A Successful Nuit Blanche Event

We would like to thank everyone for all their help and support for the Nuit Blanche all night event that This Light of Mine was displayed for at 401 Richmond, from 7am - 7pm on October 4th.

We had over 500 people visit the exhibit, many were encouraged and surprised at the art and content created by seniors for the exhibit.

Congrats to all!

CBC 'Here and Now' Radio Interview

We have some exciting news: Tune in to CBCRadioONE (FM 99.1 - Toronto) at 5 45pm today (Fri, Oct. 3rd) for the Hear and Now program. 

'This Light of Mine' project curator Tara Dorey and participating senior artist Joyce Fearnside will be on the show, discussing the project! 

A Successful Opening Reception

This past Friday, September 26th, Belmont House hosted a reception for the opening of the 'This Light of Mine' seniors art exhibit. The auditorium was filled with the excitement and curiosity of participating artists, their families, curious residents, and visitors.

The printed boards included artwork, stories and poetry,
 with the artist bios and information about the work.

Much of the original artwork was on display for the reception.
Paintings by J. Richard Davidson, Drawings by Joyce Fearnside

During this reception, Belmont CEO Maria Elias thanked all those involved in making the project a reality. Local councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam was in attendance, and presented a wonderful speech commending the staff and residents of Belmont House in this endeavor. The group enjoyed snacks and took their time taking in the variety of work, and reading each participating artists' bio and about the work.

It was a particularly special moment to see the participating artists see their work and name on display in such a professional exhibit!

Devon (rec staff) shows Mary (participant) around the exhibit.

Irina (participant) sees her work up in the exhibit.

The full exhibit, featuring 19 artists from Belmont House, will be on display throughout the first floor hallways until Friday, Sept 3rd. Saturday, Oct 4th the exhibit will be moved downtown to 401 Richmond for "the big night," the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche event from dusk til dawn!

A Variety of Creative Submissions

It has been a while - time for an update on how the seniors, staff and organizers at Belmont House have been hard at work putting together work for the exhibit.

We are excited to have so many eager participants who are willing to share creative work such as: beautiful paintings of scenes from growing up in Australia, a childhood song sang in Romanian, quirky pop art paintings, children's fable storytelling, vintage illustration work (from one of Canada's first female illustrators!), and poetry.

These next few weeks we are encouraging and supporting the seniors as they write captions, short biographies, and artist statements to help involve the viewers in what they will share.

It is also an important update to note that we have booked the Belmont House exhibit for display from Friday, September 26th - Thursday, Oct 2nd. All residents, friends and family are invited to come enjoy 'This Light of Mine' Pre-show Exhibit. A reception will be held at Belmont House on Friday, September 26th from 2-3pm.

Sharing Old Photographs! Lots of Fun

On Wednesday, August 6th we asked residents to bring in old photographs and be prepared to tell the stories behind them. We had a great time  sharing and reminiscing!

Looking at Ms McKay's old photos

Mark, our rec staff, shared some funny childhood photos

An old portrait of Trixie

She hasn't changed much, see?

Reading our Poems and Getting to know the Group

Last Wednesday, July 30th the group had the chance to read aloud their poems titled 'I am From'.

Each poem was so unique, and really showed us the diverse backgrounds of our group. We found out members from the group come from Newfoundland, Guyana, Romania, England and beyond. All have precious memories of family get-togethers, family recipes and special heirlooms passed down generations. These poems sparked many ideas for participants individual storytelling projects and revealed to us that we each have a unique story to tell.

Mark, Belmont Rec staff, helps Trixie read her poem aloud.

Next week:
We will see all participants again next Wednesday, August 6th at 2 30pm in the Party Room.
We have asked the participating seniors to bring in old photos and have a chance to share them and the stories behind them. We're very excited to see what comes!

Please note: 
 There will be no workshop session on Wed, Aug 13th as the staff and residents will be busy at a special Belmont House event celebrating Caribbean Festival.

Our First Art and Storytelling Workshop!

Last Wednesday, July 23rd, a group of 11 residents gathered in the Belmont House Party Room for the first Art and Storytelling Workshop! During this session, we introduced ourselves, and had a chance to ask questions about the project.

Our Project Curator Tara led a fill-in-the-blanks poetry exercise that had everyone reminiscing about their past, and what makes us who we are.

Ms. McKay works on her poem

Next Steps:
Every Wednesday in August the group will meet at 2 30pm in the Party Room.  These workshops will be open to residents, who are interested in being a part of our our Nuit Blanche art project.

Next Wednesday, residents will bring in their completed poems and share them with the group.