Opening Reception and Awards Presentation: October 24, 2024, 6-8:30pm
Come together to celebrate cultural diversity in Durham Region!
Cultural Expressions for CHANGE Inc., in partnership with The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, presents the exhibition “Unity Through the Arts”. This juried art exhibition will feature artists from Durham Region and the surrounding area. The exhibition will unify the community around a love for the arts and an appreciation for cultural diversity.
Join us on September 7th for a Backyard Movie Night!
Order of Events:
7PM: Doors open + art activity starts
8PM: Art activity ends + Movie starts
9:50PM: Movie ends
Starting at 8PM, the RMG, in collaboration with DRIFF, will be showing Chandler Levackās, āI Like Moviesā, a comedy-drama based in the 2000s about a teenage cinephile who works at a video store, is eager to be a filmmaker and let’s everybody know it.
Bring a chair or a blanket and get cozy for a night at the movies. Enjoy good eats from Bollywood Tacos.
Chandler Levack grew up in Burlington, Ontario and lives in Toronto, where she studied cinema at the University of Toronto and screenwriting at the Canadian Film Centre. She has directed numerous music videos, earning two JUNO nominations, and was a veteran music writer and a current film critic for the Globe & Mail. In 2017, her short film We Forgot to Break Up premiered at TIFF and went on to play SXSW. In 2022, her debut feature film I Like Movies premiered at TIFF, was selected for Canadaās Top Ten Film Festival and won prizes around the world. She is currently working on her second feature Anglophone, a casual hang out movie full of ill-advised sex, drugs and rock n’ roll in the Montreal music scene circa 2011, with Zapruder Films and Banner House Productions.
Join us for an art activity in the lower level of the backyard. We will use acrylic gouache paint to depict iconic movie moments and capture the essence of cinema sights. No experience required!
PA Day camp is all about creativity and art adventuring!
Campers are encouraged to interact with art in fun and playful ways as they share their thoughts, and express their ideas through art. We will get hands on with some messy and imaginative art making activities that will truly inspire all budding artists.
*Cancellation requests received prior to the start of the program will receive a full refund minus a $15 administration fee. We do not issue refunds (partial or full) after the start of the program.
The RMG reserves the right to cancel programs if the minimum enrollment is not met. In the event of a program cancellation, a full refund will be given. If a program is cancelled, registrants will receive notice one week prior to the beginning of the program.
Come hang out in our onsite art studio! Each session will bring a unique theme where you will be encouraged to explore new techniques, work with a variety of materials, and express your unique personality through art.
Ages 14-17
Free drop-in, no registration required.
Upcoming Sessions
September 26, 2024
October 31, 2024
November 28, 2024
FAQ
Do I need to sign up ahead of time?
As a drop-in program, you do not need to sign up. Come on in! If you would like to communicate with the organizer directly, please contact Farah at [email protected]
What is the space like?
You are encouraged to either come alone or with friends! Plug into your own music or listen to the chatter. Materials and refreshments are provided. As a drop-in, you can come for a little time or a long time.
Where is it happening?
The studio on the lower level. The gallery is free to visit. Walk in through the front doors, turn right and go down the stairs, turn right again once you see the door to the studio. Or, take the elevator near our gift shop to level 1.
Is the environment low-sensory friendly?
We tend to keep the lights dimmed but they are still on. We play music on a medium volume, however this can be turned off upon request. The noise level in the room is about medium. For a pause from the art-making, the exhibition spaces offer quiet seating.
Do I need to know how to do art ahead of time? Do I need to be an artist?
No! The art activities are beginner friendly. We offer all the necessary materials and instruction to complete a project. We also value abstract art, ugly art, and silly art. Feel free to try new things.
Presented by The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation.
Back by popular demand! This free event encourages seniors (age 55+) to spend the afternoon curating their own program. We will offer refreshments, tours and drop in art making sessions.
1PM and 2PM: Tours of the RMG current exhibitions
Meet in the lobby of The RMG to tour our new permanent collection exhibitions Resistance, Jack Bush: Breakthrough and Pegi Nicol MacLeod: Unforgettably Hers.
Light Refreshments in Arthurās
Take the elevator to Level 4 to enjoy refreshments in the lovely Arthurās. This area is only open during special events, please enjoy the exclusive views from above Oshawa.
Drop in art making workshops
Two different hands on art making opportunities available on RMGās lower level! Drop in, no registration required, while supplies last.
Flower Pot Painting:
Let your creativity flow or have us guide you to create a bright succulent planter to admire. Beginner friendly, no experience required!
Pyrography with guest artist Victoria Grant:
Participants embark on their creative journey by practicing with the pyrography tools on scrap wood under personalized guidance from Victoria herself. Once participants feel comfortable and confident with the technique, they transition to designing their own mini canoe paddles. This part of the workshop encourages personal expression, allowing each individual to imbue their creation with elements that resonate with their unique identity and creativity.
Throughout the workshop, Victoria provides hands-on assistance and expertise, helping participants refine their designs and execute them to perfection. By the end of the session, each participant will have crafted a personalized pyrography design on a mini canoe paddle that they can proudly take home, showcasing both their newfound skills and personal artistic vision.
Victoriaās workshops not only foster artistic skill development but also celebrate cultural heritage and personal expression, making them an enriching experience for all involved.
Beginner friendly, no experience required!
Seniors Programming has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Sienna for Seniors Foundation.
These programs are inspired by our exhibitions and personal responses to the art on the walls! We foster a multi-dimensional approach that encourages individuality and imaginative problem solving skills using quality fine art materials. Spaces are limited.
This 8 week class is filled with art making that inspires creativity and imagination! Each week will be a new adventure with sculptures, paintings, drawings, printmaking, and more using artist quality materials!
*Cancellation requests received prior to the start of the program will receive a full refund minus a $15 administration fee. We do not issue refunds (partial or full) after the start of the program.
The RMG reserves the right to cancel programs if the minimum enrollment is not met. In the event of a program cancellation, a full refund will be given. If a program is cancelled, registrants will receive notice one week prior to the beginning of the program.
Transference is a performance by RBC Emerging Artist in Residence Vanessa Godden. Throughout the performance, Godden will submerge their body in containers of different sizes filled with salt water. The artistās movement, and the resulting sounds, will interact with a sound composition produced in collaboration with Markham-based Visual and Sonic artist, James Knott. The composition includes audio collected by Godden during their residency at the RMG, field recordings from Trinidad and Tobago, experimental steel pan recordings, and a choir of sounds collected from Queer and Trans loved ones. The performance serves as a bridge between Goddenās Non-Binary Queer diasporic existence in the West and the lineages of movement instigated by colonization of South Asia and the Caribbean.
Vanessa Godden, Transference (2024), performed at the 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art, October 13, 2024. Image by Henry Chan.
The RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundationās Emerging Artist Project.
The artist thanks the Canada Council for the Arts for their support of this work.
Likkle Acts brings together four series of photographs by Pickering-based artist Christina Leslie. Set in Jamaica, each body of work explores both her familial relationships and the complex history of the Caribbean. Delving into themes of memory, migration, and the sugar industry, Leslie adopts a variety of photographic processes to convey how she views the past and present as interconnected and multifaceted. Framing the exhibition, the Patois title references an African proverb made popular by Bob Marleyās song Small Axe: āIf you are the big tree / We are the small axe.ā This cumulative power of small gestures is conveyed throughout the exhibition, showing that when small actions are multiplied, they can have a meaningful impact.
In Morant Bay (2018) and St. Thomas, JA (2024), Leslie illustrates how belonging is built and maintained in everyday life through small acts of care, work, and communal rest. Alongside portraits and informal encounters, Leslie captures streetscapes and landscapes in a documentary style. These bodies of work reflect the artistās impulse to maintain and deepen a connection to place through photography. Distinct from the documentary style of these series, Pinhole Parish (2023-2024) represents the artistās personal reckoning with memory and the rupture of migration. Constructed using improvised pinhole camera lenses from materials at hand, the soft-hued images are dreamy and out of focus, visualizing the influence of intergenerational storytelling and an intangible veil between the past and present. Adopting a wider perspective, Sugar Coat (2021-2024) considers how collective memory is shaped by presence and absence in historical records and public spaces. Drawing from research on the transatlantic slave trade and the history of the sugar industry, this series presents narrative images that have been painstakingly encased in sugar. In this work, Leslie highlights resistance to colonial oppression, pointing to acts of rebellion big and small.
Christina Leslie is an artist based in Pickering, Ontario. She earned her BFA in 2006 at OCADU in Toronto and her MFA at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, USA in 2022. Her photographs have been featured in numerous publications and exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her latest series “Sugar Coat” has been exhibited virtually on Ain’t Bad Magazine (2021), Featureshoot.com (2022), PetaPixel.com (2022), and in-person at BAND Gallery (2023). She has exhibited nationally and internationally at GAMU (2009), Royal Ontario Museum (2010), Pier 21 (201, Art Gallery of Windsor (2017), Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives (2020), Prefix ICA (2021), and McMaster Museum of Art (2022). Much of her photographic practice revolves around the themes of de-colonialism, identity, immigration, issues of marginalization, history, memory, race, and her West Indian heritage. She often utilizes text and alternative and historical photographic processes to produce her photographs. She is a member of an all-female photography collective, Silver Water Collective and is represented by Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto.
Installation of “Christina Leslie: Likkle Acts” at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2024. Photos by Toni Hafkenscheid.
Exhibition presented by Partners in Art with additional support from the Ontario Arts Council, Alterna Savings, and Durham Community Foundation.
Help us celebrate the opening of Christina Leslieās solo exhibition Likkle Acts! This event is free and open to everyone. If there are ways we can support your participation, please contact Hannah at [email protected]. Christina Leslie is an artist based in Pickering, Ontario. She earned her BFA in 2006 at OCADU in Toronto and her […]
Walk through the exhibition Christina Leslie: Likkle Acts with exhibition curator Hannah Keating. Hannah will explain how the works were made and the stories and ideas that motivated Christina to create them. Curatorial Tours are free and open to everyone. They provide deeper insight into the themes, context, and content of our exhibitions. Seating options […]
Come out to hear Christina Leslie share insights and reflections on Likkle Acts with exhibition curator Hannah Keating. The talk will shine a light on Leslieās practice, research, and the innovative photographic processes that she used to create the works in Likkle Acts. Join us at 1pm for a reception catered by Starapples. The artist […]
Free. Registration is required. This is a how-to workshop for artists! Part creative workshop, part career conversation, weāre excited to have Christina Leslie lead a two-part session on photo emulsion transfers and gallery representation. Inspired by her Sugar Coat series in Likkle Acts, Leslie will show participants how to lift a photographic image from one […]
