythm, emphasis, and pacing for themselves. Readers also rely on editors and critics for expert opinions on interpretation. Yet performance is a differently constrained spatial and temporal experience for the audience: their own prior knowledge and experience influences how they perceive what they see and hear moment by moment. The performer controls the time and space that the poem fills using her body and uses pauses, breaths, movement, gesture, emphasis, volume, rhythm, and pacing to embody the poem and provoke meanings that cannot be expressed in the usual textual conventions of printed poetry. One performer who notably put poetry into action was E. Pauline Johnson Tekahionwake (1861-1913), an Indigenous artist from Six Nations who used her work to renegotiate negative images of Indigenous people in Canadian culture. She began publishing poetry in the 1880s and toured Canada, the U.S, and Britain to perform in music halls from 1892 to... ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

David Korins IVG Creative Director WORDS BY AMELIA JOHANNSEN | BARCELONA | VISUAL ARTS SPACES MAR 02, 2023 | ISSUE 10 David Korins by Kalya Ramu ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Issue 5 Cover Art ​ Even over a Zoom call, our interview with Hamilton Set Designer and Immersive Van Gogh New York Creative Director David Korins oozed with the energy and tempo of NYC. Joining us from the back seat of an Uber, David spoke with passion and panache about the New York art scene, working with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the secret subconscious powers of design, and his city’s notorious beef with LA. Serendipitously, his shameless praise of making art for the common denominator was even punctuated by an errant car horn. Nonetheless, David’s razor-sharp wit and astounding breadth of insight are more than matched by the inspiring generosity behind his work as an artist and designer. On the one hand, his approach is steeped in humility toward the work of his collaborators—including Immersive Van Gogh Creator Massimiliano Siccardi and, in a sense, Van Gogh himself—along with a profound desire to carry that work to its greatest heights of innovation and exposure. On the other, he is also keenly attentive to the hopes and fears of New Yorkers as they pursue a slow exit from the devastation of COVID-19. Taken together, David’s words offer a simultaneously practical and idealistic approach to defining post-pandemic artistic experience—an offering all the more valuable in that it comes from a global epicentre of both the tragedies of this past year and the profound creativity through which we will survive it. sM | How do you articulate your role as Creative Director for Immersive Van Gogh ? DK — Compared to set design, being a Creative Director and designer is a bigger bite of the apple. There is no “director” of the show per se. I believe Massimiliano Siccardi’s title is Artistic Director: he’s created this thing, but I’m basically taking the thing and pouring gasoline all over it, to fan the flames. I think that’s what he did to Van Gogh’s work. He took Van Gogh’s work and interpreted it in an artistic way, and I’m taking his interpretation of Van Gogh’s work and filtering the entire thing through my own artistic sensibility—and creating something brand new as a result. Massimiliano is sort of the Steven Spielberg of immersive theatre and immersive video design. For Immersive Van Gogh , I’m responsible for taking his film and then sculpting—beginning, middle, and end—the journey of the consumer or visitor. I control where they get their tickets, how they get their tickets, how they queue up in line, and everything they interact with all the way through the merch store, the lobby, and then all the way back out. So, it’s much more holistic than the set designer would be on a piece of theatre. In addition to making all new, cool, interesting, dynamic sculptures and ways in which Massimiliano’s work will be enjoyed—things like viewing platforms and sculptures that refract light in new and interesting ways, that people can interact with and move around—I’m also creating a bunch of original pieces of IP that will help you learn more about the man, the artist, the brand, etc. We’re making installations in and amongst the merch store and lobby that I think will help make audiences’ appreciation and knowledge of the artist much deeper and richer. sM | As a creative in the city, what’s your sense of the current artistic atmosphere? DK — I think that right now, we’re all cautiously optimistic. We’re all incredibly excited and energized about being able to open in the arts in general. But I say “cautiously optimistic” because we’re also at a place we have never been in the history of live events: every single project is starting from zero and ramping up at the same time. So, I think there’s a feeling of deep and beautifully earned community, because we’ve all been through something profound together. There’s also hope that this is going to stick, that things are going to open and stay open. And there’s hope that these shows and voices will be amplified, find their own individual audiences, and maintain. Because every single project is basically vying against every other project, and that’s a really strange and interesting place to be. I think 2021 is going to remain hopeful and wonderful, and that we’re going to see revelatory returns back to live events. Our production of Immersive Van Gogh is in a way the first and largest thing back in New York City. There have been little pockets and pop-ups, but our experience is, I think, one of the biggest live events that will open since the pandemic. In a way, this is the biggest, brightest beacon of hope we have. I also think it is smartly created so that you can walk through this experience with your hands in your pockets. You don’t have a VR headset on your head, you don’t have to be shoulder-to-shoulder with people. So, I think it’s the perfect time, and the perfect experience. One of the reasons I love Immersive Van Gogh so much is that there are so many on-ramps to people’s attachment to Van Gogh. If you’re a high art lover, then obviously we’re talking about one of the top five artists in the world. If you aren’t knowledgeable about art at all, these are still some beautiful, amazing, dynamic, incredible pictures. If you’re a music lover, or an art lover, or you just want a really cool experience, you can see and reinvest in these works in a way that you never have before. The other part of it is this: Van Gogh is not a well-understood entity—as a man, as an artist, and as a brand. This resonates with the past year of people being stuck indoors, wrestling with depression and loneliness, etc. In a way, there is no more revelatory return to the limelight than someone really having their moment after all this isolation. sM | What do you find special about how audiences engage with visual art in New York specifically, and how have you incorporated this insight into your work on both Hamilton and Immersive Van Gogh ? DK — I think New Yorkers are among the most intelligent, worldly, and weathered audiences in the world. As a group, we’re really well informed, well travelled, and well immersed in culture. I also think people are even smarter in a group, so we never try to dumb something down. But also, every single kind of person lives and breathes in New York City, so you’re not talking down one of these siloed-off communities. You’re talking to the greatest common denominator. I think those two things are a really interesting dichotomy: we have to balance needing to be something for everyone, and also something for very elite thinkers. The thing about Hamilton is that I wasn’t truly in charge of how the show would be presented. Lin wrote a 27,000-word, 51-song masterpiece that spanned over the course of 30 years of American history, and my job was to figure out how to allow the audience to see and hear it—which was not easy! Now it feels inevitable, but it wasn’t that easy when we first did it. We didn’t really make it for a New York audience specifically, we just made it for an audience. So, that was about wrestling a brand new work down to the ground. I think New Yorkers are concerned about COVID, they’re concerned about culture, and they’re concerned about new and interesting innovation. With Immersive Van Gogh , we’ve made something where the high-touch surfaces are incredibly clean and very well maintained, the art is presented in new and super-dynamic ways, and the space is 70,000 square feet. This is intentional, both so you can see and understand the profundity of the size and scale of the work, and also so you can stay safe. And that feels really specific to New York. I was in LA recently, and while LA is obviously concerned about COVID, no two pandemics are created equally. In New York we lost our sense of humour a little bit, because when things got really bad they were building morgues in Central Park. In LA when things got really bad people were still kind of separate, and there’s just much more space there. So, really wrestling with what post-pandemic experience is, is very specific to what New York is. If it can work in New York, it’ll work anywhere, because we really went through it. By the way, I used to have real beef between New York and LA. I was bicoastal for a long time. But I think I can solve the beef once and for all. If you compare the two cities, they will both lose. You can’t compare them. It’s not even apples to oranges; it’s like apples to pontoon boats. That said, if you take the best of both cities, they both win with flying colours. It’s not to say that LA didn’t go through a horrible pandemic, because the numbers of LA’s pandemic were worse than New York’s at both of their peaks. But there’s a different space issue. I trade in the currency of experiences through space, and in New York, we don’t have the luxury of jamming people together in a way that’s comfortable. As far as I’m concerned, there is no rivalry between New York and LA, because they’re both amazing cities. Still, how you present an experience to people who have just gone through and endured something like this pandemic needs to be accounted for. sM | What is one book that changed how you think about design? DK — There’s a book that has nothing to do with art at all: it’s called Blind Spot , by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald. It’s actually about implicit biases. I became obsessed with implicit bias about six years ago when I heard there was something called an IAT test in which you could measure people’s biases, whether they had to do with race, religion, sexual orientation, preferences, etc. I just thought: if you can measure it, you can probably solve it. If you can scientifically measure something, you can probably scientifically fix it. I got really interested in this book specifically because of what we do as designers. We live in a world where there are architectural standards, so that doorknobs are always at the same height, light switches are at the same height, toilet bowls are at the same height, etc., so we don’t hurt ourselves. But with design, you can take implicit bias, what the mind does, and someone’s cultural impulses, and tweak them to get the right design effect. If you can do that, it’s very powerful. What we do as designers is kind of subconsciously push people into thinking certain things. For example, we want you to feel like it’s a wide open space, or we want you to feel like it’s constricted, or we want you to feel smarter, or we want you to like this character, etc. Blind Spot helped me understand how people consciously and subconsciously think about the world around them, what we project onto things, and how we endow things with meaning—and it totally blew my mind. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

LeTitle An Emerging Dance Community in Seoul WORDS BY MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOKI | SEOUL | DANCE IN MOTION NOV 15, 2022 | ISSUE 8 Photograph Courtesy of LeTitle ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Photograph Courtesy of LeTitle Photograph Courtesy of LeTitle It was through a fortuitous Instagram video that I discovered an emerging dance troupe in Seoul, called LeTitle. Their eclectic choreography—a mix of contemporary and street styles—is amplified by the dextrous cinematographic choreography in their videos. 2021 has been a prolific year for the group, participating in a variety of competitions, alongside a streamline of stand-alone projects. Behind this flurry of activity is a philosophy rooted in community: a shared sense of expression, ever-evolving and constantly negotiated. Joining smART Magazine en masse, LeTitle discusses their place in the spectrum between the local and global dance community. sM | How was Letitle founded and how do you define your mission as a community of dancemakers? LT — There are many genres in the Korean dance community, and most dancers work within the boundaries of their genre. But some of us are weirdos who enjoy crossing the fence. We were one of those weirdos, and we found each other while crossing fences. At first, Letitle was just a lab. We shared each other's methods, techniques, and values while trying to blend it all in. Countless discord arose, but after several tries, we reached various consensus points and found a stem that binds us together. Through that, we've released some works to various communities, which they found unfamiliar but inspiring. So we founded Letitle to shout-out how fun and valuable it is to cross boundaries and to move forward with more people! sM | Where do you draw your inspirations from within the Seoul community? LT — Since each team member has a different field of interest and expression, inspiration comes from these different areas. The Street Art community is the one that gives us the most inspiration these days. Getting out of theater, interacting with various spaces and audiences, inspired us more than we anticipated. In many cases, our pieces are performed on designated streets, squares, and public spaces in the form of festivals. Unlike theaters, the street itself presents its own story and spatial characteristics. Just accepting various stimuli, and reacting spontaneously to them, has given us great inspiration. The most memorable experience was the performance in a redevelopment area. In the center of Seoul, there is a district called Ipjeong-dong, where workshops that are more than 40 years old are concentrated. Since it is an old area in the center of the capital, it exists in a very strange harmony with nearby skyscrapers. Spatial characteristics such as narrow and winding alleys, the smell of old iron, and their situation just before being kicked out of their lifelong workplaces, made us want to express more than just dance. ​ The process of digging into the mental and physical intersection between contemporary dance and street dance is always inspiring. There is a consensus that we have to find in the metaphysical expression of contemporary dance and the intuitive expression of street dance; between the autonomy of contemporary dance and the musicality of street dance. We get ideas by participating and hosting events for both communities. We think our mission is not only to use our strength to increase the number of people who enjoy crossing boundaries, but also to create an infrastructure for such people to interact, develop, and create in a safe environment. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Antoine Hunter’s Urban Jazz Dance Company “We are the music that we see” WORDS BY ERIN BALDWIN | SAN FRANCISCO | PERFORMING ARTS IN MOTION FEB 27, 2023 | ISSUE 11 Urban Jazz Dance Company in "Deaf's IMPRISONED" - Photo by Robbie Sweeny Courtesy of UJDC ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ Continue reading in Issue 11 Purple Fire Crow – also known as Antoine Hunter – is an African, Indigenous, Two-Spirit, disabled, and Deaf dancer who resists expectations to prove that dance is for everyone. Hunter built a dance career by feeling music through its vibrations and using movement as a form of self-expression, communication, and education. Today, the Bay Area native acts as Artistic Director to the Urban Jazz Dance Company, a performance collective that consists of both deaf and hearing dancers, and produces the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival with the aim of giving Deaf artists a platform for presenting themselves to the world. Hunter also continues to work as a dance instructor, speaker, mentor, and Deaf advocate in the U.S. and internationally. He’s performed both to general audiences and school children, and lectured at Kennedy Center’s VSA, Harvard, Duke University, and the National Assembly of State Arts. Hunter joins smART Magazine to discuss the origins of his company, using dance as a medium for his advocacy and education, and how the arts can continue to decenter ableism and fight against discrimination and prejudice. sM | How did your journey in the performing arts... ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Nico Amortegui CHARLOTTE — AiR TOUR — Issue 8 Art by Nico Amortegui Nico Amortegui sM | How do you think this program fits into the artist community in Charlotte? NA ── The AiR Program fits into the local artist community by involving local artists throughout many aspects of the exhibition itself. Certainly through the artists in residence program, but also through the wayfinding elements and signage murals, which were done by local artists here in Charlotte. Even the speed hump outside the entrance was decorated with sunflowers, announcing to visitors that they had arrived at the venue! It also allowed artists to connect with a broader audience by providing the opportunity to interact with art patrons from the greater region. Continue the AiR tour in print: ISSUE 9 | ISSUE 10 Sign Up to K eep Up! Our newsletter brings you the best in the visual and performing arts. Exclusive interviews. Global coverage. Local perspectves. sM | What did you accomplish in your residency? NA ── The biggest accomplishment for me personally was being able to work in a very unique environment. Admittedly, I am accustomed to my studio space and solo time, but this experience allowed me to create outside my comfort zone, which I think is always beneficial to learning and growing. I created pieces based on the moment and the people in front of me. It was a truly ‘neat’ space to work and create—and literally being alongside the other resident artists felt like a little community. sM | What advice would you give to future artists in residence? NA ── My advice is to create a set-up that is inviting and eye-catching, so that people want to come over and say hello and, maybe, even want to talk about your art once they feel welcomed into the fold. Secondly, go in with the mindset that it’s like an Open House to your art. People can look at art all day long but having the opportunity to talk about your work is what makes them see the art beyond the surface. It’s helpful to mentally prepare a few description-type statements and messages about your art, with the goal of connecting with new art fans and supporters. As artists, we can always use more supporters! IG: @nico_malo1 www.nicoarte.com PREVIOUS NEXT