Community Arts Space: FCJ Refugee Centre
One of three online exhibitions featuring works from the Gardiner Museum Community Arts Space program, March - December 2020
About Community Arts Space (CAS)
Grounded in the real and metaphorical ability of clay to transform, the Gardiner Museum’s Community Arts Space is a platform for experimentation and socially engaged art. We work within and beyond the Museum’s gallery walls to re-envision what equitable community engagement looks like at a cultural institution. In 2020, the Gardiner partnered with Turtle House Art/Play Centre (Turtle House), FCJ Refugee Centre (FCJ), and ArtHeart Community Art Centre (ArtHeart) to engage forty participants, ranging from youth to seniors, in clay-making activities. The group represented diverse experiences and cultural backgrounds, with participants from countries including Barbados, China, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Libya, Mexico, Namibia, Saint Kitts, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, and Zimbabwe. At the start of 2020, we planned to offer in-studio workshops from March to May, followed by a showcase in the Exhibition Hall over the summer. However, with the onset of the pandemic and the Museum’s temporary closure, we reimagined Community Arts Space (CAS2020) as a ten-month-long project that safely offered participants technical skills, an outlet for creative expression, and most importantly, a sense of community.
CAS 2020: Community is Essential
When the Museum reopened in July, we were pleased to invite the participants back into the studios. With new health and safety protocols in place, instructors Aitak Sorahitalab and Adam Williams supported the participants’ work with fired clay. It was wonderful to have people work in the Museum’s studios again, animating and enlivening the community and 4 educational spaces that are central to our mandate. As these workshops were the only opportunity for many participants to gather outside of their homes, the studio became a safe space to develop new friendships and support networks. Inspired by the treasured relationships built over the past months, we reframed CAS2020 as Community Is Essential. This title honours the resilience and creativity of the participants, while recognizing the crucial work of the community partners, each of which serves historically marginalized populations. We were grateful to be able to provide the participants this opportunity to work with clay, particularly during this challenging time.
About FCJ Refugee Centre
FCJ Refugee Centre serves refugees and others at risk due to their immigration status, and welcomes anyone asking for advice, counsel, and support regarding their refugee or immigration claim process.
A Message from FCJ Refugee Centre
The project provided our community an opportunity to participate in arts programming that they otherwise would never have had access to. More often than not, programming such as this comes with restrictions of prohibitive cost, status requirements, or various other barriers.
An exert from the poem: Ubuntu: the cradle of Human Solidarity (2020) by Salome ChariGardiner Museum
Due to these barriers, our community—a vibrant, thriving, dynamic collective of newcomers, refugees, and folks dealing with precarious status—are so often excluded from enjoying holistic social participation.
An excerpt from Ubuntu: the cradle of Human Solidarity by Salome Chari
Untitled (2020) by Eli IbarraGardiner Museum
So many of the folks in our community are pushed to focus on serving the immediate survival needs of housing, employment, and food security that endeavours which nourish their emotional and mental well-being are all too often left behind.
Untitled Mug by Eli Ibarra
Last Son of Krypton (2020) by Tjijandjeua Ndjoze-SiririkaGardiner Museum
This project has provided the soul food that is so desperately craved. For a few hours a week, our participants have had the chance to reflect, respond, and work with creative outlets to channel their feelings, emotions, and thoughts.
Last Son of Krypton Cradle by Tjijandjeua Ndjoze-Siririka
love/wishes (2020) by D.S.Gardiner Museum
Although the project did not begin as was originally intended, thanks to the incredible dedication and flexibility of all those involved—in particular Tamam McCallum, Aitak Sorahitalab, Nahed Mansour, and Siobhan Boyd—the project continued to be a meaningful and rich virtual experience.
love/wishes by D.S.
Untitled (2020) by Diana SanchezGardiner Museum
The project’s impact was taken to new heights when the participants had the chance to work with clay in-studio, and I was overcome as I was able to joyfully witness the participants working collaboratively with all the artistic
elements.
Untitled by Diana Sanchez
Mom's Love (2020) by Brittany SamualsGardiner Museum
I’m humbled by the dedication of all those involved to provide participants with an opportunity to engage with each other and the arts, and in particular, the dedication to provide this experience to those so often marginalized and overlooked.
Mom's Love by Brittany Samuals
Untitled Car (2020) by Johan Cervantes IbarraGardiner Museum
It is with deep appreciation that I thank all those who have provided this opportunity to our community. Together, we are richer as we nourish each other through the arts and the community we have built.
In gratitude and solidarity,
Natasha Rollings
Access to Education & Youth Coordinator, FCJ Refugee Centre
Untitled Car by Johan Cervantes Ibarra
Bouquet of Flowers (2020) by Jackeline MartinezGardiner Museum
Bouquet of Flowers by Jackeline Martinez
Equality within the Community (2020) by Ronesha WeirGardiner Museum
Equality within the Community by Ronesha Weir
Multi-use Vessel (2020) by Renika MaynardGardiner Museum
Multi-use Vessel by Renika Maynard
Bouquet (2020) by Cynthia RodriguezGardiner Museum
Bouquet by Cynthia Rodriguez
CAS 2020 Acknowledgments (2020) by Gardiner MuseumGardiner Museum
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