![]() We invite artists to consider in their proposed works the incredible power and beauty of these waters, their eons of supporting human life, and the urgency required to protect them. Some of these changes are massive, political and cultural, like moving a river, but some are tiny personal moments shared between people beside the water that forms the geography of this place we call home. As we have seen in the many historic floods of recent years, despite our best efforts to control the element of water that is so closely knit with our community and our city, we remain lake people, and our lives are directed by the currents of change in those lakes and rivers. The Don River is at the heart of a huge infrastructure project looking at the ecology and the environment of the floodplain – literally changing the shape of the river. The Riverside neighbourhood is in the midst of a great shift. We use the term gender marginalized to be inclusive of trans feminine, trans masculine, Two Spirit, non-binary and gender queer folks who may not identify as women. *East End Arts and our partners respect trans women as women. Projects like Women Paint and Girls Mural Camp take up space in the public sphere and help facilitate discussions about important issues that affect our overlapping communities such as misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, white supremacy, colonization and gentrification. Laneways and alleys have historically been areas that do not always feel safe for women and other gender marginalized people, and can be associated with the threat of violence. Given the close relationship of the Riverside community to the Don River and Lake Ontario, the murals for this exciting laneway transformation will all explore the element of water. In many Indigenous nations across Turtle Island, women and Two Spirit people have long carried sacred responsibilities to protect the water, and are strong leaders in the growing movement for water sovereignty around the great lakes. ![]() ![]() This territory is subject to the dish with one spoon treaty, a covenant between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee to share and care for the land and resources in the lower Great Lakes area. Women Paint Riverside will take place on the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, which is also the traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Haudenosaunee confederacy and the Anishinaabe. Working with co-curatorial consultants Bareket Kezwer and Ariel Smith, Women Paint Riverside aims to bring diverse women and gender marginalized* street artists, muralists and graffiti writers together to create new work, bring attention to the importance of the Don River within an urban setting, and share their diverse stories in public spaces-a place these voices are often underrepresented. The project builds upon the area’s existing public art legacy, and will feature the work of 20+ street artists, as well as an opportunity for the participants from Girls Mural Camp 2021 to put what they learned at camp this summer to the test as apprentice mural artists. East End Arts and our partners are excited to present, Women Paint Riverside, an exciting public art transformation of a laneway within the Riverside Business Improvement Area around Queen Street East and Broadview Avenue, Toronto, in September, 2021!Ī partnership between East End Arts, Women Paint, Native Women in the Arts, and the Riverside BIA, ‘Women Paint Riverside’ is an exciting opportunity to beautify and enhance the Riverside neighbourhood with a series of interconnected murals, exploring the relationship between the vibrant urban Riverside community and the Don River from which it takes its name.
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