Jumblies Theatre and the Community Arts Guild Present:

Lost and Found Evolving Gallery

Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, 225 Confederation Drive, Scarborough, Ontario M1G 1B2
May 21 – 30, 2013

Featuring work created in Scarborough over the past season:

• A film and radio play – two parts of the Lost and Found Triptych to be completed in the fall
• Songs from the Nagamo Project, sharing Toronto’s Indigenous songs and history
• Short performances by our Scarborough Youth Troupe
• Costumes and excerpts from A Journey to Changeland, a pageant created with students from Willow Park Junior Public School
• Drop-in activities and performances on the Doors Open Toronto weekend, May 25 and 26
• An interactive and growing installation of visual arts and sound

Opening Soirée – May 21, 5-8:30pm
Join us for a performance by the Scarborough Youth Troupe, the premiere of the Lost and Found film and radio play, a presentation of When the Fish Met the Turtle by Sharada K. Eswar and Rosary Spence, and a performance on the mridangam by percussionist Sarma Donepudi.
PWYC admission.

5-6pm: Community meal and youth presentation
6-6:30: General public arrivals and gallery viewing
6:30-8:30: Public showcase

When the Fish met the Turtle is a theatrical telling of the creation story from the “Indian” perspective. The piece uses songs, chants and stories from the Hindu mythology and Cree creation stories.

Closing Reception – May 30, 7 – 9 p.m.

Celebrate the close of our season with highlights from the Evolving Gallery in its final state of evolution.

Download the gallery schedule

Gallery Hours

May 19: 1-4pm
May 20: Gallery Closed for Victoria Day
May 21 – 22: 10am-8pm
May 23: 10am-6pm
May 24 – 26: 10am-4pm
May 27 – 29: 10am – 8pm
May 30: 10am – 9pm

The Lost & Found Evolving Gallery is produced through a partnership between Jumblies Theatre, The Community Arts Guild, the City of Toronto’s Arts Services, Cedar Ridge Creative Centre and Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery.

Contributing Artists: Ruth Howard (Artistic Director of Jumblies), Sean Frey (Interim Artistic Director of the Community Arts Guild), Beth Helmers (Concept-creator of the Lost & Found Triptych & Returning Artistic Director of the Community Arts Guild), Marianne Alas, Rebecca Bruton, Shifra Cooper, Sarma Donepudi, Sharada Eswar, Katherine Fleitas, Victoria Freeman, Marie Gaudet, Peter Jones, Ange Loft, Emma Manchester, Keith McNair (Jumblies Managing Director), Douglas Merriman, Sarah Miller (a Metcalf Foundation Intern), Cathy Nosaty, Rosary Spence, Sasha Tate-Howarth, Andrea Thring, participants in the Lost and Found Triptych, the Nagamo Project, Willow Park students, and the Scarborough Youth Troupe. With visiting guest artists Sid Bobb, Penny Couchie and members of Aanmitaagzi from Nipissing First Nation.

With thanks to: Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Government of Canada, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Toronto Community Foundation, George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.

TTC Directions to the Cedar Ridge Creative Centre:
From Kennedy Station, take the Scarborough RT to the Lawrence East station. Take the 54 Lawrence Ave. E. bus to Scarborough Golf Club Rd. Walk along Scarborough Golf Club to the second street south of Lawrence – Confederation Drive. Walk up Confederation Drive (east) until you reach Tingle Crescent. At Tingle, turn right, and walk toward the Centre.

For more information, email info@jumbliestheatre.org or call 416-203-8428.

The Community Arts Guild once again filled the gallery and wood shop at the Cedar Ridge Creative Centre for its second Community Drop-In of 2013. We expected about 20 people and were delighted when closer to 40 turned up, many of whom were at a Drop-In at Cedar Ridge for the first time. So there were lots of new introductions all around.

Throughout the winter, the Community Arts Guild has been working on a pageant that will be held at Willow Park Junior Public School the last week of March.

Dance artist Lilia Leon leads March Break movement workshop for children involved in the Willow Park Pageant. Photo by Katherine Fleitas

With only a week to go before the first performance of the pageant, the gallery was abuzz with activity.

Yasmin gives a pageant costume a first coat of paint.

Half the group was painting and sewing costumes and props for the pageant. Red and yellow fish gills, white cardboard head pieces, and fabric painted brown, red and yellow covered the tables. Meanwhile, anyone walking by the wood shop might have heard sounds of a spaceship landing, a subway train arriving at its stop, a family heading to a festival, and a host of other ordinary and extraordinary sounds. This was a group practicing telling stories with voice and sound, in preparation for a radio play that will be produced this spring, as part of the Community Art Guild’s Lost and Found Triptych project.

Sarah recording otherworldly sounds with participants in the radio play drop-in. Photo by Beth Helmers

Many of the children who have been involved with the pageant brought parents and siblings to the event, allowing families – in one case three generations – to make art, share food, and make connections with other local families and residents. The next Community Drop-in at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre is on Tuesday, April 16 from 5-8pm. The Community Arts Guild can help with transportation to the Centre. Everyone is welcome!

If you haven’t seen us yet, we’re back at the Gardener’s Cottage at Cedar Ridge and beginning our artmaking once again.  Sean Frey is leading the crew as Interim Artistic Director, while Beth Helmers is still taking a break with her new baby, Violet (though they can be seen visiting from time to time).

We are continuing work on several projects for the Lost & Found Triptych, including finishing and editing the film, casting and recording the audio play, and creating, building and rehearsing train car puppet plays.  If any of those activities spark your interest, stay in touch, check the blog, look for our emails and phone calls and we’ll let you know how to take part.

Join us for our big community drop-in, happening at Cedar Ridge on the afternoon and evening of Tuesday, February 12.  Along with other activities, we’ll be preparing to take part in the MABELLEarts parade for the third year in a row.

We also have our ongoing youth theatre troupe, accepting new and returning members as well as volunteer support of all ages.  They are presently rehearsing to do a special guest appearance as stilters in the Arts4All performance, I Was A Brave Child.

Regular activities are also taking place at the Lido Motel, and new workshops at Willow Park and Susan Street are coming soon.

Memory/story jars made in Scarborough for MABELLEarts Parade, Photo: Katherine Fleitas

Another exciting project that has started up in Scarborough is called Nagamo (“Song” in Ojibway). Singer-song-writer Rosary Spence is working with Ruth Howard, Cathy Nosaty, Sharada Eswar, Marie Gaudet and Victoria Freeman and several community groups – so far two Tamil Seniors programs from Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities, the Jumblies-Community Arts Guild Youth Troupe and a women’s group from Native Child and Family Services – to explore First Nations song traditions, songs from other cultures, Toronto Indigenous history, invisible landscapes and community-generated text. In 2013 the project will also include children from Eastview School and First Nations Public School, and will result in a recording of the music and words created, a May presentation and future plans arising from these explorations.

Rosary Spence, Cathy Nosaty and Sharada Eswar singing with Greencrest Tamil Seniors’ Group

Cathy Nosaty, Munzir Rahman, Sasha Mattock, Rosary Spence, Rebecca Bruton performing with Youth Troupe at Cedar Ridge, Photo: Katherine Fleitas

On October 30, 2012, Jumblies celebrated the opening of the Family Suite Installation in our Lido Motel Art Room. The exhibition showcases three years of collaborative art-making with Jumblies artists and families living temporarily in Scarborough motels and shelters. The lead artist is Sean Frey and he has been joined for this project by several dozen other artists. The opening was attended by over 50 people of all ages, from the Lido, Scarborough and around Toronto. The installation, featuring creative furniture, interactive activities, a puppet show TV and more,  is up until the end of January, and can be visited on Tuesday afternoons or by appointment. If interested please e-mail info@jumbliestheatre.org.

Many thanks to the City’s Family Residence for being a supportive partner for several years. Sean and his team of artists will continue to work in the Lido Art Room, at Family Residence and with families who have connected with Jumblies and moved to homes elsewhere in the city.

Sean Frey and the TV Puppet Show at the Lido Opening, Photo: Katherine Fleitas (peacephoto.com)

Photo: Esther Maloney

The Family Suite
At the Lido Motel, Room 101 (basement), 4674 Kingston Rd, Toronto, ON
Friday, November 30, 2012
3-5 pm

Jumblies Theatre and the Community Arts Guild, in partnership with the Family Residence, are proud to present The Family Suite, an interactive and evolving gallery event. After years of working with families from the Family Residence and the Lido Motel in Scarborough, artists and residents have furnished a Family Suite with furniture that is embedded with story and experience. The Family Suite explores the reality of making home when in transition, and the traces that we leave behind after we move on.
The gallery opening will include refreshments, snacks, live music, interactive arts activities and live performances of puppet theatre.

Contributing artists: Sean Frey, Julia Churchill, Marianne Alas, Priscilla Groom, Helah Cooper, Elizabeth Burt, Marlena Zuber, Beth Helmers, Kerry Segal, Ruth Howard, Keith McNair, Esther Maloney, Sonja Rainey, Andrea Thring, Sasha Mattock, Rebecca Bruton, the Hutchcrafts, the Fuller Family, Expectant couples, and various folks from the Family Residence.

Jumblies and the Community Arts Guild are once again holding regular arts programs at our home base at the Cedar Ridge Creative Centre and elsewhere in East Scarborough.

Sean Frey, Rebecca Bruton, Keith McNair and Jumblies associate artists are hosting weekly workshops for families staying at the Lido Motel.

Here’s what Sean had to say about the first workshop of the season:

“Today we cracked open the doors, dusted the shelves, laid down brown paper on the tables and once again launched into a new season of working at the Lido. With snacks prepared and Louis Armstrong singing into his tuba, we began to gather people to the little room in the basement. Walking like missionaries through the parking lot we let people know that we were running a program for both adults and kids. We enticed them with tea and snacks, but noticed that it was the art making that got people’s attention. Once back in the basement we made pulled out the pastels for the toddlers and the foam boards for the adults. We etched portraits of each other that were printed on large pieces of paper.

At the end of the session, a third family arrived with wide eyes and anticipation to be involved. We let everybody know that we would be back on both Tuesday and Wednesdays of the weeks to follow….”

Also on Tuesdays, the Youth Troupe is meeting at Cedar Ridge for workshops on music, song, storytelling and the history of Toronto, building towards an exchange with young people from Nipissing First Nation. This week, we weathered stormy weather  in the Cottage with an evening of spooky stories and sounds.

Kaitlynn, Melinda and Stephanie sharing spooky stories.

The Youth Troupe will meet regularly until December, and then start up again in the spring. New members are welcome! Facilitating artists include Sonja Rainey, Sarah Miller, Rebecca Bruton, Rosary Spence, Cathy Nosaty and other guests, with help from volunteer Sasha Mattock.

Bill Livingstone – long-time volunteer, skilled model-maker, MABELLEarts board member and former Etobicoke resident – now lives in Scarborough and is coming to lend his talents at Cedar Ridge. Thanks, Bill!

Bill making miniature furniture

Jumblies veteran (and retired) volunteers Al and Norma Levitt drop by our Cedar Ridge cottage for tea. We hope they’ll come back often.

We are delighted to welcome Sasha Mattock, a young cousin of Ruth’s (Jumblies’ Artistic Director), who has come from the North of England for 5 months, to volunteer with us as part of her “gap” year. Sasha is an accomplished musician (percussion) and dancer (ballet, tap, modern), and also interested in psychology. She will be assisting in various roles with the Community Arts Guild in Scarborough as well as with all of our Offshoots.

Sasha standing beside our beautiful new banner painted by Sonja Rainey, at Cedar Ridge.