Humber’s administration and management program put together an exhibit with a unique twist.
This year’s exhibit focuses on the Etobicoke community and the beautiful nature in the district, Humber student and project lead Lina Cunningham-Bracht said. The previous exhibits in the annual lineup featured art from across the GTA.
“There’s so much art. There’s so many ways someone can view art,” she said.
The theme of the exhibit derives from the Indigenous meaning of Etobicoke itself, “Where the alders grow,” Cunningham-Bracht said in an email statement. “This exhibit examines how personal identity is shaped by the ecological, ancestral and urban landscapes around us.”
The New Vistas: Alder for the Heart exhibit opened Dec. 3 and runs until Jan. 14 at the Etobicoke Civic Centre at 399 The West Mall.
There will be an opening reception with a spoken word performance by poet Amanna Park and an awards presentation, the press release said.
Attendees will also be able to interact with the artists, have light refreshments and fill out a questionnaire for what the public would like to see from next year's exhibit, including the theme, Cunningham-Bracht said.
Arts administration and cultural management program coordinator Michelle Yeung said this collaboration with the city of Toronto will create more opportunities “for artists that are traditionally excluded from many art galleries and exhibits.”
Exhibit Artist Wasifa Noshin said she immigrated to Canada from Bangladesh when she was eight.
She said she wanted to display pieces that related to the Etobicoke theme.
“A lot of it was nature-related, and many of those pieces were created within nature, inspired by nature, in connection and in relation to nature,” Noshin said.
She said she also wanted to showcase the artwork that helps her reconnect with her Bengali culture and personal identity. One of her pieces was of Bengali women. Encapsulating the negative past with the positive future, all utilizing the colours of the Bengali flag.
“Our collective goal is about programming this month-long gallery for the community,” Yeung said. “The ultimate goal here is about addressing and providing a space for equity-deserved communities.”
Yeung said that some of the artists sell their work through the exhibit, while Humber and the city take zero commissions.
Yeung said usually artists would have to pay a display fee when submitting to a gallery, but Humber partially used its $6,000 budget to pay for the display fee.
“What we’re providing is a barrier-free way for artists to bring themselves forward even in the adjudication process, but also to display their work without needing to provide any financial costs to do that,” Yeung said.
Although the artists are not from Humber, the arts administration and cultural management program created a jury of Humber students who selected the art for the exhibit from more than 40 submissions, Cunningham-Bracht said.
Juror Ellena Sardo said the students collectively outlined the criteria used by the jurors for making their selections.
The five jurors used a score sheet consisting of four categories, Sardo said.
The categories comprised of first impressions, how closely the art represented the theme, how well they saw the artist in their art and innovation, she said.
“All the works we have put together here, I believe strongly encapsulate what we are doing for Alder for the Heart,” Sardo said.
Fellow juror and marketing lead, Junique Gooden, said that although it was phenomenal to see all the artwork, it was difficult deciding which art would make the exhibit.
“It was very hard to choose,” she said. “It was all about sticking with the theme.”
From more than 40 submissions, 34 paintings and four sculptures were chosen to display, Cunningham-Bacht said.
After a last-minute “no show,” the number of paintings has dropped to 33, Cunningham-Bacht said in an email.
