Benazir Tom Erdimi

Jane Porter on acceptance and the importance of leading with love

Accepting reality is not always easy. From climate change to social injustice to the decline of democracy, the greatest challenges of our time can seem threatening, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to solve. 

On the CreativeMornings Ottawa stage at Arts Court, Jane Porter invited us to feel the magnitude of these challenges, and to lead with love and compassion. Doing so starts with connection: with ourselves, our communities, and the land we call home. 

Connection is something Jane has consciously cultivated throughout her life. This includes in her community work as co-founder of Impact Hub Ottawa and through convening stakeholders as a sustainability consultant. Today, as an integral facilitator and founder of Bridge Building Group, Jane brings people together to have tough conversations that spark meaningful change and heal divides. 

The journey to acceptance and understanding can be uncomfortable. In her talk, Jane used a photography metaphor to break down her approach:

• Zoom out to see the big picture and break free from your existing echo chambers. 
• Zoom in and reflect on who you really are and what motivates you. 
• Reframe why you do what you do. For example, Jane realized she pursued a career in sustainability because it gave her a sense of connection with others and to the land.
• Focus and realize that two things can be true at the same time, depending on who you’re asking and what they’ve chosen to lock their viewfinder on.
• Find a tripod to support your passions and purpose. When you feel like you’re on shaky ground, dig deeper into learning and your relationships to find the support you need. 
• Finally, Jane suggested it’s time we find a new lens. Western society is oriented around growth mindsets and economic success. There is much to learn from Indigenous worldviews that compel us to think of the next seven generations, and consider the well-being of all our relations, human and otherwise.

The challenges faced by the world are not going to solve themselves. To accept—and act— during this period of existential threats we must first ground ourselves by pausing, getting curious, and finding ways to respond thoughtfully and with compassion for ourselves, our communities, and the planet. 

Thank you to Jane for sharing her personal journey and for providing such food for thought on a Friday morning. You can learn more about Jane’s professional facilitation work on her website or on LinkedIn. Watch Jane’s full talk here.

Matt Pinder and the benefit of cycling cities

From childhood to fatherhood, cycling has been a lifelong source of joy and independence for Matt Pinder. It has also been a professional pursuit and a personal passion: today, Matt is a transportation engineer, community activist, and imagines the future of transportation on his blog, Beyond the Automobile.

From the CreativeMornings Ottawa stage at Bayview Yards, Matt drove home a key message: “When you build a city for cycling, everyone benefits.”

Matt started by taking us on an armchair journey to the world’s most famous cycling city, Amsterdam. Travelling there for a course called Planning the Cycling City, Matt was exhilarated to see people of all ages riding bikes, solo and in groups, in rain or shine. The abundance of well-connected bike paths were often faster than driving, brought about more serendipitous encounters, and reduced noise and traffic congestion. In other words, everyone was benefiting. 

The course fuelled Matt’s professional raison d'être: to translate this idea of the cycling city from the Netherlands to Canada. He’s since gotten creative with engineering and drawn inspiration from other communities to innovate beyond existing city transportation policies—many of which favour cars.

Ottawa, Matt contends, is well positioned to become more of a cycling city. It can be easy to overlook our extensive network of National Capital Commission multi-use pathways. Or the fact that Ottawa is home to many firsts in Ontario, including the first Dutch-style protected intersection and first protected bike lane (along Laurier Avenue West). 

The way we move around our city can change—and we all have a role and creative vision in making that happen. Matt ended his talk by urging us to support walkable developments, dare to reimagine our communities, and yes, to advocate for cycling improvements as a way to build a city that benefits everyone. 

Thanks again to Matt for his insightful talk! To learn more about Matt’s work, follow him on Twitter and check out his blog, www.beyondtheautomobile.com. Watch his talk here.

Gaby el Ashkar and the link between corruption and creativity

For as long as Gaby el Ashkar has known corruption, he has known creativity.

Gaby grew up in Beirut, Lebanon in the throes of a civil war. While some see creativity as a calling, Gaby turned to it first as a coping mechanism. Art became a way for him to make sense of the world. Today, he is a multidisciplinary visual artist, interior architect, and award-winning designer.

Over the years, Gaby observed how the corruption in Lebanon was made possible by a devious creativity. Corrupt individuals relied on design principles such as scale, manipulation, placement of images, and repetition to distract and deceive. And it was working—like an inkblot creeping across the page, the tendrils of corruption extended from individuals to compromise society and systems. 

As Gaby shared during his talk, this system-level corruption culminated in two significant events: a financial heist in which Lebanese citizens found their funds diverted and squandered by a state bank scheme. Overnight, people lost almost their entire life savings and were denied the ability to withdraw what was left. The second event was the deadly explosion at the Beirut port in 2020, the result of ammonium nitrate stored in a residential neighbourhood.

Gaby had experienced enough. Convinced that feeling exiled at home is worse than an exile that takes one away, he made the decision to move to Canada.

Through his art and his words, Gaby continues to speak out against corruption. From the stage at Bayview Yards, he implored us to use our creative outlets to shed light on the darkness of corruption. To counter indifference and unaccountability in pixels and clay, through lyrics and brushstrokes. 

We’ll leave the last words with Gaby: “Don’t look the other way. Be the just creativity that counters the devious one in order to preserve the colours of the things you find beautiful and worth fighting for.”

Our deepest gratitude to Gaby for sharing his powerful, poignant story. To see Gaby’s multidisciplinary work, visit his website or follow him on Instagram, @gabyelashkar. 

Creative artificial intelligence is less a futuristic concept than a technology that’s already part of our daily lives. 

So what does that mean for artists and creatives? 

Alisha Giroux’s talk was as much a reassurance as it was a call to action for people to recognize the signature characteristics that make their work unique. To embrace the innate human-ness of the creative process.

The emergence of creative AI used to keep Alisha up at night. As an illustrator and designer, she observed as AI generated images quickly went from funny and freaky to something that resembled art made by a real person. It felt distressing, like a threat to the personal touch she infused into her work. An affront to her creative core. 

One day, a friend helped shift her perspective. He was ambivalent about creative AI. The reason, he told Alisha: “A machine creating art feels like it’s defeating the purpose of creation.”

This was the message Alisha brought to the audience at Bayview Yards. That art is not exclusively about output, but also about the process that went into making it and the creator’s personal connection to their work. 

Besides, Alisha noted, humans like gathering IRL to see stuff made by other humans. Despite being able to google pictures of the Mona Lisa, people still fly to Paris to see her in the Louvre. And no matter how popular Spotify gets, it can’t replace the scratchy sound of a vinyl record. People crave the analogue, and art that bears a distinctly human fingerprint. 

Alisha ended by urging people to think about the personal touch they bring to their creative work—the style that can come only from the journey of creation and the human experience. Watch her full talk here!

Thank you again to Alisha for her insights, thoughtfulness, and adorable bird illustrations (!). See more of Alisha’s work for yourself on her design portfolio, online store, or by following her on Instagram, @_asmeesh.

From the stage of The Gladstone Theatre in Ottawa, Jacqui Du Toit asked us to conjure and connect to new worlds—ones she created through her storytelling and those that are inside of ourselves. 

Jacqui is a professional actress, storyteller, and dancer. She’s also a co-founder of The Origin Arts & Community Centre in Mechanicsville, a space where creators from all backgrounds and places can come together and feel at home. To find a sense of sanctuary. 

The search for sanctuary has been a thread throughout Jacqui’s life. Growing up in apartheid-era South Africa, Jacqui faced racism and bullying in school because of the colour of her skin and her accent. 

After one particularly difficult day, her father shared the story of Jabu, a young boy who lived by the motto “it is good.” Eventually, that story struck a chord. Jacqui realized that while she couldn’t control how people acted towards her, she could choose how she reacted. She took that lesson on a walk, wandering her school campus and talking to the trees. Soon, Jacqui started to create a safe haven of sanctuary within herself and with the earth around her. 

When she immigrated from South Africa to Ottawa 12 years ago, her personal resilience and sense of self and belonging were again challenged. Experiencing rejection after rejection from theatre companies, Jacqui recalled the story of Jabu and his positive mindset. 

She channelled those rejections into redirection, tapping into her own source of sanctuary and internal strength. She created an award-winning one-woman show and, through The Origin Arts & Community Centre, co-created a space for other Ottawa artists and creatives to express themselves freely and joyfully.

As Jacqui put it: “In the flow of creation is when you find your sanctuary.” You don’t want to miss Jacqui’s full talk! Watch it here.

A huge CreativeMornings thanks to Jacqui for her inspiring words in January 2023. Learn more about Jacqui’s storytelling and community work online: 8thGeneration Storytelling or The Origin Arts & Community Centre.

“We believe in giving a damn.” 

I think for me that’s what CreativeMornings Ottawa (CM Ottawa) has always been about. Caring about more than what was in our day-to-day, caring about our community, our city, the planet we live on, and the people we share it with. 

This is certainly a bittersweet note for me to write, CreativeMornings has been part of my life since I attended my first event back in February of 2013, and now 10 years later I am trying to find the words to explain what it means to hand over the torch (or in my case, the sparkly shoes) to a new team. 

10 years is quite literally the longest I’ve ever done anything.

As of January 2023, I will officially be stepping down as host. I always knew that hosting CreativeMornings should have an expiry date because I believe that in order for this chapter to stay healthy and continue to evolve it needs new perspectives, ideas, and creative fuel. 

I am so excited to officially announce that Marwan, CM Ottawa Co-Host for the past 4 years will be taking over as Host and Lead Organizer. I truly could not imagine a better human to lead CM Ottawa into its next chapter. It wasn’t long after Marwan started volunteering that his passion for the community was evident. With a kind heart, mean speaker coaching skills, and a great eye for design there’s no better human for the role.

What I hope for the future of CM Ottawa is that we ‘continue to give a damn’, lead with ‘bravery and action’, and find space to learn from one another. At first, when the pandemic hit ‘we were all in this together.’ On this side of the pandemic, it feels like we’ve never been more divided. But I have hope that initiatives like CM Ottawa can help change that by ‘bringing together people who are driven by passion and purpose, confident that they will inspire one another, and inspire change in neighbourhoods and cities around the world.’ 

Thank you to everyone who ever attended an event and for allowing me to take on such a life-changing role, CM Ottawa will always hold a big place in my heart.

Take care of each other.  💜

Maxine

P.S. Ottawa IS creative!

Join us on Friday, June 3 for an evening of live music, performances, and conversation in celebration of 10 years of CreativeMornings Ottawa! Buy your ticket HERE. 

Now in its 10th year, CreativeMornings Ottawa wants to look back and celebrate how far we’ve come with a special evening event – Then to Now, a celebration of Ottawa’s creative community and its evolution over the last 10 years.

Join us on Friday, June 3 from 6:30 PM to 12:00 PM, for an evening of music, surprise performances, and conversation at the Ottawa Art Gallery (10 Daly Ave. entrance).

We’ll be doing a panel discussion hosted by CBC Ottawa’s Giacomo Panico with past CreativeMornings Ottawa speakers and creative community members exploring the evolution of our city’s creative scene:

• Pearly Pouponneau, Creative Director and Founder of Colours of Mama
• Marc Adornato, Artist and Creative Consultant
• Rachel Weldon, Executive Director at Debaser
• Stacey Martin, CEO, Fashion Designer and Founder of Stacey Martin Lifestyle Inc.

We’ll also welcome local muscian, Nick Schofield on the City Seltzer Stage playing music from his Glass Gallery album, a special drag performance by Ottawa’s very own Devona Coe and DJ set by Akeem O to get the dance floor grooving.

🌈 Dress code: Monochromatic - come wearing your favourite colour of the rainbow!

Tickets are only $20 / $25 at the door capacity permitting and include one free drink from Dominion City Brewery (choice of beer or seltzer). You can purchase your ticket HERE. 

*If you’d like to attend the event but are strapped for cash please email us ([email protected]) we’ll be more than happy to comp your ticket.

Event Schedule:

• 6:30 PM doors open
• 7:00 PM Nick Schofield Performs feat. Orchidae
• 7:25 PM Welcome by CreativeMornings
• 7:35 PM Then and Now Panel conversation
• 8:25 PM Audience Q&A
• 8:40 PM Thank you + look into the evening by CreativeMornings
• 8:45 PM Networking break
• 9:30 PM DJ + Drag Performance
• 9:50 PM Programming ends DJ plays until close
• 11:30 PM Last call
• 12:00 PM Event end

We can’t wait to see you all in person to celebrate! Join us, and bring a friend!

It’s been 21 months since we shared a space together, and we think it’s about time we change that!

We’re beyond excited to announce that on Friday, November 26 we’ll be welcoming attendees back to the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) for an  in-person (yup, read that again) CreativeMornings Ottawa event.  If you’ve been attending our virtual events over the last two years, you’ll know what it means to finally be able to step foot in the Alma Duncan Salon again. 

Because of current CreativeMornings protocol our in-person audience is limited to 50 people. Mask will be mandatory and proof of vaccination and ID must be showed before entering the Gallery. 

That being said, we will continue to offer a virtual event option for those who cannot join us in person.  Things may be a bit different, so we ask for your patience as we work out the logistic of offering hybrid events. But know that we will continue to deliver thought-provoking talks and toe-tapping performances by members of this wonderful creative community.

Thank you to the OAG for helping us make this happen, our amazing volunteer team, and especially you — our community who have been incredibly supportive and patient with us as we work out this transition. We look forward to continuing exploring more of Ottawa’s create canvas with all of you.

We can’t wait to see your smiling faces in person,

Maxine, Marwan & the CM team

P.S. With only 50 tickets, you’ll want to set an alarm for ticket release day (Friday, Nov 19 at 11AM).

“OUR HOME ON NATIVE LAND”

We know that with the arrival of this beautiful summer weather, we see a drop in attendance for our virtual events. Trust us, we get it. Zoom fatigue is real.

That being said, our July 23 event is one NOT TO BE MISSED and we mean that for a few different reasons. 

For the next edition of CreativeMornings Ottawa we are exploring the global theme ‘home’, and with the recent recoveries of indigenous children across this nation, this theme has never been more relevant. 

‘Home’ is embodied through family, traditions, food, language, and perhaps most importantly, ties to the land itself. For Indigenous people ‘Home’ is not just one specific location, it’s a relationship to land. But what happens when that is taken away? 

To speak to this month’s theme, we’re welcoming new friends from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community near Maniwaki, QC, Anna Cote and Mike Diabo.

Anna is the founder and head chef at The Birch Bite. As a graduate of the Algonquin College culinary program and the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, she’s fiercely dedicated to reconnecting people in her community with their traditional diet. Her dishes showcase food from the land, often harvested by her own hands.

Mike is a teacher in all senses of the word. He is a high school science instructor in Kitigan Zibi and an inspiring and knowledgeable guide.

Join us on July 23 at 8:30 AM EST to listen, learn and reflect on as we dive some uncomfortable realities about the place we all call ‘home’. 

Tickets will go live here on Friday, July 9 (tomorrow) at 11:00 AM EST.

CreativeMornings Ottawa, June 2021: Matriarchy

Imagine a world run by women – one where the systems and structures were re-built to fit the vision for leadership that women have set out in the world.

This isn’t a purely theoretical question. Powerful women already lead societies, including Native and Indigenous communities, around the world.

This month’s CreativeMornings Ottawa talk aims to shine a light on all the leaders who are also women, from across the vast spectrum of identities and experiences of womanhood.

To do that, we’ll be hosting Ottawa artist Natalie Bruvels, who will trace her journey as a (single) mother and painter pursuing graduate studies to ask what strategies may we use to remember the foundational role that women need to play in our society.

Natalie is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in paint. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Ottawa and is currently pursuing an MFA at the same institution. Her artistic research explores relational identity including representations of maternal figures and single motherhood in art through a matricentric, feminist lens. Her work can be found in the City of Ottawa art collection as well as many private collections. Natalie lives in Ottawa with her son.

Her talk will explore the valorization of mothers – think of the archetype of Madonna and Child – does little to empower them. The word matriarchy sounds glorious – a society where care is foundational infrastructure. The pandemic, however, has made it painfully clear how far we must still go in truly prioritizing care. Drawing from recent theories such as Julie Stevens’ post maternal which reveals anxieties around care perpetuated by an active forgetting.

Register for free HERE and join us at 8:30 am EST on Friday, June 25!