The Arts Sale at the Dyment Recreation Hall on September 6 was a huge success. This week we've been experimenting with turning the photos into different formats as part of our storytelling activities and it's been a lot of fun!
Building Skills and Connections
What a day it was at the annual fall music jamboree! We had a terrific time at the Dyment Recreation Hall in Melgund Township. More than 80 people came out to enjoy the artists market, live music, and activities from other Northwestern Ontario communities too, like Sioux Lookout, Ignace and Dryden. It was a perfect chance to put the skills we’ve been working on all summer into practice. As you can see in the photos, the atmosphere was buzzing with conversations and creativity. We’ve been focused on capacity building, administration, planning, and innovating this year, and it was great to see it all come together. And of course, there was great food, too.
This week, our teams are having a lot of fun learning to use different digital tools, including some of our own that we’ve been building. It’s all part of exploring new approaches to storytelling. Our upcoming Fall and Winter program will be diving even deeper into oral history and community heritage, so this summer has been a fantastic introduction. We’re excited to see how these new digital skills can help us share our community’s stories in new and compelling ways.
Learning Art and Being Creative in Northwestern Ontario:
We’ve also been learning to use online tools like Canva and Poster My Wall. We’ve also learned about content management systems and databases, which are super important for community engagement. We’ve learned to schedule and plan events, write proposals, and how arts projects are administered. But most of all, it’s just been fun to be able to have the community conversations, to be able to explore and create and develop our skills both as artists and as a growing arts collective.
A key part of programming this summer has been empowering artists and community members to explore a full spectrum of digital tools for creative expression. While many learned the basic fundamentals of image editing and digital arts using traditional software, some of the youth have taken their skills a step further by building their own image editors and converters. This innovative approach allows them to customize tools to meet specific artistic needs and better understand the technology behind digital manipulation.
Art For Life: Inside Arts Programming
This year’s summer incubator program is designed to provide a broad experience in the arts sector, balancing professional development with creative enjoyment. Sessions, held weekly have been wide-ranging, covering everything from learning to write proposals and understanding how funding programs operate, to engaging in hands-on creative activities. Above all, the program serves as a vehicle for community recreation, where all are welcome to participate, from emerging and established artists, to retirees and community members just interested in checking things out.
A big focus this summer has been on storytelling, photography and organizing community events. Introducing and exploring both standard digital tools and AI-powered solutions, the goal is to encourage an environment where everyone, from beginners to advanced users, can find their place and develop their skills according to their interests. The goal is to provide a comprehensive and adaptable learning experience that encourages creative innovation at every level.
For many in the program, the real value isn’t just in the art itself—it’s about the connection, the conversations, and the healthy community building that happens along the way. Guest speakers join in every few weeks from across Ontario, Canada and internationally, which provides the community and its programs with experience using videoconferencing tools to connect, exchange and learn from each other.
While the workshops are focused on creative skills, the digital arts are, in some ways, simply the activity that brings everyone together and creates that initial spark. Seeing people of all ages bond over a shared project, helping each other learn a new tool, or laughing at a creative mistake is what truly makes the program a success.
Ultimately, art is the catalyst, but the community is the masterpiece.
Special Thanks
This entire summer program, from our land-based experiences to our hands-on digital workshops, has been made possible by our incredible partners and supporters. We can’t thank the Ontario Arts Council program enough for their funding through the Inter and Multi-Arts Projects program. We also want to give a huge shout-out to Jamie Bell, Eva Suluk, and Tony Eetak from The Arts Incubator Winnipeg Hub; Dr. Olaf Kuhlke and Krish Agrawal from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Creative Entrepreneurship Program; the OpenAI Researcher Access Program; Global Dignity Canada, and the Local Services Board of Melgund. Special thanks to Gerry McArthur, Terri Bell, Tanya McArthur and Maurice Betournay from Art Borups Corners. Their support is what makes this program a success for our small community.
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