Energize! A Multi-Arts Symposium held in Port Perry on Friday, March 24 was a meaningful experience for participants and presenters alike! 

Welcoming remarks were given by Scugog Arts President Marion Meyers and Scugog Mayor Wilma Wotten and then host Greg Murphy began his role for the day by introducing artist/educator Holly Dean. Holly talked about how she dropped art in high school only to take up calligraphy which led to collage and book arts and eventually a career in the arts. 

Holly created a collage throughout the morning which captured the thoughts of the participants reflecting on how they had coped during the pandemic. Some of the words and phrases were: “embraced peace and quiet” , “jamming with my ukulele buddies”, “walking in the forest” and “discovering community”.

Three morning speakers, Georgia Fullerton, Greg Frankson and Lynne McIlvride, each offered a different perspective on their creative journey. Georgia talked about her path to the arts and her work as an arts therapist, Greg spoke about finding his own voice and encouraging others to do the same and performed two of his poems while Lynne spoke from the heart about how her life and her art have intertwined through love, loss and creativity.

A delicious lunch was followed by two back-to-back workshops where participants created art, wrote poems, learned to drum and laughed while trying improvisation.  Holly, Greg and Georgia were joined by dummer Tanya Porter and actor/improv instructor Steve Hobbs.  One person who took the drum workshop said that she loved it so much that she planned to buy a drum asap!

To cap off a wonderful day, Aysanabee performed his own beautiful and, at times, haunting music. Between songs, he talked about his early years living in Sandy Lake First Nation, his career path and his commitment to pursue music full time resulting in a whirlwind year and a Juno nomination. 

Thank you to the speakers, workshop leaders, host, volunteers, staff, tech and food crews and everyone who attended. It was a meaningful, fun and energizing day! 

If you attended and have feedback and/or photos to share, please contact Roz Pritchard at [email protected]

Thank you to Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Government of Ontario for funding through the OTF Resilient Communities Fund.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This