Michelle Owusu-Ansah, Misha Bower, Midswim, and Embassy Cultural House at Innovation Works

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View this email in your browser Michelle Owusu-Ansah, Misha Bower, Midswim, and Embassy Cultural House at Innovation Works! Saturday, April 27, 2024 Innovation Works, 201 King Street, London, ON Doors 6:30PM / Show 7:00PM $13 in advance / $15 or PWYC at the door An evening of spoken word and music featuring musical headliner MIDSWIM of Guelph, with local acts Michelle Owusu-Ansah of Spoken Culture, and musician and storyteller Misha Bower. Also featuring a regional spotlight with Emmy Meredith, showcasing the current exhibition from Embassy Cultural House: A Community of Trees. Presented by Pillar Nonprofit Network, this is a multi-arts community collaboration you won't want to miss! To buy tickets in advance, click the link below!    Midswim is the project of Claire Whitehead, a musician based in Guelph ON, who has been collaborating and touring with bands (Forest City Lovers, Blimp Rock, Kelly McMichael) for the past 15 years. Whitehead writes lyrical and melody-driven songs on guitar, occasionally using the violin to create a background of atmospheric loops. Her songs provide a safe harbour for longing, loneliness and reflection and have been described by listeners as “elemental” and “alive”. Misha Bower is a writer and musician based in London, Ontario. Her work, literary and musical, is character-driven and often focused on the idiosyncratic ways people cope with and internalize life experience. Her main literary work is a short story collection called Music for Uninvited Guests, and in 2019, she released a full-length album called Trying to Have it All. Misha will be joining this lineup with a blend of music and storytelling, accompanied by guitarist Will Kidman. Michelle Owusu-Ansah is a second-year law student at Western Law and the founder of Spoken Culture, an organization dedicated to providing a platform for spoken word artists to showcase their craft. With a lifelong passion for poetry, she has been weaving words and performing since childhood. Michelle's poetic prowess shines particularly in her historical compositions, where she effortlessly intertwines the past with the present, captivating audiences with her evocative storytelling. Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is a virtual artist-run space and community website. The latest online ECH exhibition, A Community of Trees, highlights the versatility of trees' existence and how they are an important and essential part of the ecosystem. This exhibition has been curated by ECH Contributing Editor Emmy Meredith, with the assistance of ECH Curatorial Advisors Ron Benner and Jamelie Hassan. Selected works from A Community of Trees will be on display at the show and Emmy will be joining the lineup with a brief talk about the exhibition. Buy Tickets Sheltering as Radical Care: Cleaning Stitching and Gathering around the Antler River with Mikaila Stevens and Michelle Wilson Announcing "Sheltering as Radical Care: Cleaning, Stitching, and Gathering around the Antler River," a new Embassy Cultural House project led by Michelle Wilson and Mikaila Stevens. Throughout the summer of 2024, Michelle and Mikaila will offer six two-hour bi-weekly drop-in workshop sessions at Indwell's Embassy Commons building. The Deshkan Ziibi, or Thames River, is an artery that connects communities, human and more than human, in the London area. Unfortunately, the River and its banks have become a site of contention as unhoused community members have made their homes upon its banks. Some organizations, such as Indwell and Antler River Rally, have taken up the responsibility of providing care for the River and those who face housing and mental health challenges. As part of this initiative, Michelle and Mikaila have partnered with these organizations to create artwork that builds connections from these points of contention. They plan to collaboratively generate a gathering shelter using reclaimed plastic collected during river cleanups. At a time when some of this city's leaders are demonizing marginalized people and their structures, this shelter will be a silent protest against their denigration. The partnership intends for the shelter to be hung in Indwell's Embassy Commons building as a tapestry when not in use. We look forward to gathering beneath it for years to come. This project is funded by the Ontario Arts Council's Artists through the Community Project Grant, and we thank the government of Ontario for its support.    Michelle Wilson is an artist, researcher, and mother who identifies as queer and neuro-divergent. Her work focuses on artistic collaboration as anti-colonial care work, which means that she rejects individualistic conceptions of the artist and instead prioritizes working at the periphery and making space for a diversity of hands to come together through creation.  Mikaila Stevens is a Mi'kmaq contemporary beadwork artist, graphic designer, printmaker, and storyteller. She currently resides on Deshkan Ziibi (London, ON). In 2019, she launched Flourish and Grow, where she creates one-of-a-kind contemporary-style beaded accessories, artwork, and apparel. UPwithART 2024 in support of Unity Project and Museum London Online Auction: April 25 – May 4, 2024 Arty-Party: Saturday, May 4, 6:30 – 11:00PM The annual UPwithART fundraiser brings together art-lovers to celebrate culture, compassion, and community. Your support helps Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness provide housing and support services and allows Museum London to continue to keep admission free and programs available at a low cost to the community. Please join us on Saturday, May 4, 6:30 pm – 11:00 pm for an arty-party on all floors at Museum London. Not able to make it? You can place your bids online for the 60+ artworks from Thursday, April 25 at 7:00 pm until Saturday, May 4 at 9:00 pm. Please register and view the art at UPwithART.ca to support those who need the most help during this very difficult time. The online silent auction features artworks by renowned national artists, emerging talents, and pieces donated by collectors. Explore artworks and bid to support two great causes! All works are framed and wall-ready — view them all here. The art will also be on view in an exhibition at Museum London from Friday, April 26 to Friday, May 3. The art auction goes live online starting April 25 at 7 pm. Bid on the art you love from a stellar roster of renowned and emerging artists, alongside artworks by Unity Project participants, and historical and contemporary works donated by notable London area collectors. View the art online at UPwithART.  Excited to view the art in person? Visit Museum London (admission is free) from April 26 to May 3 for a sneak peek! For more information, please visit the UPwithArt website.  Get your tickets now! Ontario Arts Council and League of Canadian Poets announce Lillian Allen Prizes for spoken word poetry Lillian Allen (Photo credit: Randall Edwards)  The Ontario Arts Council (OAC), in partnership with the League of Canadian Poets (LCP), recently announced the creation of the Lillian Allen Prize and the Lillian Allen Emerging Artist Prize, which recognizes and celebrates spoken word poetry artists working in English or French. Two prizes will be awarded annually: one to an established artist and one to an emerging artist, based on their respective bodies of work.  The prize is named after Canadian poet, spoken word artist, educator and activist Lillian Allen. Lillian is the author of several books of poetry (including her newest collection Make the World New), plus books and recordings for children and young people. She is a globally recognized poet and recording artist who performs, lectures and gives workshops internationally, and founded the Toronto International Dub Poetry Festival, as well as a variety of cultural and youth-empowerment organizations such as Toronto Arts Council’s Fresh Arts. She’s a two-time winner of the Juno Award for Best Reggae / Calypso Recording, a creative writing professor at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U), and has held the post of distinguished Writer-in-Residence at Queen’s University and the University of Windsor. She was appointed to a three-year term as Toronto Poet Laureate in 2023.   Allen’s distinctive approach to poetry through language, music and social consciousness continues to capture attention and make change. She embodies the excellence, creativity and professionalism she has brought to the form. The OAC, through consultation with the LCP, is recognizing her legacy of community building and generosity of spirit by naming this prize in her honour.  To learn more about the awards, visit the Ontario Arts Council's website here.  Ontario Art Council and Arts for all Ontarians What do the arts in Ontario look like, sound like, feel like? The Ontario Arts Council has aimed to provide an answer in just 60 seconds, with Arts for All Ontarians – a video that provides a whirlwind tour of what Ontario Arts Council (OAC) funding has helped make possible since its founding in 1963. Featuring grant recipients from across the province and the decades, the video is a highlight reel of how OAC’s investments have benefited Ontario’s communities, economy, quality of life and identity as a province. To learn more about the artists, organizations and projects featured in the video, visit the OAC website.  The Embassy Cultural House gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council for their generous funding of ECH projects and programs.  Relevant and Related Links From Jazz on the Rideau: "Rabble Without A Cause, April 24: Invisible Roots at 50; the Eric Stach story, part 1" by Ian McKenzie From Akimbo: "Holly Ward & Kevin Schmidt at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham" by Yuluo Anita Wei From Sarah Kendzior's Substack: "2020 Vision"  From Strategic Culture Foundation: "Brutal, chaotic war – norms, conventions and laws of conduct are being erased" by Alastair Crooke From London Review of Books: "My Encounter with Sartre" by Edward Said Visit the ECH Website Embassy Cultural House is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial. Copyright © 2024 Embassy Cultural House. All rights reserved. Our mailing address: 514 Pall Mall Street, London, ON, N5Y 2Z6, Canada Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.