Hooked!

The Textile Museum of Canada is pleased to announce the presentation of a selection of handmade hooked rugs created by participants as part of an innovative creative program developed in partnership with local non-profit agencies ArtHeart Community Art Centre, Jumblies/MABELLEarts, Sistering, SKETCH, and Workman Arts. Hosted in conjunction with the TMC’s exhibition Home Economics: 150 Years of Canadian Hooked Rugs, these community-engaged workshops highlighted the longstanding connections between craft, social enterprise and community development. Encouraging creative expression and skill-building for individuals from at-risk and underserved communities, participants learned and engaged the techniques of rug hooking under the mentorship of contemporary artists Hannah Epstein, Heather Goodchild and Jen Manuell.

This program is part of the Textile Museum of Canada’s ongoing focus on real world impact, addressing community needs and social issues. “The inspiration for this partnership was a vision of public engagement that creates cultural and civic value beyond our walls,” says TMC Executive Director Shauna McCabe. “This project extends the Museum in ways that are of direct relevance to the community, working with each of our partners to offer their clients meaningful and transformative opportunities for creative participation – a process that inevitably transforms the institution as well.” The program was presented by the Textile Museum of Canada through the generous support of Ruth Mandel – WHO GIVES Fund complemented by the Private Giving Foundation, TD Wealth. Partnerships with local agencies were facilitated by ArtBridges.

Type: Exhibition

Date: Mar 7, 2016 - Mar 31, 2016

Partners

ArtHeart Community Art Centre
ArtHeart is a stabilizing presence in the community of Regent Park that provides free visual arts education and creative programs as well as sustenance to children, youth, adults and seniors, ensuring a supportive environment in which participants can create and learn, build self-esteem and develop life skills.

Jumblies/MABELLEarts
Jumblies is a community-focused arts organization that prioritizes inclusive participation as well as artistic process and product, engaging a variety of cultural traditions as well as other sectors such as social and health services, education and urban development. Jumblies’ offshoot MABELLEarts, situated in central Etobicoke, offers a range of programs including the Sewing Room that supports a variety of textile projects.

Sistering
Sistering operates a multi-service women’s centre for homeless, at risk and socially isolated women in Toronto. Core services address basic needs such as daily living, housing support services, primary healthcare, counseling, individual advocacy and employment readiness.

SKETCH
SKETCH is a community arts development initiative engaging young people who are street-involved, homeless and on the margins, creating opportunities to experience the transformative capacity of the arts, building leadership and economic self-sufficiency as well as cultivating social and environmental change.

Workman Arts
Workman Arts empowers aspiring, emerging and established artists with mental illness and addiction issues to develop and refine their art practice through arts training programs and performance/exhibition opportunities in five disciplines: music, theatre, visual, literary and media arts.

Funders

Ruth Mandel – WHO GIVES Fund
Philanthropist Ruth Mandel created the WHO GIVES Fund to reflect and advance her passionate advocacy of issues such as “generosity, the protection of women and social justice,” targeting support for specific transformative initiatives and causes she is personally engaged in.

Private Giving Foundation – TD Wealth
The first donor-advised funds launched by a financial institution in Canada, the Private Giving Foundation is an independent public charity dedicated to encouraging charitable giving, revolutionizing models of philanthropic leadership.

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