“Engaging Communities Remotely: Addressing Barriers to Access
A Gathering by Neighbourhood Arts Ottawa
Thursday May 28 2020 | 2:00 – 3:30pm | Register on Eventbrite for Zoom URL
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, community engaged-artists have been devising new ways of bringing communities together in remote time and place. For some, these virtual channels for participatory art-making have made programming accessible where it wouldn’t have been before. For others, these changes present new barriers to participation, amplifying and compounding existing ones. What resources, tools and processes can artists build into their practice to better address access barriers, including how to help mitigate learning curves associated with shifting to digital platforms? Panelists will share key learnings and reflections from their recent experience adapting their programming. We will also discuss and explore the opportunities in all of this to address issues of accessibility, equity and inclusion within the field of community-engaged art which pre-date this crisis.
A panel discussion with Rachel Gray and Stephanie Nadeau (BEING Studio); Emily Jones Joanisse (Connected Canadians); and Seanna Connell (ArtBridges & ArtHeart Community Arts Centre)
About the panelist organizations:
BEING Studio is a community of artists with developmental disabilities. At BEING, artists have access to the space, the tools, and the representation to create and commercialize their visual art and creative writing. BEING has been continually adapting to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, and recently launched a virtual program called BEING Home. The virtual program offers facilitated chat sessions, home art supply deliveries and video prompts to inspire art projects from home. What felt at first like a lifeline for our community has begun to open a world of possibility and expanded connection that we never thought possible.
Connected Canadians is a federally incorporated non-profit organization established in 2018 to help connect older adults with free technology training and support. Many Connected Canadians volunteers are new Canadians who are highly skilled technology workers, collectively they speak 12 languages. Volunteers benefit from the cultural awareness and conversational practice opportunities that come from their interaction with clients, and clients feel a sense of pride and connection in helping to welcome newcomers into the community.
ArtBridges is a hub and forum for connection for anyone interested in or active in community-engaged arts and arts for social change in Canada. Find out about affordable and accessible community-engaged arts initiatives. Learn about what’s going on, opportunities, workshops and resources. Share information about a community arts initiative that you know about!
The year 2020 marks ArtHeart Community Art Centre (ArtHeart)’s 29th year of providing free visual arts programs in Regent Park! Since its opening, ArtHeart has engaged thousands of children, youth, adults and seniors in community-engaged arts programs, worked with three generations of Regent Park residents, and been an anchor in a changing community.
Neighbourhood Arts Ottawa is a community-engaged arts program by Arts Network Ottawa / Réseau des arts d’Ottawa, and is made possible through the generous financial support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Ottawa Community Foundation.
Original print used in graphic by Melanie Yugo
Arts Network Ottawa acknowledges that the land on which we gather is the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin nation.
Engagement communautaire à distance : remédier les obstacles liés à l’accessibilité
Un rassemblement d’Art des quartiers d’Ottawa
Jeudi 28 mai 2020 | 14h | Inscrivez-vous sur Eventbrite pour l’URL Zoom
En réponse à la crise de COVID-19, les artistes d’art communautaire engagé ont développé de nouvelles méthodes pour rassembler les communautés à distance. Pour certains, ces voies virtuelles de création artistique participative ont rendu des programmes accessibles là où ils ne l’auraient pas été auparavant. Pour d’autres, ces changements présentent de nouveaux obstacles à la participation, aggravant et compliquant ceux qui existent déjà. Quels sont les ressources, les outils et les processus dont les artistes peuvent se servir dans leur démarche pour mieux répondre aux barrières d’accès, notamment en ce qui concerne les courbes d’apprentissage associées à la transition vers les plateformes numériques ? Les panélistes feront part des principaux apprentissages et réflexions de leur récente expérience à adapter leur programmation. Nous discuterons et explorerons également les possibilités, dans tout cela, d’aborder les questions d’accessibilité, d’équité et d’inclusion dans le domaine de l’art communautaire engagé, qui sont bien antérieures à cette crise actuelle.
Une table ronde avec Rachel Gray et Stephanie Nadeau (BEING Studio); Emily Jones Joanisse (Connected Canadians); et Seanna Connell (ArtBridges et ArtHeart Community Arts Centre).
Les présentations auront lieu en anglais, suivies d’une séance de questions et réponses organisée en anglais et en français. Une “fiche-conseils” sera disponible dans les deux langues après l’événement.
L’Art des quartiers d’Ottawa est un programme d’art communautaire mis en place par Arts Network Ottawa / Réseau des arts d’Ottawa, et est rendu possible grâce au généreux soutien financier de la Fondation Trillium de l’Ontario et de la Fondation Communautaire d’Ottawa.
Impression originale utilisée dans le graphique par Melanie Yugo
Le Réseau des arts d’Ottawa reconnaît que la terre sur laquelle nous nous rassemblons est le territoire traditionnel et non cédé de la nation algonquine.”
