Mirco-Grant Recipients 2017

Aine Belton
Double Exposure
Aine created a participatory photographic double-exposure project assembled through the eyes of cyclists rediscovering parts of our vibrant city, defining what sense of belonging, sense of place and sense of self are.



Airsa Collective | Aitak Sorahitalab, Mehran Azarbad, Cecilia C. Garcia
Nowruzgan
Nowruzgan is a multicultural art exhibition to celebrate Nowruz. It aims to share the importance and community function with those who celebrate it and will promote newcomers to visual art.



Jacqueline Comrie Garrido
The Colour Wheel Project
This project revitalized a high-traffic patient waiting room at the Michael Garron Hospital into a space of colour and healing for patients and loved ones through the production and installation of a high quality art mural in collaboration with patients, staff members, and families.



Laila Abubakar
CICS
This urban dance program engaged racialized and marginalized youth living in Kingsview Village. This program focused on giving participants the opportunity to improve their self-esteem and self-image through the use of dance.



Margrock Publishing | Kate Vickery, Kelly Vickery, Victoria Macmillan
Lily's Intergalactic Spacetastic Adventure
Funding for this project helped publish a watercolour children's book that explained chronic and mental illness to kids, reducing the fear and anxiety that diagnosis and treatments can cause.



Patrick Walters
Sociphoria Sessions
This project engaged youth from North York through a series of workshops leading to the creation of a "living documentary" focused on sustainable infrastructure. Sociphoria Sessions will seek to show that young people's lives can be improved through art.



Poonam Sharma
Phoenix
This project created a collaborative interior community art mural at 'Klink Coffee' with community members returning home from prison, referred via the John Howard Society Toronto.



Project 40 Collective | Jasmine Gui, Abby Ho
Diasporasian Mythologies
This project facilitated eight free workshops, designed to promote emerging Asian artists that respond creatively to "mythologies" through the use of video, clay and text.



Valerie Amponsah
Catching the Sun
This program engaged young girls of colour who are underrepresented in all creative outlets, by creating a short story in the form of a comic book/graphic novel about a young black girl's journey to capture her confidence and learn to trust herself.



Yannis Lobaina
Where the Magic Happens
Comfort Zones is a digital short story in which newcomers are able to express themselves about the challenges they have to face when they move to a new country. This piece is a dynamic interaction of images, movements, using music and colour, all of which will demonstrate the cultural diversity in Toronto.



Zeinab Aidid
This program created a series of spoken-word videos that centred around the artist's experience as a Somali girl growing up in this society. These videos tackle the issues that have come up as a result of the artist's intersecting identities as a black, muslim woman.