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Carcerality Vs. Community (Allison and Jasmine)

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Carcerality Vs. Community (Allison and Jasmine)

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This interactive story map serves as an educational tool that examines the presence and impact of prisons between Toronto and Kingston, highlighting the establishment histories, demographic data, and relevant current events of ten prisons. We were inspired by Hewitt-White’s (2009) critical perspective on prisons as inadequate substitutes for social services and Cardoso’s (2020) insights into racial biases within the carceral system, who collectively prove that prisons are inherently embedded with systemic discrimination.

Click the link to read more and view the map!

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This month, I will be setting up a typewriter in the busy drop-in where I work (PARC) with bulletin board above it for people to post their writing. Part interactive public art installation, part collaborative community writing exercise, my hope is that members of the PARC community will create an ongoing, creative dialogue where they can engage by either making their mark on a page or reading the work of their fellow community members.

Attached here is a more detailed description (typed on a Remmington portable typewriter) and a couple sketches of what the setup will look like. I will be setting up the typing station this week or next, and will add a picture or two once I do. I will also bring in a typewriter to the final class if people would like to try it out.

Looking forward to chatting about the project in class!

Thank you all such an engaging semester.

-Isaac

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WHAT DO YOU SEE?

In 2005, I was captivated by a trailer for the documentary "RIZE." Vibrant colors and triumphant dancers who resembled me filled the screen, momentarily transporting me to a realm where raw expression flowed effortlessly as a common tongue. As the one-minute trailer concluded, I was abruptly pulled back to my suburban home in Durham Region, a stark contrast to the bustling energy of Toronto I had just moved. Adjusting to this new environment, where faces like mine were less common, became a journey of its own. Yet, amidst this adjustment, one thing remained clear – I needed to watch that documentary and immerse myself in the dance it showcased.

The mesmerizing art form revealed in that trailer was Krump, and since that moment, I've been entwined in a profound relationship with this dance. Now, in 2025, nearly two decades later, I find myself still dancing, navigating the complexities of adulthood through the raw language of Krump. Krump sessions have evolved into sacred spaces where individuals can shed the masks of maturity and societal norms, expressing vulnerabilities without uttering a word, surrounded by a community eager to do the same.

Open Discussion:

1. I would like folks to watch the documentary and respond to the prompt “WHAT DO YOU SEE?”.

2. Please outline the physical aspects that stand out to you, emotions you are feeling, emotions you believe the dancers are feeling, and more. Ensure to be as open and earnest as possible in your description

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‘Beads of Resistance’ is a beading circle and a travelling workshop that educates participants of landback. Land Back Canada will include storytelling to strengthen community and foster capacity building. Informative education of land policies, treaties, Indigenous polity, property laws, and civic engagement are the topics for engagement, including the recent landback movements in Canada, Landback Lane (1492), Wet’suwet’en, and other land disruption events.

Arts-based Intervention: My connection to the arts is beading. Beading has proven to be a healing agent in my personal life and privileges many conversations that empower well-being.

I have created an informative piece of art that reflects resistance, resiliency and hope. The medium is painted canvas with beads, quills, sweetgrass, abalone, with a medallion of symbolism of Land Back Canada. Mixed materials can include textiles, beads, pelon, quills, sweetgrass, antler, and painting that express landback priorities and/or symbolism. A metaphor or analogy to symbolize Land Back Canada, would be a broken arrow. This is represented in the centre of the painting; and I incorporated all colours of the Medicine Wheel – Black, white, yellow, and red on each side of the canvas.

The three medallions beaded to the canvas, represent: Green for health and mental wellness, Orange for prison abolishment, Purple for homelessness. There is no colour for harm reduction, but “Gradualism” is inferred and is a transition of colour from light to dark. All the medallions include the gradual light to dark beads from inner to outer. The medallions represent all four presentations of LHA1109. The Eagle in the middle of the orange medallion is embracing the sun and the arrowhead and shaft are regaled in leather and crow beads. The orange is the new dawn. The smudge bowl in the centre of the purple medallion is filled with sweetgrass, tobacco, sage, cedar, and represent healing. The three red feathers symbolize Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Resistance, and Activism. The white banding (bling) is glow in the dark.

Lastly, the “L” in the bottom left corner represents Land Back Canada.

A collaborative arts-based project can manifest from a call for beaded “pins” in support of Land Back Canada to create a mosaic on a leather sheath for an installation in a public space.

My art piece represents Hope. I did not want to create damage-centred art and wanted to create something that brings light. A lot of the materials came from the Dollarstore.

Miigwech (Thank you).

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Hello everyone!

My project is connected to a trip I will be taking to Türkiye this summer. During my time there, I will spend ten days providing psychosocial support to orphans and vulnerable populations in a setting that resembles a summer camp.

As a child, I often used art as a way to express myself, understand myself, and help others understand me. With this in mind, I wanted to create an art activity to share with the children. They are able to use any medium they have access to; colour pencils, markers, clay, stickers, paper, pom poms and pipe cleaners. The simplified instructions are as follows:

1. Draw a tree: include roots, a trunk, and branches, but no leaves yet.

2. Once your tree is complete, we’ll begin filling it in: Roots: Represent where you come from. This can include a flag, your beliefs, or colors that symbolize you. Trunk: Depict what gives you strength, what makes you strong. How you have been strong in the face of difficulty. Branches: Illustrate your dreams and hopes for the future. Leaves: These will be filled in by others around you. They can add symbols that remind them of you or represent themselves in some way. For example, they might leave a fingerprint with their name.

The tree I’ve uploaded is my own. I do not have art supplies ready at hand, but Canva is a dear friend. My roots reflect where I am from, where I grew up, and the core of my beliefs. My trunk represents not only my sources of strength but also what I have endured and persevered through. My branches showcase my aspirations: publishing a book, attending law school, and being a source of love, care, and happiness. Since many of my friends live far away or find it difficult to express their feelings, I asked them to send me PNG symbols that represent our relationship. I then added these symbols as leaves.

I would love for you to create a tree as well. You do not have to share it of course. But this process truly brought forth many emotions for me, even though it may seem like silly symbols.

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Seasons of Life- How do we weather the storm- A Zine exploring menstrual health

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Seasons of Life- How do we weather the storm- A Zine exploring menstrual health

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This zine explores what many menstruators experience during their life span, more specifically the challenges they face, the lack of awareness, education and stigma.

I look forward to presenting this for you all tomorrow!

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Seasons of Life- How do we weather the storm 

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The Mountain We Climb: A Journey Through the International Student Experience

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The Mountain We Climb: A Journey Through the International Student Experience

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In this project, I use poetry and data to tell the story of my journey as an international student in Canada. Through the metaphor of mountain climbing, I wrote two poems, to share what it really feels like to be an international student in Canada. I tried to express the pressure, uncertainty, and resilience that many of us live with every day. After that, I moved into the deeper discussion: how our struggles aren’t just personal, but shaped by larger systems—unfair tuition fees, work restrictions, and immigration rules that keep getting tougher. Finally, I brought in data and charts to back this up and show the bigger picture behind the stories.

By combining creative and analytical approaches, my goal is to challenge the dominant narrative that frames international students’ hardships as individual failings, and instead highlight the structural inequalities embedded in Canada’s education and immigration systems. This project is both a personal testimony and a collective call for greater awareness, policy change, and a more inclusive future.

When I first started this project, I thought I would begin with the data—laying out the numbers, pointing to the problems, and then using poetry at the end to reflect on what it all means. But as I worked through it, I realized that approach felt too flat and boring. I didn’t want the whole project to come across as just another policy report. So I decided to switch the order. But if you find the written part too long or a bit boring, feel free to just look at the charts, I've already added some key insights directly into them.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, warmly welcome any thoughts or feedback you’d like to share:)

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Personal Journey Poetry as an Art Form of Expression (5)

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Aunt’s Story (a forum theatre) by Tianze Guo Andy

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Aunt’s Story (a forum theatre) by Tianze Guo Andy

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This story is adapted from my aunt's personal experience. She is like many rural women in China in the last century, with a low level of education, married at an early age, and grew up with “taking care of younger siblings”. I want to present my aunt's experience and the issue of education for women in remote areas of China through this short play. The oppression of women in education is not only due to the lack of policies, but also influenced by patriarchy in families and communities, as well as traditional concepts. Every picture in the video is drawn by me (I know I'm a bad painter).

The working principle of the Forum Theatre:

Step1. The audience will watch a performance.

Step2. The audience will reflect on the plot of the performance.

Step3. Option One: The audience can choose to become a certain character in the play and change the character's lines, actions, etc. according to their own ideas to solve the oppression and social problems that arise in the play. Then the play will be reenacted.

Option Two: The audience can modify and comment on the plot from an outsider's perspective.

Therefore, without your participation, this will not be a complete performance. So I sincerely hope that everyone can participate in this performance.

Thank you!

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Solidarity in the Streets: A Mural Proposal Raising BDS Awareness in the Chinese Community in Canada 

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Solidarity in the Streets: A Mural Proposal Raising BDS Awareness in the Chinese Community in Canada 

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I am deeply inspired by the power of public art in social activism and its ability to spark critical conversations. As a newcomer from China, I seek to bridge understanding between Chinese-Canadian communities and the BDS movement by proposing a mural project on social media. Many immigrant communities may be unfamiliar with the movement, and through this project, I hope to play a role in raising awareness and fostering dialogue. The image will be shared on instagram, tagging Streetartoronto and Friends of China Town (FOCT).

The image features Chinatown East’s Zhong Hua Men Archway and dragon, representing the Chinese community, while the movement of interlocked hands and waving flags across the frame visually conveys solidarity with Palestine. The color palette amplifies the vibrancy of the flags, making them stand out with striking emphasis.

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Studies show that international students often experience higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and stress than domestic students. Systemic barriers—such as living without family support, cultural conflicts, and visa-related challenges—contribute to these struggles (Campus Mental Health). The COVID-19 pandemic further worsened their mental health, as online learning and campus closures left many unable to return home due to travel restrictions and costs (University Affairs).

This interactive art piece depicts a brain made of puzzle pieces, each revealing statistics or symptoms of mental health challenges. Surrounding the brain are quotes from an international student who struggled during the pandemic. Engaging with the artwork—removing and replacing puzzle pieces—symbolizes the often invisible struggles international students navigate.

I hope this piece fosters awareness and support from families, peers, educators, and the broader community worldwide.

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Combatting Pierre Poilievre's misinformation with humorous "translator"

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Combatting Pierre Poilievre's misinformation with humorous "translator"

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This art piece pokes fun at Poilievre's slogan based campaign that (mostly) follows the "[Verb] the [Noun]" format, while also providing some key information on the heart of his campaign. The key principles I had for this piece was:

1. Use plain language: I didn't want to translate these very simple slogans into very academic or political language, as this may feed into Poilievre's goal of isolation.

2. Show the impact of his slogans: I wanted to demonstrate how the policy behind his slogans uphold the status quo or make it harder for average Canadians, especially those who are lower-income or Black/Indigenous.

Please comment with any slogans or translations I missed and I can add them before class tomorrow!

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"What it is not", Mixed media on canvas, Created with members of the Secular Recovery Community and Complied by S.Ross 

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Community-based Activity: This was a "complete the drawing" activity. Prompts were given to people who then completed the drawing to highlight either what having a drink represented to them or what their sobriety milestones meant to them. The foundational images were a bottle to represent active alcoholism and an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) medallion, or chip, to represent recovery. The activity was meant to be something quick, reactive, low art skill requirement, and easily facilitated after a meeting.

Participants were given the option to engage with one or both of the prompts. Then, the images were collected and compiled, and additional images were added. The fruits and flowers on each side have different meanings related to drugs and alcohol, growth, or potential destruction. Other elements like community and chaos can be seen as well.

Purpose: To encourage people creating the work to explore different aspects of active addiction and recovery. The final work is given back to the community to display as a reminder of the fellowship and support available.

This work is also used to highlight the presence of Secular AA groups and make a stand, pushing back against traditional AA attitudes that centre belief in a Judeo-Christian God as foundational to addiction recovery. Secular AA is not well known, and it can be a game changer for people looking to find a support group who are not interested in the religious aspect of AA. The themes represented in this work underline what the research tell us about recovery, that the most important aspect of getting well is reestablishing community (not religious belief).

Process Note: It is important to disclose that the style uniformity of images in this work is because they are my transcriptions of the original images. This was done because there were some concerns about anonymity from participants, and this allowed for identifiers like handwriting to be eliminated. Rather than just transcribing a couple I opted for transcribing all to create visual cohesion.

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Supplementary Black Art-Just because it's beautiful!

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Supplementary Black Art-Just because it's beautiful!

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Event Plan: Arts-Informed Fundraiser for Underrepresented Black Communities

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Event Plan: Arts-Informed Fundraiser for Underrepresented Black Communities

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1. Event Overview

Event Name: Art for Equity: A Celebration of Black Artists

Purpose: To support underrepresented Black communities through a silent auction featuring artwork donated by the ROM, created by Black artists.

Format: Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual Live Stream)

Date & Time: June 15, 2025

Venue: ROM or Partnered Cultural Spaces in Toronto

Virtual Component: Live-streamed on social media platforms (Instagram Live, YouTube, Facebook)

2. Event Objectives

To highlight and celebrate Black artists within the community and their contributions to the arts.

Raise funds for Black-led initiatives through the silent auction.

Expand public engagement through in-person and virtual participation.

Increase media visibility and awareness around Black representation in the arts.

3. Key Event Components

Art Silent Auction

Two art pieces by Black artists donated by the ROM.

Additional contributions from local Black artists (optional).

Silent auction conducted both in-person and online via a bidding platform. All proceeds will be allocated to un underrepresented black communities.

B. Artist & Community Engagement

Panel discussion with Black artists, cultural leaders, and ROM representatives.

Live art performance or spoken word presentation.

Audience Q&A and artist meet-and-greet.

C. Virtual & Media Integration

Livestream of the event via ROM’s social media and event page.

Social media engagement using hashtags (e.g., #ArtForEquity #BlackArtistsMatter).

Live auction updates and winner announcements online.

4. Target Audience

Art collectors, community advocates, and museum supporters.

Black artists and creatives.

General public (both local and virtual).

5. Logistics & Planning

Venue Setup: Gallery space at ROM or a partnered venue with seating and stage.

Tech Needs: Livestream equipment, auction platform, microphones, and screens.

Marketing & Promotion: Flyers, press releases, influencer engagement.

Partnerships & Sponsors: Collaborate with Black-led organizations and media outlets.

6. Budget & Funding Sources

Potential sponsors and donors.

Ticket sales for exclusive access (optional).

Silent auction proceeds directly benefiting the cause.

7. Measuring Success

Fundraising total from auction.

Attendance (both in-person and virtual).

Media and social media engagement.

Feedback from attendees and artists.

Below are the two art pieces by Black Canadian artists donated by the ROM.

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Credential Recognition (Semeene Ahn and Jing Zhang)

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Credential Recognition (Semeene Ahn and Jing Zhang)

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In this dialogue, we explore Fluffy’s journey, a doctor who once saved lives in their home country but now finds themselves working in a grocery store in Canada. This story is one that highlights a critical social issue faced by many skilled migrants, credential recognition. Despite their expertise and qualifications, many find themselves undervalued by a system that often fails to recognize international credentials. This dialogue brings attention to the systemic barriers that prevent skilled migrants from contributing fully to their new society, as they navigate a bureaucratic maze of paperwork, policies, and unacknowledged expertise.

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In my previous job, those D&I initiatives faced significant challenges in garnering sufficient attention. Very few employees based in China regarded D&I as a priority. When I delivered “Unconscious Bias Training” to China-based people managers before I went to OISE, the feedback our team received was not as positive as we expected because no obvious behavior change found. Especially in hiring activities, biases and stereotypes persisted. Therefore, in Phase II training, I will discuss how to enhance these training sessions to better promote D&I awareness in hiring activities, with a focus on age-related issues.

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This Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) workshop explores the lived experiences of racialized international students in Toronto. Through a series of TO games, exercises and theatrical techniques, participants will build a sense of community, critically examine power structures, and address challenges such as discrimination and isolation.

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This project explores the intersection of harm reduction work and creative expression through a personal lens. I interviewed my sister, who has extensive experience working at Kingston’s Integrated Healthcare Hub, to gain insights into the challenges and resilience involved in frontline support for vulnerable populations. Through this interview, we discuss the realities of harm reduction, the importance of human connection, and how art serves as a therapeutic outlet for processing complex emotions. Unfortunately, the video file was too large to upload, so I’m sharing the audio instead, like a podcast! If you’d prefer to see the video version, just let me know.

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“We’re Here Now!” - A Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop

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“We’re Here Now!” - A Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop

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This Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) workshop explores the lived experiences of racialized international students in Toronto. Through a series of TO games, exercises and theatrical techniques, participants will build a sense of community, critically examine power structures, and address challenges such as discrimination and isolation.

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ANTOINE N CREATIVE INTERVENTION RESPONSE

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Pictographic Rock Art - A Medium of Artistic Expression utilized by Ancient Cultures around the World to Record Events and Share Narratives - The Rock was retrieved from the Highland Creek at Morningside Park in Scarborough and was painted in a manner that depicts the Story of the Incarceration of People Living in Poverty and the Industries that both Contribute to, and Benefit from, their Criminalization. Painted By Chris Taylor.