History

MABELLEarts developed out of a highly successful four-year residency of our predecessor and “Mothership” Jumblies Theatre. The Jumblies residency culminated in a large-scale community play, involving over 100 community members and 50 professional artists. At the conclusion of the play, a process was instigated to determine whether the neighbourhood would like to see community arts projects continue. MABELLEarts was founded in March of 2007 under the name Pigeon Creek Collective with resounding support from Mabelle tenants.

Our first project, Lantern Garden brought together kids and their families with professional artists and builders to repair the Mabelle Park. In 2008, we began to imagine a project that could harness the energy uncovered during our first summer to transform the park from a neglected thoroughfare into a vibrant, multi-purpose cultural hub. In 2009 we received multi-year funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to make this vision a reality and have received funding from a number of private and public sources to further support the process. Our park transformation project (called A Park of Many Paths) has included the collaborative creation of new park furniture, an outdoor kitchen and bake oven, community gardens, performances and ceremonies, community dinners and more. Since 2008, MABELLEarts has worked with over 600 community members and 65 professional artists, architects, gardeners and others to transform and animate the Mabelle Park.

In 2011 we held our first large-scale Mid Winter parade created in collaboration with Mabelle residents of all ages and involving community arts companies from across the city. “A Light In Mid Winter” involved over 100 community members and welcomed an audience of over 300 to parade images of migration, across Dundas Street West to the historic site of Montgomery’s Inn. This annual winter celebration explores through pageantry and festivity, images of arrival, departure and belonging. We hope it will be a Mabelle tradition for many years to come.

The artistic vision of all MABELLEarts projects grows from the belief that art making and sharing is an essential part of everyday life. We believe that the act of making beautiful a shared space, object or event is essential to the role of the artist and the promise of urban renewal. This has always been the role of art – to enliven communities, spark conversations and engender a sense of shared ownership and power in neglected places. MABELLEarts has grown out of a long-standing commitment to be in the community in which we work, sharing everyday life with people living there and working with them to develop solutions to often- complex problems. As we work together to fix what is broken, we uncover opportunities to teach and learn, get to know one another and become friends. We learn to work together to make positive changes in our neighbourhood, we begin to see our own lives, stories, hopes and dreams reflected in our surroundings – often for the first time.