A blog post about the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival by Denise Lysak (SPARC Guest Blogger)

“This is my one small step, this is my walk on the moon,” are lyrics from Walk on the Moon by Great Big Sea and words that bring us back to earlier days – when the world had it sights on outer space and the wonders of planets, stars and solar systems far, far away. Discovery and exploration and the nature of science helped define a generation of thinkers, engineers, astronauts and so much more. People on planet Earth, in lounges and sitting rooms everywhere, huddled together as spaceships touched down on orbiting globes and for many, those first images of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon and uttering the words “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, are moments in time forever etched in our individual and collective memories.

I have been lucky enough to channel that same spirited energy, drive, and zeal for discovery while curating the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival for the past seven years. I do not do this alone and it all started with a bold resolution by Mayor & Council of the Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls. They have been our biggest fans and strongest advocates from day one. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention by name, a few key players: Wanda Kabel, Jeff Port, Mike Salvador, Jerry O’ Leary, Bill Thompson, Phil Hudson, Bill Stunden, Scott Cottam, Maureen Hanson, Bob Irvine, and Heather Gropp. They have all been instrumental in making the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival infinitely more possible. This cast of characters all pulls in the same direction and sets the stage for the return of the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival in Nestor Falls, Ontario, Canada on August 21^st and August 22^nd, 2020.

I also trust that this blog will highlight how the Festival is a microcosm that exists within an ecosystem that has a much larger context and higher purpose. The Moose n’ Fiddle is but one outdoor summer music festival – a small dot in rural and remote northwestern Ontario and if you google “moose and fiddle” you will find it amongst a sea of others. In that good company, we proudly rest.

Who puts this festival on its feet? Who ensures its financial health? The short answer is the Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls. But there are others. The list of stakeholders continues to grow, as does the reach and profile of this “cool little festival at the lake”. Our supporters, donors and sponsors return year after year. The Festival has a healthy ratio of earned revenues (>50%) to government grants (30%) to donors/ sponsors (20%) and this helps ensure its viability. Creative economies and cultural tourism contribute to the greater good and not just on the weekend of the Festival itself: The ripple effects can be felt days, weeks, months and even years later. Here is one shining illustration of that tenet: One of the very first musical acts that we booked at the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival was the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir. In the very beginning, they did not have merchandise to sell to a now loyal and growing fanbase. In their third appearance at the Moose n’ Fiddle, they had some branded clothing, underwear to be exact, and we have endearing pictures of adoring fans wearing them as headbands and as outerwear. In their fourth appearance, the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir had boxes of EPs with them. It was a testament to their capacity to grow, to market, to promote, to brand…alongside of their incredible and unwavering talent. And, now here in 2020, they are part of #CBCMusic Spotlight Search. The video that is attached to their spotlight search is “Chekov’s Dog” and it is a crowd pleaser at the Moose n’ Fiddle and I am sure it will fast become even more famous now that it is on CBC. The Festival is a driving force that helps artists like the 10 that comprise the Fu Fu Chi Choir exist on a different plane.

As we get set to hum, sing and dance along with eight genre crushing acts – we honour the sometimes lonely world of the traveling musician. And, as we come back from the atmospheric highs, way beyond the clouds and touch down on terra firma – we are once again surrounded by the natural beauty and the great outdoors that is the eastern shores of Lake of the Woods. The Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival all happens under a canopy of towering white and red pines and along the water’s edge: a wilderness jewel where uniquely, Canadian crafters, wild life, loyal audiences, and spectacular musicians come together to stay and play awhile.

Before we hear the first notes sung by the opening act act, take a look around to see some familiar faces. The Moose n Fiddle brings and keeps the idea of crafters-of-all-sorts front and centre. The Black Oven Pizza Truck (Vermilion Bay, ON), Gropps’ Meats, and Iron & Clay from Sioux Narrows are back this year, bringing incredibly tasty wood-fired pizza, tempting street eats, and some of the best tea, coffee and sweet treats, on this side of the 49^th parallel, to the back woods in Nestor Falls. And, our friends from Women’s Shelter Saakaate House (Kenora) return to share craft beer that is always, fresh, local and handcrafted from Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, with some ciders and coolers to keep everyone happy and refreshed. We will partner, once again, with Leaning Tree Arts Council as they assemble an incredible array of local and regional crafters – some new to the Festival and some old friends. With the food trucks, craft beer tent, and Artisans Village we wrap the Festival experience with the care and commitment that comes from artists who have spent years mastering their craft.

We curate the Festival with local and regional crafters of all sorts. From the potters to the felters to the pizza makers and the craft beer enthusiasts. In this way, the Festival matters to the region, to the landscape that is rural and remote northwestern Ontario. We have dedicated volunteers coming back year after year, we have artists asking to perform, we have sponsors who are willing to give back and make a difference, we have community organizations who share of their time and expertise and in return, they share in the profits and proceeds from the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival. Local shops, resorts, lodges, restaurants, and taprooms  stay open longer in the all too often too short tourist season and this in turn makes them more resilient, stronger, productive and profitable.

Keeping it all real are the musicians that have traveled from near and far to create this “cool little Festival” that is a little FOLK, a little INDIE, a little JAZZ, and a whole lot of fiddlin’ fun! Hello, to Sierra Noble, Little Miss Higgins, Black River Drifters, Siouxperboat, Belle Plaine, The Mad Trappers, Sarah Jane Scouten, Fred Penner, and The Slocan Ramblers.

Wait, there’s more! What makes the Moose n Fiddle really stand alone in the busy Festival scene? Here you can bring your Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP), your cooler and your camping trailer! You can fish off a dock in the morning, enjoy the Festival all afternoon, and as the sun sets know that at the summer’s end, you have been a part of something bigger – something that happens in this great country, from sea, to sea, to shining sea. The audiences have grown with the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival. From its very first year, the numbers have climbed upwards, in a true trajectory…from just shy of 300 in 2014 all the way to north of 1,100 in 2019. Each and every Festival-goer has their own story to tell. From the man who abandons his hunting party to sit a spell and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Moose n’ Fiddle to the family of three (four if you include Daisy, their golden retriever) who have come each and every year, never missing a beat. This same family of four now brings their whole block of friends (thirty something strong) from Winnipeg, Manitoba to camp for a week at beautiful Caliper Lake Provincial Park and take in the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival at the week’s end. Now, that is a nod to audience development.

Everything starts somewhere. And, the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival started out with three prodigious phone calls: the first went to Jessee Havey (at that time she was with the folk band, The Duhks), the second call went to Taras Manzie (President & CEO of Lake of the Woods Brewing Company who came on board as the first sponsor of the Festival and this little, biggish craft beer company is still with us today), and the third call went to Daniel Jordan with Red Moon Road. We have had the good luck to programme Red Moon Road (and some of their friends) for three of the seven festivals and they truly are supernovas.

Festivals are a curious thing. So many moving parts, from extraordinary stage managers and box office mavens (Kara, Brooke, Jess) to emcees (Patrick Kane and Woody Linton – are the two that move the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival from the opening act to the closing act), to supporters, sponsors, and funders, to volunteers – now numbering more than 40 strong. Not too long ago, we invited artists and audiences to come as strangers and now I am happy to say… they return and leave as friends. The Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival in 2019, was reviewed by Roots Music Canada. It was a highlight of the Festival and the dispatches by Heather Kitching (Managing Editor) can be read here. On that note, I will sign off with a call to action – to come and see for yourself – what the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival is all about. There is so much to explore and experience, to inspire the moment you seek. Whatever that may be. To learn more, visit moosenfiddle.ca

Art by Alexandra Dvornikova

By Denise Lysak, Guest Blogger 

In the wilds of Northwestern Ontario, creative residencies dot the landscape with hundreds of miles in betwixt and between. Rural and remote places are creating new pathways for discovery and exploration as artists travel from near and far away to take deep dives into their artistic practices. Old logging roads are now being used by nemophilists and in these deep, dark woods – artists are finding themselves inspired by the great outdoors, surrounded by lakes, canopied forests, and rocks that have been here for hundreds of millions of years.

In 2016, the Bridge & Falls Creative Residency (BFCR) set down new roots in the Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls. Since its inception, more than 20 artists have explored their artistic disciplines with time and space away from their usual environment and everyday life. Kindred spirits and soul friends best describe the artist-in-residency (AIR) programs that form a loop, a point of convergence with Whiteshell Provincial Park bordering the west, Quetico Provincial Park marking the southern border, Lake Superior demarcating the eastern end, and the programs in between are the AIRs in the Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls, the City of Kenora, and the Experimental Lakes Area.

These artist-in-residencies provide a time of reflection, research, presentation and, when possible, production and community engagement. It is a complex system, not unlike the process of photosynthesis. AIR programs are not cookie cutter in nature. Some of the residencies are housed within larger institutions, others are part of museums, while some are hosted by municipalities. What the programs all have in common is that they exist in rural spaces, remote villages and small cities – deep in the heart of our natural environs.

The photo above is part of a new work in development by Ms Laura Malacart, who was an artist-in-residence with the Bridge & Falls Creative Residency, summer series 2019. Laura Malacart calls London, England home and her sojourn across the big pond afforded the BFCR the opportunity to host their first ever artist from the United Kingdom! And, what a treat it was. There was a never-ending stream of consciousness that bubbled to the surface as Ms. Malacart explored, discovered, and created. Laura took full advantage of a small and very rural community and in the absolute quiet and solitude of a tiny “built” dedicated floating studio – she sought to create connections to history, heritage, the oppressed and the marginalized. She tackled the strangeness of a new land and the inhabitants, both wild and human, with a gusto. Her rare and spirited energy, lifted up new narratives and important conversations, all about our time – contextually connecting our community to the larger, global world. Wait there’s more…

In 2018, Falcon Trails Resort welcomed local artist and good friend, Chrissy Sie-Merritt as part of their Artist Residence Program. Chrissy runs South Moon Studio, an amazing artist-run space out of East Braintree, a neighbouring community. In Chrissy’s own words: “My intention when I arrived was to create a quiet space, connect with the land and allow images and ideas to come through. The quiet and peacefulness of Falcon Trails supported these intentions. Most artists are trying to create in those in-between moment of our busy lives. To be able to really step out of the busyness and into myself felt like the spark I needed to ignite my creative fire. Connecting with nature and that quiet within are my two main sources of inspiration and guidance. This truly was the perfect setting to settle into this process and explore. I had no ideas how much I needed this solitude, not just time to be creative but to really connect with my work and myself. It really was a treat to step away for awhile and be free to just simply paint.”

Chrissy Sie-Merritt: Photos from Falcon Trails Resort Artist Residence Program, Spring 2018

For many of the artists, the solitude that they seek is all here, in rural and remote Northwestern Ontario. The time and space afforded to the artists to focus on their work is balanced by natural inclinations to share their new experiences with the larger public. Many of the artists have engaged with community members through talkback sessions, open houses in the tiny studios, painting workshops, readings, and concerts. And, the response from the general public is always warm and welcoming with an eagerness to learn more about the artist and their art. Early on in the residency program, on a very, rainy day – more than 2 dozen people attending a folk art painting workshop by Tyler Boyle. While the rain came down in sheets outdoors, people of all ages, from 8 to 78 were warm and dry indoors, exploring a creative process individually and collectively. Moments like this, leave indelible marks and for all of the right reasons. The arts, in any form, help people connect: to a place and a people. An ambiguous aphorism, comes to mind. And, it has captured my attention for decades and decades. The towering giant and journalist Mr. Peter Gzowski once challenged his listeners to complete a saying “As Canadian as…” and Heather Scott answered that call with “…possible under the circumstances.”

I truly believe the Bridge & Falls Creative Residency, the newly minted residency at the Experimental Lakes Area, the Lighthouse Residency on Lake Superior, et al that form the loop in Northwestern Ontario are products of this ubiquitous saying “As Canadian as possible under the circumstances.” There is a beauty and a vague-ness that together captures exactly what our vast nation is all about. We celebrate the spirit of the true north, strong and free with artists from Canada and beyond our borders. That’s enough. Our expectations are not too high. We expect to manage rather than lead, except in the sport of hockey.

If you are looking for a meeting place, an artist-in-residency program to further your aims, aspirations, and artistic goals – then google AIRs in northwestern Ontario. Here you will most certainly find the endless potential to spur on your creative impulses and fuel your artistic endeavours.

The following post was written by Ron Dodson, a member of the Stratford Arts and Culture Collective, who received support through SPARC’s Collaborative Community Initiatives Program as they completed a feasibility study.  

To learn more about the projects the CCI program has supported, log into the Member Network site, and click on “Collaborative Community Initiatives” in the menu on the left! 

Taking on a feasibility study is a major undertaking, as the Stratford Arts and Culture Collective found out. It involves a lot of preparation, clarity and commitment, as the project moves from the “How do we know if this project is a good idea?” stage, to the “Now we know we are on the right track” results.

That was the general evolution of the process which the Stratford Arts and Culture Collective followed. Of course, each project is slightly different, and depends greatly on the project’s scope, the people involved, finances and many other factors. Our situation was unique to us, but generally similar to many others, we suspect.

The Stratford Arts and Culture Collective (SACC) is an umbrella organization that comprises 30 community-based arts groups of all kinds (community-based, semi-professional, professional) in all arts genres: theatre, dance, music, visual arts, media, interdisciplinary arts and emerging arts – in fact, all of Stratford’s arts groups are members, except for the Stratford Festival, which is very supportive in other ways. Our goal is to create an arts hub for community use, where local and touring talent feel equally at home and where the theme “Healthy, Wellness and Learning” unites its programming on many levels.

This idea surfaced in late October 2016, and a steering committee of interested supporters has been working quietly in the background to create the right conditions for its development. It was logical that in the past year, our idea needed to be tested: is there enough interest in our arts-rich city to build and support an arts and culture centre? A feasibility study is the best way to find out.

We did a lot of groundwork and asked a lot of questions. Who funds such studies? What conditions are placed on them? Who would do the work? A lead partner was found. In our case, it was Stratford Summer Music, which volunteered to administer the funds, should we be so fortunate to get them. Several funding sources were identified: the Ontario Trillium Foundation would supply the bulk of the funds, plus SPARC, and the City of Stratford. Some of our own budget would top off the needed funding.

After identifying and pre-qualifying several consultants, a Request for Proposals (RFP) was written and distributed. The proposals we received were uniformly excellent! They were scored against pre-established criteria, and the winner was identified: TCI Management Consultants of Toronto. They had provided a thoroughly professional response to the RFP with three levels of inquiry, a multi-faceted line of research and clear deliverables.

After a very long delay through no fault of our own, which caused the SPARC funding to expire and ultimately be reduced, we found out in mid-July that the Trillium application was successful. TCI got down to work in early September and wound up the project at the end of November, 2019. The final report (less the appendices, because of privacy issues) has been posted on our website: stratfordacc.com. We invite you to take a look. Contact info for the SACC is also posted there.

The answers we got to our questions about viability and sustainability were answered in clear, contextualized form. We found out a lot more about our own community and each of our member organizations. The proposed Arts and Culture idea has legs! We are moving to the next level of development, finding out which of two possible sites has the better chance of serving the community’s needs. We have the confidence in ourselves that we can do the work, and we have the backing of a dispassionate, well-organized and well-researched study.

We are very grateful to SPARC for being a partner in this work. Without SPARC, it would have been much more difficult to leverage money from Trillium and others. The work increased the capacity of our organization to work collaboratively and to move such a large project to the next level of development. As a result, we look forward to building the Centre as soon as possible.

The following post was written by Emily Pearlman, about ‘Almonte Lights the Way’; one of the projects that received support from SPARC’s Collaborative Community Initiatives program in June 2019.  

To learn more about the projects the CCI program has supported, log into the Member Network site, and click on “Collaborative Community Initiatives” in the menu on the left! 

“We invite you here to see some people who have never met before, working to build a thing they have never seen before”

Collaborative Event Creation as a Model for Living in a Time of Crisis

On October 17th and 18th, 40 Mississippi Mills community members age 10 – 65 assembled in the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum to perform 9 short shows about the Climate Crisis. Of these shows, 4 were scripts from the international Climate Change Theatre Action project, and 5 were new works created for the event. The performance ended with a rousing call for participation in our community, and then the audience was let loose in a room to share delicious snacks, and chat with local environmental organizations to see how they could get involved in existing projects, and seed new ideas. With the collaboration of 14 local environmental organizations and 5 contributing business, we sold out both nights and raised over $2000 for local tree planting initiatives.

The project sprang from a desire to build something as a group that activated intergenerational dialogue on the climate crisis, with a focus on creating something rather than stirring up existing divisions and anxieties. We chose stubbornly celebrating a sustainable future as the event tagline, as an invitation to collaborate, but it wasn’t until the event was over that I started to understand what that meant.

The pieces, many of which were written and performed by young people, did not offer solutions to climate change, but acknowledged that it was messy complicated business that affects our relationships with other people as well as the planet. “I never knew they felt that” whispered one audience member after one piece saw a young actor ask her mother “But Mom, if we are the future, what are we supposed to do?” The question hit hard. What is anyone supposed to do?

When I look back at the form of the event however, (5 directors who had never met, working with small groups of people who had also not always met), I start to see it as a collaborative model for co-existing in a time a crisis . The participants, did not know what the bigger piece would be until it happened in real time. The event allowed participants to see their contribution was not the whole event, but rather an integral note in the song of the evening. For the audience, watching community members of all ages who have never met before, come together to build something from scratch, presented a working model of the benefits of a community mindset to “Build up” rather than “Tear down.” I believe this mindset is key if you want to be able to get out of bed when the world is on fire – you can decide that your actions won’t make a difference, or you can decide that they are part of a much bigger puzzle that may take a long time before it takes shape.

I do not have the signing authority to make policy changes to benefit the future. But in this project, I identified some guiding principles that I think are useful to any group looking to harness the energy of people to build change.

Everyone is invited. Let every step in the process be an open call that invites people to self identify as interested. If they have mentioned they are interested, but then don’t show up, call them back (but just once), to give them faith in their ability.

BUT ALSO

No one is obligated. Give people graceful outs if they offer to participate, but then find they can’t. People are busy. People have ambitions that reach beyond their available hours. People are doing the best they can. It’s not about you.

Notice people’s skills. It is way easier to ask for participation from a person if you have a specific thing you would like them to do. Asking “Anyone want to help” is never as effective as “Hey Julie, based on your great eye, do you think you would be willing to take photos?” This requires attending and making spaces to listen and ask questions about people’s interests. Our auditions, were a two hour long affair where we hung out and chatted as well as read scripts – it was not an exercise in figuring out who was in or who was out, but a place to imagine how we could use the skills of everyone who showed up.

If you trust people, and act like you trust them, they will rise to the occasion. At the auditions we mentioned that some of the pieces were yet to be created. A 17 year old auditioner responded by saying “I have always wanted to write a play. Can I?” The collective of directors debated whether this was a good idea or not – “We don’t know this person! We want to make good art! Can we trust her to deliver?” We ultimately said yes. Her piece was a hit. But also, it could have not been and it would have been fine. If you have enough folks working towards a goal, you also have the people power to cover if people need to drop the ball. The best way to build a room that has more ball picker-uppers than ball droppers? Remind everyone of their ability to pick up the ball

By Jason Manitowabi, Northern Outreach Coordinator

Part of my role as the Northern Outreach Coordinator is trying to understand, as best I can, the conditions that Northern artists work in. Therefore when I was planning a networking trip this summer, I wanted to experience exactly what it takes to live as an artist, producer, presenter or animator in truly rural and remote communities. I chose to visit Kashechewan: The host of Creefest 2019.

Creefest is an annual festival that travels around the different communities of the James Bay area. Kash is the definition of a Northern Ontario community – another 50 minute plane ride and I would have been in Peawanuck, the northern most community in Ontario. It is so far up into the wilderness that some refer to it as “Extreme Northern Ontario”

To give you an idea of the travel required to reach Kashechewan… I jumped into my car in Manitoulin on a Wednesday morning. I drove for 5 hours to Timmins (where I met with a few artists) and then continued to Cochrane (another hour and 20 minutes North). From Cochrane I needed to wait for the one train that runs between Cochrane and Moosonee; a 5 hour train ride. In Moosonee I headed to the airport where I boarded a plane that went to Fort Albany, picked up some additional passengers and then dropped me off in Kashechewan. Just under 14 hours of traveling with one overnight stay on the way. For context, it took about 13 hours to travel from Toronto to Oslo, Norway where I was 3 weeks earlier!

To give you an idea of the struggles that our fellow Northern Ontario residents have to deal with everyday – without even considering the travel required to go to work or school – in Kashechewan, Hydro Dams and deforestation cause severe flooding; E. Coli is a large problem in the community and the chlorine used to fight it causes skin dryness that contributes to itching and worsens conditions like eczema. Since 2004 the community has also experienced regular flooding and water contamination when ice melts on the Albany River. Members of the community were evacuated for six consecutive years before 2019. I had been worried that Creefest might not happen because of flooding, however the resilience of this community is apparent: Creefest was amazing!

Breakfast was served at 9am each morning and was immediately followed up with programming. Some of the daily programming included hand drum making, Cree syllabics, leather mitt making, beading, fish filleting and prep for cooking, goose feather plucking, cleaning, prep and cooking, moose meat prep and cooking. All of the food cooked on a daily basis was shared with the community, which has a population of around 2500; around 700-1000 of them attending the festival everyday.

I saw all of the amazing bands and musicians perform over my 4-day 3-night stay (many of them rotated around each night and were featured more than once). Some of the headliners were stars in their own right in the Cree Community. Thursday featured Midnight Shine, a band from Attawapiskat. The lead singer, Adrian Sutherland, was recently featured in an article about the water crisis in his home community. It is a statement of his resilience and determination to spread inspiration to his community to overcome any obstacle in the way to follow his dreams. The band’s sound seamlessly mixes roots, classic and modern rock with touches of Mushkegowuk Cree. Crafting a musical soundscape that gives a glimpse into their remote landscape, they continue to push musical boundaries and boldly take new strides, while staying true to who they are and where they come from. Mr. Sutherland also speaks his language fluently and adds this into his music. He does a cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” that features verses translated into Cree. Quite the exciting performance!

Friday night featured The Relic Kings, a three-piece rock band based in Moose Factory. In May of 2018 the group travelled to Germany for their first performance outside of Canada, and that same month they won Rock Album of the Year at the 2018 Indigenous Music Awards! They also had the opportunity to open for The Sheepdogs, Monster Truck, and The Trews: Three of Canada’s top touring rock acts! In October their single “The Drive” hit #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown.

The Saturday night headliner was none other than Randy Bachman. I love the way he explains how he wrote some of his songs just before performing them. It adds to the feeling you get when you listen to the songs as well as gives you a better understanding of them. He also brought his son, Talmage Charles Robert “Tal” Bachman to the stage with him. Both gentlemen impressed the crowd and embraced them with several phrases in Cree, which I found admirable.

Sunday was set for a Powwow and I was on a plane at 4:30 pm, starting to make my trip back home.

I had a wonderful time on this trip. I was fortunate to know that, even though the further North you go, the colder the weather gets, the warmer the people are. Even though I was walking into several communities I had never been into and did not know anyone in, I was welcomed and quickly lost the initial homesickness that is always involved.

With this trip, I gained a full understanding of many struggles and challenges that those in Northern communities face. There are obvious needs that we can address and areas we can provide assistance, resources or at least lend knowledge to.

By Jason Manitowabi, Northern Outreach Coordinator

“Would you like to attend the Riddu Riddu Festival next month?”

As a new presenter, I’m starting to get more of these opportunities lately; Nipissing for the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance Intertribal Gathering, Mississauga for Folk Music Ontario, and Montreal for Folk Alliance International – all conferences I have been invited to or recommended to attend by newly made contacts such as Cynthia Lickers-Sage, Kerry Swanson and David Barnard. So when Cynthia sent a message asking me if I would like to take part in another cool opportunity, I said yes before even thinking about it. It wasn’t until 4 days later that I clicked on the attached link and saw that Riddu Riddu is an International Indigenous Festival — in Norway!

So here we go: Toronto to Copenhagen, Denmark, to Oslo, Norway, and then one more flight. Once you are about to land in Tromsø, you can see the snow in the mountains as you fly into the small city of 75,000. The next morning we head into Kåfjord. Picture a Mountainesque village of 600 people where the melting ice on top of each surrounding mountaintop pours ice-cold glacier fresh water streams from all sides. At one point, several of the streams combine to form a wondrous and mystical river that crosses through the middle of the valley with houses surrounding the ridges. At the North end of the village in the valley of brush, lilacs, and yellow birch trees, sits a welcome/community centre and library. Down into the lower grounds sits a 30×20 MainStage, a smaller 15×15, and several breakout and workshop tents. On the South side of the grounds there is a tandem Nordic Tent with Buffy Saint Marie painted on the side!

The opening night on Thursday is dedicated to the Children’s Festival. I find out later that the Children’s Festival started as a small side event to keep the organizers’ children occupied for the weekend: Now it has grown so big that people from all over the country bring their children and dedicate their whole trip to this Festival! Hundreds of children are spread out at stations learning life skills. Some are building traditional huts; debarking logs and hearing lessons and stories of the importance of each process. The style, structure and materials are very similar to a wigwam – the traditional lodge of the Anishnabek. There are workshops on gardening, storytelling, food preparation, fabric weaving and rope making. Of course, in the centre of all of this, sits a Children’s Stage featuring Indigenous performers from all across the Northern half of the planet! Also present were some traditional Tibetan musicians! Their throat singing style is almost similar to what you would hear in the Northern parts of this country.

Friday featured some Nordic Sami musicians. The Sami people, much like the Indigenous peoples of Canada, are still on their way out of the colonization period. While there were not many Sami performers presented, it was great to hear that the amount presented every year is growing as more and more Sami are becoming inspired to discover and follow their roots.

Saturday was the final day of the Festival. I took in the “Northern People of the Year” featuring the Inuit from Nunavut. Their songs were extremely powerful, ending with throat singing and chanting over an acoustic guitar and a spoken word piece that hit very close to home. It included pieces and points of residential school and assimilation. Many of the Canadian Indigenous attendees were brought to tears, including myself, from the beauty and emotion of the moving melodies and the heart-breaking reminder of history. After sharing some traditional seal stew, a delicacy of the Inuit, the delegate group moved into the Artist Cafe and met with some of the previous organizers of Riddu Riddu. It was inspiring to hear how the early years were an ongoing struggle of locating source funding, maintaining volunteers and securing artists and programming and how the event grew to become what it is today. Definitely inspired me to keep going through the struggles that I personally face in my ambitions as an Arts and Music festival back home in Northern Ontario.

Saturday night’s final performer was the one and only Buffy Saint Marie. Hearing her always inspiring words in between her amazing, world-renowned songs is something that I never tire of. A red dress flew in the wind on stage to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: A powerful image striking a powerful message. Saint Marie also brought Tanya Tagaq onto the stage with her and a few other guests. All in all the final Main Stage performance was invigorating and a true celebration of Canadian Indigenous Artists!

My trip, offered and sponsored by both the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance and the Canadian Arts Presenting Association, was the experience of a lifetime. It was really empowering and inspiring to see how other communities – and countries – work together to maintain a world-class festival in an extremely rural area.

The following post was written by Miranda Bouchard, Acting Artistic Director of Thinking Rock Community Arts. Thinking Rock’s community-created documentary film received support from SPARC’s Collaborative Community Initiatives Program last June. 

This program has now closed for 2019. To read more about past projects that were supported, login to the Member Network and click on the Collaborative Community Initiatives tab in the menu! 

The Rivers Speak Story: A Community-Created Documentary Film is a vital legacy document of The Rivers Speak Project and of Gigidoowag Ziibiik I The Rivers Speak: A Community Play, which marked the culmination of a five-year collaborative community-engaged process, led by Thinking Rock in partnership with Jumblies Theatre, AlgomaTrad, Timber Village Museum, Mississauga First Nation, Blind River, Elliot Lake and Serpent River First Nation.

The Rivers Speak Story Project – supported by SPARC’s Collaborative Community Initiatives Fund, along with the Ontario Arts Council’s Northern Arts program and in-kind contributions from project partners at Village Electric and AlgomaTrad – resulted in the creation of a mini-documentary film that recounts the dynamic, multi-faceted, cross-cultural, intergenerational, multi-year community-engaged art-making process, and the vibrant relationships and experiences that resulted throughout the making of the play.

The mini-documentary film shares the impacts of The Rivers Speak Project with a wider audience than the play alone could have reached while building on the project’s legacy. It shows and tells the Rivers Speak story from foundation to production and beyond, offering viewers – those who were part of the process, as well as newcomers to Thinking Rock’s work – a look at the activities and processes involved, the relationships created and sustained, and the challenges and joys encountered along the journey.

Throughout the filmmaking process, Thinking Rock and the project team engaged many of the partners, participants and volunteers who were involved throughout the Rivers Speak. This included conducting additional interviews (of participants, Elders, artists and others) and filming Rivers Speak legacy activities (notably, reunions and gatherings, as well as the evolving gallery and art-making sessions) across the Central Algoma region during the summer of 2018. Additional amateur and community-generated video footage, along with audio files and photos documenting the multi-year project, were incorporated in the film to represent the breadth of community-generated content and offer a sense of the project’s collaborative creation. Existing Rivers Speak production video footage and interviews captured by Village Electric, as well as a professionally-recorded, community-generated soundtrack from the play (featuring community participants, AlgomaTrad musicians, Grandmother Marly Day and others) further enhance the resulting film while speaking to the play process.

The creation of The Rivers Speak Story mini-documentary film fostered exciting experiential learning and mentorship across the team, from Thinking Rock staff to filmmakers to musicians to participants. It expanded our perspectives about documentary filmmaking’s potential as a tool for exploring narrative and conveying the specifics of community-engaged artistic practice; the final mini-documentary film communicates the integral involvement of many hands, hearts and perspectives throughout the process. Making this film increased the capacity of all involved to work collaboratively across communities, cultures, languages and artistic disciplines. Despite a few challenges and having to alter our plans and timelines somewhat, we collectively carried the project forward towards an impressive outcome we are excited to share.

This project had many wide-reaching, short- and long-term impacts. We learned a lot throughout the process that will impact our respective work in future. The final mini-documentary film will continue to impact the Rivers Speak partner communities, whose contributions are reflected in it. The Rivers Speak Project engaged more than 4,000 people as participants, performers, partners, audience members and more between 2013 and 2018. As a record of this process showing many formative moments along the way, the mini-documentary film celebrates and acknowledges the contributions made by participants and community partners to the successful play, from pilot to production to legacy, each time it is viewed at home and elsewhere.

It is our hope that the mini-documentary will extend the Rivers Speak project – and our work generally – to live on and make impacts well beyond the life of the play, in places farther afield than our Algoma District home. We hope that the film will inspire others across Turtle Island to start and continue their own paths toward community-building, respectful collaboration and reconciliation. The Rivers Speak Story mini-documentary film is nearing completion, and we look forward to sharing it widely soon! Follow us on Instagram (@ThinkingRockCA) and Facebook for details about this and other projects. Thinking Rock is thankful to the SPARC Collaborative Community Initiatives Fund, the Ontario Arts Council’s Northern Arts program, and in-kind contributions from project partners Village Electric and AlgomaTrad for making this project possible.

By Kirsten Nelson, Executive Director

4elements Living Arts was founded in 2002, making it a relative old-timer among northern Ontario arts organizations. Our vision is engaged experiences of land, arts and community, and our mission is to nurture and inspire community engagement in land-based arts on Manitoulin Island.

Workshops remain one of our favourite ways to engage the community in land-based art, and remind them that the divide between artist and audience is an artificial one. 4elements has offered workshops by local and visiting artists and artisans in areas as diverse as audio art, biology, clay, clowning, dance (ballet, latin and modern), doll-making, drumming, dying with indigo, fibre, geometry in nature, jewellery making, mapping, mask-making, meditation, mural painting, photography, poetry, printing, sculpture, shadow puppets, watercolour, writing, and yoga.

Our biggest excitement of the year comes with the Elemental Festival, a celebration of musicians, artists, films, and performers of all kinds, responding to our land-based arts theme. Held in late September each year in Kagawong (“Ontario’s prettiest village”), people can wander between the Park Centre, Old Church on the Hill, Riverbend Stage and Billings Connections Trail to listen, watch, create, and eat for three full days. There are big-stage musical performances in the evenings, and rotating performers and workshop leaders with more intimate or child-friendly setups in the afternoons. You might choose between a needle-felting workshop using fleece from local alpacas, or learning about Indigenous hand drumming and singing.

We have quieter, more contemplative missions as well. We have three beautiful books that continue to surprise us with sales out of proportion to the marketing we do for them. Learning the Land: Creative Community Engagements is an inspiring look at land-based engagements, written for community arts animators, artists, environmental art educators, and community members. The Art of Land-Based Early Learning (volumes 1 and 2) offer concrete, yet inspiring guidance for teachers, parents, and facilitators who work with children.

In the past year, our Walking Waters program was an unqualified success. Uniting indigenous and settler students from Sheshegwaning First Nation and C. C. McLean Public School in Gore Bay, we took groups on water walks to find and engage with the water in our community. In the winter months this entailed snowshoeing on the lake, where the students watched, listened, thought and talked about their experiences. Bookends of smudging, drumming, and teachings from local elders created context for the movement. A rich output of drawings, photos, and videos resulted.

Our longest-lasting contribution to the land is undoubtedly our outdoor sculptures, most notably the Billings Connections trail, which garnered us and our partners a Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award in 2017. Ten sculptures and 32 historical interpretive plaques dot the land along the Kagawong River and the main street of town, inviting visitors to partake of a deeper conversation and understanding about the complexities of Truth and Reconciliation.

If you’re interested to learn more, we hope you’ll visit our website, and maybe even plan to come to the Elemental Festival this year! September 26-29, 2019.

By Tia Lutes

Have you considered becoming a playwright or wondered how much love, blood, sweat, and tears go into writing a play? You are a talented actor who enjoys arts and writing so being a playwright should be second nature….right? Wrong! There is so much more to becoming a playwright than meets the eye, and nine budding playwrights in the Ottawa Valley can certainly attest to this.

It all started with a premise, a gathering of artists, and the courage to take a leap of faith!

This journey began in September 2018 for Theatre Night in Merrickville. Brian, one of TNIM’s members, approached the executives about Trafalgar 24; an event he attended and presented as a possible basis for a TNIM production. The premise of Trafalgar 24 was that 6 professional playwrights composed and performed 6 script synopses in 24 hours. The purpose of the event was twofold: fundraising for Driftwood Theatre and allowing the audience to choose which script would be developed into a full play. Brian’s presentation ignited interest and the executive began strategizing how to transform this initiative into something our own restricted resources could support. At the same time, Helen (another TNIM member) and I had the honour of attending a SPARC Community Gathering in Almonte. Here, we were introduced to SPARC and were amazed with the sense of community, networking, and support given to artistic groups within rural areas. We were surrounded by kindred spirits and rejuvenated by the spirit and energy present in the hall. That afternoon, we discovered how we could combine the idea of Trafalgar 24 with the SPARC collaboration initiatives to create a memorable event for everyone.

Utilizing our new found connections, Helen contacted Michael Clipperton of SPARC and Theatre Ontario to ask if he would do us the honour of facilitating a playwright workshop. To our delight he agreed…yahoo! Everything was falling into place as if fate had destined it to be!

Hearing back from Michael we continued planning our journey: A four day playwright workshop in February and March, then periodic write-arama meetings, and finally excerpts from the plays produced in early June in a gala evening. Akin to Trafalgar 24, the winner of our gala, which we titled Theatre in the Making, would be our Theatre Night in Merrickville entry to the Eastern Ontario One Act Festival in November 2019. It was also at this point that we decided this was the ideal time to reach out and form some collaborations with other artistic groups in the surrounding areas. We opened the workshop to other thespian groups as we welcomed both old and new faces to our green room and within our Thespian Tale family. We then reached out to the Merrickville United Arts Centre (the old united church recently restored into an events centre) with the hope of developing a relationship with the owners and using this as our event venue; strengthening our sustainability within the community and forging new relationships that foster a broader sense of community within the village we call home.

The weekend of February 9^th-10^th we welcomed Michael to our green room to start our writing journey. Nine talented individuals eagerly and enthusiastically gathered around the tables equipped with pen, paper, laptops, and of course cups of coffee/tea and goodies. They all seemed confident in their abilities to be a playwright and excited to commence writing. Nonetheless, as Michael spoke and shared the basics of writing a strong dialogue their sense of confidence began to waiver. Have no fear! Michael presented them with a tool box filled to overflowing with suggestions and tricks of the trade.

Over two weekends, with Michael’s calm and quiet guidance, these playwrights became parents and gave birth to their plays. Subsequently, like parenthood, these playwrights learned that there is no right or wrong way and there are always moments when that blank page stares judgmentally back at you. Then there are the unwelcome visits from Mr. Writer’s Block, Miss Busy Body, and Mother Nature which results in self consciousness and doubt. Nevertheless, no matter what, these playwrights learned the most important lesson, to be tenacious! For that is the true definition of a playwright – or any artist really – someone with tenacity and courage! With those two essentials in one’s tool box anything is possible!

The moment of truth came on June 8^th, 2019 when the playwrights took a deep breath and shared their babies with the world in their premier staged readings. In the sanctuary of MUAC, with a sense of tranquility, energy, excitement and anticipation, 21 talented actors ranging in age from 11 to 70 brought the 6 plays to life. The evening was a smashing success as an audience of 88 thespian lovers and aspiring thespians alike engaged to the fullest and the unthinkable happened… a tie for first place! Despite having a winner (or two) each play is deserving of further attention and love as they all hold immeasurable potential!

Through this endeavour, not only did the playwrights learn about tenacity and courage, but so did the Theatre in the Making team. There were many trials and tribulations along the journey, but in the end it was a great initiative that created numerous relationships. These relationships will only grow stronger as we encourage the village and other artistic individuals and groups to join us on future collaborative journeys.

By Jason Manitowabi, Northern Outreach Coordinator

This spring, arts events held in Sudbury and North Bay helped to showcase Northern talent across many disciplines, ultimately working to bridge the gap between the higher populated urban areas of the province such as Toronto and Thunder Bay.

The 2019 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards, produced in association with Music and Film in Motion, offered a 3 day schedule of film, music and nightly showcases in Sudbury, Ontario. Sessions included a Safer Bars & Spaces training program, and workshops on screenwriting, radio and streaming, navigating film funding, and film technologies. There were also short film showcases and a screening of the “Goalie” biopic of goaltender Terry Sawchuck. Nightly music performances by Melody McKiver and Darius Gray, Mclean, Rose-Erin Stokes, Kalle Mattson, Nick Sherman and Rico Littledeer,  Frank Deresti and the Lake Effect, Greyson Gritt, Jennifer Holub, The Honest Heart Collective, MC Silvertongue and TESSA complimented the daytime programming.

Sudbury has a long history of showcasing Northern talent and, at the same time, makes a great stop for high-profile acts that tour through Ontario, including John Fogerty and Snoop Dogg recently. Sitting in the heart of the province, Sudbury offers a convenient link from North to South and is a diverse city of representation and exploration.

North Bay hosted the Cold Waters Media Arts Symposium & Festival on June 12-15. Sessions and workshops took place at Nipissing University and showcases were held in local venues including the Capital Centre and White Water Gallery. Presentations included MANO (Media Arts Network of Ontario) Mornings that featured expert talks on relevant industry topics, such as: Policy, Advocacy, and Strategy in the Arts, Making and Thinking Alongside the North, and Preserving Indigenous Knowledge within the Digital Domain. The Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council had regional representatives lead workshops and offer insight on granting programs. Evening Programming featured Nearly Far Away // Far From Near (by Rihkee Strapp with Tejhler Leadbeater and Jeremy Saya in collaboration with Amanda Lindenbac) and Ways of Listening (with Darren Copeland, Anyse Ducharme, Zoe Gordon & ElizaBeth Hill), which were wonderful compliments to the knowledge-packed daytime presentations.

North Bay is conveniently located within 4 hours of Toronto, Ottawa, Sudbury and Manitoulin and has a rich Indigenous history of the Anishnabek whom call the area home. Its rich medicine producing grounds have long provided for the people of the land. It was refreshing to see the digital era of art showcased with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous representation, with showings and sharings of medicines, culture and professional artistry.