1. Greetings from The Public!

Happy new year to all our readers! 2017 has kept us busier than ever, especially as we set up our new studio and sow the seeds for some very exciting upcoming programming! At the same time, we've also been witnessing and feeling the impact of the many heartbreaking events unfolding locally and across the world.

It is with love and rage that The Public denounces the recent displays of white supremacy and disrespect for our planet by the Trump administration, and affirms the political resistance mobilized in the face of attempts at dehumanizing those of us who are: Muslim, Black, Indigenous, people of color, poor, migrants, queer, trans, and women. During these difficult times, we continue to work in solidarity with these movements and communities organizing against racism, misogyny, and authoritarianism.  

We bear witness to the harm experienced by our communities as well as the possibilities that unfold within each of us and with each act of resistance. We embrace strategies of self-love, compassion, and vulnerability as much as tactics of direct action and civil disobedience. We remain grounded in a visionary framework of collective liberation that can hold the complexities and tensions of striving for a better world while having to navigate systemic oppression.

2. The Public News: In the Studio

People’s History Poster Sale

Between now and May, The Public’s People’s History Posters are on sale in support of the families and communities who lost loved ones in the shooting at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec on Sunday, January 29. Our People’s History Posters are designed in house, handmade and screen-printed with love, and highlight key social justice struggles regarding: migration, decolonization, Islamophobia, the environment, sexual and gendered violence, workers’ rights, and the criminalization of AIDS.

All proceeds from poster sales will go to support the families of the victims of the attack. You can view and purchase our posters at our Etsy store hereand read more about the fundraising campaign hosted by Canada Zakat here.

ZeroLab Collaboration

The Public is collaborating with ZeroLab at OCAD University to develop resources and systems for fostering sustainable communities by researching issues at the intersection of art, design, and gentrification. Thanks to ZeroLab, we’ll be working with research assistants to imagine a gallery system that operates outside of non- and for-profit models, while remaining accountable to social justice principles, and to develop a toolkit for artists and designers that offers frameworks for developing practices and policies that honour and respect existing communities.

“Writing While Black” at Mayworks Festival

The Public is excited to be co-presenting the workshop “Writing While Black” as part of this year’s Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts. This workshop will examine the ways in which indie print-culture can galvanize movements for racialized people through the zine medium, including a zine-making segment for participants. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 6th and stay tuned for more event details in the lead up to May!

We’re on Instagram!

The Public is now on Instagram! Follow @thepublicstudio.ca to stay up-to-date on the all the beautiful details of studio life, visitors (human and canine), workshops/events, and news!

3. The Public News: In the Gallery

The Public Gallery

We’re thrilled to announce that The Public now houses our very own gallery, featuring art that explores issues of social justice and anti-oppression! We believe that art should be accessible — created and enjoyed by everybody, — and inspire change. Our street-facing window gallery can be viewed anytime from Lansdowne Avenue at Seaforth Avenue. Stay up-to-date with our past, present, and future exhibitions in the Gallery section of our website, and right here, in our newsletter’s Gallery section!

Common Threads

Currently on display, Common Threads is a collective visioning that explores the intersections between the values that inform The Public’s community-based work, the visionary practices that we seek to incorporate in the world, and the art we practice every day. We are excited to join the vibrant community of Parkdale, to exchange skills, to share knowledge, and to continue to grow this vision together. A special shout out to Jessica, our research assistant from York University, for the catchy title!

Black Future Month 3017

From February 11 to April 4, our gallery will be home to the Annual Black Future Month Exhibition, featuring work from Black Future Month 3017's collection of artists, exploring the far-off distant future envisioned by Black people. This quantum leap into the future, takes us not only 50 or even 100 years ahead, but 1000 years. The distant date is meant to provide a platform that enables Black people to break from the historic ties of oppression still prominent today.

4. The People News: In the Community

Text as Image, Text as Voice: Youth Banner Workshop
Saturday February 11, 1pm – 4pm at Workers Arts & Hertiage Centre in Hamilton

In support of the Workers Arts & Hertiage Centre’s Winter exhibition All or None, this workshop offers emerging artists, young activists, allies and teens aged 16-25 years a hands-on learning experience on the art of banner making. Facilitator Kandis Friesen will introduce the artwork of contemporary artists and social justice movements, and then lead the group in making a banner from start to finish using basic tools and a DIY approach. Find out more info on this event here!

12th Annual Strawberry Ceremony
Thursday February 14, 12:30pm - 1:30pm at Toronto Police Headquarters

Every year, the Strawberry Ceremony brings us together to honour the women, girls, trans and two-spirit people who have died violent and premature deaths. On February 14th friends, family, and allies gather together in solidarity with the women who started this vigil over 20 years ago in Vancouver's DTES, and with the marches and rallies that will be taking place across this land. The ceremony also stands against the complicity of the state in the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women and the impunity of state institutions and actors that prevents justice for all Indigenous peoples. Find out more about the ceremony here!

Queering Black History Month: Exploring Our Queerness: African Immigrants in the Diaspora
Friday March 10, 6pm – 9pm at Ryerson Student Centre

Queering Black History Month is a space to celebrate and honor the lives, experiences, and achievements of queer and trans African, Black and Caribbean people. Hosted by Rye Pride, this event is part of Ryerson University’s’ Black History Month events, focusing on Black excellence, community, and resilience. Find more info on guest speakers and performers and the full program of events here!

5. The Public News: On the streets

Natalia is enjoying her time teaching at George Brown this winter term, the mild winter, and playing this video over and over again. Her shoegaze/pop band moon worship, just recently released their demo and will hopefully be playing shows this coming spring!

Anabel is harnessing the fire rooster energy of this Lunar New Year by focusing on her action plans and purposeful skill-building. She recently attended facilitator trainings on Theatre of the Oppressed and Creative Facilitation Tools, hosted by Tools for Change, and Shame and Self-Loathing in the Treatment of Trauma,a somatic psychotherapy training hosted by the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres. She is also developing visual artwork to pitch to Our Future is Queer: A Sci-Fi and Fantasy Exhibition at the Multi-Faith Centre for Spiritual Study and Practice at the University of Toronto.

Sheila is back to teaching sci-fi and social justice at OCAD U, and supporting students through their thesis projects for the annual graduate exhibition. On the Shameless front, she's wrapping up the spring politics issue, slating the summer mental health issue, and scheming with her co-conspirators to start up a chapter of the Radical Monarchs here in Toronto. She is looking forward to a Valentine's Day twitter chat about love with the International Festival of Authors, a guest talk on community arts at York University, and a panel on diversity in image-making with the Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario. Next weekend, she'll be playing guitar at the first adult Girl's Rock Camp Toronto weekend, and is excitedly practicing her dance moves for her new future band.

6. What we're working on

• App design for a Hep C E-Book for CATIE
• A Women’s Equality project for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario 
• Workshop and newsletter design for OPSEU local 558
• LGBTQ Youth campaign materials for Planned Parenthood Toronto
• Co-design of a sexual health activity book for Planned Parenthood Toronto
• A marketing and communications strategy for Tangled Art + Disability
• Re-brand and site re-design for The Housing Help Centre
• Spring 2017 Issue of Sex Etc. magazine and lesson plan
• Materials for healthcare providers and website re-design for PASAN
• Website re-design for SACHA

7. What we've done

• Winter 2016 Issue of Sex, Etc. magazine and lesson plan
• Calendar for OPSEU members working within healthcare
• Handbook for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
• Workshop facilitation for the Sexual Assault: The Roadshow at OCAD University

8. Housekeeping!

We’re in our new studio at 58 Lansdowne Avenue, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. Stop by during these hours to say hello to us (and our studio dog, Casey), or view what’s on in The Public Gallery from the street corner any time!