About Mabelle Avenue.
Mabelle Avenue is a historically underserved, high density, low-income inner-suburban neighbourhood in Central Etobicoke, Ontario. Four of the seven rental towers lining the block are owned and operated by Toronto Community Housing - the second largest landlord in North America. The block is highly diverse and majority-racialized with a strong Muslim population from Somalia, South Asia and the Middle East. Over the past three years, the block has seen rapid densification with multiple new developments, which has made our work at MABELLEarts all the more relevant. We see our organization as a bridge between residents and cultures and believe that now, more than ever, our neighbours need space to meet one another and become friends.
About MABELLEpark.
Since 2007, MABELLEarts has brought together artists, architects, builders and gardeners with thousands of community members of all ages and backgrounds to reimagine MABELLEpark from an abandoned thoroughfare to a vibrant artpark and community centre without walls. MABELLEpark represents a new kind of social infrastructure - one that can more nimbly respond to community needs and desires and increase collective resiliency.
About MABELLEarts.
Founded in 2007 by Executive Director Leah Houston, MABELLEarts launched out of a highly successful four year residency on Mabelle Avenue by our predecessors, Jumblies Theatre. Since then, MABELLEarts has grown into an innovative and sustainable charity with strong roots in community-engaged arts, grassroots community development and placemaking. With a yearly budget of $1 million, MABELLEarts has grown into a strong and stable organization with deep roots in our local community.
About the Founder
Leah Houston is the Founder and Executive Director of MABELLEarts. Over her fifteen years of leadership, Leah has developed strong skills related to strategic growth, governance and partnership development. In that time, MABELLEarts has emerged as a powerful example of what's possible when people come together to make art and solve problems. With a team of compassionate, smart and imaginative colleagues, Leah and MABELLEarts are re-defining the role of the arts in low-income communities. Leadership development and civic engagement; public space transformation and design; grassroots tower renewal and local economic development are all integral to the work of MABELLEarts under Leah's leadership. Leah is a graduate of York University’s Environmental Studies Department and holds an M.A from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. In 2021 she was awarded the inaugural Tim Jones Creative Placemaking Award for her work in the Mabelle neighbourhood. Leah is available for speaking engagements. Contact info@mabellearts.ca for more information.