Artists as Changemakers

Toyin Oladele: Hello, everyone! Welcome to another Town Hall session. I’m so excited for today’s session, we’ve been planning this for a while, as you all know. So it’s really great having the amazing guests that I have today who would be telling us about their story, and some of the things that they are doing, which some of you are already familiar with, but today would take a twist to it. Going around how artists work to be changemakers in the community through a residency and a fellowship program. Right? I am very excited to welcome all of you. Thank you so much. This is November, you’ve been working with us from, I think, July now for these Town Hall sessions. So I’m really grateful that we still have all of you, and you are still happy to join us. Thank you, really grateful. My name is Toyin Oladele, my pronouns are she/her and I am your host for this session. All right.

Today I have two amazing people that we’ll be speaking with. But before I do that, I would like to acknowledge the ground that we are having this program on today, this session on today, and to say that in the spirit of respect and truth we honour and acknowledge Mohkinsstsis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy, Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Stoney Nakoda and Tsuut’ina Nations. We acknowledge the members of the Métis community and specifically the Métis Nation Region 3, and finally, in the spirit of reconciliation, and because we’re all Treaty people, we also acknowledge all Calgarians who make our homes in the traditional Treaty 7 territory of southern Alberta.

I’m always very happy to see that to be a part of this land as an immigrant and a newcomer who recently relocated to Canada and who chose to work, live, play, have fun, have my family on this land. It has been a great privilege doing all the work that I’ve been gifted with. And so yeah, I bring that gratefulness to the space.

For some time now, if you’ve been working with us, we’ve been having this Town Hall sessions and the last session I was actually not a guest, I was the speaker, and Patti was here to like, do the amazing job of asking me some very interesting questions which I really loved. Today we’re taking a different turn, and I’m going to be speaking with two amazing people who I have known, I’ve known about the program that they are doing for artists as changemakers, mentoring, providing space for them to be more creative, to express themselves in different ways, and we’re going to be talking about that journey.

Before I go on, I’d like to tell you a little bit about the two of them, but I’m having a little glitch on my computer. My mouse is hanging, so just give me two seconds, it shouldn’t take more than that. One, two. Okay, no, two min. Hold on, just stay with me. Probably need to retry this. Wow. It actually locked me out of my documents. Technology. Okay, choose the latest second here. Great. Finally, finally opened up.

For some reason my technology is not cooperating with me today, so I’m going to invite Kelaena and Sam to do a brief introduction of themselves, if you don’t mind. I’ll start with Sam. Do you want to quickly tell us who you are and introduce yourself to our amazing community members today, please, and then Kelaena we’ll go to you. Thank you while I quickly sort this out. Thank you.

Sam Obadero: Thank you, Toyin. Good afternoon, everybody. I’m speaking from Calgary, and I’m super super delighted to be here today. First let me give you a big shout out to Helen MP, I see the dog on your Zoom profile, super cute, super cute, super cute. It’s good to be here. Thank you. My name is Sam, Samuel Obadero. I like to think that I’m a joy giver. How do I do it? I do it through digital work and other art related work. I also like to not take myself too seriously, because I always live by the mantra that none of us leave here alive.

I’m currently speaking from my studio in Mohkinsstsis, Calgary. And that’s it about me, really. I exist, I laugh, I sleep, I eat, and I work in Calgary Mohkinsstsis. It’s good to see you, Taylor. Thank you so much. I’ll pass the mic on to Kelaena, over to you, Kelaena.

Kelaena Maude: Perfect, thanks, Sam. My name is Kelaena Maude, my pronouns are she/her and I work with Trico Changemaker Studio, which is a part of the Institute for Community Prosperity out of Mount Royal University, and I do art for social change initiatives, which is honestly just a little bit of a dream job, I get to work with artists and do changemaking and systems, thinking all of those wonderful things. And I’m really excited to be here and talk more about the Artists as Changemaker Fellowship, and a little bit more about the artists that are doing, or we’re doing amazing work and talk a bit about when we get to welcome in some new artists as well. Thanks so much Toyin.

Toyin: Absolutely my pleasure. Today of all days is the day that all my documents decide not to open, which is great, because most of this information could be found in my head. So yeah, we’ll work with that. Thank you very much for introducing yourselves, please, may I ask, this is, Toyin speaking, that when you want to speak, kindly just because to be able to identify who is speaking, if you want to mention your name just before you start talking still, like Toyin speaking, and when you’re done you just say that’s my final thought. That would be really great. I sometimes forget, so just in case I forget, please, but I’ll do my best to remember. I ask that you please do the same. Thank you very much.

I was invited to know more about this program. I think during the pandemic, or shortly before the pandemic, or shortly after, I honestly cannot remember, but I know that yeah, Helen, it is good when it works, but I know that I was immediately drawn to the program to see what you were doing, to understand more about it, to see how these artists were being empowered to be trend makers in the community, and I’m easily drawn to things like that. And yeah, it’s such a powerful thing to see, and the power of mentorship, the power of community, the power of storytelling, everything all in one, and I just really think the community should know about your work.

So let’s start like this, I’m going to start with Kelaena. Can you tell us a bit about this program, like, all about it, so that we can have our guests today who might not know, or who might know but might not know a lot, to just know about it. I’d like to know what you’ve done, how many cohorts you’ve had as many info as you would like to share. Please feel free to share with us. And then, yeah, final thought. Thank you.

Kelaena: Perfect, thanks. So I’m gonna try to remember that I need to speak slower than I usually do. So the Artists as Changemaker Program has been running since 2018, and there’s been three iterations, and those iterations have been very, very different, and at the beginning it was artist, but they still is artist-led, but it was really responding to the needs of artists and having them co-design. So the program is in partnership with Calgary Arts Development, and they really gave Trico Changemaker Studio the reins and the artists the reins, to decide what does this need to be for community? What does this need to be for artists? And how does change happen in those in between spaces? So the first iteration was, I believe, six months, and then the second iteration was four months, I believe, I just came into this project about a year and a half ago, and then this latest iteration was two full years, which is quite a long time, and we’ve learned so much, and let me just change my slide here, and we can go a little bit deeper into it. Is that changing.

Angèle Bleackley: Not yet.

Kelaena: Okay, hold on technology problems all around.

Toyin: Can you try to change to the next slide? Let’s see exactly. If you’re great, we can see us. Yeah.

Kelaena: So the program had, I’ll read the slide, and then I’ll tell you a little bit more about it. So the purpose is to expand knowledge, invest and deepening relationships and really understand that the process is more important than the outcome. Or that’s how we think change happens. So through the Residency and in partnership with organizations, artists explore the relationship between artistic process and social innovation as means to discover unique and creative ways to address complex challenges.

There’s two streams, or there were two streams in this little latest iteration, so the first stream is Residency, and the second stream is Fellowship Artists. Fellowship Artists have gone through the Residency before, and they’re looking to deepen their practice. So they’re not getting as much as hands on mentorship as our residents are, but we still believe that they have so much more to give in in the program, and we let them deepen their practice and go deeper in the community that they were working with.

So, Social Innovation and Systems Change learning is the basis for building artists and community partner knowledge of systems, and thinking to aid and social challenges identified that’s the expanding knowledge space. Then we’re building relationships between artists and community partners who at the forefront of social change to increase be of impact. So we believe that artists and the communities they’re involved in know so much more about the problems that they’re facing than we could ever, especially being in being in a university, we have access to communities, but we’re not seeing some of the problems on the ground level. So by working with artists and the community partners of their own choosing, they’re able to really identify the problems of their own choosing and dive in deeply with relationships that are already established. And then to touch a little bit on processes outcome, we believe that change often happens in the how, and not so much the what. So in this latest iteration with it being two years, we were really able to dive deeply into what does change look like? Why is it sticky in places? And what are some places that we can leverage some social innovation thinking, and some changemaking perspectives to move the needle a little bit within those communities. Okay, let’s switch slides. Did that switch.

Angèle: Yes.

Kelaena: Perfect. Thank you. Let me switch myself on the other slide. Okay, so let’s go a little bit through the process. The artists, as I mentioned, identify the community partner that they would like to work with. Then the artists and community partners that they have identified participate in social innovation and systems change workshops led by faculty members at Mount Royal University. So Mount Royal University used to have a Social Innovation Certificate Program that is no longer in practice, but so many of those learnings didn’t have a place to go anymore. So we were able to take a lot of the certificate knowledge and transform it into this space where artists were able to access it and learn from the faculty members that used to teach those courses.

Artists and community partners then work together to determine which challenge they want to focus on and create a guiding question. So we’ll get a little bit more into that in a little bit, I have each of the artists guiding questions that they co-created, and they’re set up as a how might we question so a how might we question is posed that way to for us to see all of the possibilities, not just one, and it’s a question instead of us having a very specific answer at the end, and it’s an exploration process, we’re not, we’re not grading artists or judging their work at the end based on any kind of linear matrix kind of scale, we’re judging their work on, were you able to answer this question to the best of your ability and show us what that looks like?

Then artists and community partners use a guiding question to guide their residency work. So that in combination with the social innovation courses and systems allows artists to deepen their practice, deepen their understanding of social change work, and then residency, their residency work includes elements of community engagement and arts, so that looks so incredibly different for every single artist, and I’ll get into that in a little bit. It really allows artists to come with their own practice, engage in the community that they choose, and they have the freedom to decide what that looks like for them, which is, I think, really, really special.

Okay, so I’d love to dive in just a little bit to this latest residency and fellowship journey. So we had 11 artists. Seven of them were in our residency program, and then four artists were in the fellowship program. Those artists had completed the residency prior, they did four social innovation and systems change courses, they did two collaborative design sessions, so this program is not just me or just our team-led, we really believe that artists have so much more vision than just one or two people can have, and we really want to make sure that the artists are deciding what this program looks like to make sure that it’s aligning with what they need, and not just what I think they need.

We also had, so each artist was paired with a community partner, and there was over 40 hours of instruction time within the two years, so it’s quite, there’s a lot of learning for all of us.

And this is our 2022 to 2024 cohort. And if I have time Toyin, can I just keep diving in? I’m gonna take that as a potential yes, and I’ll get cut off if necessary.

So just briefly, I’d love to be able to dive in a little bit to who the artists are, and a little bit about their work. So this is MelVee X, and their question was, how might we transform mental wellness of BIPOC communities through arts and culture in healing and constructive ways? So MelVee created a new toolkit with her community, she was partnered with Action Dignity, and this toolkit you are able to access and have it on our website, and I will put that link in the chat in a little while. Really, really wonderful work, pushed my boundaries quite often in some of the gatherings that we were doing so really, really wonderful to see MelVee’s time. Also as a side note, MelVee was one of the residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, and chose to do it again because doing an artist residency online isn’t quite the same.

Tito Gomez worked with the D/deaf and hearing community and did a documentary based on some of the barriers that he was finding, or the stories we’re sharing about being able to access healthcare, and in particular, he worked with a gentleman who, out of Mount Royal University, that shared his story and it was really eye opening for me something that we maybe don’t even recognize, like making a doctor’s appointment, or getting forms, or attending a doctor’s appointment, and some of those challenges by the D/deaf and hearing community really brought light to that. Louie’s how might we question was, How might we create visions of queer futures in a way that demonstrates an intergenerational resilience through optimism? They were paired with oh, let me find the name, it just ran out of my head, but that’s okay. They were paired with Rainbow Elder Society, there we are, and they worked to create living portraits of queer elders, which I’ve learned are quite rare in community, and it was really, really wonderful, wonderful process to be able to see. They also had a big community portrait done at the end of their residency which was a gift to be able to attend and celebrate, especially coming out of a time of two years, much of that being online.

Stephanie’s how might we question was, How might we weave a deeper connection with ourselves, each other and the environment? Stephanie created a, I can’t show you with my arms, a massive tapestry that’s hanging in Village Square Community Hub, just right when you walk in, and she engaged with artists and used recycled textiles, and the amount of detail in this tapestry is absolutely incredible. They did street signs about this big on this tapestry that is massive, and they spent two years building this tapestry together and learning about textile waste and giving people more knowledge about sewing, and all of those wonderful things. Her work is really wonderful.

Apiow worked with Centre for Newcomers and worked with youth to learn more about how to reduce the barriers of accessing safe, collaborative learning environments and showcasing opportunity in the arts. So she was actually from this program hired by Centre for Newcomers, and worked with youth that didn’t quite have a place to find community, and they did painting, and she was having painting classes two or three times a month. Amazing, the work that came out of that, and seeing some of the photo, some of the paintings from seven-year-olds that put my painting to shame. So really, really, really beautiful work.

Ado worked with the Alcove which is in downtown Calgary, and her project was looking to How might we reduce the barriers to access and safe collaborative learning environment showcases the opportunity in the arts? So she did a mailbox project that was asking people to their own perspectives and to put it into a mailbox, and then she created a sound piece to go with it, which was which was really wonderful, and it, the installation, I believe, is actually still at the Alcove, and she continues to do this project, which is great.

Shumaila worked with Alberta Ecotrust and these, used deep listening workshops to understand How we might fight the stigma of energy poverty among individuals living on a low income level? So Shuymaila really recognized that a lot of when we’re talking about energy transition, and these more sustainability, a lot of those conversations are not accessible to people that are struggling with energy poverty. So her workshops brought people in positions of power in the energy community, and people that are experiencing energy poverty together, and they did deep listening workshops together, and she is actually just finishing this project this month, despite the fesidency having officially finished in May. So her work continues, and it has been really really wonderful to see some of those workshops happen, and some of that dialogue open up between community.

Okay? So these backgrounds are green because these are our Fellows. And so Kevin worked with The Alex. He was looking at the interplay between food systems and recognizing our own root foods from our ancestry. So at our showcase, he brought some really wonderful foods. I would love to connect with some of those ladies again and get some recipes. Really, really wonderful work.

Melanee created a documentary highlighting, I believe her, it was actually her son that was part of the documentary. And nope, there we go, so they were talking a little bit about how university is not necessarily a space that is BIPOC-friendly, and then some of the, some of the interplays between those dynamics, and it was actually filmed in university. I believe that’s also available on our website. It’s quite impactful to watch, and after I invite you to look at that.

Barbara worked with Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners, and because this project started during the pandemic when this was partially still online, a lot of her work was the epidemic of loneliness during a time where we’re all so disconnected, and her work was really to bring a bit more of an aging community together, and learn new coping mechanisms and skills.

And Skye. If you are familiar, Skye was the creator of the Artist as Changemaker card deck. This is a card deck that we showcased last year at the Living a Creative Life Congress. These cards are used in community to create dialogue, to understand problems a little bit better in terms of art for social change. They are absolutely beautiful cards. There’s also a link on our website, if you would like to get the PDF copy of them. They are a wonderful tool we use these monthly for all of our gatherings.

I feel like I have been talking for quite a while, so let me stop, and I’ll let Toyin take this back.

Toyin: No, that is beautiful. Look at the, look at, this is what I love about this program, how you know people get into this program they get selected and then, boom! You’re doing this magic with them, they are leading this project in the community. They are making changes in their own little way or in their own big way, just being able to be themselves and do the kind of project that they want to do. It’s amazing.

Toyin, speaking. See? I forgot. Yeah, Toyin, speaking, and thank you very much, Kelaena, for all that breakdown of the program. I know there is still more, but I would go over to Sam just to ask a few questions about what he did in this program. I know that you do I say directed or produced or created a documentary film for the participants. Tell me how that came to be, because I know that just from being able to document their journey and their story and things like that, it really impacted the participant in a positive way, and that’s how I got to know about the project about your involvement in the project. So tell me your story in the life of these changemakers. Thank you.

Sam: Thank you so much, Toyin. My name is Sam once again, and thank you for sharing and bringing me to have that nostalgic feeling, Kelaena. Just looking at those photos and the faces of the artists that we got to work with. What a privilege!

Allow me to also give a quick shout out before I start to Sally. Sally reached out to me at some point during this project, and she was like there’s magic happening here, Sam, I tell you there is magic happening here. You have to be here, you have to be here. And then I went out to the Hub, and indeed I saw magic happening from the workshops to people connecting, and I was just a fly on the wall at first, and then I quickly became the noisemaker in the room when I then invited them over to my studio.

And I will say one of the bigger things that happened to me was the work that should actually happen, which is changemaking. So in my, in my telling the story, I actually went through a change in my sense of an existence. And looking at the work that, sorry, excuse me, my phone rang, and looking at the work that Ado did, the work that Apaiow, Louie, MelVee, Shumaila and the rest of the gang that came through it was just mind blowing. And again, me being the storyteller or the documentary person, I was like a cheat because I got to know everybody, both from the artists and the organizations that they worked with. I got to go to those places, see the work that they do. What Kelaena was trying to describe about Stephanie, Stephanie Banszky’s work, incredible. They brought, Stephanie brought the pieces to the studio and laid it all on the floor, and it totally occupied the entire floor of the studio, it was mind blowing, and then seeing us sitting in the middle and trying to stack it and make the art come together, was really really fresh for me.

And then getting to sit down with them and ask them their Why? How did it come about the questions was also mind blowing. One story that stands out for me, was my session with Louie and the Rainbow Elders, and if you do not know what’s their name now the person that Louie worked with, I think their name is Catherine. Catherine! Ha! What a joy Catherine’s story is! Mind blowing their energies! It comes to you, you can’t, you just cannot not love you, just accept it as it comes, and it comes, it comes fresh, it comes beautiful. And then to even hear how they got to where they are right now, and the experiences that shaped their lives up until now was just beautiful. Stephanie, for instance, had a life, of course, traumatic situation, where they had a major, major accident and then everything changed for them. And as a creative who is trying to get into the minds of people that don’t know you, that you also do not know, except for maybe online. At first, there’s always that veil, and you’re testing each other’s energy out in the studio. They are not sure if you want to hear, you’re not sure if they’re going to say, you have your camera with you, and there is that subject in front of you, and you’re hoping to break through the veil. And for me it was a fantastic experience seeing somebody coming in, not sure of me, and then in about 20 min, 30 min, I can literally see the veil open, and they come through, and they share their stories. And yeah, going and telling me all of those things, the work that they are doing as changemakers, the work that they are doing as artists, the work that are doing as community members and community leaders was just incredible. And having to hear those stories and ask those tough questions sometimes. And allowing them to express the question from their own viewpoint was just incredible.

Another experience that stood out for me bigly was the work that Apiow was doing with who’s Apiow working with? I think Apiow was working with is this Centre for Newcomers, I think Centre for Newcomers where Apiow was teaching kids painting, and like Kelaena also said, Apiow then got a job out of the Residency, out of the work, the changemaking work that she was doing with Centre for Newcomers. And I remember speaking to Apiow’s community leader, Apiow is a little shy on the camera, so she’s going to step away after a while and just recentre herself, and then I was in the room alone with a Apiow’s community leader, I believe their name is Noel, and Noel was gushing over the work that Apiow was doing with the kids, and Apiow was like, I need to look for money, Sam. I need to look for money. We need to hire this lady. We need to hire her. She’s doing incredible work, we don’t have enough funding to buy a lot of the art, like all of the like the brushes and paints and stuff. But I need to get that money and we need to hire this girl full time. And as a creative who is trying to tell a story, hearing that feedback from in some sort of way, I thought pathways connected the work that pair was doing allowed me to then say these things to Apiow too, and then that experience made me change the entire flow of my storytelling. So the words that Noel told me I was like, I wish Apiow was in the room right now to hear what Noel feels about the work she’s doing. So the people, the people that came afterward after Apiow’s session, I would make, I’ll make their, what’s the word, now, what’s what? What was the name that we call these people their community, the community, Kelaena please help me. It’s…

Kelaena: Community partners.

Sam: Thank you. I’ll make the community partners talk to them in front of like in real time, tell them exactly how they feel about them and their work, and there were tears, there were laughter, there was hugs, there was I’m going to love you forever. There was really there was, there was all of this emotion happening in real time, and it was just, it was just, I was just a cheat in that sense, to be there and watching all of this evolve. And so for me, I would say, in a lot of ways I gained that human connection, again, a chance to see stories evolve and see the work that these folks are doing, and allow for that to just happen in front of me while I’m behind my camera. I try to not let my camera be a hindrance, but to be an enabler.

And at the end of the day, of course, imagine all of these things happening, and you have all of these footages, and you have to curate just maybe about 30 min, 45 min documentary, all of this, it was mayhem, it was absolute mayhem, but I had Sally beside me, and we had long, long nights at the Hub. Kelaena was also involved on some of those nights where we are editing these pieces together, and of course, me being human also, and having all of these other things I was doing on the other side, too, I’m trying to figure out, how can I extend 24h in a day? Some of these projects were pushed to like the last minute, but at the end of the day we still had like a viewing, and we watch a lot of these things. I don’t know if I should shut up now. Okay, yeah, let me stop. Yeah, so that I don’t see. Yeah. And then you ask me this question, anything else to say.

Sam: An amazing experience working with the artist. Good to see you, Taylor. By the way, okay, thank you.

Toyin: Thank you. Thank you so much for breaking that down for telling us the story I knew about, I didn’t even know up to this. I knew this much, and I was totally blown away. Toyin speaking, and I knew there was more, and that’s why you’re here, because these sessions were specially created for purposes like this.

Now I want us to do something, and this is, I’m going to go back to Kelaena now, to kind of like zoom in more on maybe a few, maybe two or three of these participants whose story, like, I know we’ve gone through a whole lot. Maybe there are some you’ve not even shared with us, maybe you want to share them now, or maybe you want to like, you know what these particular stories really, really, you know, struck me or were super inspiring. We’ve heard a lot of the things that Sam said, and the reason is because there are a couple of, there are so many people on this call, we have about 30 people, including all of us, who might, the Equity Town Hall session for this year was focused on, you know, heroes, right? People making impacts in the community, changing the story, changing the narrative. And I will, ok now, I think it’s a an AI, note taker thing, people who are contributing a lot to the community, and these have gone above and beyond. Right. So if there are people whose stories you want to zoom in for particular reason best known to you, or you still think you know what, I’m going to continue with the slides, because there are still more, whichever works best for you, we just want to zoom in and get more juice from these stories and this project. Yeah, thank you. Final thoughts, on to you now.

Kelaena: Cool. Okay, hard to zoom in, especially on just a few people, especially given the amazing, amazing work that each of these artists have done. I feel like there’s been a little bit of zooming on some of them. I can definitely go into a little bit more detail if that’s helpful for people. And I might just spend a little bit of time on there, because I really want to highlight that each of these artists was doing work in their own way, with their own practice, and I don’t want to over highlight one just to like, really recognize that each one of them did amazing, amazing work.

But I will go back to just share a little bit more of the storytelling piece of it, and also shout out to Sam to for creating from hours and hours of documentary footage, to somehow combining that into a 45 min storytelling for us to all share and experience the Residency and was really amazing. I teared up multiple times during the documentary, so you did amazing work, and you definitely captured the spirit of each of the artists.

Kelaena: Alright. Okay. I wanna go into a little bit of, can you see Tito’s slide.

Toyin: Yes.

Kelaena: Perfect. Okay, here we go. I wanted to go into a little bit of Tito’s work. So Tito, like MelVee, had also been in the Residency program one iteration before this latest one, and because of the pandemic, an online residency just does not do the work in community that’s necessary, so he joined again for this project, and I mentioned a little bit about this before, his documentary was focusing on learning more about the accessibility frustrations that the D/deaf and hearing community face, and I just really wanted to highlight some of his work because Tito approached a brand-new project for this Residency. Some of the artists that had come back for a second run did a continuation of their project, and Tito said, Nope, there’s other work to be done. There’s other stories to be told, a brand new community having never worked with the D/deaf community before. So I feel like I really want to recognize that because a lot of a lot of artists are coming to this program with the community that they worked with or relationships that have already been established for years, or there’s really intertwined connection there. And Tito was really able to learn a completely different language in terms of what are some of the challenges? What are some things that have not been shared from this perspective before? And I didn’t necessarily see, I didn’t expect that to have that commitment to start a brand new dialogue. And I really, I really wanted to highlight that. I thought that that was really integral and really showed his integrity to the work.

We talked a little bit about Louie. Louie’s work is fantastic. As Sam mentioned, Catherine, who was Louie’s community partner, is such an incredible joy to be around and bring so much light to a room, and really challenges in the kindest, most like heartwarming way some of our preconceived notions about the challenges that Queer elders face, and something that Catherine shared with me quite often was My only purpose in this project is to save one (unintelligible), If I’ve done that, then my job here is done, and that humble spirit was something that really made me think about, as somebody who’s working on this project, and unfortunately, we have a lot of at the end, we’re thinking about like, how do we measure the success of a program, and as we are doing interviews with each of these people, that perspective of it’s not about the numbers, it’s not about any of these metrics, these quantitative metrics that that don’t go anywhere. It’s about the stories, and it’s about the connection, and I really really appreciated that that perspective. And it also changed a little bit about the way that we are measuring progress or process and recognizing that it is the process, and there’s this, these projects that don’t just end, they didn’t end at the end of the Residency. These relationships continue. We get updates from artists continuously about the work and the relationships that they continue to have with their community partners, and I think that really speaks to the value of this of this program. It’s not just about the time, and it’s also about the time beyond.

Sam: Kelaena, forgive me. I’m going to interrupt you for a quick second speaking to what you said now about the relationships afterward, and the messages and things that you get to hear after, Catherine sent me a photo of both of them, Catherine and Louie, on a power bike. Yeah, on a power bike, and it went on a ride, and I promise you, Kelaena, Louie’s life has been changed literally forever from that relationship that the hub kind of like helped to brood. And the relationship and the dynamic that they have is ridiculously beautiful. And the same thing also applies to everybody and their relationships with their community partners and the artist.

And, like you, said, everybody’s work was different, but the synergy, the energy, the chemistry that evolved from the I don’t know why. And I have a question for you, maybe I should ask you now. Was it the hub that matched them, or they went and did a matching themselves because it was, the dynamic was just beautiful. Even Shumaila, with the energy work that she’s doing. When they came to the studio they were wearing matching outfits. matching to colour, and they did not plan it, like the energy was just so so real and whatever whoever matched them, that’s incredible matching it was made out of this world. Yeah, sorry to interrupt you. I’m just…

Kelaena: Oh, please, I think, that’s wonderful. And yes, Catherine offered to bring every single part of this person on this project on a ride on her Harley Davidson, so that was a bonus. I haven’t taken her up on that yet, I don’t know if I have, I’m not quite ready for that. But it was taken up by some other people, which was which was really great to see.

And to answer Sam’s question, so part of this process I think I’ve mentioned but I’ll just reiterate, is the relationships that artists have with community is not something that I can necessarily match in a four-walled room, and even with the best intentions, those relationships that have already been established prior to being part of this are something that we really value and we also really see the work that artists are already doing in the community.

So each artist, when they apply to be part of this Residency program, one of their requirements is Do you have a community or a community partner in mind that would agree to work on this project with you? So we’re asking artists to do a little bit of work ahead of time, and I believe Tito was one of the only artists that was brand new to the Residency. Everyone else had a pre-existing relationship, and I think that really speaks to some of the work that Sam is mentioning, is because these relationships had already been established, and there was already connection, and there was already an understanding of some of the challenges that the community was facing, it wasn’t that we were throwing artists into the community that they didn’t have relationships in, that they didn’t have an already intrinsic understanding of, they already had that, and this this program is about deepening process, not doing something brand new.

I think that’s the I don’t wanna, I don’t want to do any more highlighting, because they’re so wonderful.

Toyin: Oh, thank you, thanks so much for that. I’m looking in the chat to see if there is a question, Toyin, speaking. There’s a question in the queue.

Angèle: Angele speaking, they are already highlighted. ASL interpreters are spotlighted.

Toyin: Okay, thank you. And thanks so much for that deep diving. Thank you so so much. And I can relate with what you’re saying, right, I’ve been a part of a couple of mentorship programs, and I’ve been responsible for, you know, pairing up mentors and mentees, and I’ve seen some craziness that can happen. In the last cohort for, the present cohort for the Newcomer Arts Professional Program which used to be the Immigrant Art Mentorship Program, we had people who even looked alike physically like same height, same, it was really funny, because some of them are not even from the same country, you know, like we have people who were born on the same day, very close, the time was very close, like, maybe today is November 25, and one person will be born in the morning, and one person in the evening, and they are mentor/mentee, and guess what they live on the same street. I’ve seen, and I never knew I was this close to not even pairing them. So I know what you’re, I know how like shocking those things can be when we met with them physically, and we saw the similarities we had like about six of them who literally looked like twins like they could pass. And I’m like, wow. I should start a matchmaking business. Maybe that’s another, maybe that’s the next thing for you, Kelaena, maybe you want to think about it.

Anyway, so thank you, it’s Toyin speaking. Thank you so much for sharing that.

I want to go, move on, you know, and ask questions about what is going to happen next in the lives of these people, because I know these stories are going beyond the walls of your program, right? But I want to go deeper. This is how you’re bringing a lot of equity into the arts community. This is how you’re being a hero. What are we? What is? What is the next four, most of them, and for all of them, but also okay, maybe I’ll split this question for Kelaena. I’ll say, what is the next thing for the program right now, at this point, like, when is the next iteration? When, what is going, coming up next? And Sam, when Kelaena is done, if you want to say from the film you have, what is the next, what is the next of the documentary? And for these artists, and what they are doing in their individual practice right now would like to know? Thank you very much, Kelaena. Final thoughts.

Kelaena: But things can, yeah, I, so I can talk a little bit more about what next steps are for the program. So, as I mentioned at the very beginning, this was our third iteration, and we’ve been doing this project for six years. So that’s quite a long time, and we’ve had so much learning during that time, I’d love to highlight a few of those in a moment. One of our main learnings was about length. So we have done a wide variety of different lengths of this Residency project. I think the shortest was three or four months. The longest is just this last one, which was two full years, and we have learned that two years is a really long time to continue momentum, especially given the ebbs and flows of seasons and all those things.

So right now, the A/C project is in a little bit of a restructuring, and we are rethinking about How can we take everything that we’ve learned over the past six years and make sure that we are, we are learning from it, we’re not just regurgitating the same thing again and again. And how do we make sure that we’re offering artists the best space for them to be in for this project. So the next iteration, the applications are going to open up in late spring, late spring, and the next official start date for the program will start in September of 2025.

So during, that seems like a long time away, I promise it will sneak up on us. It’s sneaking up on me already as we’re looking at some of the some of the restructurings, we’re thinking a little bit about what’s most impactful. Is it online learning? Is it because in the dead of February how many of us want to travel for a 9am workshop? Not as many as we originally thought, so how do we think about how to make this accessible for people? How do we think about where change happens in terms of natural places that we’re bumping into each other, how much connection do we need? How much all those questions are things that we’re going to be answering over the next few months as we’re thinking about this next iteration. And for this iteration, this next one in September of 2025, we are looking for all new artists. So up until this point, because of the challenges of the pandemic, we’ve had artists that have been part of it many, many times, just because they have didn’t receive a full residency with no world chaos at the same time. So this latest one, because it was so long, they’ve completed their residency time and we’re looking for all new artists. And I want to highlight this thought: in this time that I’ve worked in art for social change projects, I’ve found this thing that happens when we go, and we’re meeting new people, especially in the art space, and I’ll ask the question, Oh, are you an artist? And the answer so often is I’m not a real artist, but I’m kind of an artist. And I want to challenge that as we’re thinking about art for social change, I’m going to talk about this a little bit at the Congress next week. Oh, next week! For this project, this is not about being a gallery artist, or someone that exclusively paints, or these things that as a society, we often think about as being art. This is about what you do that brings you joy as an artist, and that could be in music that could be in theatre, that could be in painting, that could be writing, drawing, all of these different modalities and practices of art, those are all welcome for this, for this project and for this residency process. This is not about just one way, this is about all sorts of different interpretations of art, and I really want to highlight that like real artist mentality, that’s not what this is. This is about you recognizing you as a changemaker in this space and being able to learn more about how to leverage that in the world and learn more about how to integrate your art into that. So just wanted to mention that because it’s something really frustrating to me as I’m in this work is I’m hearing so many artists undervalue the work that they’re doing and the work that they’re doing in the community.

Now, I lost my train of thought because I got on a little bit of a tangent, so let me find that again. Oh, I was gonna chat a little bit about some of the learnings. Okay, hold on here.

Toyin: You literally just answered Sam’s question for him. I’m just kidding. Please go on.

Kelaena: Also, Sam has amazing insights beyond what I what I’m sharing. Okay? So I’m not gonna go into this in-depth, I know there’s a lot of text on the slide. This is taken directly from our annual report, which you can find on the website, which you will get to in a little while. Something that I really wanted to highlight was the collaboration for this project. I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I really want to mention again, this is about what we’re doing in community and learning about changing community, and it is not exclusively up to one person. This is about working with others and learning about what that change looks like altogether.

Okay. The other thing that I wanted to mention is a learning and something that we’re thinking about for this next iteration is when we are thinking about working with arts or not necessarily arts organizations, but like social purpose organizations, we, I’ve seen this in some of our work that we’re working, we work with a national network across Canada, is there, is this preconceived notion that an artist is coming into posters, do a mural or some of these things that are very, very tangible, but not impacting like the core of an organization or the way that an organization is thinking about change. And this program is asking there to be organizational dedication in understanding that this is messy work, it’s uncomfortable work, it’s sticky work, it’s hard work, and a lot of our preconceived notions about what change means, especially when we’re working in organizations that, I have quantitative things that they all have to account for. Those are all those all create a bit of a sticky space. And it’s something that we are continuing, we like that stickiness. We like that space where artists can kind of communicate what’s happening in the world to organizations and have that stickiness and think about what’s to come from there.

Just wanted to highlight that, because I think we often pull away from the sticky spaces, especially when we’re thinking about changemaking, we go towards what’s easy. And in this space we like stickiness, and we’re gonna learn about how to work in that.

That’s my final thought. That was a lot of, a lot, so if you have any questions, you’re welcome to email me or throw them in the chat. And, Sam, please, I’m so sorry that I answered part of your question.

Toyin: Please, thank you so much, Kelaena. And it’s Toyin speaking. Sam, the impact on these artists, the participants, the people you documented it, and that’s why I’m asking you, we want to know what is going on in your life right now. What changes, what has changed? You know, what, what are the changes that you can see? And how do you think they would transfer that to the community? I hope that’s not too complicated? Yeah, thank you. Final thoughts.

Sam: Thank you so much doing, and thank you Kelaena, for taking my question. I want to, before I get into, if I get into the question that you asked me, please allow me to once again shout out, Sally who was the project, the program lead and editor with me on this project, and also, of course, Kelaena, who also assisted with editing and assisted with all of the programming. I can’t imagine how tough I may have made Kelaena’s life sometimes when Kelaena sends me email and I don’t reply like two, three days later, and stuff so Kelaena held space for me a lot of times, likewise, Sally, also, and I’m pleased it’s for me it’s the little things. And I really like when Kelaena also mentioned the stickiness and the messiness, because that’s exactly that’s exactly what sometimes we need for changemaking. And a big shout out to all of the folks that made it today to the Town Hall meeting, and I can imagine that we probably all also have about the same, the same ideologies to things like this. And CADA’s support, Barb, Helen Moore-Parkhouse, Kelaena, Patti Pon, everybody that that came through was just was just was just so to help and shape and shape all of and shape all of this. I would say that to your question, Toyin, which is a very hard question, because…

Toyin Oladele: That’s why I asked you, cause I’m not nice.

Sam: Wow! What love? I would say that it was the things that I saw that I, and I still see as we are all part of this beautiful community, Mohkinsstsis, is the little things, really. And I think that that’s also what Trico Changemaker Studio is also going for, is those little things and sticky things and messy things that prompt us to think about the big things. And in a way I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it envelop these artists. I’ve seen it now, becoming the work that they are totally focused on. And I and I encourage for every organization, and I’d like to champion this also, that all of us should continue to think about changemaking. All of us should continue to think about those tough structural questions, but of course it starts from the simple ones like the work that Tito was doing with d/Deaf and Hear Alberta, and the documentary that he produced, tough questions, but of course, from a simple place like I saw like. I listened to Tito explained this to me, for instance, Toyin, and he asked me a question, and he said, Sam, when you want to take the train, do you ever, as you stand outside, wonder where the train is going to and I say, no, and he says, Okay, what if you cannot see? Will you wonder, huh? And then he asked me, What if you cannot hear. And they asked me, What if you cannot have both, right? So Tito was exploring the challenges from those from that lens of ability that we take for granted just because we are in that place. How about those people that do not have those things? Okay when you go to, and then he went on to ask me, I’m like Tito, please, these questions are too hard for me, but I began to see that that’s actually the life that Tito is living now, and he has that renewed sense of empathy and a reminder in his everyday dealings for this work, for this, for these conversations.

And the documentary Tito produced also, was to challenge all of us to think about accessibility for people that are not as able as some of us. Likewise, the other folks, too, like Shumaila going to speak in other parts of other part of the country speaking about energy. And all of that, and then to finalize my thought, and I’m going to anchor this in what Kelaena said, which is something that she’s strong she feels strongly about now is how artists will come in, and then they will say, I’m not, I’m not really an artist. I saw the confidence, and this is a big shout out to Trico Changemakers for creating an incubator to allow these eggs to hatch and come into their full chicken. And I saw the evolution. Wow, how did I get the chicken from here? Okay. And I saw the evolution of, I saw the evolution of this artist from where they question themselves to actually totally owning their work as artists in changemaking conversations, and I think that going forward this is also gonna also going to play, and then I also heard from the organizations who never thought that an artist coming into energy sector, for instance, will help them to begin to answer some tough questions. So the artist changed into becoming fully accepting who they are, and pumping their chest out to say, I’m an artist. I’m into changemaking conversation.

The organizations also began to see that having an artist in the space in the organizations is a different lens to how they see and answer questions, too. So, and you could also hear from their conversations with me when I was when we’re together, on resolutions to continue this kind of conversations, even after the program that they are having. And some people got employed, and some people got retained, and some people got residencies other places, because organizations are also seen these things, and then I can’t box it into one thing, really, Toyin, I can’t box it into one thing. But again, it’s the little things and the little things are the things that are catalyst to like the bigger things, and, like Kelaena said for the artist, we all have imposter syndrome. We all feel like we’re not enough. We all feel like somebody else should be doing this work. But the moment we feel that passion and that pressure to even How might we statement, that is, that is the entrance to initiating a change, making conversation. And we never truly know where it goes to, like Kelaena, said the stickiness, the messiness, and we just kind of like matching and piecing things together, and they begin to evolve and take a life of their own. Me, I am just a fly on the wall, observing, asking questions, enabling conversations in my in the studio when they come around, or me in the workshops where they’re having these conversations. I was at a workshop that Skye did with the cards, I forget what they call the cards. Now, Kelaena, please help me. What are those.

Kelaena: Artist as Changemaker cards.

Sam: Artist as Changemaker cards. Okay, that was easy. I should have known. Okay, that Artist as Changemaker cards, and I was at this workshop, they were close to about 30+ people in the room, and Skye brought in the cards, share them on the table, and then just kind of like, introduce what the cards were how to use them. And then Skye just went back and the room blossomed just from asking the questions and using the things on the cards to start conversations. The room had its own life. And I can imagine these cards being used for other workshops, whether in Calgary, in Edmonton, whatever, however, in artist room, in non-artist room, and enabling us to ask those questions which really is where the work starts from.

And again a big shout out to CADA, big shout out to Trico for enabling these things, and every other person in a community that also has accepted, especially organizations who sometimes think that they may not need artists, but accepted to have this to do this work. And it’s hard work, really, it’s fun, but it’s still hard work to allow ourselves to shift away from a place of comfort, to asking sometimes uncomfortable conversations. I don’t know if I answered the questions, but I know I spoke a lot.

Toyin: Oh, yeah, you did.

Sam: That’s my final thought. Thank you, Janice.

Toyin: Thank you so much Kelaena and Sam. It’s Toyin speaking. Really appreciate all your thoughts. Thank you so so much. It’s a journey, and for people who are involved in this journey it’s always like a roller coaster, it’s always like the emotions. Everything I have seen, you know, changes in people’s lives. I’ve seen people who totally like, Okay, I don’t know if I’m really an artist. Oh, I don’t know if my art will be appreciated here. I’ve seen those kind of stories, so really inspired to hear what you have to say today.

Okay, the last question before we take, to see if there is anyone that would like to do anything from the chat is and I asked a little bit of that, Kelaena, okay, now you talked about the next like call when it’s coming out, and things like that, what do you want people to look out for? Like, not in terms of the administrative part now, but in terms of impact. What is, what’s the next thing? What should we look out for? Because this is, you’ve done a lot already, and this is not to pressurize you, I mean, if it’s like, Oh, there’s really nothing more, we’re just doing what we’ve done before, that is perfect. But I just thought to ask in case there’s something magical still happening. Thank you. Final thoughts.

Kelaena: The big question. Thank you for the question. So I can talk about this in kind of a big landscape lens, and we’ll kind of dive deep a little bit. So the Artist as Changemaker logo is based on the iceberg model, which is from Peters and (?). And if you don’t know what the iceberg model is, I’ll walk us through it a little bit, and then my answer, is coming at the end.

So, as we are engaging in the world, the iceberg model teaches us that what we see at the top is what’s happening in this world around us, similar to an iceberg, but like an iceberg, there’s so much else that’s happening underneath the surface. That’s kind of where this program is really focused, is at the very bottom of the iceberg, where there’s mental models, beliefs, values, and norms that are holding the structure above in place. This is very frustrating when we’re talking about changemaking work, because it would be so wonderful if we could just pull those to the top and rebuild. But again, we’re still on the foundation of all of these mental models and values that are inevitably going to re-flourish. So as we’re thinking about what’s next for this program and what’s next for the artists, and what’s next, I’m pretty hesitant to go anywhere but down, I wanna go further. I wanna go deeper into what this iceberg is, and go deeper into gaining more insight from what artists see in the world which is connecting these values, and some of the beliefs that we have, and disconnecting them and deconstructing them and being able to show us things that we may be feeling, but maybe we don’t have the words to say something that a lot of artists that I’ve talked to over the last months especially have been art is a different language that’s connecting with between what’s up here and what’s down here. Heart and mind. And art is this language that we’re able to begin to have these conversations in a little bit of a different way. So as we’re looking into what’s next for the program, I think we’re just going deeper. I’d like to continue to have those hard conversations, and like I mentioned a little bit before that stickiness, that’s something that we’re really, we’re really committed to being to being in that space, and encouraging artists to dive deeper and understand their own potential as a changemaker is really what the what the program is all about. So that’s my final thought.

Toyin: Sweet, very sweet. Thank you very much. Toyin, speaking. I’ll go into the chat. I can’t see any question, but I wonder if we have anyone who would like to know anything about this program that we did not talk about, or something we talked about, and you just like to know more. Please feel free to unmute and ask, thank you very much. Anybody. I just want to make sure that I’m not missing anything. So I’m going to quickly check the chat. Just want to say thank you for all your generous sharing. Great to learn more. Thank you, Taylor. Hi, Taylor, how are you, thank you so much for the comment. Any other person? I know this is being recorded, and it will be up on Youtube in case you’re watching this on Youtube, and you have questions about the program. And, Helen, you have a question. It’s Helen! It’s Helen, guys! It’s Helen!

Helen Moore-Parkhouse: Hi, thank you, Helen, speaking. I don’t have a question about this program per se, but I just wonder, Kelaena, if I’m not putting you on the spot too much, if you could talk a little bit about the Arts for Social Change Hub and Network in this time, because it is connected a little bit. So I just invite you to, if that’s okay, to say a few words about that. Final thought.

Toyin: Yes, please thanks, Helen. I’m glad we didn’t miss that, please, Kelaena.

Kelaena: Yeah, I can talk about that. So again, as I mentioned at the very beginning, this is such a gift to be able to do this work and have this be a job. So the Art for Social Change Network is again, the Art for Social Change initiative that Mount Royal University Institute for Community Prosperity holds, and let me just move this along. Here we go. So the network is, the Calgary Hub is part of a larger national network, and the national network has hubs that are across the country. So there’s one in Vancouver, there’s a few on the East coast, there’s some in Toronto, there’s one in Quebec. So across the country we’re all doing Art for Social Change initiatives in our own individual hubs, and we’re strengthening the Art for Social Change Network across the country.

So the Calgary hub is also supported by CADA, thank you CADA, does work to share with artists and people that don’t identify as artists and the general community. The importance of art for social change and some of the art for social change work that is happening in Calgary, and they’re trying to bring visibility to artists that are already doing this work but might not have the language to describe themselves as such, and giving other people who might not be doing this work some tools in their toolbox, so that they can also start to engage.

So in this past year we’ve had workshops where we’re talking, let’s close that, where we’re talking about reconciliation through the arts, and we did a workshop on that last month we had Edward Campbell come in and do a Hip Hop workshop, and then we had a big collective discussion about what does it mean to be in community? And what does it mean to be leaning into our own gifts in this space? And we’ve done mental health focus, we’ve done eco gardening, and yeah, and these kinds of things. So there’s, as I was mentioning a little bit before, for this program, Art for Social Change is not just one modality, one practice. This spans all art. And so the network is really connecting artists with more tools to be able to engage in this work, connect with other people that are doing this work, connect with funders or some other people that are really interested in expanding this work. So, for example, I’m gonna do a little a little shout out, we have an event with the Alcove tomorrow that’s called the Creative Mixer, November 26, where we’re able to connect with people in the community that might not be engaged directly in the arts and be able to build those connections as well.

And in the New Year we have some, we have some other workshops that are happening with bringing visibility to art for social change and Blue Sky City. So things are always, always building. The basis is what we know as an organization is, the work is not happening in our walls. The work is happening in community, and we want to bring visibility to that and bring connection to that and bring power to that. That’s my, thank you, Helen.

Toyin: Thank you, Kelaena. Thanks so much, Toyin speaking. Can I ask you a question? Is this, is Judith connected to this project? Absolutely. She was just telling me about you on Thursday in Ottawa, and she was like, Oh, you should know about this project, and I’m like, Oh, yeah, see, I didn’t even know that they were the same thing. So yeah, thank you very much for sharing, immediately you started talking about the meeting in Quebec and all I was like, hmm, I think I know about this other part. Thank you. Thanks so, so much for sharing.

Okay. Well, I see a question in the chat. So that’s the link for the mixer that Kelaena was just talking about. It’s going to be great. And thanks Sayo, for posting in the chat. It’s happening November 26, which is tomorrow, 6pm to 10. And that’s the dress code. Dress to express anything that showcases who you are. I like that, that is so cool. And there’s snacks and refreshments, and anywhere there’s food. I most likely will be there. So thank you so much for sharing.

I see a question here from Mason. I’m not sure how to pronounce your name. Sorry if I didn’t pronounce it correctly. I would like to know if there is any available opportunity for a newcomer to start to start with any project here in Calgary as painting and drawing. Thank you. Interesting. So yeah, there are lots of opportunities around that you can take advantage of. You can actually check the Mentors in Residence Program with the Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation, I could put the link here, and you might be able to see someone that can specifically guide you in that space. And if you also check Calgary Arts Development classified, and I’ll put all the link in the chat before we go. Yeah, I was just about saying that. Yeah. The classified link will tell you a little bit more also, and you can take a look at some of the events that are up on the website of the Immigrant Council for Art Innovation, like, we literally support newcomers and immigrants trying to find their space in the art sector. So that would be a great space for you to check.

Yeah. And I would also add that there are a couple of networking events happening in the next couple of weeks, and all this next week, and in two weeks’ time, you want to check them out. Also they’re very, very good for networking.

Thank you very much, Sam and Kelaena. I see Sayo, you have your hand raised. Before I come to you, I just quickly want to remind everybody of the Congress that is happening. I’ve not been to the Congress since I think 2018 or 2019, so I’m super excited. Yeah, something is just always coming up and I’ve not been able to be there, so I’m super excited about this one. Please register. Sayo, if you can help pop the link in the chat for the Congress next yeah, next week, right? It’s next week. Yeah. absolutely. Yeah, I got it correctly. Next week. It will be really, really fun. I think there are so many amazing things that will be happening. You want to come and connect with other creatives and just have fun. Sayo, please.

Sayonara Cunha: This is Sayo speaking, thanks Sam, and thanks Kelaena for that. That was wonderful to know more about art for social change. I was just wondering, Toyin, if Mason’s question is related to specific to the Art for Social Change with Trico Changemaker Studio if there is any opportunity for newcomers with this program specifically, I don’t know if that’s what Mason meant, but that’s an insight that I have.

Toyin: Oh. Okay, that is true. So I actually really like to start any project in Calgary in general. So yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much Sayo for that perspective, and I’ll leave Kelaena to answer that when you’re speaking.

Kelaena: Kelaena speaking. I got it at the end of the call, but that’s okay. Yeah. I can speak to that a little bit. So the application to join the Residency program will open later in late spring and absolutely open to anybody who considers themselves as an artist. So if you’re let me just scroll back up here to see your painting and drawing absolutely. If you are connected as a newcomer to a community, or you’re looking to connect with the community, I would definitely encourage you to apply to the program. We’re really mindful of making sure that there’s a lot of diversity in who’s in the cohort, so we don’t want necessarily all painters, we don’t want just theatre, we would like a representation of quite a wide modality and practice in in the program. So you’re more than welcome to apply to that.

Toyin: Thank you. Thanks so much for saying that. Really appreciate that. And with this we’ll call it a day. We really appreciate everybody for joining us again today. Our next session is in January, you’re going to have more information about that when it is time, and we’re going to be talking about climate change and the people that are our heroes in that sphere, so please stay tuned and watch out, for you know, some information in your email. Meanwhile, don’t forget to attend the Congress next week. It’s going to be fun. What is the commitment to the Residency for time look like? Okay, I am a stay-at-home mom and artist, please, can we quickly answer this question before we go? We still have time, anyway.

So, Kelaena, do you want to answer. Thank you. And that is the link to their page also, and you can find a whole lot of information. But please over to you, final thoughts.

Kelaena: Okay, that’s a great question. So again, I just wanna reiterate, we are still in a little bit of a restructuring phase, but I can give a kind of a general what has happened, and what will likely continue. Things might change, so I can tell you as much as I can.

So the Residency coming up will be between September 2025 and May 2026. The commitment on a weekly basis is largely driven by you, so your community partner that you are paired with and the work that you’re doing with them is, I’m not monitoring that, you are fully capable of handling those relationships. And then, in terms of what we’re doing as a as a cohort, there will be one to two learnings a month, and those, not two, one learning a month. And those will tend to be full day learnings, and then there is a midpoint showcase where we’re showcasing your work up until halfway point, and then a final showcase at the end, and we ask that you are, well, you are required to attend those so that we are so we can showcase your work, and so that people can be connected in with you in that way as well. From a weekly basis standpoint. This is not like being a student in in university where you’re kind of back-to-back all day. Your relationship s and how you work with your community partner is totally up to you. There were some people that did it did much of their work on weekends, and that’s what worked best for them. There’s other people that did it just in the evenings because they had full time jobs. The Residency program is not a replacement for your full-time assistance in the world, it’s a supplement. So also, being a stay at home mom, for a little while, I fully understand how massive of an undertaking that is, so being able to balance life and the Residency is something that we think is really important, and hope that we’re not over but not burdening, but over making you have too much to account for in your in your days and months, and for the for the nine month process.

Toyin: I hope that answers the question. Toyin  speaking again. Thank you, Kelaena. Thank you so much, Sam, or no, no, thank you. Okay, yeah. I’ll give you. Thank you so much for joining us both of you really appreciate it. Thank you for your time, for your knowledge, and for been very generous with the experiences you’ve had with us people, and I tell this is the part where I say, have a very enjoy the rest of your day, everybody and see you again at the Congress next week or in January we’ll have our next, you know Town Hall session. Bye, everyone. Thanks for having me.