For Black History Month, LAC worked with Silence Genti, Writer-in-Residence, to develop a series of honest, thoughtful, and inspiring stories highlighting the experiences and perspectives of Black artists in our community. Throughout the month of February, we will be publishing one story each week on our Cultivating Allyship webpage. Silence Genti Silence Genti is a former Zimbabwean journalist now living in London. Silence has written for publications such as Toronto Star, The Beat and NOW and also co-founded The Insider, a now-defunct community newspaper. A father of two, he is an avid community builder dedicated to building a better world for his children. He can be reached via iamsilence.ca. I often say I didn't know I was black until I came to Canada. It’s not that my skin colour changed when I landed at Pearson Airport. Rather, it’s the fact that my melanin became the primary, if not only, definition of who I am. I don’t know how Mathieu Da Costa, the first Black person in Canada according to some records, felt when he landed in what is now Canada as part of a 1604 Portuguese exploration team. But I struggle with the idea that all of me, and who I am, wholly belongs in this narrow box. Four centuries past Da Costa’s expedition, the Black community now accounts for approximately 16% of the population defined as a visible minority. In the last century, artists like Montreal’s Oscar Peterson and Nova Scotia-born contralto Portia White rose to prominence. Their success paved the way for another generation of stars including Jully Black, Michee Mee, Maestro Fresh Wes, Saukrates and Measha Brueggergosman. And London has its fair share of black artists. At present, London’s black community is diverse in origins -- descendants of the early black communities, Africa and the Caribbean and Latin America. JagHuligin was born into a family of five in the Bahamas. He grew up singing in church and his mother pushed for him to be a singer. His grandmother was a folklore singer signed to a major record label. He came to London via Fanshawe College. In true Bahamian fashion, there is a strong maternal figure at the centre of his life. “My mom was always trying to get me to do things. Do this choir thing, she would say. All my Saturdays and Sundays were taken up [because she wanted me to do music]. If it wasn't for her doing that, I wouldn't be here.” His compatriot Asante grew up in Markham, east of Toronto. His mother and father are Haitian & Jamaican respectively. He grew up in what he calls blackness. “I was consuming so many different cultures [when growing up]. Some people around me though only knew black culture when they went to university. Yet I walk into some places where some people feel like they need to prove that they are black.” He has issues with the term black. “I don’t think the word captures who we are. There are Jamaicans, Nigerians, and many others…Why do we allow ourselves to be locked in one box.” “I wouldn’t call myself a black artist. Were it not a business choice, I’d never promote myself as such…Music is more than just colour. I only make music that calls to me.” Jag agrees: “It makes it easier for the industry to label you as black and urban. Because different genres are associated with certain people.” He adds: “Most people seem to identify Black American culture as Black Canadian culture. There are similarities but there are major differences as well.” Nigerian-born visual artist Amsa Yaro agrees American Black culture and history is “jumbled up together” with Canadian. “I was only fully aware of Canada as a country when a relative of mine came to school here and that was the beginning of my full-on awareness of Canada even being in existence, so US black culture and history was more well-known than Canadian, especially in the media.” “Even when I moved here, there wasn't a lot of talk about Canadian black history, you literally had to search for it to find it or you stumble upon it along the way.” There are dangers in failing to recognize the diversity within the black community, she cautions: “By throwing us into one box, we are expected to behave a certain way that if it doesn't fit into the box, it is deemed as a threat. It kills creativity, trust, and fellowship because we are forced to conform or not be understood when things are approached differently. It creates unhealthy competition where resources are hoarded amongst groups, not shared to make the whole stronger.” The vibrancy of the black community, the stories of who we are, can be lost inside a box. If we take the time to know and acknowledge all these layers, all of London becomes richer and benefits from this.

For Black History Month, LAC worked with Silence Genti, Writer-in-Residence, to develop a series of honest, thoughtful, and inspiring stories highlighting the experiences and perspectives of Black artists in our community. Throughout the month of February, we will be publishing one story each week on our Cultivating Allyship webpage. Silence Genti Silence Genti is a former Zimbabwean journalist now living in London. Silence has written for publications such as Toronto Star, The Beat and NOW and also co-founded The Insider, a now-defunct community newspaper. A father of two, he is an avid community builder dedicated to building a better world for his children. He can be reached via iamsilence.ca. Several containers of curry and jerk chicken are being passed around. Three artists are enjoying a meal together on a Thursday afternoon. The conversation is flowing freely like early winter rain. JagHuligin and Amsa Yaro are debating the good and bad of having/not having kids, leading the youngest member of the trio, 23-year-old Asante Deluy, to playfully declare he may be too scared, and scarred, by the conversation to ever have kids. Several half-sliced beef patties remain untouched on the table. As a container of the Caribbean staple of rice and peas is passed around, someone comments that in the Bahamas, they religiously call it “peas n' rice.” The conversation eventually veers towards the month that marks the end of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Every February, Canada seems to dedicate a minute to everyone Black. Artists, speakers and other Black folks receive abundant requests to ‘represent’ - much more than any other month. “Black History Month (BHM) feels like an excuse to jam-pack everything black into one month,” says visual artist Amsa Yaro. Toronto was the first municipality in Canada to proclaim Black History Month in 1979. Almost 20 years later, the rest of Canada followed suit in 1995, after a motion introduced by Dr. Jean Augustine. Augustine was the first Black Canadian woman to serve as a federal Minister and Member of Parliament. “I do tend to get more opportunities, or well, more organizations and ‘people’ tend to reach out more in February,” says Amsa. Born in Nigeria, Amsa has been a London resident for the last few years. She participates in different BHM events. In 2022, she co-hosted a local artist-led art exhibition. “I personally don't see it as an added value to me as I understand mainly why the reach out takes place. It's meant to represent intentional ‘representation or investment towards Black people, black businesses and such'." Music artist Asante is in agreement. As an artist, he welcomes the increased focus on his creative work around February. However, “I definitely don’t feel more valued. I take all the extra opportunities with open arms…but I definitely don’t feel more valued or loved.” The trauma surrounding Black History Month troubles the Richmond-Hill-raised artist. “Black History Month feeds off of trauma. They glorify the lowest points of Black culture and flash it in our face. They focus on slavery and oppressed black people rather than focus on us being Kings and Queens, or us having one of the richest men in history, or even all the inventions our cultures brought to the world.” Bahamas-born artist and performer JagHuligin has been in London for almost a decade. He sees Black History Month as an important tool to learn. “We need to educate ourselves. We need to learn more about Black history.” Jag says being an artist who is also Black can come with being pigeon-holed. “Sometimes there is pressure to tell certain stories.” Asante shies away from being defined through a single lens. “I used to do a lot of events for the Black Students Association. I was careful with what kind of songs I chose. But I never was like ‘let me write a song for that [BHM] event’.” While Black History Month often suggests more opportunities for creators, Asante reminds us that there are usually limited opportunities for Black artists all year round. “We are always competing against one another for the one spot reserved for Black people.” Amsa sees a need for artists and the community to come together. “Historically, we have been taught not to come together as a group. We have to understand: numbers are power." She hopes for less tokenism, and more sincerity when it comes to BHM. “I think the focus of Black History Month is to push the actions, the attention and everything surrounding it beyond the month itself.” Jag says Black artists and other players need to come together. “What do we want London to see during Black History Month? If we take all our BHM ideas and create one big thing, we can make an impact.” Asante, on the other hand, wishes for a bigger and diverse celebration of Blackness. “We need to have African Week and Caribbean Week, food festivals…” Asante is hinting at an issue that many grapple with. How do we unravel and acknowledge the diversity of the Black community? Or more succinctly, what is Black?

For Black History Month, LAC worked with Silence Genti, Writer-in-Residence, to develop a series of honest, thoughtful, and inspiring stories highlighting the experiences and perspectives of black artists in our community. Throughout the month of February, we will be publishing one story each week on our Cultivating Allyship webpage. Silence Genti Silence Genti is a former Zimbabwean journalist now living in London. Silence has written for publications such as Toronto Star, The Beat and NOW and also co-founded The Insider, a now-defunct community newspaper. A father of two, he is an avid community builder dedicated to building a better world for his children. He can be reached via iamsilence.ca. Shohwera! I dreaded that word when I was young in my native Zimbabwe. You see, my mom (and most mothers) always told the story of the boy who got a shohwera, (an inflamed swelling or boil) on the edge of his eyelid because he looked at something he wasn’t supposed to. Discouraging this behaviour was the motivation behind this rather incredulous story. Our children learn from stories as we do. Stories are all around us, helping us make sense of the world and its wonders. They teach us right from wrong, guide, and enrich our lives. Most importantly, they help create a shared understanding of our world. In fact, most traditional cultures have a special role for storytellers. Since the 13th century, griots have been custodians and orators of the history of their communities in West Africa. Dastangoi, in Urdu, is another form and tradition of storytelling as is Rakugo, in Japan. Because stories are so powerful, they can also be dangerous. Often, we rely on single stories to define people, communities, cultures or just things we know nothing about. What causes a restaurant host to assume that when a man and woman walk into a restaurant, the male will pick up the cheque? Why do some look with unasked-for pity when they hear where one was born? Single stories do a disservice to all of us. They reduce our friends, neighbours and fellow human beings to single, monotonous stereotypes. The beauty, and complexity, of humanity can only be captured in the multiple facets and stories of all that we are—happy, sad, joyful, hopeful etc. “One feather does not describe the whole pigeon,” my mother always said. A pigeon has multiple types of feathers—from hair, contour to wing and tail feathers—and thousands of feathers. Each individual is a complex being with so many feathers or layers. Each of us have a myriad of changing stories that explain who we are. The idea that a single story could adequately define anyone or anything is ludicrous at best and damaging at worst, yet we do this every day without missing a beat. Even how we talk to people we meet can limit our ability to get to know them. Within the first few seconds of a conversation, one’s job comes up. "So, what do you do?", we ask. If the other person looks or sounds different from us, we might even start with, "Where were you born?". Questions are a great way of learning—about people and everything around us. They often lead to stories. The type of questions we ask though, may limit how much we learn. Why assume that my job is the most important thing to me? "What brings you joy?" is one of the most stirring questions I have been asked. Such a question allows me to talk about what I care about. It could be my children. It could also be my garden. As we emerge from a COVID reset, our community needs to recuperate our connections to a world that was shaken to its roots by the pandemic, to each other, and build anew. Stories are a way of understanding and getting to really know each other. Stories delve into more of who each of us is, and peel back past the first layer.

Submissions for this program are now closed. The London Arts Council (LAC) invites visual artists and creators residing in London, Ontario, surrounding First Nations (the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, the Oneida Nation of the Thames, and the Munsee-Delaware Nation) to apply for a paid opportunity to participate in LAC’s new community-focused arts program, Belong – Inclusive Arts Experiences for Children and Youth asArtist-Educator Mentors (5 mentors) or Artist-Educator Mentees (10 mentees). Applications will be accepted through the online application only, until Friday, January 20, 2023 at 4:00 pm. Program Overview: Belong – Inclusive Arts Experiences for Children and Youth Belong is a new community-focused inclusive arts program that will include weekly arts activities at 5 different neighbourhood resource centres. This program will provide: children and youth with high-quality, inclusive arts education experiences that promote creativity, self-exploration/expression, and a sense of belonging emerging artists/creators with authentic and enriched apprenticeship/mentorship opportunities through co-development/delivery of arts sessions and mentorship sessions professional artistic programming for neighbourhood resource centres that serve newcomer and low-income populations, thus furthering their mission for their community Artist-Educator Mentors will take part in Belong for 2 terms (14 months). This will involve orientation and training, concept development, co-creating lesson plans with mentees, monthly one-on-one mentorship sessions, and delivery of 40 (3 hour weekly) arts sessions, including time for setup and cleanup. Mentors will be compensated at a rate of $50 per hour for delivering programs and $25 per hour for orientation, training, mentorship sessions, development, planning, and preparation. Note: The time commitment is estimated to encompass approximately one day a week (*one day and a half for a 2-month period) and total payment that goes directly to each artist-educator mentor will be $11,500.00 Artist-Educator Mentees will take part in Belong for 1 term (8 months). This will include orientation, training, co-creating lesson plans with a mentor and a fellow mentee, monthly one-on-one mentorship sessions, and delivery of 22 (3 hour weekly) arts sessions, including time for setup and cleanup. Mentees will be paid $30 an hour for program delivery and $20 per hour for orientation, training, mentorship session, development, planning, and preparation. Note: The time commitment is estimated to encompass approximately five hours a week and will pay a total of $3,300.00 Online Submission Artists/creators wishing to be considered MUST read the application package thoroughly prior to filling out the online application form and complete all application requirements. Please complete all required fields of the online application form and submit the required application documents. Incomplete and/or late applications will not be accepted. Applications submitted through other means, such as fax, mail, and email will not be accepted. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the application is submitted by the deadline - Friday, January 20, 2023 at 4:00 pm. Artist-Educator Mentors: Artist-Educator Mentees: For any questions about this project please contact info@londonarts.ca For any Call to Artists updates please check the website at www.londonarts.ca *The Belong program is supported through the City of London's London Community Recovery Network (LCRN)*

Veronica Antipolo joined the London Arts Council team as Administrator, Cultivating Allyship in 2022. She brought with her 20+ years of administrative experience, as well as extensive experience in writing, storytelling, and event production, with an emphasis on amplifying the voices of equity-deserving communities. With LAC’s Writer-in-Residence, Silence Genti, Veronica co-curated the Cultivating Allyship Storytelling Series, and has facilitated listening sessions with IBPOC communities focused on building meaningful connection and developing equitable and accessible programming and practices. Veronica will be starting at TAP Centre for Creativity as Outreach Coordinator, and will spend more time on her storytelling and event production passions. While we’re sad to see Veronica go, we’re excited for her and wish her the best on the next leg of her artistic journey! Thank you for bringing so much enthusiasm and passion to our team, Veronica! ❤ - The LAC team

ATTENTION local Non-Profit Arts Organizations! Applications for 2023 CAIP funding are now open! Spread the word, and make sure to get those applications in by FEBRUARY 10, 2023, 4:30PM.

Expressions of Interest (EOI) To celebrate and promote the UNESCO City of Music designation, the London Arts Council (LAC) invites artists and creators residing in London, Ontario, surrounding First Nations (the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, the Oneida Nation of the Thames, and the Munsee-Delaware Nation) to submit expressions of interest (EOI) with a preliminary design proposal to be considered for the UNESCO City of Music Mural Project. For this highly prestigious opportunity to create a prominent mural at RBC Place London representing the unique and momentous designation, the artwork should be themed on the ‘City of Music’. A jury, encompassing members of the arts community will select four artists/creators (4) in total - three finalists (3) for the award of $500.00 and a winner (1) for the award of the commission, and the winner will complete the design proposal by working with LAC and the City. Submissions for this project are now closed. UNESCO City of Music Mural Project Description On November 8, 2021, the City of London was recognized as Canada’s first UNESCO City of Music, joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). UCCN strives to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. To celebrate and promote this unique and momentous designation, LAC will administer the creation of a large-scale mural project (approx. 40 ft wide by 4 ft tall) on behalf of the City of London Culture Services as part of the City of London Public Art and Monument program. The selected artist/creator for the commission will complete the design proposal by working with LAC and create a mural on five wooden panels (each panel is about 8 ft wide by 4 ft tall) specially constructed and primed by a professional carpenter for this project. The mural will be painted in an artist studio or, if available, in a designated space within the RBC Place London facility. After painting the mural, the artist/creator MUST apply a water-based sealant to protect it. When the mural is finished, the artist/creator MUST deliver each panel to RBC Place London safely for installation. For the installation, the LAC's professional installer will mount the panels to the bulkhead. The panels can be moved together or separately to a variety of locations. As a result, the artist/creator should consider different panel configurations for the mural design, such as horizontal, vertical, separately, together, or in groups. The mural design may be modular, with each panel able to be displayed together in various configurations or separately. [Mural location: Inside of RBC Place London, Main Lobby, Bulkhead] Timeline and Process (Project Duration: November 2022 – March 2023) The selected artist/creator will be expected to comply with the project’s general timeline dates, as listed below: Budget Please note: the artist/creator is NOT responsible for development of wooden panels, as well as the installation process and associated costs. **You MUST read the full information pacakage about this opportunity prior to filling out the online application.** This information package includes important information including jury criteria and the design proposal. To view this information package, please download the following file: Online Submission Artists/creators wishing to be considered must complete all application requirements. Please complete all required fields of the online application form and submit the required application documents. Incomplete and/or late applications will not be accepted. Applications submitted through other means, such as fax, mail, and email will not be accepted. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the application is submitted by the deadline. For any questions about this project please contact info@londonarts.ca For any Call to Artists updates please check the website at www.londonarts.ca

Each year, the London Arts Council invites nominations for the Mayor’s New Year’s Honour List for an honouree in the Arts category. Eligible nominees are professional artists and active volunteers whose artistic excellence or outstanding contribution of service deserves recognition. Through a juried process, a recipient is then recommended to the City. This year, Karen Schindler has been named to the Mayor’s New Year’s Honour List in the Arts category. Congratulations Karen!! A much deserved distinction for many years of passionate creation and support of the literary arts sector in London! Karen is a regular CAIP (Community Arts Investment Program) recipient for her professional, community-focused work with Baseline Press, which she started 12 years ago. Baseline Press is a micro-press based in London, through which Karen publishes work by Canadian poets (including many from London) in beautiful chapbooks that she binds with lots of heart, and completely by hand! She volunteered as the Director of the Antler River Poetry Reading Series for 10 years, and actively supports numerous literary events and initiatives in the city, is an inspiring mentor to emerging presses and writers within the community, and has been integral in developing London’s literary scene as a welcoming and thriving environment. You can find more information about Karen’s amazing contributions to the community, as well as those of the other recipients on this year’s list, by visiting: https://london.ca/mayors-new-years-honour-list

Veronica brings 20 years+ of administration experience and a commitment to amplify and provide access for diversity. Meet Veronica Antipolo Veronica brings 20 years+ of administration experience and a commitment to amplify and provide access for diversity. As a storyteller, she shares stories (sometimes through comedy) and helps others share theirs by telling them, writing them, and, producing events and shows. She co-founded MOSAIC Untold Lives – a storytelling platform for Women of Colour. She was the 2020 and 2021 livestream event producer for CineFam Film Festival which showcases films by creators of colour. Her stories and comedy have been featured in CBC’s The Doc Project, Reader’s Digest, Stories We Don’t Tell, and the award-winning RICE Asian comedy podcast. Ask Me Anything - with Veronica Antipolo Who is someone you admire, and why? There are two people. My son and my daughter. My son is funny, kind and selfless. My daughter is confident, strong, sure of what she wants. I make an effort to grow to be more like them. What do you want to make sure you do before you die? Live…like, really live – for the moments, for what I care about, for the laughter. I try to DO life as opportunities come up and make my own opportunities. A ‘before I die’ checklist would be forgotten at home like the grocery list. What do you think are the best skills that you bring to your job? I bring 20+ years of senior administrative experience. I understand how the granular makes up the bigger picture and vice versa. I like people - talking with, listening to, and observing them. As a storyteller who is second generation Canadian of Southeast Asian heritage, I’m passionate about amplifying, representing, and sharing diverse narratives.

Language is considered by UNESCO to be “a vehicle of intangible cultural heritage.” London Arts Council (LAC) acknowledges the undeniable link between a culture’s language and the expression of unique perspectives and beliefs that are conveyed through storytelling and the creation of culturally distinct and diverse artforms. As such, LAC and City of London, Culture Services support Indigenous language revitalization efforts by working with Indigenous community members to provide translations of written descriptions associated with the Indigenous artworks created through the City of London’s Public Art and Monument Program. “Intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.” Consequently, a loss of language results in the stripping away of cultural expression, creativity, and identity. As a result of the Residential School System that existed in Canada until 1996 which took Indigenous children away from their families and communities, and worked to strip Indigenous peoples of their cultural identity and memory, many Indigenous languages can be found listed in UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger as severely endangered (the language is spoken exclusively by grandparents and older generations) or critically endangered (the language is spoken exclusively by grandparents and older generations, partially and infrequently.) “Indigenous-languages experts know that if we are to reverse the trend of language loss, then the goal is to create more fluent speakers, and support immersion programs” writes Mohawk activist, Ellen Gabriel, in her paper “Indigenous Languages: A Fundamental Right to Defend.” In the case of endangered Indigenous languages, “first-language speakers are the Indigenous-language experts, and must be at the forefront of solutions…It is evident that in order for a language to survive, the youth and children must be speaking it, as they are the future.” For the We Are Still Here mural project, we worked with Ojibwe Language Teacher, Eli Baxter, to translate each panel description into the Ojibwe language. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work with community members such as Eli Baxter, as they work to educate younger generations and keep Indigenous culture and language alive. *This language revitalization initiative is supported by the City of London, Culture Services* You can download a pdf of the translated panel descriptions here:

Michael is a graduate of Fanshawe College in Business Accounting, and brings 17 years of accounting experience to the London Arts Council. Meet Michael Trudgen Michael is a graduate of Fanshawe College in Business Accounting, and brings 17 years of accounting experience to the London Arts Council. When he is not counting beans, you may find him performing around London as a solo guitarist or along side Leanne Mayer. Michael was chosen as the Forest City London Music Award for Fan Favourite 2021, 98.1Free FM’s Made in London 2017 for his then band With A Fox, and has been a part of the London Arts Live program since 2015. Ask Me Anything - with Michael Trudgen What is your artistic background? My artistic background is music writing and production. I started learning piano at age six and moved onto guitar in my early teens. I would spend countless hours exploring musical ideas and writing my own melodies ever since I was a child. I have produced two full length albums, most recent is “All the Pretty Things,” a collection of instrumental acoustic songs; I also have co-produced 2 EP’s for my late band “With a Fox,” which received a 98.1FM “Made in London” award in 2017. I’ve produced a total of 40 recordings, in multiple genres and projects over the years since 2013; and I am looking to do more recording, always. What are you happiest doing, when you’re not working? I have to say I am happiest producing and recording my artwork and/or being with my two dogs. You haven’t lived until you’ve play wrestled with a Newfoundlander pup!

- Nominations Closed - Deadline September 16th, 2022 at 4:30pm. When first awarded in 1976, the annual Honour List recognized only contributions to the arts. Several additional categories were added in 1989, and the Honour List now recognizes Londoners' professional and philanthropic work in nine diverse fields. ​ Each year, the London Arts Council invites nominations for the honouree in the Arts category. Eligible nominees are professional artists and active volunteers whose artistic excellence or outstanding contribution of service deserves recognition.