The deadline for this participant call has now passed! East End Arts invites senior participants to join us for TAPESTRY! We are looking for up to 40 seniors throughout east Toronto and beyond to join us in this at-home art program.
TAPESTRY
August 2023 – March 2024
Taking Place Online through Zoom, and In-Person at our Clubhouse!
FREE to Participate | REGISTER HERE
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS, TAPESTRY: STITCHED STORIES
Are you a local senior with a passion for textile arts, community, and storytelling? East End Arts is looking for a group of creative, passionate seniors to join us for the second season of our hybrid program, TAPESTRY: Stitched Stories! This is a textile-based art program that allows up to 40 seniors in the east end of Toronto to try new textile art skills, learn basic digital literacy skills, and connect and get creative with other seniors!
TAPESTRY: Stitched Stories will take place over the course of six months – August 2023 to February 2024, and will feature six monthly textile workshops, all led by different textile artist facilitators. Each month senior participants will work towards completing a panel (roughly 10X10″) that will demonstrate their new textile art skill in whatever way they choose. Throughout the program participating seniors will also receive a combination of creative prompts to help keep inspiration and creativity high to contribute to the completion of their panels.
While the majority of the program will take place online through Zoom workshops and Facebook group chats, there will also be volunteer-led meetups and fabric swaps where seniors can meet at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse to have conversations around textile practice and share insights with their peers. This program will culminate with an in-person exhibition at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse where all of the panels from all of the workshops will come together to create six large-scale group tapestries for the community to see!
Our experience with the COVID-19 Pandemic has shown us the importance of remaining connected – digitally and otherwise – and our experiences working with seniors through past programs like Doorstop Diaries or the first season of TAPESTRY, have taught us that the arts are an incredible tool for creating that connection! This program is entirely FREE to join, and will also focus on helping seniors to enhance their digital literacy in order to better participate in the online world (i.e. through video conferencing, social media skills, and more). Join us in this exciting opportunity to learn and create together.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Participating Seniors in this program will receive:
- A fulsome kit of materials including fabrics, patterns, and the necessary materials to create textile art to engage in the arts workshops;
- A journal in which to write about and share their insights into the themes explored in each monthly textile workshop;
- 6 arts workshops (Online using Zoom) with our talented artist facilitators to learn new creative techniques to apply to their collaborative quilts;
- Bi-weekly art prompts sent to your email inbox, to spark your creativity and give you inspiration;
- Lessons on using online technology like Zoom and social media platforms, as well as one on one tech support throughout the course of the program;
- A special in-person exhibition to show off their final textile creations at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse;
- And a unique opportunity to be a part of a vibrant community of creative elders!
PROGRAM JURY & SELECTION PROCESS
TAPESTRY: Stitched Stories will engage our senior participants as program designers as well, allowing them to guide the vision of this program. Interested participants of this program will be invited to join East End Arts staff in a Program Jury to review and choose three to six artists from our Call for Textile Artists to take part in this program! The Jury will take place in June, 2023 and will help to shape the workshops and the art that YOU want to learn about.
IMPORTANT DATES
- June 2, 2023 – Deadline for this Call for Participants.
- June 9, 2023 – Participants will receive confirmation for their entry into the program.
- June 20-22, 2023 – Interested participants will engage in a Program Jury to select the final artists for this program.
- Week of July 31st, 2023 – First Hello Party, welcoming all our participants to the program (in person or online, TBC).
- August 2023 to February 2024 – Zoom workshops will take place monthly with our Artist Facilitators, as well as scheduled in-person fabric swaps and meetups.
- March 2024 – Assembly dates for seniors to come together and sew their panels together into large-scale tapestries.
- March 2024 – Final TAPESTRY Exhibition at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse.
ACCESSIBILITY
All workshops for TAPESTRY: Stitched Stories will take place online. Participation requires access to the internet, an email address (preferable one with Gmail), and a free account with Zoom. If you have specific accessibility requirements, we encourage you to reach out to our Office Coordinator Tyler at, tyler@eastendarts.ca
APPLY TO PARTICIPATE BELOW!
Thank you for your interest in TAPESTRY: Stitched Stories. To join us as a participant, please fill out the form by clicking the button below. Priority will be given to applications from seniors who are local east Toronto residents, members of our priority groups, and individuals who can commit to participating in the entire project.
FUNDER OF TAPESTRY: STITCHED STORIES
