This Zoom meeting took place on Monday, February 15, 2021
The third RIA Links Salon in the Cloud, aimed to introduce and connect Ottawa and area artists and activists in order to jumpstart new collaborative actions for systems change.
The following people spoke about their work and/or their organization:
Ellen Chang Richardson, Claudia Salguero, Lori Victor, Alejandro Salgado Cendales (MASC and MAC – CAM), Laura Margita (G101), Sam Hersch (Horizon Ottawa), Ilse Turnsen (La Pêche Coalition for a Green New Deal), Eva Schacherl (Council of Canadians, Ottawa Chapter) and Katie Rae Perfitt (350.org Canada). (scroll down for more info about these participants)
A recording of this Salon can be found on Youtube
Google doc with info on and from participants, click HERE
What does action mean for artists? This is the question that RIA Links aims to address in its program this year.
By now, most of us are well aware of the urgent need to change the neo-liberal capitalist core of our societal systems that are obstructing the slowing down of global warming. Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and all life on this planet. In this unprecedented time of crisis, can anyone remain inactive? There is an imperative to come together and do what can be done to the best of our ability.
In the first two Salons in the Cloud, we looked at Wakefield artist cj fleury’s new Artist in Residence program with patients in Bruyère Hospital in Ottawa. In the second Salon, we heard artists Patsea Griffin and Carmel Whittle talk about their teachings and collaborations with non-indigenous artists and about Podcast#83 they have produced with Rob Snikkar. Podcast #83 grapples with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Recommendation #83, promoting collaboration between indigenous and non-indigenous artists. You can find video recordings in the Salons Tab of our website.
In Salon # 3 local artists, artist groups, and art organizations, as well as organizations active in promoting systems change got introduced to each and left their info in this google doc in order to link up.
The Zoom was managed by Dawn Dale who used a professional Zoom account lent to us by the Ottawa School of Art. The discussion was facilitated by cj fleury and Petra Halkes.
Invited guests:
Riverbed Reading Series is co-curated by Ellen Chang-Richardson, nina jane drystek, Joseph Mathieu and Rachel Weldon. Rivers are representative of this city; they are meeting places at the centre of ecosystems. Ottawa is a city rich with talent across its artistic communities, but we don’t always combine our strengths to plan events that bridge these creative communities. That’s why we have launched Riverbed. We are an inclusive, experimental gathering space at the very intersection of literature, music and performance located on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg First Nation. Our next event, or iteration, is Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 7:30 pm EST. Register to attend at http://bit.ly/RiverbedSignUp
My name is Claudia Salguero and I am a community-engaged muralist passionate about murals as carriers of meaningful messages. In collaboration with members of the community, I have created more than thirty community murals in Ottawa and through my work, I have evidenced the power of community art and my capacity to work with communities in big projects. I believe in art as a tool for social change.
I am a full-time visual artist working from my studio at the Rectory Art House on Murray Street in Ottawa. My practice is process driven and is motivated by my interest in socio-political issues that I believe affect us all. My installations reflect my personal thoughts and experience on contemporary issues related to cultural history, identity, and the environment/climate change. My approach is to make work that is accessible, yet challenging. It aims to promote viewer response by provoking reflection, generating dialogue, and inspiring action.
4. MASC introduced by Alejandro Salgado Cendales
---- MASC (Multicultural Arts for Schools and Communities) offers schools and communities arts experiences led by professional artists that awaken the creative process, deepen cultural awareness, encourage engagement, and give a vivid demonstration of Canada’s diversity.
---- MAC-CAM (The Multicultural Artists’ Coalition) introduced by Alejandro Salgado Cendales
The Multicultural Artists Coalition (MAC-CAM) is a non-profit grassroots organization shaped by immigrant, refugee, Indigenous, Black, and POC artists. Through capacity building workshops, art festivals, research, and advocacy, our programming targets systemic barriers so that our communities can achieve their goals to a better capacity (larger impact, audience, scale, and visibility).
We believe that knowledge is the foundation for capacity. Thus, our programs aim to construct a long-term continuous process to empower our community by developing community assets, abilities, and capacities based on the principles of self-determination, self-management, and sustainability.
5. Gallery 101 introduced by Laura Margita
Gallery 101’s mission centers on bringing people of diverse identities together. We believe in sharing perspectives across communities that don’t normally intersect. An essential risk we take is to embrace projects, programming, and partnerships that reach beyond visual arts communities to include and inspire allyship for front-line workers, thinkers, knowledge keepers, organizers, and the communities that they serve.
Gallery 101 exhibits contemporary visual, media, and performance arts that explore self-representation of decolonizing, feminist, intersectional counter-narratives. We strive to be an inclusive contemporary art space with awareness of current social, cultural, environmental discourses and movements guiding our curatorial practices.
6. Horizon Ottawa introduced by Sam Hersch
Horizon Ottawa envisions a future where the municipal government protects the environment, expands public ownership of infrastructure, and creates public spaces that are safe, inclusive, and accepting of all of its residents. Horizon Ottawa envisions a municipal government committed to dismantling all forms of oppression, including inequity based on gender, race, religion, sexuality, ability and economic circumstance, while supporting true and meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
7. La Pêche Coalition for a Green New Deal introduced by Ilse Turnsen
A grassroots group, based in Quebec, advocating for rapid, just, transformative change based on scientific and Indigenous knowledge and the Green New Deal for Canada paradigm. We will achieve this by advocating, educating, connecting & mobilizing.
8. The Council of Canadians (Ottawa Chapter), introduced by activist Eva Schacherl. The Council of Canadians brings people together through collective action and grassroots organizing to challenge corporate power and advocate for people, the planet and our democracy. The Ottawa Chapter promotes social, economic and environmental justice and advocates for universal access to clean water in the Ottawa Valley region and beyond. Our current focus is calling on the municipal and federal governments to protect the Ottawa River from nuclear waste and to implement responsible management of radioactive waste across Canada."
9. 350.org - Canada (Katie Perfitt - Organizing Specialist )
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable, and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.