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Remembering Home

 

Description: ‘Remembering Home’ is a community art activity that explores the themes of memory, movement, transition, and safe space. For everyone, the idea of a home and a safe space has changed, especially in the event of a pandemic. Akshata Naik, a facilitator and multidisciplinary artist, uses this workshop to engage participants in larger discussions while painting a birdhouse that serves as a metaphor of refuge, improvised space, and a home for birds. She compares this to nature and birds migrating in search of food, shelter, and a safe place to live similar to humans and their need for migration.

Artist Bio: Akshata Naik is a contemporary and a multidisciplinary visual artist. Born and raised in Mumbai, she is a newcomer to Canada. Her works reflect upon her lived experiences of moving homes, cities and countries through a lens of immigration, violence, displacement, home and belonging. She works towards co-creating with her viewers an immersive experience and interactive art installations which consists of digital drawings, paintings, videos, ephemeral temporary sculptures and art in virtual reality. Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally at institutions such as THEMUSEUM, Kitchener (2021) Nuit Blanche Toronto, Gladstone Hotel (2019) Gallery Espace, Delhi (2020) Artcore Gallery, UK (2016) 

Materials: Miniature wooden birdhouse (ones easily available at Dollar store) acrylic paint, brushes, markers, glitter, sequins, other decoration materials easily available at home.

The workshop will take place virtually on August 27th, from 9:30 am – 12 pm.
 

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Toronto Arts Council. 

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Find the Energy Every Day

iFEED project stands for Find the Energy Every Day. It is a canvas painting project led by Connie Tong, an Open Studio participant. It encourages participants to engage in discussions of resiliency, empowerment and healing.  Especially living through the pandemic, this project uses visual arts as a vehicle to express their motivation to find the light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully inspire others to gain a better perspective and wellbeing coping through the pandemic.

Participants will develop skills in creative thinking and exploration of the chosen medium.  Through guided instructions, the program will result in a finished project at the end of the session.  

iFEED project is a City of Toronto Arts and Culture SPARK project and participants who contribute to this project will have a chance to display their work in a public setting and online.  Participants can learn more about the project scope at www.healthylivingart.ca

All you need to participate is a canvas, paint, and paintbrushes, which they can procure at  Dollar Store, Walmart, or local craft store. 

The workshop will take place virtually on June 25th, from 9:30 am – 12 pm.
 

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. 

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Origami Art

 

Arzina Pirbhai, a longtime Open Studio participant, will be leading an Origami workshop which will increase creativity and reduce stress.

Materials needed:

Scissors
Glue
Stapler
6 regular size color paper,  white will do too.  One green paper for flower stem
Color crayons, pens or paint to decorate as needed
Stickers Optional
 
All of these can be found at Dollarama, Walmart or your local art store.
 

The workshop will take place virtually on July 2nd, from 9:30 am – 12 pm.

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. 

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Let’s Have a Conversation

Tasneem Dairywala will host a conversation on Islamophobia and other types of stereotyping and discrimination that lead to attacks such as the one in London, ON. The latter part of the workshop will include creating artworks based on the group discussion.
 
The workshop will take place virtually on June 11th, from 9:30 am – 12 pm.
 

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. 

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Workshop on Publishing

You can (and should!) be a writer – write as often as it suits you and about whatever you desire. But when you’ve written something you feel good about sharing with the world, what happens next? This workshop will cover a variety of ways people achieve publishing credits in the book and magazine industry, including agents, queries, pitches, building a profile, an insider view of the publishing industry and what editors are looking for, with time for Q&A.
 
bio:
S. Bear Bergman is an author, storyteller, educator and the founder and publisher of children’s book publisher Flamingo Rampant, which makes feminist, culturally-diverse children’s picture books celebrating LGBT2Q+ kids and families. He writes creative non-fiction for grown ups, fiction for children, resolutely factual features for various outlets, the advice column Asking Bear, and was the co-editor (along with Kate Bornstein) of Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation. These days he spends most of his time making trans cultural competency interventions any way he can and trying to avoid stepping on Lego. His ninth book is SPECIAL TOPICS IN BEING A HUMAN, forthcoming from Arsenal Pulp in the fall of 2021
 
The workshop will take place virtually on June 4th, from 9:30 am – 12 pm.
 

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. 

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Landscape Painting

Artist Jothi Saldanha will be showing basic blending and beginner landscape paintings with watercolor pencils.
 
Suggested supplies list:
All supplies can be ordered online and picked up at the nearest store or delivered for extra cost.
 
Please note that if you don’t have these materials, bring what you have at home and we will modify the workshop so that you can participate.
 
The workshop will take place virtually on April 24th from 10:30 – 1.
 

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. 

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Mosaic Workshop

A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of coloured stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster / mortar, covering a surface.
 
Rashida, a long-time Open Studio participant, will present examples of a variety of mosaics, and then lead participants to come up with spontaneous ideas, images and patterns to create their own unique artwork.
 
Suggested materials:
 
– Paper, wood, canvas or any other surface to create a mosaic on
– Construction paper, origami, images from magazines, felt, or any materials that can be cut or torn to create a mosaic.
– Glass, tiles or stones, if available
– Glue
 
If you don’t have any materials at home, you can find them at any Dollarama and Dollar Tree. These stores are open during the lockdown. Please call ahead to ensure the store you plan to visit has the supplies you want.
 
The workshop will take place virtually on April 10th from 10:30 – 1.
 

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. 

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101 Embroidery

Free online embroidery workshop for absolute beginners
Saturday March 20, 2021 | 10:30am-12pm

Curious about embroidery? Join us for a free online embroidery workshop for absolute beginners on Saturday March 20, 2021 from 10:30am-12pm.

In this session, textile artist Cecília Garcia will discuss some of her favourite materials, embroidery stitches, her artistic practice, and how nature inspires her textile work. Join with your embroidery supplies to stitch along (optional) or just sit back and listen to learn more about embroidery.

Continue reading “101 Embroidery”
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All Around Us

Program Overview

‘All Around Us’ is a community-engaged textile art program that will work with 10 self-identified women ages 16+ in the Thorncliffe Park community to learn textile art and embroidery techniques over 8 sessions, culminating in the creation of a collective art piece to be installed at the Toronto Public Library, Thorncliffe Branch in the summer of 2021. The program will use nature as a central theme and encourage participants to explore their own relations with nature while learning and collaborating in a small group environment. 

The program will be delivered as 8 online sessions.

Materials Fee: $60 provided for purchasing art materials

Honorarium: $100 for participation (must attend a minimum of 6 sessions and contribute to the final collective art piece to receive honorarium) 

Continue reading “All Around Us”
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Watercolour Workshop

This beginners’ painting class will enable participants to paint with watercolours confidently.  During the workshops, participants will learn different painting techniques using water, watercolour pencils and/or watercolour paints. The workshop will be led by a long-time Open Studio participant, Zeni Shariff.
 
Supplies needed:
 
Q-tips
Paper towels
A jar of water
Watercolour paints
Watercolour sketchpad
Black felt pen
Watercolour brushes
Images to inspire your paintings
 
All of these materials can be found at Dollarama and Dollar Tree. These stores are open during the lockdown. Please call ahead to ensure the store you plan to visit has the supplies you want.
 
The workshop will take place virtually on February 27th, 10:30 – 1.
 

To register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca

This workshop is funded by Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council.