The City’s Public Art Program Announces Selected Poets for the Renaissance on Hunter Poetry Gardens

The City of Peterborough Public Art Program has announced the selection of poets commissioned as part of the Renaissance on Hunter Poetry Gardens Project.

photo courtesy of the city of peterborough.

From mid-July to mid-October the Renaissance on Hunter Poetry Gardens will feature works by local poets; Laurie Graham, Jen Cole, Bruce Whiteman, Jon Hedderwick, Justin Million, PJ Thomas, Chantel Daniels, Bon Scott, Esther Vincent and Laura Murray.

The poems are installed in the temporary planters adjacent to the Renaissance on Hunter Road Murals on Hunter Street between George and Aylmer streets, and will change monthly over the course of the summer.

In June the gardens featured poetry by the 2023 Poet Laureate, Ziysah von Bieberstein and Peterborough’s first Poet Laureate, Sarah Lewis.

As part of the project, GreenUp was commissioned to design and install the gardens that form the backdrop for the poems. The gardens feature an array of perennial native plantings that are drought-tolerant and thrive in full sun. Plantings include purple coneflower, yarrow, hairy beardtongue, anise hyssop, brown-eyed Susan and nodding wild onion, as well as a selection of prairie grasses. Many are now in full bloom.  

This announcement coincides with the completion of the 2023 road murals, created through the Road Mural Mentorship Program.  

The road mural artist teams by site are:

Site 1: Odoonabii II by mentor Aaron Robitaille, with mentees Kelly King, Em Farquhar Barrie, and Holly Edwards.

Site 2: Glacial Formation II by mentor Josh Morley, with mentees Sarah St. Pierre and Bethany Davis.

Site 3: Flight of the Pollinators II by mentor Brooklin Holbrough, with mentees Justine- Marie Williams and Deanna Henry.

Site 4: Nothing Out of Reach II by mentor Nuin-Tara Morin, with mentees Aryan Bhagat and Cassandra Shaw.

Twenty-three local artists were commissioned as part of the Renaissance on Hunter public art projects this year. For more information about the projects and the artists visit the City’s Public Art website.

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Three Local Girls Are Representing Canada At Dance World Cup in Portugal

Three 11-year-old Peterborough girls Ashlynn Evoy, Sophie McCarthy and Hazel Fuderer are going to take the stage in front of an international audience representing Canada at the Dance World Cup in Braga, Portugal.

Ashlynn Evoy (left), Sophie McCarthy (middle) and Hazel Fuderer (right) all trained at the Premier Studio of Dance to hone their skills. Photo courtesy of Hannah Fuderer.

All three girls are competing in the ‘13 and under’ group of Canada’s World Performers Team and will have roughly 30-35 teammates of the same age performing with them. Roughly 140 dancers are representing Team Canada at the event.

“I’m so excited to travel to Portugal with my world performers, dance team and represent Canada at the dance World Cup,” explained Evoy. “I have made so many new friends across Ontario at different dance studios and we have worked so hard to get here. It’s even more exciting that I get to experience all this with my two best friends.”

The girls qualified for the World Cup after a tryout qualifier in Toronto, making the team last August. Jazz, acro, hip hop and ballet are some of the dance styles the girls are performing for the upcoming event.

“I’m so incredibly proud of Hazel, her two best friends and their team,’ said Hannah Fuderer, Hazel’s mother. “They have been working so hard all year (including every holiday) to perfect their routines for Portugal. The girls are ready and so very excited to hit the stage.”

The Dance World Cup runs from June 30 to July 8 at Altice Forum Braga. The girls and selected family members are catching their flight to Portugal on Wednesday evening.

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The Borderless Music & Arts Festival Is Back at The Gordon Best Theatre

The Borderless Music & Arts Festival 2023 is set to feature a line-up that celebrates local artists & cultural diversity through soulful music, poetry, dance and community at the Gordon Best Theatre starting June 23.

photo courtesy of The Borderless Music & Arts Festival.

Since 2016, the Borderless Music & Arts Festival has been a multidisciplinary arts showcase that centres women, BIPOC, intersectional identities, multiculturalism, and inclusive community-building with a mosaic of music, dance, visual art, drag, poetry, comedy, circus and film. For over 6 years, Borderless artists have brought an amazing wealth of diversity, culture, collaboration, innovation and excitement to the City.

Borderless Festival 2023 Begins

Friday, June 23:

Poetry by Robyn Pierson

Dance performance & workshop by Mintu Maria James

Music by:

The Colton Sisters

Will Ward

Harbhajunkie

Shahrazi

Featuring a pop-up booth by Indigenously Infused.

Saturday, June 24:

OMBIIGIZI

Singing Wild Rice Girl (Missy Knott)

Will Ward

Danny Taro

photo courtesy of The Borderless Music & Arts Festival.

Tickets available at the door and through borderlesshearts.ca. For more information, check out the website.

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The 2023 Lakefield Jazz, Art & Craft Festival Goes Green

The Lakefield Jazz, Art and Craft Festival has announced that the upcoming event held on Saturday, July 8 will strive to be a clean, green event.

photo courtesy of The Lakefield Jazz, Art and Craft Festival.

With help from the vendors, volunteers and participants, they will be working towards this goal by:
• setting up a water refill station
• setting up sorting stations and signage for garbage, recyclables and compostables
• encouraging attendees to bring their own water bottle and cutlery
• encouraging attendees to walk, bike (bike racks located right beside the event space), carpool or enjoy the FREE shuttle service (details below)
• encouraging artisans, food and beverage vendors to use less waste

Free Shuttle

The Township is extending The Link bus service for the Lakefield Jazz, Art & Craft Festival. The Link bus will be available for free on Saturday, July 8 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.. The bus will have stops at Trent University, the Lakefield District Public School, and the Lakefield Jazz Festival. For parking information and a detailed schedule, visit the website.

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Lakefield Jazz, Art & Craft Festival Announces 2023 Music Line-Up

The Lakefield Jazz, Art & Craft Festival returns riverside on Saturday, July 8 in Isabel Morris Park in Lakefield.

photo courtesy of The Lakefield Jazz, Art & Craft Festival, facebook.

The festival is set to begin at 11 a.m. with dancing and grooving finishing up at 10 p.m. in Isabel Morris Park at 20 Concession Street, Lakefield. Admission is $10 per person with tickets available at the gates (cash only.)

The 2023 music lineup includes:

Ron Marenger Big Band - 11 a.m.

Paul Novotny - 12:50 p.m.

Caity Gyorgy - 2:40 p.m.

Red Hot Ramble - 4:30 p.m.

Lakefield Jazz Septet - 6:20 p.m.

Pat Temple & The HiLo’s - 8:10 p.m.

Lakefield’s Jazz, Art & Craft Festival invites you, your friends and family to enjoy a day of jazz music, local food, beverage vendors (including Publican House Brewery) and colourful art works for sale by artisans and crafters.

Visit the website for sponsorship, vendor, volunteer information and more.

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Electric City Culture Council Announces Bierk Art Fund Bursary Recipients

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) has announced that two $1,000 Bierk Art Fund (BAF) Bursaries have been awarded to local high school students Zijian (Suzanne) Tian of Lakefield College School and Ava Cummings of Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School.

photo courtesy of ec3, facebook.

Tian will pursue studies at Parsons School of Design in New York, and Cummings will attend Durham College’s Animation Program.

The BAF is an endowment fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough (CFGP), established to recognize arts champion and supporter Liz Bierk, and to honour the contributions she and her husband David Bierk have made to the arts in Peterborough.

EC3 says that many people from many walks of life have contributed to this fund over the years, and it has now grown large enough to support the Bierk Art Fund Bursary Program, which provides two bursaries of $1,000 each to graduating high school students living in the City or County of Peterborough.

These students’ works demonstrate great promise and artistic, showing a serious commitment to pursuing further studies at the post-secondary level in the visual or media arts.

Tian was born in Shanxi, China, and continued her high school studies at Lakefield College School. She has been accepted at the Parsons School of Design, and will pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in their Fashion Design program. She works in media such as watercolour, 3D print, pottery, photography, collage, and fashion design, and says her dream has always been to become an artist.

Ava Cummings is graduating from the Visual Arts Program at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School and will be attending Durham College for 2D & 3D Digital Animation. Between her love of drawing and her fascination with animated episodic productions and feature-length movies, Cummings says she feels drawn to the animation industry.

The Bierk Art Fund Bursary Program application process asks students to present their art portfolios to an assessment committee/panel of local artists and arts professionals. This year’s panel was comprised of professional artist and educator Cyd Hosker, and AGP Curator Fynn Leitch, who were impressed by the talent and potential demonstrated by Zijian (Suzanne) Tian and Ava Cummings.

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4th Line Theatre Seeking Retro Prop Donations For Upcoming Summer Production

Dig out your attic for some relics as 4th Line Theatre is seeking prop donations or loans of items from the 60s for their upcoming production, ‘The Tilco Strike’ which is running from June 27 - July 22.

CAST MEMBERS FROM IAN MCLACHLAN AND ROBERT WINSLOW'S CROW HILL: THE TELEPHONE PLAY OF 2018. PHOTO COURTESY OF WAYNE EARDLEY AND 4TH LINE THEATRE.

The Theatre is asking for 1960s items either for loan or donations. These include bowling shoes, bowling pins, a bowling bag, an adding machine, bolo ties, a punch clock and a cardholder.

Volunteers are also needed for the productions. Anyone who signs up can also view any show for free.

Those looking to volunteer, need more information or donate are asked to send a photo to e-mail admin@4thlinetheatre.on.ca.

Written by D’Arcy Jenish and directed by Cynthia Ashperger, The Tilco Strike recounts the year-long fight between 35 poorly paid women and their hard-nosed male bosses at Tilco Plastics in Peterborough. The company was determined to crush the women and their union according to 4th Line Theatre.

The strike began in December 1965 over a $25 bonus and escalated into an epic battle between organized labour and strike-breaking employers. The women lost their fight but changed labour relations in Ontario forever.

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Electric City Culture Council and the 2023 Artsweek Team Present LOOK OUT!

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) and the 2023 Artsweek Team are pleased to present LOOK OUT! a suite of works by 4 local visual and media artists popping up in unexpected places in downtown Peterborough from May 8 to 14.

photo courtesy of ec3.

Artsweek brings some of Peterborough’s most engaging artists down from the walls and out of the galleries to appear on city streets and sidewalks. Curated by Artsweek Executive Producer Su Ditta this project introduces both established and emerging artists to the public with work that is evocative, cheeky and thought provoking. Look Out! and check out artists: Sioux Dickson, Cassandra Lee, LA Alphonso/Age of Moss (Paul Moss) and Sammy Tangir.

Project: Shadow Selves
Artist: Sioux Dickson
Description: A photographic conversation about being a part of and apart from.
Date: Opens May 8.
Location: 210 Hunter St. West, front window of PBO Kawartha (Prosthetics, Bracing, and Orthotics).

Project: An Ode to Trees
Artist: Casandra Lee
Description: “An Ode to Trees involves hanging painted tree cookies on five of my favourite trees in our urban landscape of downtown Nogojiwanong-Peterborough. Trees intrigue me whenever I am outside and are an important point of interest for me. I want to share the joy I feel from seeing a beautiful tree. The installation is an invitation to the public to pause and take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the life of the trees we live amongst downtown. The artwork will be placed at various heights and tied to the trees in a non-harmful way. Cookies will be cut from a fallen cedar tree that was a victim of the May 2022 Derecho. The paintings will be colourful depictions of spring.”
Date: Opens May 8.
Location: Trees in downtown Peterborough:

· Tree to the right of the Peterborough Public Library (in front of the parking lot, 345 Aylmer St N).

· Tree in front of Sandy's Variety Store (near the corner of Aylmer St and Hunter St W).

· Tree behind Black Honey Café in the courtyard (through the alley off of Hunter St W, or the driveway off of Aylmer St next to GreenUP).

· Tree between La Hacienda and Sam’s Place (on Hunter St W).

· Tree in front of Kit Coffee (on Hunter St W between George St and Water St).

Project: POV
Artists: LA Alfonso, Age of Moss (Paul Moss)
Description: In places that act as a default audio/visual history archive, video artists LA Alfonso and Age of Moss (Paul Moss) infiltrate and activate the site’s media file systems for random ephemeral public consumption.
Date: May 8 from 10 pm to Midnight, and then May 9 to May 12, from 9 pm to Midnight.
Location: Paradigm Pictures, 161 King Street.

Project:  Winter Weeds and Spring Shoots
Artist: Sammy Tangir
Description: Winter Weeds is intended as a spark of inspiration to notice plants at a time of year when they are not growing and are likely to be passed by and underappreciated.  This takes form as a zine with a collection of photos of plants in their winter wares! Spring Shoots is an activation that brings the intention of Winter Weeds into the present environment, inviting people to explore and notice the great diversity of spring plants thriving amongst the concrete around Water and Charlotte Street. 
Date: Tuesday May 9th and Wednesday May 10th from 4:30-6:30pm.
Location: Outside Ministry of Natural Resources 300 Water St.

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Call For Expressions of Interest; The Road Mural Mentorship Program

Expressions of interest for the City of Peterborough Public Art Program peer mentorship program are due by May 1.

photo courtesy of the city of peterborough.

The Road Mural Mentorship Program seeks applications from local professional artists interested in gaining hands-on experience in planning and developing a large-scale public artwork. Ten artist mentees will be selected and work directly with mentors on the 2023 road murals. This is a paid mentorship opportunity.

Applications from artists and cultural practitioners living in Peterborough City, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation, and Curve Lake First Nation are welcome.

The application deadline is May 1 at 4 p.m. All applications must be submitted online.

The call for expressions of interest for the program and more information about the program parameters with tips about the application process are on the City’s Public Art webpage.

The Renaissance on Hunter public art projects are administered and funded through the City of Peterborough’s Public Art Program and presented in partnership with the Downtown Business Improvement Area and GreenUP.

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City of Peterborough Calling Poets For Renaissance on Hunter Poetry Gardens Project

The City of Peterborough’s Public Art Program is inviting local poets to submit expressions of interest to the Renaissance on Hunter Poetry Gardens Project announced on Thursday.

Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.

The Renaissance on Hunter public art projects have decorated Hunter Street for the past two years. The planters delineating lane closures in the café district have been transformed into a series of whimsical themed gardens created by artists.

“I’m excited about the vibrancy that the City’s Public Art projects bring to Peterborough – especially to downtown,” said Councillor Joy Lachica. "I encourage local poets to check out this unique opportunity to have your work featured in the Renaissance on Hunter Project and contribute to a thriving downtown.”

The vision for Renaissance on Hunter gardens this year is a meandering wildflower meadow that will serve as a backdrop for a rotation of poetry from June to September according to the City of Peterborough. The project is a partnership with GreenUp, which will design and install the gardens and Peterborough’s Poet Laureate, Ziysah von Bieberstein, who will provide curatorial oversight and support.

This is a two-stage call with the second stage having a short-list of candidates who will be paid an honorarium to develop their proposals. Four to six poets will be commissioned to compose three poems over the course of the summer. 

The call for expressions of interest for the project and more information about the project parameters with tips about the application process are on the City’s Public Art webpage at peterborough.ca/publicart. Applications are accepted from residents in Peterborough, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation, and Curve Lake First Nation are welcome.

The application deadline is May 17 at 4 p.m. All applications must be submitted online.

“From the outset the Renaissance on Hunter projects have encouraged partnerships and collaborations to create more opportunities for artists, ­­and to present projects that reflect a cross-pollination of ideas,” said Wendy Trusler, City of Peterborough public art facilitator. “We are excited to extend an invitation exclusively to poets for this year’s garden project. Incorporating works by text-based artists, poets and writers into public art programming is important for the arts sector and for our community.”

The Renaissance on Hunter public art projects are administered and funded through the City of Peterborough Public Art Program and presented in partnership with the Downtown Business Improvement Area and GreenUP. 

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