TCAF 2017 - The Toronto Comics Arts Festival - May 13 & 14

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is taking place in On May 13 & 14 with corresponding events happening throughout May. The main event is a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world and will be held at the Toronto Reference Library with readings, signings, panels, workshops, gallery shows, installations and more taking place in the surrounding Bloor/Yonge neighbourhood.

The first Toronto Comic Arts Festival was held in 2003. The Toronto Comic Arts Festival exists to promote the breadth and diversity of comics, and what is considered comics, as legitimate medium of literary and artistic worth. They seek to promote the creators of these works in their broad and diverse voices, for the betterment of the medium of comics and to reach as wide an audience as possible for them.

Main Exhibition: Saturday May 13 and Sunday May 14 at Toronto Reference Library

Some of the Other Events and Exhibitions (Full listing on the TCAF website):
Professional Development for Librarians and Educators: Friday May 12
TCAF Kick-Off: Celebrate 25 Years of Image Comics: Friday, May 12, Doors at 6pm
TCAF KIDS DAY: May 13, 10am-5pm @ St. Paul’s On Bloor
French Comics Framed Exhibition: May 2 -31 @ Toronto Reference Library
My Brother’s Husband – Artwork by Gengoroh Tagame: May 9-30 @ Toronto Reference Library
Guy Delisle: An Exhibition: May 2-31 @ Toronto Reference Library

All TCAF events are FREE and suitable for all ages.

The Toronto Design Directory - Toronto Printers List Now Available

The Toronto Design Directory (TDD) is an online listing of design studios, shops and agencies in Toronto created by designer and art director Margot Trudell.

The TDD recently launched a listing of Toronto Printers, an ever-growing list of print services available in the city. Search by location, service, name, or printer type! Don't see your favorite Toronto Printer on the list? Submit a recommendation!

InterAccess Summer Workshop Series Announced

The InterAccess Studio is happy to announce a series of new media art workshops running from May to July in a wide variety of disciplines. Led by established and emerging new media artists, these workshops will introduce artists to a wide variety of practices. Click here for a full listing or to register.

Here is a selection of our favorites:

Solution Culture (Co-presented with Subtle Technologies)
Learn the basics of hydroponics and creating customized soil-less gardening systems for artistic and expressive applications.
Saturday, May 13, 1-4pm / Instructor: Paul Chartrand / More info

Sonic Geography
Explore sound and place by learning techniques for field recording. Then, bring field recordings back to the studio and learn how to manipulate them using interactive interfaces.
Saturday June 10, 12-4pm / Instructor: Dan Tapper / More info

Intro to 3D Printing
Learn how to use 3D printers safely and creatively in this introductory workshop.
Tuesday June 20, 7-10pm / Instructor: Amir Far / More info

Atari Punk Console
Make your own legendary DIY sound synthesizer! Learn about the 555 chip, practice your soldering and circuit building skills, and make some old school sounds with the Atari Punk Console!
Tuesday July 25, 7-8:30pm / Instructor: Gerald Grison / More info

Art Intersections Meetup with Adrienne Crossman and Thirza Cuthand - May 16

You are invited to join Adrienne Crossman and Thirza Cuthand for a presentation and Q&A at Akimbo's Art Intersections Meetup on Tuesday, May 16 from 6:30pm to 9pm at Gamma Space Collaborative Studio (862 Richmond Street West). Free! Wheelchair accessible. Please RSVP.

Schedule:
6:30pm - Doors Open
7pm - Guest presenters Adrienne Crossman and Thirza Cuthand, plus Q&A
8pm - Networking, Food & Beverages

Adrienne Crossman is an artist, educator and curator. Her practice involves the manipulation and deconstruction of digital media and popular culture in order to create new artifacts through formal re-interpretations. In the pursuit of creating a queer aesthetic, Crossman's work is concerned with the exploration of non-normative and non-binary spaces, while attempting to locate queer sensibilities in the everyday.

Thirza Jean Cuthand has been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, youth, love, and race, which have screened in festivals internationally. In the summer of 2016 she began working on a 2D video game called A Bipolar Journey based on her experience learning and dealing with her bipolar disorder. It showed at ImagineNATIVE and she is planning to further develop it. She has also written three feature screenplays and sometimes does performance art.

Art Intersections Meetup is a meeting place for artists, moving image-makers, gamers and technologists who are experimenting with art-related digital content and how the moving image is presented in a connected world. Digital culture, social media and networks encourage new ways of storytelling, image making, idea sharing and collaboration. This Meetup celebrates artists and innovators who are embracing change leading the next wave of creativity.

Gamma Space Collaborative Studio is a not-for-profit arts organization, and community of 200+ members making, playing, and talking about videogames. They strive to be a welcoming and accessible space for everyone interested in games as art.

PiGEON: a Psycho-Geographic-ExcursiON

The Gardiner Museum and Friends of Ogden Park invite your to join them on an urban birding walk entitled PiGEON Psycho-Geographic-ExcursiON this Saturday Apr 29 from 9AM-12PM.

Created in collaboration with data from FLAP Canada, the walk will examine how bird collision detection offers a 'canary in the coal mine' to signal troubling changes in our own everyday patterns of movement through the city. Harnessing the practice of psycho-geography, the walk will explore the Bloor St Cultural Corridor in order to examine what it means to move through the neighborhood from the perspective of the bird.  The excursion will be a fantastic flight into the way human stories intersect with the stories of other species, forming a multi-species worldview.

The walk costs $25 and includes a limited edition map/poster, free brown-bagged lunch and free entry into the current exhibition at The Gardiner Museum: Janet Macpherson: A Canadian Bestiary.
(Arts workers are welcome to use special promo code "ogdenpark" for a 20% discount on tickets)

About Friends of Ogden Park:
Friends of Ogden Park is a Toronto-based artist collective spearheaded by artists Ella Dawn McGeough and Dustin Wilson in 2014, whose purpose is to organize games and activities that function as forms of research. Transdisciplinary in scope, Ogden Park exists without the context of a fixed place. It is a disembodied mind that temporarily occupies various hosts. Whether park, gallery, or online platform, Ogden Park’s host-body functions as an experimental computational device, transforming these sites into a virtual field for game-based research.

About FLAP Canada:
FLAP Canada’s mission is to safeguard migratory birds in the urban environment through education, policy development, research, rescue and rehabilitation. Since 1993, volunteers with FLAP have combed the Financial District of Toronto searching for birds stunned, injured or killed by collisions with lit towers during their nocturnal migration. A few years later, the non-profit organization discovered that daytime collisions with glass is of even greater concern, responsible for the deaths of billions of migrants worldwide. As a result, its rescue zones have increased covering Scarborough, North York, Markham and Mississauga. FLAP now works with many other cities across North America in efforts to create safe passage for migratory birds.

Urban Workers Skill Share

The Akin community has been working with the Urban Workers Project and Centennial College to put on a Skill Share this Saturday April 29th at Story Arts Centre 951 Carlaw Ave, Toronto Ontario. Join us and other independent and self-employed workers to share best practices and to learn from one another. You will connect with experts to get your most burning questions answered, share your hard earned lessons and build community. Together we’ll skill up while we envision how to make work and life more secure in this new economy. We’ve teamed up other incredible partner organizations in the freelance, labour, and arts & culture communities. We'll have lawyers, accountants and other experts on hand to lead sessions and consult one-on-one on topics like taxes, setting rates, writing contracts, branding, invoicing, getting paid on time, and what to do when that doesn’t happen. Oliver and Rachel will be doing a skill share on artist run not-for-profits. Wavelength Music and Xpace Cultural Centre will also be representing DIY organizing and artist run not-for-profits. We'll also talk about the big picture issues we're facing - like access to benefits,  income security and child care and what we can do to make change. Participants will leave with a resources tool kit that includes contract templates, resources useful to freelancers and swag from our partners.

We are proud to be able to offer on site child care for the duration of the daytime event. Please email info(at)urbanworker.ca if you require child care and indicate so in the registration form.  The earlier we have this information the better so we can make arrangements with our care providers.

The true cost of this event is $100 per person but accessibility is our top priority so we are offering a sliding scale: $20, $50 or Pay What You Can.  If you love what we're up to and can afford investing in the movement for secure livelihoods in the new economy, we appreciate you making a donation through the PWYC ticket.

Open Studio Printmaking Courses

Open Studio offers courses 3 times a year beginning in September, December and April. Courses provide a unique opportunity to work with professional printmaking artists, and are specifically designed for adults with no previous experience. Limited class sizes allow for individual needs and development. Classes vary in length of commitment, there are organized here in order of commitment. All courses and workshops take place at Open Studio, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104, Toronto, Ontario. Please forward inquiries to office@openstudio.on.ca.

8-WEEK COURSES

Etching -Participants will work with metal plates and acid to create a range of images, textures and lines. The aquatint etching process, which produces a range of flat tones, will also be explored.

Lithography -Participants will learn to draw and paint onto the surface of a finely ground limestone, which is then chemically processed before printing.

Screenprinting -Participants will use direct stencil methods to transfer ink onto paper. This course is suitable for photo-based, hand drawn or computer manipulated imagery.

4-WEEK COURSES

Photo Etching -Participants will use photopolymer film to transform photographs, digital imagery or drawings into etchings.

CMYK Screenprinting -Participants will use four-colour process printing to convert photographic images into full-colour screenprints.

1-DAY WORKSHOPS

Linocut Relief Printing -Participants will explore different linoleum block cutting, inking and printing techniques using oil-based inks to create images of two or more colours.

Letterpress Printing  -Participants will use a Vandercook press to explore letterpress block printing using linocuts, hand set type, dingbats and pre-exposed photopolymer plates.

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS

Mokuhanga Intensive -Participants will find out how to transfer and carve an image into a woodblock, which is then inked and hand printed on Japanese paper. Japanese woodblock printing is distinguished by the use of transparent and opaque water-based pigments and requires a hand printing tool.

Abstract Monotype on a Lithography Press -Participants will be introduced to the dynamic possibilities of monotyping on a lithography press. Hands on demonstrations will cover positive and negative mark making, paper handling, ink modification, and proper printing strategies.

Mezzotint -Participants will learn how to properly prepare a copper plate, creating a textured surface that will print as a full black. Mezzotint is a non-acid, intaglio technique that produces rich blacks and soft tonal gradations.

T-Shirt Screenprinting -Participants will learn the basics of screenprinting t-shirts. No prior printing experience necessary. Participants will be able to purchase t-shirts prior to the workshop or can bring their own.

Collagraph -Participants will learn about collagraph plate making—originating from collage—by experimenting with non-traditional materials to create colourful and textured multiples.

OTHER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

The Open Session program allows participants who have printmaking experience to work independently with minimal supervision. The program is especially useful to students who want to transition from classes to renting at Open Studio. Open Studio’s Technical Director must approve registration. Please contact Open Studio for more details.

Private Instruction Customized sessions are arranged by a Technical Director to provide individuals with specialized instruction outside of standard classes. A minimum deposit of $100 is required. Please call Open Studio for more information.

Studio Tours and Demos

Open Studio offers a range of tours and demonstrations for post-secondary students, adult groups and corporate groups. Tours and demos are great opportunities for team building, social groups and extended learning. Tours are offered Tuesday to Friday, during the hours of 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, with a minimum of two-week advance booking. Please call 416-504-8238 for more information.

OCAD UNIVERSITY CONTINUING STUDIES

The Office of Continuing Studies at OCAD University offers a wide range of courses with the aim to help increase your creative potential, enhance your creative career or explore new areas of self-expression. The certificates are designed to be appropriate for students new to art and design, as well as those looking to expand their skills and strengthen their portfolios.

Early bird prices are now on for spring and summer courses. Register by May 4

New courses

• Introduction to SketchUp Pro
• Letterpress Printmaking Studio
• Introduction to Design Thinking
• Portrait Photography
• Introduction to Screenwriting
• Intermediate Sewing Skills Studio

Business courses for creative professionals

• Introduction to Entrepreneurship for Artists and Designers: Turning Your Idea into a Viable Business
• Managing Creative Collaboration Workshop
• Building a Personal Brand: How to Present Your Creative Business
• The Cost of Creative Work: Pricing Products and Services

Programs for seniors (special rates)

• Introduction to Digital Photography for Seniors
• Drawing Skills Studio for Seniors

Programs for youth

• Designing for a Green City for Youth
• Digital SLR Photography for Youth

Akin Creative: Intro to Pysanky Egg Decorating

Sunday April 2, 2017 / 1pm-4pm / Akin Dufferin - 444 Dufferin St, Unit E
$25/person - all materials included / limited seating reserve your spot at www.universe.com/pysanky

Learn traditional techniques to decorate your own festive egg! Eggs are decorated with designs in the technique known as "wax resist". Traditional symbols, designs and patterns are applied with melted beeswax using a tool called a kistka. Eggs are then dipped into successively darker dye baths. At the end of the process the beeswax is melted off to reveal a dazzling display of colour.

Most popularly known as a Ukrainian tradition this is actually common across many Eastern European countries and the practice has been around for thousands of years in celebration of Spring and fertility.

All materials are included. Please note that we will be working with: indelible dyes, raw eggs, and a candle flame.

About the instructor:
Natalie Waddell is a Toronto ceramic artist and a passionate 'Maker of Things'. Always exploring different materials and techniques she saw a photo of Pysanky eggs 7 years ago and has been making them ever since.

Forge Professional Workshop Series Free Legal Advice for Artists

As a professional artist, dealing with legal issues can be confusing. When is a lawyer necessary? How do protect my images? Is this contract binding? Is this agreement fair?

In this workshop participants will discuss the various legal concerns or issues artists and creatives should be informed about - ranging from copyrights, consignments, trademarks, patents, agreements and more.

After providing advice on each of these topics, Matthew Wiens and the Pro Bono Ontario team will offer specific advice to participants about any questions or concerns they may have and help you get find free legal help.

Please register to attend at www.universe.com/legaladvice
$10 Suggested Donation

Have something you'd like to make sure is discussed in the presentation? Email michael@akincollective.com and let us know!

www.akinprojects.org
www.probonoontario.org

Spilling the Beans - A Podcast-Making Project

Do you enjoy storytelling, digging your teeth into an idea and getting to the root of the matter? This challenge is for you!

Spilling the Beans is a 36-hour creative challenge to imagine, craft and produce a short podcast. This podcast-making challenge for anyone and everyone interested in telling stories using the podcast format. Taking place March 3-5 at Hacker You, Spilling the Beans is open to, and encourages, remote participation.

Registration is free! Click here to sign up!

On the evening of March 3rd, participants will be provided with three "ingredients" they will need to include in a short podcast they will produce over the following 36 hours. On March 5th, the podcasts will be aired to judges, Katie Jensen, Veronica Simmons, Paul Aflalo and Owen Craig, who will pick three winners based on a set of criteria participants will receive at the race's outset.

Spilling the Beans is a creative exercise for everyone who wishes to participate. Whether you are you an avid podcast enthusiast or an occasional listener, Spilling the Beans will inspire you to create your own.

Learning Opportunity: Independent Studio Practice Post-Graduate Summer Program @ Haliburton School of Art + Design

Haliburton School of Art + Design (HSAD) is offering a redesigned, advanced independent studio program is designed for artists to further develop their art practices. The new Independent Studio Practice Post-Graduate Program will start this summer, May – August 2017.  Students can work from their own studio, or on campus.

Program Highlights:

• You will be fully-supported and mentored by a variety of professional artists, whether you choose to work out of your studio, or in a shared dedicated space at the Haliburton School of Art + Design
• Curriculum includes scheduled classes that take place on campus, and online, and features field trips plus studio visits from guest artists.
• Choose four week-long courses from over 100 offered as part of our summer art program to enhance your skills, or to explore a completely new medium.
• Create bodies of work for exhibition and a portfolio

For more information, contact:
sandra.dupret@flemingcollege.ca
1-866-353-6464 ext. 3

Artist's Health: Stress and Self Care - This Monday Evening at City Hall - Free!

Your health is important! Join us at City Hall for an engaging workshop focusing on your mental health and well-being.

Learn some self-care techniques and strategies to minimize the negative effects of stress, help you feel your best, and boost your self-esteem.

From dealing with stress, demanding schedules and other injuries artists put a lot of strain on their physical and mental well-being. Join Or Har-Gil, Art Therapist, and Fiona Seth from Workman Arts to learn tips to take care of your body and mind.

Space is Limited! Please register to attend at www.universe.com/arthealth
$10 Suggested Donation


About the instructors:
Or Har-Gil is an Art Therapist and Creative Workshop Facilitator who helps people re-ignite their creativity and use it in service of personal discovery and transformation. She facilitates workshops in organizational, healthcare and community settings on managing stress, adapting to change, thinking differently, and embracing imperfection. Or also works part-time at Sunnybrook, leading Art Therapy groups for patients and families at the Odette Cancer Centre. You can find her online at: www.orhargil.com / www.facebook.com/orhargilarttherapy / Instagram: @orhargil

About Workman Arts:
Workman Arts is the longest-running multidisciplinary arts and mental health organization in Canada. Guided by the principal that the creative process is integral to the quest for personal and spiritual development, Workman Arts aims to support artists who have received mental health services to achieve their professional arts goals, by offering multidisciplinary arts training, exhibition opportunities, and studio space to members.
www.workmanarts.com

Toronto Public Art Information Sessions

Are you an artist contemplating a move into public art? A visual arts professional wanting to understand more about how public art is commissioned in Toronto?

The City of Toronto’s Public Art Office is hosting information sessions to:

• Provide tips and tricks for applying to open calls for City-led public art projects;
• Explain what could be involved in taking your art practice into the public realm; and
• Connect you to additional public art resources.

Join us on the dates below to engage with the City of Toronto’s public art officers to explore how to take your practice into the public realm. The sessions will include information about how the City commissions public art, and how to effectively respond to open calls.

Talks will also include a case study of an upcoming public art commission so participants can brainstorm ideas and hear real world examples about how a public art project becomes reality.

Coffee and light refreshments provided!

Forge Professional Workshop Series - Artist's Health: Stress, Self Care and Studio Safety

February 6 / 6:30-8:30pm / City Hall, Committee Room 2

Your health is important! Join us at City Hall as the staff of The Al and Malka Green Artists’ Health Centre (AHC),Toronto Western Hospital, present an engaging workshop focusing on your health and well-being.

From dealing with stress, to repetitive strain injuries, use of harsh chemicals and demanding schedules, artists put a lot of strain on their physical and mental well-being. Join us to learn tips to take care of your body and mind.

Come and meet Susannah McGeachy (Nurse Practitioner) and Dr. Anita Shack (Chiropractor, Craniosacral Therapist, Acunpucture) as they introduce you to the services available and the unique approach at the Artists’ Health Centre.   Learn some self-care techniques to minimize the negative effects of stress, help you feel your best, and boost your self-esteem.

Space is Limited! Please register to attend at www.universe.com/arthealth
$10 Suggested Donation

Akin Creative: Valentine's Vulva Medallion Making

Wednesday, February 15th /  6:30pm / Akin Lansdowne - Studio 101 - 87 Wade Avenue.

Let’s get intimate! Join us to learn technical clay-making skills and process your Valentine's feelings by making vulva art! Learn the technical sculpting skills of an undervalued, and misunderstood body part through ceramic jewellery making. The workshop will include an introduction to clay, and the female form in art, basic clay making skills, and a lot of giggling and fun! Materials and tools included! The kits will not include the precious metals we use to make our jewelry thought a substitute will be available for purchase.

View samples here: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/CatstacheAccessories

Space is limited, register here: www.universe.com/vulva
$25 Suggested Donation

(Please get in touch if you wish to attend but cannot make a contribution)

About the instructors:
Yara El Safi and Jenelle Madison-Struck are multidisciplinary artists that specialize in vulva jewelry. El Safi receiving her BFA at Western University and Madison-Struck receiving her Fine Arts Degree at Fanshawe College. Their vulva jewelry was inspired by a feminist movement in the 1960s that sought to create a dialog about the female perspective in the art world. Their art aims to empower anyone who identifies with the female body or the vulva, regardless of the preferred gendered pronouns. El Safi and Madison-Struch vulva jewelry is presented as they are, no bleaching necessary. Fifty percent of proceeds from El Safi and Madison-Stuck’s jewelry are donated to Women's Community House in London.

Upcoming Artists' Network Educational Seminars

Tuesday Jan 17th, 2017 Social Media Level ll 

Location: Sweat & Soda coffee shop, 1091 Queen St. E. Toronto / 6:30-8:30pm

Presenter Nancy Bennett will take you to the next step in using social media to promote your art to an even larger audience.

Participants will have Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter accounts open and active and bring their laptops or mobile devices to the session in order to participate in class activities.

Tuesday Feb 7th, 2017: Planning Your Show Calendar

Location: Ralph Thornton Centre, 3rd floor, 765 Queen St. E, Toronto / 6:30-8:30pm

There are so many art shows from the large art fairs in Toronto and beyond, to the many outdoor art shows and other home and lifestyle expos where artists can exhibit their artwork. Itcan be very daunting as to which ones to choose and how to manage the shows you are accepted into.This seminar presented by Jamie MacLean will focus on how to find shows, preparing submissions includingapplication processes, artist's statement, bio and images along with planning and budgeting. Plus we encourage attendees to share their personal experiences, good and bad with the group. This will be a very informative night for artists, not to be missed!

Jamie MacLean is a landscape oil painter, becoming passionate about his art in 2004, after a 30 year career in Engineering.  He has taken workshops in Algonquin and the Canadian Rockies and is primarily self taught.  He tends to bring a business and more structured approach to "selling" his art by doing 15 shows and fairs a year, and keeping stock in 5-6 galleries.  Jamie was also chair of the Artists' Network board for 2 years.

For more information email us at info@artistsnetwork.ca or visit our website: www.artistsnetwork.ca

Education Seminars are Free to Artists' Network Members, $25 to Non-Members

StreetARToronto 2017 Information Sessions coming up soon!

Are you an artist or non-profit arts/community organization looking to learn more about opportunities with StreetARToronto (StART)?

Upcoming Information Sessions:

Downtown Toronto Information Session Launch & Mix and Mingle

• Monday January 16, 2017 from 3 – 6 pm (presentation at 3:30 pm)
• Location: Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West
• Details and RSVP here

North York Information Session

• Thursday January 19, 2017 from 3 – 5 pm
• Location: North York Arts, 5040 Yonge Street
• Details and RSVP here

Etobicoke Information Session

• Tuesday January 24, 2017 from 3 – 5 pm
• Location: Assembly Hall City of Toronto, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive
• Details and RSVP here

Scarborough Information Session

• Thursday January 26, 2017 from 3 – 5 pm
• Location: Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, 225 Confederation Drive
• Details and RSVP here

Contact information: streetart@toronto.ca

About StreetARToronto Launched in 2012, StreetARToronto (StART), a program of the City’s Transportation Services Division, is an innovative, public-private partnership designed to develop, support, promote and increase awareness of street art and its role in adding beauty and character to neighbourhoods throughout the city. StART is an integral part of the City’s Graffiti Management Plan. Visit www.toronto.ca/streetart for information.

Artists' Health Alliance - A resource for artists, students and educators

The Artists' Health Alliance was formed, with a vision of creating a centre for holistic treatment and comprehensive health education and outreach for artists, students and art educators. They offer a range of resources and services for artists including reduced cost for health care, access to workshops and programming, and access to the Artists Health Centre at Toronto Western Hospital. The Centre is the only clinic of its kind in Canada that specializes in serving the entire artistic community.

Visit the website to learn more: http://artistshealth.com

Reframing our Perspective: Equity and Diversity in Practice : A workshop by Harmony Movement presented by Akin Projects

Dec 7 / 6:30-8:30pm / Metro Hall - Room 309 / FREE or PWYC

Space is limited - reserve your spot here: www.universe.com/harmonymovement

We hear a lot about diversity, but what does it look like in practice? How does bias get in the way? And, how can we foster equity and inclusion in the artist community? Using experiential learning methods, this workshop will engage participants in learning about the importance of recognizing and managing bias and creating an environment in which all feel respected, reflected, understood, and welcomed.

Harmony Movement is Ontario’s leading provider of experiential diversity and equity education and leadership programs. The organization aims to promote equity, diversity and inclusion by educating and empowering people of all ages to become leaders for social change. For more information visit www.harmony.ca.

Facilitated by:

Ilaneet Goren
Ilaneet has over 15 years of experience in equity education that ranges from trauma-informed mental health counselling to managing inclusive organizational projects in the disability sector. Growing up in the Ukraine and in Israel has given her a unique perspective on the complexity of negotiating identity and belonging. Ilaneet received her master’s degree in Social Work and Community Development from the University of Toronto, and is a certified Life Skills facilitator.

Punita Bhardwaj
Punita has over fourteen years of experience teaching diverse learners, developing educational programs and implementing development projects for the educational, NGO and not-for-profit sectors. Her work has taken her to Palestine, Mexico and across Ontario where she often worked with marginalized populations. Punita holds a Bachelor in Environmental Studies from York University, a B.Ed. from the University of Ottawa and an M.A. in Curriculum Studies from McGill University.

Presented by:

Akin Projects
Akin Projects is an arts programming organization and registered nonprofit established in 2015 for the purpose of providing both creative and professional development opportunities to members of Toronto’s artistic and cultural community and the public at large. We have offered services to over 2,500 individuals since our inception in 2015. Our sister organization, Akin Collective, was founded in 2009 and provides affordable studio and shared workspace in a friendly atmosphere for about 160 members.

#BeTheChange