The arts, in all forms, offer a platform for individuals to be seen and heard. There are stories waiting and wanting to be told by people that have not, traditionally speaking, had the opportunity to express themselves on the same level as their contemporaries.
It is the duty of a healthy artistic community to make spaces for all creative-minded people and offer opportunities for ideas to grow into something unique.
Creative growth relies on a great number of things: inspiration, skill, determination and, not least of all, support. Having a support system to help develop new work and connect with like-minded people is one of the greatest gifts an artist can receive.
Fortunately, such a gift is coming to the region.
It should be no surprise that UPlift Black continues its vital work and is launching an artist collective for local creative-minded individuals to connect. I had the pleasure of talking with two of UPlift Black’s impresarios, arts director Gwyn Beaver (GB) and artist collective chair Dawn Cain (DC), about the new initiative and what it means to our community.
Richard Varty (RV): How would you describe the work and projects created and developed by UPlift Black?
DC: UPlift Black focuses on projects that will empower the voices of the unheard and marginalized experiences in the Simcoe County and Muskoka area. Our past events have consisted of diverse artistry and performers such as dancers, painters, musicians, spoken-word poets and more. Last year, we put together a virtual barbecue concert, silent auction, and a food- and music-oriented Halloween Harvest Festival. We look to also offer educational programs to develop skills, which we did last year with our playwright workshop led by Canadian actor, director and writer Andrew Moodie.
RV: How did you become involved with the organization?
GB: I became involved with the organization after being a part of a Zoom session of community leaders who were looking to find ways to help our youth who were stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic. I became a member shortly after that.
DC: I met the president, Shelly Skinner, after we both took the stage at the Meridian Place and spoke at the Justice for Peace rally in the summer of 2020. Shortly after that demonstration, she founded UPlift and a short year later we met again and she asked me to work with this inspiring team of individuals.
RV: Where did the idea of launching an artist collective come from and what do you hope it will accomplish?
GB: The idea to form a collective of artists came about after a conversation I had with our president, Shelly Skinner. We were in the process of recruiting performers for UPlift Black’s virtual barbecue fundraiser, which took place on Aug. 1, 2021 — Emancipation Day. We both agreed there should be a way for artists of colour, who reside in the surrounding area, to connect and support one another.
As an artist and as arts director of UPlift Black, I look for opportunities to use the arts as a vehicle to educate, to enlighten, to encourage conversation and yes, to entertain!
DC: Shelly and Gwyn have created this unique opportunity for artists, who never had a platform, to be creatively free and express themselves within the community.
Within the last year of being an UPlifter, I have displayed my work in a contemporary gallery and sold my first piece of art; something I thought I would never be able to do in a lifetime. I want other hopeful artists of all backgrounds to feel the same triumphant way I did, so they stay inspired and achieve any personal artistic goals they have. We are here to UPlift above all else.
RV: Who are you hoping to engage with the artist collective program? Is there a criteria?
GB: The UPlift Black artists collective’s mission is to support the Black, Indigenous and marginalized peoples in the artistic community of Simcoe County and Muskoka. With this goal in mind, the collective aims to increase the visibility of the existing artists in the community, foster the creative development of youth, provide artistic opportunities to the artists and encourage multidisciplinary collaborations between artists.
DC: And to do that, we look to engage with emerging, professional and freelance creatives who are open to collaborating and supporting the arts and culture in this area.
RV: Is there a particular piece of art — book, painting, poem, play, album — that continually inspires your work as an individual or with UPlift Black?
GB: I have always been inspired by the literary works of James Baldwin, Joy Harjo, Maya Angelou, bell hooks, Ntozake Shange, Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson. As for music, that’s really difficult to narrow it down! I have to mention Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The Last Poets, Stevie Wonder, Leontyne Price, X-Clan, Ella Fitzgerald. There’s so many more.
DC: One way I try to stay inspired is by taking in all forms of art and culture through my daily life. My work is a representation of my personal experiences as a Black woman and I am influenced by the sights, sounds and stories I see from my community leaders and their art. Some of those people are Alinka Angelova, Sean George, Ramona Deane, Shelly Skinner, Gwyn Beaver, Gillian Scoobie, Iain Moggach, Sabrina Merks, and Connor Jesso.
To learn more about the UPlift Black Artist Collective, click here.
