"Our systems, institutions, leaders and narratives about who and what we are — our lack of compassion and limited definitions of what a valued member of society is — are failing us. They have been failing us for quite some time. Both COVID-19 and the uprising against systemic racism based on greed, fear and territorialism are symptoms making visible the inequities that continually seethe just beneath the surface of “civil society.”

At this moment, we are unequivocally confronted with the need to reimagine our humanity and what it means to be living organisms sharing the planet with many other organisms, some living, some not. This is nothing new.

However, at this moment, we can plainly see how black, brown, queer and disabled bodies are devalued; how people who threaten the comfort of those benefiting from institutional power are expendable. Humans have the responsibility to reconceive the systems that threaten communities rendered simultaneously hyper-visible and invisible by their perceived difference.

It is now time to reconstruct the idea of the human."

— Excerpted from https://www.noemamag.com/afro-now-ism/

"In the past, Eyebeam has ran its residencies out of its Bushwick space and had an annual cohort of 7–11 artists. But now, through a restructured version of the program, the organization will largely cede its power to artists themselves, allowing them to select the next classes of residents on their own through an open-call process.

. . .

'It’s really important for us to start questioning the role of gatekeepers when it comes to artist support,” Schrock said. “By doing this, we will be able to support the kinds of artists who can make the most change in the world."

. . .

Alongside the restructuring of the residency, Eyebeam will focus on building new partnerships with different organizations around the world, in the process putting less of an emphasis on the organization’s Bushwick space. In particular, Eyebeam is looking to build partnerships with organizations that will allow its artists to look at art and technology through the lens of racial justice, equity, and other societal issues that use the partnerships to focus on projects 'that start with impact and work backward,' Schrock said."

— Excerpted from https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/eyebeam-residency-program-change-ford-foundation-1234584327/

"The 15th annual Nuit Blanche Toronto was reimagined to deliver a special online edition to ensure the safety of attendees and artists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual event presented five streams of programming, including talks, podcasts, live streams, Nuit History and augmented and virtual reality artworks. Artistic Director Julie Nagam’s curatorial theme – The Space Between Us – focused on the connections across urban, polar and pacific landscapes revealing the space between us as a potential site for sharing knowledge."

"ArtworxTO: Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021–2022 will celebrate Toronto’s exceptional public art collection and the artists behind it. This exciting new initiative will support artists and new artwork that reflects Toronto's diversity and creates more opportunities for the public to engage with art in their everyday lives, across the whole city.

The arts sector is an essential component of a vibrant community and will play a key role in the city's economic recovery from the pandemic. Working closely with artists and Toronto’s arts institutions ArtworxTO will deliver major public art projects and commissions from fall 2021 to fall 2022. This September, discover creativity and community–everywhere."

— For more info: https://www.artworxto.ca/

Aabijijiwan New Media Lab

"Aabijijiwan New Media Lab houses four digital media labs each with a specific production focus – sound, projection, virtual reality (VR), animation and video – and a collaborative interactive studio space for engagement between these mediums, as well as a collaborative space for workshops, intergenerational gatherings, dialogues, and work with older media, such as sewing, caribou hide tufting, beading, and other materials. Grounded in Indigenous ways of being in relation – with other people, with the land, and with non-human entities."

Kishaadigeh Collaborative Research Centre

"Kishaadigeh Collaborative Research Centre is a collaborative space designed, driven, and governed according to Indigenous methodologies. The center is for transdisciplinary and creative research, allowing for dynamic and engaging space for workshops, intergenerational gatherings, dialogues, and work. This area contains individual workspaces for tablets or laptops, a family space for babies, mothers, parents and children, it can host community events and gatherings from all disciplines."

— For more info: https://aabijijiwanmedialab.ca/

GLAM Collective

"GLAM Collective (Dr. Carla Taunton, Dr. Julie Nagam, Dr. Heather Igloliorte) is a collective of scholars who work on and through Indigenous theory and methodologies, public art, performance art, digital technologies, and curatorial and artistic practices that engage with space and place. GLAM Collective was founded 2018, but we have more than a decade of experience prior to that collaborating through publications, exhibitions, research-creation projects, presentations, symposia, workshops and other initiatives."

"For the Architecture Fringe 2021 we invite you to (un)learn with us, to interrogate your own behaviours, beliefs and biases in order to acknowledge how the world really is to then reimagine how it could be.

Across a diverse range of Open Programme activities, Core Programme events and a community of grassroots designers, architects, artists and activists, we invite you to explore, interrogate and (un)learn about the world of architecture, as it could be.

As always, and most importantly, many thanks to the many, many contributors, participants, volunteers and audiences who make Architecture Fringe what it is. The Architecture Fringe 2021 will run 04-20 June 2021, across Scotland, and online."

"Building on the findings from our 2014 study, the 2017 study finds that the definition of culture has expanded even further – possibly to the point of extinction. New behaviors are driving digital engagement, loyalty, and giving. And measuring, proving, and articulating social impact has never been more important in the eyes of cultural consumers."

"Kresge Arts in Detroit and Sidewalk Detroit have partnered to present a public, 3-day, interactive summit that will explore existing opportunities and new possibilities related to alternative economies and community-based resource creation and sharing within Detroit’s artist community. Participants will engage with presenters and peers with knowledge and experience spanning mutual aid, intentional communities and land use. Attendees will have opportunities to define and share their vision, ideas, and experience, while connecting and learning from other artists who are interested in alternative economies."

Occurring June 15, 16 &17, 2021, 10am-4pm

This program is free and open to the public. Space is limited. Reserve your spot!

— For more info: https://www.bigmarker.com/series/now-future-artist-summit/series_summit