Electric City Culture Council Name Recipient of Bierk Art Bursary

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) has awarded the 2024 Bierk Art Bursary for Post-Secondary Studies in Visual Arts, Media Arts, Architecture and Design to Victoria Nunez.

Bierk Art Bursary 2024 recipient Victoria Nunez. The Bierk Art Bursary Program was established to recognize arts champion and supporter Liz Bierk, and to honour the contributions she and her husband, painter David Bierk, made to the arts in Peterborough. Photo courtesy of the Electric City Culture Council.

Nunez is graduating from Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School and will pursue a Bachelor of Interior Design at Humber College in the fall.

This $1,000 bursary is awarded to graduating Peterborough-area high school art students whose work demonstrates great promise (artistic merit) and who are committed to pursuing further studies at the post-secondary level in the visual arts, media arts, architecture, or design. 

“Victoria Nunez impressed the Selection Committee (distinguished artists and teachers, Cyd Hosker and Spencer Harrison) with her clearly demonstrated interest in examining design and the interior spacial elements of architecture,” said Su Ditta, EC3 executive director. “She will clearly benefit from all the possibilities the Humber program offers and we wish her every success.”

Wells Cathedral. All photos courtesy of Electric City Culture Council.

Christmas Ornaments.

Shower Head.

Nunez will be recognized and the bursary will be officially presented at the Mayor’s Luncheon for the Arts at the Canadian Canoe Museum on Oct. 10.

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Nominations Open For The City of Peterborough's Next Poet Laureate

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) and The City of Peterborough launched the Peterborough Poet Laureate Program for 2024.  

PHOTO COURTESY OF EC3.

The Peterborough Poet Laureate is an honorary position established to recognize the excellence and outstanding achievements of professional poets living and working in Peterborough and Peterborough County.

The Peterborough Poet Laureate advocates for poetry and spoken word art, for the arts in general and the City of Peterborough and its residents. They compose works to be presented at Peterborough City Council meetings and other City of Peterborough civic events and occasions. Poets Laureate may also be available to speak at schools, libraries and other organizations. As of this year, the Peterborough Poet Laureate is a two-year position, and they will receive an honorarium of $4,000.00 across their term. 

The Peterborough Poet Laureate Program was launched as a pilot in 2021-22. Curve Lake spoken word artist Sarah Lewis was named Peterborough’s first-ever Poet Laureate. Following an extremely successful term that included four appearances at official City occasions and some 70 additional engagements, Peterborough’s City Council voted to make the Poet Laureate position permanent. Ziysah von Bieberstein is currently serving as Peterborough’s second Poet Laureate.  

The full Poet Laureate Program Guidelines and Nomination Form can be found online. Nominations are being accepted until April 18 and will be assessed by a panel including peers in the poetry and spoken word community, local citizens, and a City representative. 

The City of Peterborough provides the honorarium for the Poet Laureate Program, administered by the Electric City Culture Council (EC3) under the guidance of the City of Peterborough’s Arts and Culture Advisory Committee (ACAC).

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Electric City Culture Council Announces Bierk Art Fund Bursary Recipients

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) has announced that two $1,000 Bierk Art Fund (BAF) Bursaries have been awarded to local high school students Zijian (Suzanne) Tian of Lakefield College School and Ava Cummings of Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School.

photo courtesy of ec3, facebook.

Tian will pursue studies at Parsons School of Design in New York, and Cummings will attend Durham College’s Animation Program.

The BAF is an endowment fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough (CFGP), established to recognize arts champion and supporter Liz Bierk, and to honour the contributions she and her husband David Bierk have made to the arts in Peterborough.

EC3 says that many people from many walks of life have contributed to this fund over the years, and it has now grown large enough to support the Bierk Art Fund Bursary Program, which provides two bursaries of $1,000 each to graduating high school students living in the City or County of Peterborough.

These students’ works demonstrate great promise and artistic, showing a serious commitment to pursuing further studies at the post-secondary level in the visual or media arts.

Tian was born in Shanxi, China, and continued her high school studies at Lakefield College School. She has been accepted at the Parsons School of Design, and will pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in their Fashion Design program. She works in media such as watercolour, 3D print, pottery, photography, collage, and fashion design, and says her dream has always been to become an artist.

Ava Cummings is graduating from the Visual Arts Program at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School and will be attending Durham College for 2D & 3D Digital Animation. Between her love of drawing and her fascination with animated episodic productions and feature-length movies, Cummings says she feels drawn to the animation industry.

The Bierk Art Fund Bursary Program application process asks students to present their art portfolios to an assessment committee/panel of local artists and arts professionals. This year’s panel was comprised of professional artist and educator Cyd Hosker, and AGP Curator Fynn Leitch, who were impressed by the talent and potential demonstrated by Zijian (Suzanne) Tian and Ava Cummings.

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Electric City Culture Council and the 2023 Artsweek Team Present LOOK OUT!

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) and the 2023 Artsweek Team are pleased to present LOOK OUT! a suite of works by 4 local visual and media artists popping up in unexpected places in downtown Peterborough from May 8 to 14.

photo courtesy of ec3.

Artsweek brings some of Peterborough’s most engaging artists down from the walls and out of the galleries to appear on city streets and sidewalks. Curated by Artsweek Executive Producer Su Ditta this project introduces both established and emerging artists to the public with work that is evocative, cheeky and thought provoking. Look Out! and check out artists: Sioux Dickson, Cassandra Lee, LA Alphonso/Age of Moss (Paul Moss) and Sammy Tangir.

Project: Shadow Selves
Artist: Sioux Dickson
Description: A photographic conversation about being a part of and apart from.
Date: Opens May 8.
Location: 210 Hunter St. West, front window of PBO Kawartha (Prosthetics, Bracing, and Orthotics).

Project: An Ode to Trees
Artist: Casandra Lee
Description: “An Ode to Trees involves hanging painted tree cookies on five of my favourite trees in our urban landscape of downtown Nogojiwanong-Peterborough. Trees intrigue me whenever I am outside and are an important point of interest for me. I want to share the joy I feel from seeing a beautiful tree. The installation is an invitation to the public to pause and take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the life of the trees we live amongst downtown. The artwork will be placed at various heights and tied to the trees in a non-harmful way. Cookies will be cut from a fallen cedar tree that was a victim of the May 2022 Derecho. The paintings will be colourful depictions of spring.”
Date: Opens May 8.
Location: Trees in downtown Peterborough:

· Tree to the right of the Peterborough Public Library (in front of the parking lot, 345 Aylmer St N).

· Tree in front of Sandy's Variety Store (near the corner of Aylmer St and Hunter St W).

· Tree behind Black Honey Café in the courtyard (through the alley off of Hunter St W, or the driveway off of Aylmer St next to GreenUP).

· Tree between La Hacienda and Sam’s Place (on Hunter St W).

· Tree in front of Kit Coffee (on Hunter St W between George St and Water St).

Project: POV
Artists: LA Alfonso, Age of Moss (Paul Moss)
Description: In places that act as a default audio/visual history archive, video artists LA Alfonso and Age of Moss (Paul Moss) infiltrate and activate the site’s media file systems for random ephemeral public consumption.
Date: May 8 from 10 pm to Midnight, and then May 9 to May 12, from 9 pm to Midnight.
Location: Paradigm Pictures, 161 King Street.

Project:  Winter Weeds and Spring Shoots
Artist: Sammy Tangir
Description: Winter Weeds is intended as a spark of inspiration to notice plants at a time of year when they are not growing and are likely to be passed by and underappreciated.  This takes form as a zine with a collection of photos of plants in their winter wares! Spring Shoots is an activation that brings the intention of Winter Weeds into the present environment, inviting people to explore and notice the great diversity of spring plants thriving amongst the concrete around Water and Charlotte Street. 
Date: Tuesday May 9th and Wednesday May 10th from 4:30-6:30pm.
Location: Outside Ministry of Natural Resources 300 Water St.

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Nominations Open For The 2023 Peterborough Poet Laureate

Nominations are now open for the 2023 Peterborough Poet Laureate Program, announces the Electric City Cultural Council (EC3).

Photo courtesy of EC3.

The Peterborough Poet Laureate is a position that has been established to recognize the achievements of professional poets, both in print/page and spoken word, in Peterborough and Peterborough County.

The poet laureate acts as a community advocate for poetry, spoken word and the arts in general, composing works to be presented at City Council meetings and other Peterborough events. The poet laureate receives an honourarium of $2,000.

The program was launched as a pilot in 2021. Curve Lake spoken word artist Sarah Lewis was named as Peterborough’s first-ever poet laureate. Following the success of the pilot, Peterborough’s City Council approved the Peterborough Poet Laureate as a permanent program.

"The arts are one of the key components to what makes a city vibrant and lively. Humans create art, music and poetry to protest, to disrupt and to express their love, passions and the things we care about in this life. Not to mention that the arts have played a vital role in all thriving cultures and societies across the globe,” said Lewis.

Nominations are being accepted until Dec. 16 and will be assessed by a panel of individuals in the poetry and spoken word community, a City representative and local citizens.

The Poet Laureate Program guidelines and nomination form can be found here.

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Local Artists Receive Funding Through New Grants For Individual Artists Program

20 local artists have been awarded a total of $47,720 through the Grants for Individual Artists program from the City of Peterborough and the Electric City Culture Council.

File photo.

The program’s open call is said to have received 40 applications. A peer assessment jury awarded grants to 20 artists, including 11 artists in component one (totalling $16,500) and nine artists in component two (totalling $31,220). This program is funded by both EC3 and the City of Peterborough and is designed and administered by EC3.

The Grants for Individual Artists program is divided into two components. Component one is mini development grants of up to $1,500 for for individual professional artists’ research, development, workshopping etc. of original new works, as well as for professional development and mentorship opportunities.

Component two is project production and presentation grants of up to $3,500 for the production and presentation of specific projects, and supports costs such as artist fees, production materials, venue rentals, technical equipment, costumes, publication etc. for individual professional artists. Artists working in every discipline and medium were eligible to apply.

“We are grateful to the City of Peterborough for their ground-breaking support of this program. These investments in the work of our very talented and hardworking artists means more artists can realize their visions, contribute to our cultural and social well-being and make Peterborough a more vibrant, dazzling city for all of us,” said Su Ditta, executive director at EC3.

Grants for Individual Artists 2022 grant recipients:

Component One: mini development grants for individual professional artists

• Kim Blackwell - The Auction

  Development of a theatrical new work exploring hording, difficult relations between a father and daughter set against a backdrop of 1970s nuclear proliferation, the Cold War and the soundtrack to "Jesus Christ Superstar."

• Kathryn Durst - First Lady of the Accordion: Mine White Research Project

  Biographical and visual research about Canadian folk music icon Minnie White of Newfoundland, with the goal of illustrating a new book based on her life.

• Lesley Givens - Moving: Beyond Comfort Zones

  Veteran arts educator revives her personal practice, building upon her body of work as a visual artist with dance and movement to create a new performance work. “To occupy space with my 50-year-old body is an authentic and powerful expression of freedom.”

• Sarah Elise Hall - Stacks

  An accomplished sculptor and installation artist explores the state of our environment, pollution, climate change and our global future, using recycled and discarded plastic containers to create large sculptural pieces that reflect natural minerals and erosion.

• Jon Hedderwick - One City Community University: Storytelling and Spoken Word as Advocacy

  Outreach to those experiencing homelessness, precariously housed and economically marginalized members of our community to engage in writing, storytelling and recording.

• Julia Huỳnh - nhạc xuân, ở đây và ở đó (Spring Music, Here and There)

  Exploring Vietnamese migration and cultural preservation through re-imagined archives, photography, sound, and plants, leading to the creation of sound and video works.

• Nicole Malbeuf - Aerial Arts: Hair Suspension Practice

  Circus artist explores techniques in ‘hair suspension,’ acts flying high in the air suspended only by the performer’s long hair, through professional instruction, culminating in a workshop performance of a new performance piece.

• Justin Million - Carry It All (Poetry Manuscript)

  Following years of performing and releasing chapbooks with the Show and Tell Poetry Series, the artist will research and write their first book-length poetry collection of unpublished work.

• Ireni Stamou - Media, Medusa, Cassandra Unearthed

  Experimenting with texts and devised theatre for a new choreographic creation inspired by feminine archetypes found in Ancient Greek theatre and mythology.

• Kate Suhr - Grace

  Development of a new autobiographical show that uses music and storytelling to describe the effects of addiction on children in the home.

• Ziysah von Bieberstein - Manuscript Mentorship

  Engaging professional edits, revisions and consultation for the artist’s next manuscript and publication process, while simultaneously mentoring an emerging poet to develop their first self-published chapbook.

Component Two: production and presentation grants for initial professional artists

• Brad Brackenridge - The Lear Project

  Dance, puppetry, and song come together for a theatrical production based on the life and work of Victorian nonsense poet Edward Lear (for presentation at the Market Hall).

• Jennifer Elchuk - Weathering and Waiting

  Evolving their work with the flying ‘aerial canoe,’ including expansion of technical and narrative techniques, culminates in a circus arts performance at the Canadian Canoe Museum's grand opening.

• Karol Orzechowski - Enantiodromia

  Local musician Garbageface (Karol Orzechowski) releases a new album, exploring the polarized nature of our society, with a unique, one-time, live performance at The Theatre On King in Fall of 2023, which will be documented for later digital release.

• Kaz Rahman - Experimental Documentary Film: Digital Dervish (working title)

  An experimental documentary featurette that mixes performance footage of the internationally touring Digital Dervish dance performance, with interviews, verite-style sequences and animated shots.

• Elisha Rubacha - Loop

  Workshop process and work-in-progress performance at The Theatre on King for a stage play about ambiguous family history, intergenerational trauma, mental illness, and fascism.

• Matt Snell - Fortune Cookie

  In this unique and comedic short film, a man attempting to live without a smartphone, finds himself increasingly addicted to fortune cookies instead. A new work from this award-winning director.

• Kate Story - Anxiety

  A one-person devised theatre/dance performance work from this GG nominated artist exploring the Old English epic poem “Beowulf,” the current rise of white supremacy, language, the artist’s childhood and her father’s work as a Newfoundland lexicographer

• Lynda Todd - Tap: Please Touch (Tactile Art Project)

  Creating accessible, tactile art designed for diverse audiences, including blind and visually impaired audience members, with a live exhibition at The Mount Community Centre, online, and on social media.

• Gillian Turnham - Interlaced

  Visual artist shares her explorations of traditional Islamic geometric art with three non-gallery popup exhibitions, connected to an online gallery with instructions on drawing each pattern using ruler and compass.

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Electric City Culture Council Cancels Upcoming Artsvote Meeting

The Electric City Culture Council (EC3) has cancelled the Artsvote Peterborough candidates meeting for this Tuesday due to COVID-19.

Open Mic poetry at the Silver Bean Café on May 4. Photo courtesy of EC3 and Andy Carroll.

This decision comes as Peterborough Public Health raised the COVID-19 Risk Index to ‘very high’ on Wednesday and recommends people avoid indoor social gatherings.

EC3 staff are currently dealing with COVID-19-related illnesses.

Due to the nature of the event, where the public and candidates sit together face-to-face to have discussions, EC3 says they felt it is best to make this call.

EC3 and the Artsvote Peterborough Coalition are currently developing an alternate plan for candidates to speak on these important issues, with more details to come.

The Electric City Culture Council is a not-for-profit organization supporting the arts and culture community in Peterborough.

They provide strategic leadership, research, grants, professional development and partnerships that build and strengthen the arts sector in our community.

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