Bringing the Arts to Toronto’s Parks
“Working outdoors adds so much depth to a performance,” says Anne Barber, Artistic Director of Shadowland Theatre, a renowned arts performance company that uses masks, puppetry, stilts, live music and visual imagery in its work. Barber should know; her company specializes in working and presenting art outdoors. Environmental factors such as weather or sounds and smells can heighten the experience and add to the narrative. Artists must be able to adapt quickly, as well as audiences.
For the third consecutive summer, Shadowland Theatre is returning to Alexmuir Park as part of Arts in the Parks, an initiative of Toronto Arts Foundation and Toronto Arts Council in partnership with Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation and Park People. Shadowland will be stationed at the park from July 9-13, inviting the public to participate in free workshops that cover stilt-walking, costume making, puppetry and more, culminating in a community parade.
“Since this is our third year at Alexmuir, we have come to know so many people in the neighbourhood, who are repeat participants in the projects and it is wonderful to see familiar faces again,” says Barber. One enthusiastic participant, Jacky Sea-Chung Chan, has participated in Shadowland’s activities every year. He’s meeting lots of neighbours, and it’s convenient for him to participate because the park is close to his house. This was one of the goals of Arts in the Parks: by bringing over 300 free arts events to 40 parks in North York, Etobicoke-York, Scarborough, Downtown and the East End, more people can take part and enjoy the arts without having to travel far.
Located in Agincourt North, Scarborough, there is a strong Chinese community that surrounds Alexmuir Park. When workshop participants and Shadowland staff members can’t communicate in words, the universal language of the arts fills in. Through visuals, sounds, imagination and gesture, everyone shares the joys of the arts.
In the most diverse city in the world, the arts are a uniting force in Toronto. With the Arts in the Parks program, artists and residents are stepping outdoors and coming together to learn, engage and experiment through the arts. In Shadowland’s case, programming will focus on learning about birds with the help of an Indigenous teacher and bird expert. Having a park as a venue definitely helps with that. “By creating art within and about the park, we and the participants see the landscape in a new way,” says Barber. “By learning about the birds, animals, trees, and plant-life, people become less fearful of the “wild” and instead become stewards of their own green spaces,” she continues.
This summer, take a step outdoors and enjoy the arts in a park near you. Events kick off on June 16. Visit www.artsintheparksto.org for listings.