We are incredibly excited to announce that the Story Arts Centre is taking part in this year’s Nuit Blanche – Toronto’s all-night festival for contemporary art. On October 1st, our campus will remain open throughout the night, and attendees will get to see our school transform into an attraction that you won’t want to miss!
The festival’s theme is The Space Between Us, which everyone who takes part interprets and makes their own. Our Nuit Blanche Events Coordinator, John Caffery, came up with the idea of Space Oddity, a reference to the David Bowie song, and he says it creates an umbrella for our community to create within.
“Our plan, for the time being, is to have multiple ways in which the public can engage in the arts. We are going to have a massive canvas that will invite visitors to paint and draw on the scene and a digital photo studio with technicians and prompts where people can create photoshoots. I have also been a DJ for clubs, festivals, and events for the last twenty years, so I'm going to be DJing a set drawing the music from the theme, and we will have dancers from the college as well. We are also working with the gaming department to produce a 12-hour Game Jam,” John shares.
Dean, Nate Horowitz, adds, “It is a great mix of arts, media, communications, and design. Most importantly, it is not just about viewing, it is about engaging and interacting with participants, and that is what we are all about.”
Wanting to incorporate as much of our college community as possible, Dr. Chris Jackman, Chair of Arts and Design, says, “We are going to invite students and other members of the college community to submit proposals for artworks and performances that will also float through the halls of the Story Arts Centre during the event.” John adds, “I'll be looking to do outreach and get students involved, both in terms of showcasing art and producing art, but also on the site the day of to help out with the coordination of the event.”
As we get closer to October, John and the rest of our Nuit Blanche committee are working on a variety of the components for the festival, including, marketing, creating draft call outs to artists, hiring students, budgeting, promotion, outreach, sourcing equipment and materials, finalizing all of the artists, curation and more.
“I think there is much to see at Nuit Blanche. It is a great place to walk and wander the city, and I think that there is going to be so much happening at our site that it is a destination. There will be lots to excite the senses and get people thinking and appreciating the beauty of arts,” John says.
This is the first time our campus will take part in Nuit Blanche, so you could say… it’s a very big deal. Our involvement helps showcase to the community that the Story Arts Centre is filled with creativity from our talented students and staff. John says, “I think it puts us on the radar of the city at large who are interested in the arts to be able to see and recognize Centennial College as a major producer of creative work.” He adds, “I think it allows prospective students to see some of the dynamic, creative, and innovative work being produced and what’s possible for future students.”
Echoing this, Nate shares, “Our involvement helps enable people to see what we are doing as a media, arts, and design school, and it exposes the public to us.” While Chris adds, “I think that this is an excellent opportunity for us to celebrate our reopening, to come back together after so much time apart, and to really show the galaxy what we can do.”
While still several months away, we will be providing updates along the way, so be sure to stay tuned on our blog and check out our social media channels (@storyartscentre) and our event page for more details.
Article by: Alexandra Few
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