By Micheline Shoebridge
It really was an awesome evening at the Patro d’Ottawa on Friday May 10. Lowertown was in full celebration mode! The auditorium was packed and people were standing to see another dynamic show of talent.
Over the past three months, residents of Lowertown of all ages had the opportunity to participate in a series of eighteen free weekly workshops through the MASC Awesome Arts program. The Awesome Arts program is a community-engaged arts-workshop series and festival that allows participants of all ages to connect with each other and explore important issues through the arts.
In this 9th annual Awesome Arts in Lowertown, more than 300 residents experienced over 120 long-term intensive artistic workshops delivered by professional artists in various art forms such as spoken-word poetry, music, storytelling, photography and video, . culminating in a free public festival. The talents of the participants and the professional artists were showcased for the entire community, inspiring them to remain connected with each other, the arts, and issues important to the community.
One of the creations was a CinePoem, created by a group of Lowertown youth who collaborated with former English Poet Laureate Jamaal Jackson Rogers and filmmaker Randy Kelly to create a powerful video homage to Lowertown (spoken word poetry and music-video style). The youth are participants in the Lowertown Community Resource Centre’s Transitions afterschool program. While acknowledging that their neighbourhood has its challenges, “You might find it ugly…some walk, head to the ground, by themselves,” the young poets tout their neighbourhood’s “extreme beauty” and people who “take nothing for granted”. They say they close their “eyes and push fear aside long enough so that we can feel the love.” For them, their neighbourhood “is a place where people from all over the world live differently, but have a great time living together.”
MASC’s dedicated, multi-year commitment to the Lowertown community has helped to build a stronger community and foster positive change. This Awesome Arts Festival on May 10was a showcase for the CinePoem and the many other artistic creations that the community has made in collaboration with professional artists, including two large beautiful murals. The event was filled with a joyous and proud community, a true celebration of the arts. It was an event not to be missed!
Over the past 9 years, Awesome Arts has offered more than 1225 workshops to over 2300 Lowertown residents. The MASC Awesome Arts program has helped Lowertown to create a lasting legacy of hope and beauty through the art that residents have made, including 14 murals and public works of art, over 100 videos such as music videos, cinepoems and mini-documentaries, all featuring Lowertown residents. The videos can be viewed on Youtube at youtube.com/c/AwesomeArtsenfolie. The MASC Awesome Arts’ community partners have grown over the nine years and now include the Lowertown Community Resource Centre, Patro d’Ottawa, Centre de services Guigues, Ottawa Community Housing, York St. Public School and Options Bytown. 2019 was made possible thanks to MASC’s three-year Ontario Trillium Foundation grant. MASC looks forward to working with community partners to find new opportunities to provide artistic and cultural programming to Lowertown.
Micheline Shoebridge,is Co-Executive Director of MASC