SHADOWS OF RACISM: A SEAT AT THE TABLE 2023
A Partnership between MAMC and ALPHA Education 
December 2022- October 2023 Ontario Science Centre
In this project, 196 Grade 9-12 students were invited to bring a guest to the table of diverse voices and consider the qualities in the guest that resonated personally for them.
The table symbolizes togetherness, a place for rituals that celebrate family and community. It's a place of advocacy where each person "at the table" gets the same opportunities to listen, share, define, and influence without judgment or retribution. 
MAMC’s interaction with students generated individualized responses that became part of a larger whole.
Each table was curated thematically as a dinner conversation. MAMC invited visitors to imagine the many conversations stimulated by extraordinary achievement, social activism, public engagement, and advocacy.
The students addressed the issues of today- homelessness, food insecurity, the crisis in health care,  mental health, loss, family reunification, and personal triumph.
We thank ALPHA Education and the various school boards for an enriching collaboration.

GETTING TO KNOW OUR NEIGHBOURS
A Partnership between MAMC, Mason Studio, and Davenport Perth Neighbourhood and Community Health Centre, Tuesday Drop in (DPNCHC)
September 7th - October 26th, 2023

THIS IS WHO WE ARE
A Partnership between MAMC and The Mabin School
27 September - 22 November, 2023 
The Mabin School Intergenerational Project 
Elena Soní and Vanessa Barnett facilitated the creation of a mural to visually represent The Mabin School’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) practice.
The Grade 4 students engaged with their grandparents and volunteer elders in discussions to identify examples of EDI in the school. 
The group of 21 students and 13 adults met the challenge of finding a visual language to express examples of EDI in the community with enthusiasm, albeit with a bit of initial trepidation.
As the sessions progressed with MAMC facilitators guiding the process of skill-building and self-confidence the art began to emerge. 
The emphasis on community-building, encouraging social interaction across generations, and collaboration between participants is at the heart of the work. Witnessing how relationships began to form in meaningful ways was very rewarding. 
The remaining students and staff members also contributed their self-portraits to the mural, representing a truly collaborative school-wide effort. A total of 187 portraits were created. The school organized a celebration for the unveiling of the mural with many students' speeches and joy all around. 

TOGETHER: DREAMING of PASTS AND FUTURES
A Partnership between MAMC and The Koffler Center of the Arts
October 13th-  October 31st, 2023

The Koffler Centre of the Arts exhibit:  “The Synagogue at Babyn Yar: Turning the Nightmare of Evil into a Shared Dream of Good”  was the catalyst for the artwork created in this project. Participants were given a package of art materials, carefully selected by MAMC.
A palette of sepia tonalities was specifically chosen because it related to the architect Manuel Herz’s initial ideas for the interior decoration of the Synagogue at Babyn Yar. The two wooden boards, walnut ink, charcoal, lithographic crayon, sepia contè, and corrugated cardboard were invitations to exploration and creative possibilities. MAMC’s facilitators guided the participants and drew out the stories that emerged.  
Over one month, participants gathered once a week to discuss concepts of othering, palimpsest, current events, and personal histories as they developed their visual vocabulary.
MAMC facilitators were able to foster an environment where each artist expressed a wide range of emotions and complicated feelings; from sadness to outrage to gratitude and love.
The final product is the outcome of 5 weeks of collaboration, respectful discussion, and reflective practice among participants; a group of strangers became intimately connected and friendships were forged. 
Each participant developed a fully realized work citing their own multi-layered personal experiences. 
The project illustrates the power of art as a restorative process- a receptacle for fear, a mechanism for good and a catalyst for change. 

Nadie Me Quita Lo Bailado (No One Can Take Away the Times I Have Danced)
October 7th, to November -December 5th, 2023. Exhibit @MOCA January 16th to 27th, 2024
A Partnership between MAMC, DPNCHC, and MOCA 

MOCA invited MAMC to design and deliver an outreach project for seniors. Twelve participants from DPNCHC, Seniors Services would respond to Liz Magor, Phyllida Barlow, and the Wedge collection.
MAMC’s research of The Wedge Collection, Magor, and Barlow, suggests that the common denominator among the three exhibits is the validation of lives lived on the edges, - this is also true when looking at discarded materials that are repurposed and given a new narrative as Barlow and Magor have done. 
MAMC chose to call the project “Nadie Me Quita Lo Bailado" (No One Can Take Away the Times I Have Danced). In Latin America, this is a saying used to remind oneself or tell others of a life lived to the fullest.
The participants were given the challenge of finding a visual vocabulary using discarded materials for their creative process. Older people often become invisible, yet rich layers of experience are revealed in their stories. In response to The Wedge, participants painted self-portraits as a way of being present and noticed.
In their art, they have recreated memories of making toys from leftover things, of moments of joy, of life being a hopeful yet difficult journey and descending from the Andean peaks to build a new life by standing tall. 
The Work will be shown at MOCA from January 16^th, 2024, to January 28^th, 2024, inviting the public to be part of the dialogue.

Our sincere thanks to our Donors, and Members of the Board, Advisors and Staff!

A huge thanks to all the participants of our projects, you taught us so much!!

We couldn’t do this without you and are so grateful to have you by our side.