18:00:54 captioners if we could speak one at a time, which shouldn't 18:00:57 be a problem. I'll start the recording. 18:00:59 » Recording in progress. » DIANA DRIEDGER: I would 18:01:04 like to call the 18:01:07 Annual General Meeting of Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba 18:01:11 to in order. I'm Diane Driedger the Chair. Greetings 18:01:15 to everybody. I would like to acknowledge that AANM is 18:01:22 located on Treaty One land the traditional territory of the 18:01:27 Anishinaabe, Cree, Dene, Dakota, and Oji-Cree nations. 18:01:33 And the homeland of the Metis. 18:01:37 I would like to ask for approval of the agenda that 18:01:45 was circulated for the AGM. Do I have a move -- someone to 18:01:49 move? » JENEL SHAW: Wait, that was 18:01:53 a wrong one. 18:01:53 » DIANA DRIEDGER: Susan 18:01:57 Lamberd moves. A seconder? » I'll do it. 18:02:02 » DIANA DRIEDGER: Okay, Ted Yates-Howarth. All in favor. 18:02:08 Opposed? Carried. Okay. We' ll go to number 3. Approval 18:02:14 of the minutes of the 2019- 18:02:19 2020 is AGM, which we are now seeing on our screen, which we 18:02:24 all had a look at before the meeting. Any comments, 18:02:32 questions, or changes to the minutes from last year? 18:02:44 If not, I'll ask for a motion to accept the 2019-2020 AGM 18:02:57 minutes. Andrea. Seconder, Dana. All in favor? Opposed? 18:03:04 None. Carried. Okay. Number 4. Our reports for the year 18:03:12 end. The first report, A, is my message. And I will read 18:03:16 from the statement that I circulated to all you folks 18:03:23 that's in the AGM. Papers. It's been my honor to serve as 18:03:26 the Chair of 18:03:29 Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba. For the past year. 18:03:35 I would like to introduce you to the AANM Bohr members, Ted 18:03:40 Yates-Howarth, vice Chair, Susan Lamberd. Past Chair, 18:03:45 Dana Kletke, treasurer. Brennan Smith. Secretary. 18:03:51 And Bram Keast. I also wish to thank outgoing AANM board 18:03:56 members Christian Higham and Crystal Kordalchuk for their 18:04:02 service. And I also thank Jenel Shaw, AANM's executive 18:04:08 director for her outstanding work in the past year. Our 18:04:11 organization is moving from strength to strength. We have 18:04:15 been successful in running new initiatives such as our salon 18:04:20 series, where disabled mentors in the area of writing theater 18:04:24 and visual artworked with other disabled artists. This 18:04:28 was con veefed a a program organized by, run by, and 18:04:32 taught by artists with disabilities. Again, this 18:04:36 reinforced AANM's goal to be a leader in supporting the 18:04:41 careers and providing opportunity for training. The 18:04:46 salon model meant that artists who know what it's like to 18:04:49 experience the barriers of being a disabled artist were a 18:04:53 ill able to pass on their skills to other disabled 18:04:57 artists. We thank the Manitoba Arts Council for providing the 18:05:01 funding for this project. In addition, the COVID-19 18:05:04 pandemic with its lockdowns provide the opportunity for 18:05:09 AANM to move the first Fridays initiative in the exchange 18:05:14 online to our website. We had visual artists and one 18:05:17 musician take part. We obtained funding to improve 18:05:24 our website from the Assiniboine Credit Union. And 18:05:29 this meant disabled art has been viewed if a and wide not 18:05:35 just in Winnipeg. And AANM received COVID-19 grants such 18:05:39 as the Manitoba bridge grant. In addition, AANM received 18:05:45 funds from the Canada Council during COVID, which AANM used 18:05:50 to fund five microgrants for artist with disabilities. We 18:05:53 also received funding from the Winnipeg foundation, the 18:05:59 Manitoba Arts Council, and the Digital Now Canada Council for 18:06:02 the arts grant. Our rule as the voice of artist with 18:06:06 disabilities continue through public presentations. Such as 18:06:10 accessibility on stage and off . Where we discussed access 18:06:17 for actors and the public. Creative Manitoba asked AANM 18:06:21 artists to run semiseminars about accessibility in the 18:06:24 arts called creative accessibility. Our executive 18:06:28 director Jenel Shaw and Board members continue to meet with 18:06:32 people in the arts community to consult on disability arts 18:06:38 and access. AANM has embarked upon many successful 18:06:42 initiatives this year. We thank all of our funders, 18:06:46 volunteers and staff who have made it happen. We look 18:06:50 forward to a fruitful 18:06:55 2021-22. Thanks. 18:07:05 Okay. For B. Overview of the organization. Jenel. 18:07:08 » JENEL SHAW: All right. Okay, so this is probably not 18:07:11 going anything new to people. But I'm just going to read it 18:07:15 out. So everyone knows what the organization is about. So 18:07:20 art Arts AccessAbility Network Manitoba is a regional not for 18:07:23 profit artist fun chartable organization dedicated to the 18:07:27 full inclusion of artists and audiences with disabilities 18:07:30 into all facets of the arts community. Our vision is the 18:07:34 full inclusion of artists and audiences with disabilities 18:07:39 and all facets of the art community. Or mandate is to 18:07:42 facilitate a network of artists and stakeholders for 18:07:45 both the arts and disability communities that support 18:07:50 artists with disabilities and in achieving individual 18:07:54 artistic excellence, promoteds higher visibility of these 18:07:59 artists within all disciplines . And promotes practices and 18:08:02 policies to make art accessible for all Manitobans 18:08:07 . Our goals are, one, to with be the voice of artist and 18:08:11 audience in Manitoba. To bring leadership in access and 18:08:18 equity issues TA impact the arts. Empower artists in with 18:08:21 the resource they need to advance their artistic 18:08:24 practice. To brick artist and stakeholders together to 18:08:27 explore and nurture a creative and inclusive community. To 18:08:33 educate and inform the arts community, policy makers and 18:08:36 art funders about artists and audiences with disability pes 18:08:40 to act as rho, to arts organizations and institutions 18:08:44 . Making their venues and services more suitable to 18:08:47 people with disabilities. And to gather and disseminate 18:08:50 relevant information to individuals and organizations 18:08:55 in the disability and arts sector. Our mission is to 18:08:58 advance the education of artists with disabilities by 18:09:01 providing courses, instructional seminars, and 18:09:05 workshops in a variety of artistic disciplines 18:09:08 preponderance on topics such as grant writing, portfolio 18:09:13 preparation, and photography documentation. Another of our 18:09:17 missions is to advance the public appreciation of arts by 18:09:22 introducing public art exhiexhibition, prejudiceses 18:09:26 and performance artist events and providing a forum 18:09:30 for qualified artists to present or perform their 18:09:33 artistic works through participation in such events. 18:09:37 We also like to promote health by providing artists with 18:09:41 disabilities the appropriate facilities and services 18:09:46 adapted to accommodate their specific needs. And lastly, to 18:09:48 undertake activity 18:09:56 insill yarr and incidental to the above charitable purposes. 18:10:00 That's the organization. Would you like me to jump into 18:10:06 part C, Diane? Okay. Part C. I'm going to tell you all 18:10:09 about the achievementments of the last year. Our fiscal year 18:10:15 runs from April 1 to March 31. So I'm going to begin with 18:10:19 April 2020. So in April 2020, I met with professors from the 18:10:24 university of Manitoba to discuss the research project 18:10:27 embodied accountability. Rethinking measurement tools 18:10:32 for disability and Deaf arts. We discussed wanting to pa 18:10:35 rtder in for an opening to conduct research how people 18:10:38 interact with disability arts. We also had a round table 18:10:42 discussion. Accessibility on and off the stage which was a 18:10:45 great success. There were 22 attendees on the Zoom meeting 18:10:48 which doesn't include the panelists. For the Facebook 18:10:53 Live stream, we reached 18:10:57 1,917 people. With 18:11:01 158 engagements, four shares and 565 views of the time of 18:11:07 the report. Also if First Friday was postponed for this 18:11:10 month in right light of the COVID pandemic as we thought 18:11:14 how we were going to move forward. So May 2020. We held 18:11:22 our first online exhibition by Marie Leblanc, we reached over 18:11:26 6,700 people with over 120 responses on Facebook. And 18:11:29 these online exhibitions are really ma ick an impact and 18:11:35 are reaching our audience members. In June 2020, I was 18:11:41 able to speak to Senator Bovee about arts during the pandemic 18:11:46 . And I spoke to Adam from matching Canada how we've been 18:11:53 ed as a organization by a pandemic. And we have our 18:12:03 First Friday event with Miranda Kudajczyk. Through 18:12:08 that, we reached 115 people. We had 17 comments. And we 18:12:12 sold an artwork. We were also successful that month for a 18:12:17 grant for the Assiniboine Credit Union for our website. 18:12:20 In July, we began work on the new website right away. We 18:12:24 also provided the ASL interpretation for one night 18:12:28 of the French fest online virtually yours. And we also 18:12:35 received that month Canada counsel for the grants art 18:12:40 phase 2 COVID-19 emergency support fund. In August 2020, 18:12:44 my meeting with the U of M professors came to fruition as 18:12:51 we had our First Friday event with Elle Zaster. And the 18:12:55 artwork as presented online as well as outdoor as a socially 18:12:59 distanced outdoor opening. We projectorred art work on the 18:13:02 side of a building. And just were able to gather outside 18:13:07 while being safe. There were 42 attendees and over $500 18:13:12 worth of artwork was sold. 18:13:16 255 people were reached via the online exhibition on 18:13:19 Facebook and have the researchers for U of M 18:13:24 conducted 12 interviews for the research project. AANM was 18:13:30 also offered a free 1/2 page advertisement in in Studio 18:13:33 magazine out in September or October of 2020. We had help 18:13:41 from a board member, Crystal Kordalchuk. Thank you, Diane. 18:13:47 To help create that graphic. In September 2020, we had a 18:13:55 First Friday event with Jan. Jan gave an virtual artist 18:13:59 talk and sold an artwork. We also has been working on our 18:14:03 files with Babs Pike. And archives Manitoba accepted our 18:14:07 files. And we are now our information about our 18:14:11 organization and how it began is Safely in the archives for 18:14:15 anyone who wishes to learn more about it. And we also 18:14:18 brought a new website online, which was very exciting. As it 18:14:21 has a really neat accessibilities features and 18:14:26 is very easy to use and nice to look at. We also will 18:14:33 participate in reBlanche and unfortunately we had to cancel 18:14:35 as a result of COVID-19. We were going to project the 18:14:39 artwork and have a opening reception P but instead the 18:14:44 art got viewed online. I gave an interview with CBC about 18:14:47 the event. And with having that extra advertisement, that 18:14:52 website that specific page was viewed 826 times, which is 18:14:56 pretty good. In October 2020, we began our art salons. The 18:15:01 writers had three participants and they were led by Kate T 18:15:08 visual artists had eight participants let miy yet. And 18:15:11 the theater group has five participants led by Debbie. 18:15:17 We also held our AGM, which was attended by all of board 18:15:22 members and six extra members and our ASL intermenters. The 18:15:26 recording for the AGM wiz posted on AANM's Facebook page 18:15:30 and we reached 50 people with that post, which is great. In 18:15:36 November 2020, we had another First Friday exhibition with 18:15:42 Ryan. With his piece we are not amused, which had 42 views 18:15:45 . Myself and two of the board members also participated in 18:15:51 the Manitoba artist run center coalition anti-racism training 18:15:56 which was really great. And the approved our project for 18:16:00 us to re-do our policies. In December 2020, we decided to 18:16:05 do a holiday shop for our First Fridays. And we sold 18:16:09 three artworks which is not too bad. I also gave an 18:16:12 interview with over 10 students from the Red River in 18:16:16 the disabilities and community support program. And lastly, I 18:16:20 had our monthly artist call translated to ASL for our can 18:16:25 have deaf members and it was mosted on our Facebook page. 18:16:27 In January 18:16:34 2021, John O's Ross a first musician to perform on First 18:16:39 Friday gave a beautiful a cappella performance which has 18:16:43 two viewers at the time and has been viewed over nine 18:16:47 times so far. I also connected with Manitoba Possible and 18:16:51 Brandon so they could write a letter of support for our 18:16:54 grant for Manitoba Arts Council so they could with 18:16:58 increpted this Brandon, which we did this past month. We 18:17:01 created a poster, and advertised on microgrants, 18:17:05 which was very exciting to be able to offer that support to 18:17:10 some of your artists. And I also met with creative 18:17:13 Manitoba who were looking to hire coaches or mentors with 18:17:16 disabilities. And rerecommended five individuals 18:17:21 . In February, we had a First Friday exhibition, which 18:17:25 included a recorded artist talk. It was a little bit -- 18:17:30 it was pretty fun, we used cat filters so the artists could 18:17:33 remain anonymous. And there were 33 views on the website, 18:17:37 five on the YouTube channel. And 121 people reached on 18:17:41 Facebook. I also met with Hannah from the united to 18:17:46 speak with this First Friday exhibition as well as 18:17:50 accessibility arts during and after a pandemic. And a lovely 18:17:54 article appeared in the Uniter on the First Friday exhibition 18:17:58 for that month. I also attended a meeting for the 18:18:00 national legal clinics for the arts. They are looking to 18:18:05 have headquarters in every provenance. And I wanted to 18:18:09 ensure the issue artists with disabilities faced were 18:18:11 addressed. So it was interesting to attend that. I 18:18:17 also met with Rachel Anderson from creative Manitoba to put 18:18:22 on some workshops through them , which Diane mentioned called 18:18:27 Creative Accessibility. In March 2021, we had 21 18:18:31 submissions for our microgrants and 5 winners were 18:18:34 choosen. We also applied for the Manitoba bridge grant, 18:18:38 which we received the Winnipeg foundation stipulation grant 18:18:43 which we received. The digital now Canada counsel grants 18:18:47 which we received. And the Manitoba Arts Council grant 18:18:50 for cryptic which was successful. I also contacted 18:18:55 the Winnipeg arts gallery on a lack of accessibility on the 18:19:00 online opening of the Inuit art center. And they wrote 18:19:04 back asking for ASL interpreters. And that's our 18:19:08 year in synopsis. A lot happened even though the 18:19:12 pandemic was going on. We kept busy and showing art and 18:19:16 supporting or artists and it was really great. 18:19:18 » DIANA DRIEDGER: Yes. » JENEL SHAW: Yes,. 18:19:20 » DIANA DRIEDGER: A very successful year. 18:19:23 » JENEL SHAW: Looking forward to upcoming -- 18:19:26 » DIANA DRIEDGER: Looking forwardnd. 18:19:28 » JENEL SHAW: You, me? » DIANA DRIEDGER: You. 18:19:33 » JENEL SHAW: So what's coming up? So fall of 2021, I 18:19:36 'm excited to say we are going to be hiring a part-time staff 18:19:40 . That is through the grant that we got with the digital 18:19:45 with the Canada council for the arts to create 18:19:48 monthlyonline exhibitions and to give me a hand in the 18:19:51 office, which we are excited about. Interviewing start next 18:19:56 week. And we should have a announcement next week on who 18:20:01 will be our new staff member. Also during this past summer 18:20:07 we started part one of the accessibility artist Winnipeg 18:20:10 art scene with community consultations so we could 18:20:13 create the audit. Because audits are typically not 18:20:16 created by those with disabilities we felt it was 18:20:20 important their feedback was known right from the beginning 18:20:23 . So that was really great. We met with over 40 18:20:28 individuals. And now also complete the audit, which is 18:20:32 great. And in the winter and spring of 2022, we hope to 18:20:37 start part 2, where we begin to audit the actual art spaces 18:20:41 and create a database on our website to hold all that 18:20:44 information. Just to create it, make it more easier for 18:20:47 people with disabilities 18:20:51 to know what they can expect at these spaces before they go 18:20:55 . And to have it all in one area. So you don't have to 18:20:59 call all these places. It makes it a lot simpler. And 18:21:05 lastly, the other big project for the year is our spring- 18:21:09 summer of 22, we'll have having a member show. We're 18:21:13 not too sure yet where the venue is going to be. But we' 18:21:15 ll announce that when that happens. And that's our big 18:21:19 plans for 21-22. » DIANA DRIEDGER: Great. 18:21:23 Thank you. Yes, we had a very successful year this year. 18:21:29 And we should congratulate all all of us for all of our hard 18:21:32 work and vision in creating all these things. Wow , you 18:21:37 know when you hear the list we 've really done a lot. And 18:21:44 are doing a lot. And it's fantastic. Okay. We're going 18:21:54 to look at E. Review of the financial statements, Dana. 18:21:57 » DANA KLETKE: I'll unmute 18:22:00 myself. 18:22:04 So as Jenel mentioned, when we 're looking at these 18:22:09 statements we are thinking about April 1, 2020, to March 18:22:18 31, 2021. And we'll move on. This is the review engagement. 18:22:27 So moving to paining page let' s go straight to page 2. 18:22:32 The page 2 we start with our balance sheet or our statement 18:22:38 of financial position. You'll see we have cash in the bank. 18:22:42 We're going to be looking at the 2021 numbers. The 2020 18:22:45 numbers are there for comparison to the previous 18:22:52 year. So in cash we have cash in the backing bank at 55,950. 18:22:56 We have some accounts receivable at 835. Goods and 18:22:59 services taxed recoverable. So as a charity, we can claim 18:23:06 back half of our G ST. At 270 . We have some donated art 18:23:11 work that was given to AANM. And it's value is $931. So we 18:23:16 include that as an asset. And we have some pre-paid expenses 18:23:23 , which is including insurance to our website 18:23:29 and Zoom account and things like that for 2,474. So we 18:23:34 have a total -- our total assets are 18:23:41 60,460. Our liabilities, we have some accounts payable. 18:23:44 And accrued liabilities at 18:23:50 7,889. And we have some deferred revenue for 11,500. 18:23:54 And this is grants that we can only spend on a certain 18:23:57 project that's intended for. So it's included a a liability 18:24:03 because we can't spend it on anything else. For total of 18:24:08 19,389. Then we have net assets which is our surplus. 18:24:15 Our unrestricted surplus is at 26,000 and $71. And we have 18:24:20 new newly internally restrictedded funds. We put 18:24:25 aside some of our surplus from this year of 15,000 to cover 18:24:27 neutral projects including some operating and some 18:24:31 programming. So we have a total of 18:24:34 $41,071. So we balance out at 18:24:38 60,460. Now, I forgot to mention if you have any 18:24:40 questions while we are going over these statements I won't 18:24:45 be able to see you, so speak up or, I don't know, maybe 18:24:53 write in the chat. We're moving along to statements of 18:24:55 revenues and expenditures. This is our operations of 18:25:00 revenues and expenses for the year. With earned revenue, we 18:25:04 have some artists sales. So this is the total value of 18:25:07 artwork that we sold out of the office at $912. We 18:25:12 department have any co- production revenue this year. 18:25:17 But we did have membership fees at $340. There's a 18:25:23 little bit of interest at 102. And in the private sector, we 18:25:28 have corporate sponsorships, which is great. ACU usually 18:25:33 gives us some support. The Assiniboine Credit Union. We 18:25:38 have some donations at 18:25:44 $154 members sending us money now that we have a tax status 18:25:49 you can get a charitable tax receipt. And corporate 18:25:53 donations. This is what Jenel was talking about for our 18:25:57 website development of 5,000. And we also had a little bit 18:26:01 of $50 from our landlord. And then we have some donations in 18:26:07 kind. And that, again, is the value of the artwork, $931. We 18:26:12 did receive Winnipeg foundation funding but we have 18:26:15 deferred it. So we'll look at that later on, so it doesn't 18:26:20 show here as revenue. Then we move on to federal money. We 18:26:25 have Canada council for the arts. We received arts 18:26:30 emergency support fund. This is COVID-related for 18:26:35 16,300, which is fantastic. Canada council for the arts 18:26:38 our core operating funding grant. So we received an 18:26:43 increase, also very exciting. We are now at 45,000 up from 18:26:47 38,000 in the year previous. And we still have project 18:26:53 grants funding that we spent in this year, received. And 18:26:55 spent, 18:27:01 $8,976 from a project grant. And then we received some wage 18:27:05 subsidies also through the federal government for 18:27:08 $705. And 18:27:15 in province I can't believe funding we got grants, 18:27:23 3,369. And Manitoba bridge grant. From the 18:27:33 proevents which is helpful. And we are at 18:27:39 110,339 for total revenue. And moving on to expenses, this 18:27:43 section here this is a summary of all of our expenses and 18:27:47 later on we'll get some other detail. A total administrative 18:27:50 expense is 18:27:54 $1,074, which is a little leses less than last year. 18:28:00 Artistic, 42,443, whichs up from the previous year. 18:28:04 Facility expenses, 18:28:08 3,994. And fundraising costs. $2. And marketing and 18:28:12 communities at 18:28:17 5,565. A total of 18:28:22 92,000 necks pences. This a leaves us with 18:28:27 17,003 subpoena dollars surplus if the year. If we 18:28:40 $17,317 for the year. So we have money to our 18:28:44 restrictedded fund. We start the year at 18:28:48 23,700, we have a surplus starting the year, a cushion 18:28:52 we built up over time in case something happens we have that 18:28:58 cushion. We add 17,371 to our surplus. And the board 18:29:03 cannedded decided to set aside 15,000 of that money to put 18:29:07 towards future projects. Now we have two surplus designated 18:29:12 surplus. One is unrestrictedded at 18:29:19 $26,071. And the other is 15, 000 specifically for projects. 18:29:22 This is a statement of cash flows. We don't need to 18:29:26 review it. This is how the accountants determine how much 18:29:31 cash we have in the bank at the end of the year. And then 18:29:34 there are a whole bunch of notes. I'm not going to go 18:29:41 over these notes. Unless someone has a question. 18:29:45 The accounts payable and accrued liability there is a 18:29:52 detail of some of the a lot of the payables are in play 18:29:55 deemployee deductions and salaries at the end of the 18:29:59 year with some suppliers for 7 ,889. And the deferred 18:30:04 revenues this is the money from mostly from the Winnipeg 18:30:07 foundation community grant we' re deferring to the next year 18:30:10 for 10,000. And also a very small portion of the react 18:30:15 project from Canada con sill for the arts for 1,500. And 18:30:21 we'll spend all of that in 2021-22. 18:30:24 Note number 5 is new for us because it's now our 18:30:29 internally restricted fund. And then another section in 18:30:33 our financial statement number 7. There's quite a lot of 18:30:37 notes -- quite a few notes in here about the funding that we 18:30:41 receive from COVID-related funding sources. Due to the 18:30:45 approve. So that's sort of sort a new section that has a 18:30:50 lot more detail than I used to have. And then we have the 18:30:55 detail of each of the sections . So in administrative costs, 18:30:59 we have administrative expenses office supplies and 18:31:01 professional development. 18:31:07 3,635. With administrative salaries which is 18:31:12 20,741. And we only have one staff member, but we have 18:31:16 Jenel full-time. And we decided her beige wages half 18:31:22 in administration and half in artistic salary. So there's 18:31:27 two salary lines there. We don 't have any in kind salaries 18:31:31 this year because we have paid staff. Professional fees we 18:31:33 have 18:31:37 14,215. This is a lot to do with the react grant and also 18:31:42 our bookkeeping expenses. And the accounting fees. And then 18:31:47 rent. So also, our rent is divided between program and 18:31:53 admin. For our funders. So our little office in our space 18:31:57 is the rent on that the desk is 18:32:02 $2,683. So we have a total administrative cost of 18:32:07 $41,074, which is lower that happen the previous year. In 18:32:13 artistic, here you see the grants we gave to artists at $ 18:32:17 2,000. We have artists and professional fees at 18:32:19 11,409. This is exciting for us because this is money we 18:32:24 put into the hands of artists. Artists sales. This is money 18:32:29 paid to artists for the sale of the work for 18:32:36 $785. Catalogs 302 we did a catalog. And education 18:32:39 audience development and outreach. 18:32:46 3,107. And a lot of that is also ASL. In support for 18:32:50 other organizations. Exhibition in programming 18:32:54 4,089. Because we did a lot of programs and we have a few 18:32:59 costs there. And the programming salary again at 18:33:06 20,541. Our total artistic expenses is 18:33:11 42,233. Our facility operating very little facility repairs 18:33:16 and maintenance at $85. Property insurance 1,226. And 18:33:23 our programming portion of our space the rent is 2,683. So 18:33:25 total of 18:33:31 3,394 in facility operate pfg and in marketing, marketing 18:33:33 contract 18:33:38 4,647. And this is the re- development of art website. 18:33:43 And some other website-related expenses at $1,018 for a total 18:33:51 of 5,565. And that's our year. Very great year financially. 18:33:54 End of the year with a surplus and planning towards the 18:33:59 future. So was there any questions? 18:34:06 No questions. Then I would ask for a motion to -- or I 18:34:08 guess Diane maybe you ask for the motion. 18:34:11 » DIANA DRIEDGER: Yes, do I have a motion to point the 18:34:13 accountant 18:34:19 Craigen Ross? » DANA KLETKE: Can we approve 18:34:21 the financial statements? » DIANA DRIEDGER: We'll do 18:34:24 that first. A motion to approve the financial 18:34:29 statements from 20-21. » I'll move that we do that. 18:34:33 » DIANA DRIEDGER: Okay, Ted. Seconded by Adnrea, all in 18:34:36 favor? 18:34:44 Opposed. None. Carried. Okay. And the second motion is the 18:34:50 appointment of our accountant Craig and Ross. Do I have a 18:34:58 motion? Dana. Seconder, Susan. Okay, all in favor? 18:35:07 Opposed? Okay. None. Carried. Thank you. And we 18:35:13 are to number 5. Our motion to adjourn the meeting. Who 18:35:26 would like to move to adjourn our AGM for 20-21? Brennan? 18:35:29 Thanks so much. Now we'll take a bit of a break. And at 18:35:33 7:00 we are going to re- convene, and Jenel, tell us a 18:35:36 bit about what is going to happen there. 18:35:39 » JENEL SHAW: Yeah, we have very luckily. We have mel 18:35:41 monoceros who is going to be giving a talk with us about 18:35:45 the accessibility in the arts during the pandemic. And I'm 18:35:49 so excited to hear them speak. The meeting ended a little bit 18:35:52 early. So people got 25 minutes now to take a break 18:35:58 instead of 15. So get a cup of coffee. Grab a dinner if you 18:36:03 need to. And come back at 7: 00. And we'll be so excited 18:36:09 to hear what mel has to say. » I have a question. I wanted 18:36:15 to ask a question about how we get back in and do we -- 18:36:17 » JENEL SHAW: Don't leave the meeting. Just turn your video 18:36:21 off. And mute. And just keep it open. 18:36:26 » Okay. And Dana? » DANA KLETKE: That was my 18:36:27 question. » JENEL SHAW: That was your 18:36:31 question, okay [Laughter] Yea, I mean, if you want to 19:12:14 . And there was no pattern, I to followed a stitch and 19:12:15 decided to see what would happen. 19:12:19 » Recording in progress. » MEL MONOCEROS: You can go 19:12:23 to the next slide. 19:12:31 Awesome. So 19:12:36 this piece and the next one -- this slide and the next one 19:12:46 are from a piece that I created for the Mooa and 19:12:52 Em piece show in 2019. It's a hand embroidered and hand scup 19:12:56 which you wanted I call it a car blanket -- no, you can ask 19:12:59 questions whenever -- it reminds me on being on the 19:13:05 backseat on a long trip with those rolling blankets with a 19:13:08 ribbon on the side. And I wanted to create something 19:13:12 really cozy and comforting for a topic that was not really 19:13:17 those things. And this piece was an invisibility. And the 19:13:20 kind of 19:13:26 performativeness of incluesivity sometimes. 19:13:33 So it's two sided. On the side you are seeing on this 19:13:40 image it's a very large probably 1/2 of a double bed 19:13:44 size maybe. Flannel. It's dark green and black plaid. 19:13:50 And there are knots of green embroidery thread spaced out 19:13:55 all the way through it. And dark green ribbon around the 19:14:01 edges. You can hang it on a wooden dowel from a ceiling of 19:14:05 a white gallery. Stitched on this side is the word They in 19:14:09 the center. But it's not really stitched in a way that' 19:14:15 s super legible. It's missing some pieces. It's stitched 19:14:18 backwards. And the right side of the stitching is on the 19:14:23 inside. It's unfinished. And when you're able to see it 19:14:34 close up you can see there' lots of knots and disorder in 19:14:38 how the stitching sei arrange. And faintly in the photograph 19:14:42 are the words stitched slightly around the edges. 19:14:46 Some words with Black, chronically ill. And on the 19:14:50 bottom it says not a woman. And now if you go to the next 19:14:54 picture. 19:14:58 So this isn't the best picture of it. But that's shadow 19:15:02 situation or a 19:15:05 text situation in the center in the same spot as the they 19:15:09 on the back. This is the front piece, perfect, thank you, 19:15:17 Jenel, I love it. So this is the word here.here. And it's 19:15:23 stitched with full satin stitching. It's ordered and 19:15:27 the letters are very neat. And there's nothing else on 19:15:31 the fabric. But it's also an unfinished work. Yes, and that 19:15:36 's another picture -- that's another view of it. So with 19:15:43 this piece, I wanted to kind of explore unfinishedness as a 19:15:48 disabled person who creates things and has episodic 19:15:54 capacity. I like to be able to share to invite more 19:15:58 unfinishedness and more raw edges into textile work and 19:16:04 into the gallery. Because I think there is sump such an 19:16:09 an expectation of perfection and order when we're sharing 19:16:17 our work and entering into the spirit of being public. So I'm 19:16:22 getting a note from my phone. 19:16:24 Let's see if there's questions . 19:16:27 » JENEL SHAW: There's one question from Susan Lamberd. 19:16:31 She asked, does your polysensory work allow touch? 19:16:35 » MEL MONOCEROS: It does. Very much so. All my textile 19:16:40 textile pieces for the most part when they are exhibited 19:16:45 are touchable. And that practice began with my work in 19:16:51 tangled that point of origin show in 2016. Because my first 19:16:55 entry into creating visual work was with disabled -- 19:17:00 within a disabled gallery. So everything that we were 19:17:04 thinking about in terms of how we were going to be able to 19:17:07 offer it had questions around how to make it most accessible 19:17:11 . So as someone who is creating the pieces I was 19:17:16 really thinking about and just experiencing the wide ranges 19:17:20 of touch that can happen in the work. And you if I have a 19:17:24 photo of it. But a few of the pieces are woven. And I have 19:17:29 many, many different colors. Many different kinds of knots 19:17:34 and stitches. A lot of different textures -- [beep] 19:17:37 sorry that's my wheelchair. And a lot of textures, I do 19:17:44 that so it's delicious to be viewed by eyes and delicious 19:17:47 to be touched and moved around . So as much as possible I try 19:17:52 to make my work available to be touched which is really 19:17:56 difficult during COVID. I haven't landed on a solution. 19:18:01 But I spent the last while of COVID trying to think of way 19:18:06 that is the touch aspect of my work can be translatedded in 19:18:13 way that is make it COVID safe . And so if you go to the next 19:18:21 photo. The next one. Yeah, so this is from point of view of 19:18:25 origin. So when we get to a couple more pictures I'm going 19:18:31 to return to that question. So this piece is called pain map. 19:18:37 And it was on exhibit on gallery 103 last gallery. And 19:18:40 it was a piece I made with point of origin. And again, 19:18:47 all of this might have been -- this was the only one that 19:18:50 wasn't tactile because it's white. But might have been, I 19:18:54 can't remember right now. And this piece is mixed machine 19:19:04 quiltings and embroidery. And upper shoulder trachea 19:19:09 collarbone area is an x-ray of my own throat. It's not too 19:19:14 big. Maybe 35 by 35-inches. It's that cream colored white 19:19:18 muslin. And there is stitching all in red. 19:19:21 Different shades of red and embroidery floss. From top to 19:19:26 bottom there's a anatomical brain. And the trachea x-ray. 19:19:30 And below that is the lower part of the spean into the 19:19:35 pelvis. And then into the right of the spine is an 19:19:41 anatomical heart with a lot of stitched rays radiating out 19:19:44 from it. And it has 19:19:49 em bordered questions, where does it start? How does it 19:19:56 hurt? Where does it hurt? How? Now. And for folks that 19:19:59 live with disability, live with chronic illness that have 19:20:04 to intersect with doctors doubting themselves this is a 19:20:07 common experience, especially for chronic pain folk pes and 19:20:12 they are the kind -- this piece kind gets to the whole 19:20:16 name of the show. So it's point of origin the name there 19:20:20 's this medical assumption there is a specific injury or 19:20:27 a specific physical trauma or a specific event that causes 19:20:31 symptoms that causes pain that causes the body to function 19:20:38 differently. And as a 19:20:43 multiple marginalized person who has legacies of hour 19:20:46 damage complications and brilliance as well. That's 19:20:52 lot of pain I'm born with via my identities. And because of 19:20:55 the world that we're in because of the world that we, 19:21:01 you know, obviously have to navigate, which is very built 19:21:06 on White supremacy and very much built around ableism and 19:21:12 cis heterosexualism. So as a Black disabled creature there 19:21:16 's not a lot of ease or comfort for me in the world. A 19:21:20 reason I like to make quilts is they are cozy and can 19:21:27 create safety. With my different experiences and 19:21:29 different conspiracy experiences of 19:21:32 microaggressions or childhood and adult trauma there's 19:21:37 different points of origin of pain or experience of a mental 19:21:40 illness. So I have to deconstruct the idea of having 19:21:44 one single point that's the beginning of something. So 19:21:49 that's this piece. And go to the next one. 19:21:57 This piece is about the same size, about 35 to 35 square. 19:22:03 And a back ground of dark green with a gold pollen 19:22:14 almost polka dots over it. And on the bottom is a silver 19:22:20 spoons sown up and down one run ribbon around the bottom. 19:22:28 And around the quilt is kentay cloth and clocks constructed 19:22:33 out of gold wooden spoons. There's one full clock that 19:22:35 reads 9:00. And there's a bunch of different ones that 19:22:41 are missing hands and missing pieces. And this piece is 19:22:44 called running late. It's about spoons and the spoon 19:22:48 theory, which I'll get to in the next couple slides. And 19:22:53 the idea that it's really hard to be on time. It's hard to 19:22:56 catch up. It's hard to feel like you're catching up with 19:23:00 society when you're navigating a lot of different 19:23:04 intersections and limitations because of the ableist world 19:23:07 and having a body with limitations. So I wanted to 19:23:11 share a poem, which is the next slide. And then yeah, so 19:23:15 I'll read this part. And then you can go to the next one. 19:23:21 It's up so you can see it easier. So running late 19:23:25 -- Oop, can you go to the first one. Thank you. [ 19:23:29 reading slide] 19:24:19 Next one. Now for breakfast. [reading slide] 19:25:30 Next one. And this is just a little 19:25:33 into graphic I wanted to share about the spoon theory where 19:25:38 that poem and the quilts are born from. And so I want to 19:25:42 say it was mid. 2000s that Christine who is the creator 19:25:47 of the spoon theory came up with this, I think it was 2004 19:25:51 but maybe a bit late perf and Christine lives with chronic 19:25:55 illness, I believe she has lupus. And the story that -- 19:25:58 you can look up her name and look for the proper story. I 19:26:00 like the story that goes in the illustration. She was out 19:26:05 with a friend of hers who wasn 't disabled. And they were at 19:26:08 a diner. So 19:26:11 they had cutlery on the table. And she was trying to explain 19:26:15 what it was like living with a chronic illness, what it was 19:26:19 like navigating her day pes and she grabbed 12 spoons and 19:26:24 said okay and gave the spoons to her friend. And said, for 19:26:27 every activity, for every movement, for every task we're 19:26:31 going to takeaway a certain amount of spoons. You don't 19:26:34 get to refill your spoons. You only get a certain amount 19:26:36 of spoons at the beginning of the day and everything is 19:26:40 going to cost something. So you have to negotiate what you 19:26:43 are going to spend your spoons on during the day. And this is 19:26:49 the into dprask reads. The spoon theory is a way to 19:26:53 explain to healthy friends -- which I complicated] reading 19:26:59 ed [reading slide] 19:27:20 And the illustrations are that 's column of one spoon, two 19:27:26 spoons, three spoons and four spoons with the one-spoot 19:27:29 activity being like getting out of bed, take your meds. 19:27:34 Two spoons would be surfing the internet, styling your 19:27:39 hair. And three spoons is making a meal or having to 19:27:42 drive somewhere. And four spoons is go to the doctor, 19:27:47 shopping, exercise. So folks who don't live in proximity to 19:27:51 or in relationship to folks who live with chronic illness 19:27:58 and have navigate this, it could be difficult to make 19:28:02 accommodations and make space if your understanding for the 19:28:12 ways chronic illness exists. So next slide. Okay. 19:28:21 So this is a weaving I made on commission for someone a 19:28:25 couple years ago. It's a woolen tapestry. And it's 19:28:30 mostly wool and cotton. And then there are pearl strands 19:28:36 of pearl and some bits of metal. And lace woven into it 19:28:40 . And it has dark blue and dark black tassels at the 19:28:44 bottom. The wool is mostly dark purple , dark gray, a 19:28:49 couple light blue pes and some warmer colors. This piece is 19:28:59 called the ownlessing eight. It's named after a book series 19:29:04 I love. It's a navigation through a dream space is how I 19:29:08 navigate this space working for the person it went to. So 19:29:12 next slide. The next couple pictures are me in different 19:29:16 studio set ups. This is me weaving at my old house. Or 19:29:22 setting up the loom, rather, not weaving. And yeah, so I'm 19:29:28 just sitting at a table. Facing a wooden with metal 19:29:34 harnesses in the center and white and blue thread coming 19:29:39 towards me. Next one this one and the next one, actually. 19:29:44 So yeah, this is me. I'm kneeling on the floor with a 19:29:48 glue gun. I'm wearing black. And I'm working on a -- the 19:29:55 backing of a blue rug. And that's what's visible. The 19:30:02 next one. And then this is one of the a scene of my 19:30:05 sewing room, which doesn't look like this anymore. So 19:30:12 there's a very large puffy pastel colored quilt in greens 19:30:17 and peaches and blues. Spread under a quilting machine that 19:30:20 says 19:30:26 sweet sixteen. And there's a wall of photographs and books 19:30:30 behind it. And a pink quilt in the upper right by the 19:30:35 window. And this is the chaos that exists when you work on a 19:30:41 big quilt. I feel grateful to have the space to work with 19:30:44 these size of thins. And being able to experiment with these 19:30:47 size of thins. And being a I believe to make up a space and 19:30:51 change it around to what I need is a huge asset as a 19:30:55 disabled artist. And something like this, this is a quilting 19:30:59 machine, and something like this which holds more and can 19:31:03 do a lot more because it's, you know, mechanical 19:31:07 and certain in the future makes quilting easier and 19:31:10 makes accessing that craft and accessing that part of my 19:31:19 practice easier. So that's that photo. Next one. So this 19:31:28 and the next one or two -- sorry, just go back, this one 19:31:33 then. This is a photo of my work up in Saskatoon right now 19:31:39 . It's a still of two screens. On the left is the black and 19:31:45 white of my phone pin inviting the entangledment. And part 19:31:50 three of ancestor radio. And on the right is the green teal 19:31:53 of tuning the ocean, which is part one. And then the bottom 19:31:59 of the green screen it says in brackets, static, loud, 19:32:07 rain fall, heavy, and faint. The film on the left has no 19:32:12 sound and the film on the right has a lot of sound a 19:32:17 different textures of sound. And with that film I used 19:32:22 captioning and different ways to describe the sound to 19:32:27 viewers and listeners and non-listeners into the work. 19:32:32 And the all own campusing feeling that can happen when 19:32:34 you're working with grief, which is what that film is 19:32:40 about. And last slide. This is my piece down the house. 19:32:43 It's a rug the front of the frame and there's a framed 19:32:49 quilt on the wall behind it. The rug is dark blue with two 19:32:54 white L-shapes on the upper right and bottom left corner 19:32:59 and there's blue squiggles and green and brown spots through 19:33:02 it. And that's what I was working on in the earlier 19:33:06 photo. With this piece this was -- this year, I can't 19:33:09 remember what month it is right now, so it was up in the 19:33:14 spring. And during COVID times. One of the ways this 19:33:18 was able to be accessible was there was very limited. You 19:33:22 have to make an appointment to go see it. Unfortunately, 19:33:25 folks weren't able to touch it . But I tried to do in the 19:33:31 description I I recorded an audio description and wrote 19:33:35 description for each piece describing the tactility and 19:33:39 what it would feel like if you were running your Hanover it. 19:33:42 Because that experience wasn't available this year. And that 19:33:46 's the slide show. And some of my work. Thank you so much 19:33:53 for doing that amazing tech support, Jenel. Yeah, and so 19:33:57 with being the body I am, with being the creative I am, I can 19:34:04 't always rely on outside forces or outside support for 19:34:07 how my practice exists. So there aren't really a lot of 19:34:13 really accessible studio spaces. There weren't a ton 19:34:20 of -- even gallery spaces that are might be barrier free but 19:34:22 there's so many other ways of thinking about access, that I' 19:34:28 ll get into, that still might be -- they might not be 19:34:31 physical barriers but there are barriers to being 19:34:37 comfortable, to feeling safe. And so thinking of ways of 19:34:42 being the hybrid offerings and events over the next however 19:34:45 long we're in COVID, which I think is the beginning of a 19:34:51 season. Yeah. I think there are ways we can think about 19:34:57 access ina really Broadway. And ways we can do -- we can 19:35:00 create support and create networks of interdependence 19:35:07 within disabled communities. Within chronically ill and 19:35:10 neurodivergent communities. There are so many ways of 19:35:14 intur sections support our survival. But because the 19:35:17 world isn't necessarily supporting us, it can be hard 19:35:21 for us to support each other. And so often, I encourage folk 19:35:24 that is don't live with disability or don't live with 19:35:28 chronic illness or have access to some abled bodied privilege 19:35:30 to leverage that. And so think about what they have 19:35:37 capacity for. And to be very mindful of and intentional 19:35:40 with the kinds of help they offer. Because folks sometimes 19:35:45 want to show up a lot. They want to -- they can do all 19:35:47 these things and they are really excited because they 19:35:51 want to help because they care about you. But we live in a 19:35:53 complex world and we live in many a world that has 19:35:55 different 19:36:02 junctions. A friend promises to take you to the grocery 19:36:07 store on Thursday or Friday or over the weekend could be like 19:36:10 for a disabled person that's the goal this week. We'll go 19:36:14 out and go out the house and compare my energy. And I'll 19:36:18 prepare the animals if I have to. If I have a bring a 19:36:20 service animal. I'll make sure I have stuff for when I 19:36:24 get home. And do the whole thing. And something comes up 19:36:27 for the abled bodied person and 19:36:32 that I have to change. They might not think we can 19:36:37 too much about it, oh, we can do it another day. But to have 19:36:41 our disable kin exist and have our needs are faceted and can 19:36:46 be fractal creates more -- can create more meaningful access 19:36:50 and invite abled bodied folks to be in more relationship to 19:36:54 their own capacities. Because society is going to be telling 19:36:57 you because you are abled bodied you can do all the 19:37:00 things and you shouldn't feel any way about them. But grief 19:37:04 can still effect you. And trauma can still effect you. 19:37:10 exhaustion can still effect you. And time can still 19:37:14 effect you. When I facilitate around the access to 19:37:20 accessibility, I use the anecdote in my facilitation 19:37:24 life often when I ask about access needs in the room, 19:37:26 abled body folk folks will be like oh, I don't have anything 19:37:30 , yeah, I have no needs. I have no access needs, pass to 19:37:32 the next person, which like some people don't want to 19:37:39 share. But some people think there are only kinds of -- 19:37:42 certain kinds of people that have needs to be in the world. 19:37:45 We all have different needs to be in the world. Sometimes we 19:37:51 need glasses. Sometimes we need orthotic shoes. 19:37:54 Sometimes we need the pressure gloves for your hands. That 19:37:58 might not -- you might not consider you're chronically 19:38:02 ill or disabled or all the different ways we can be 19:38:07 complex. But there are still ways that as a person in this 19:38:10 world there are ways you find a way to like make the world 19:38:13 more comfortable for you. To make the world more 19:38:18 comfortable for the world that you care about if it's cutting 19:38:22 the tag out of the shorts of your underwear or something. 19:38:25 Or picking up a food that your partner likes because they are 19:38:27 having a hard time. There's care and there's relationship 19:38:30 in so many of the way that is exist we might not think of 19:38:34 them as access. But I invite folks who don't think they 19:38:38 have access needs. And think that only certain kinds of 19:38:42 people have access needs kind of to dissolve that boundary 19:38:47 around how they think about it . Because it allows you to be 19:38:51 in a much broader care relationship. And it's a 19:38:53 really beautiful thing to be in relationship to other 19:38:57 people's needs, even if you can't support it. Like if 19:39:03 there's -- if there's ways that you can offer to help 19:39:07 someone find a ride if you can 't get them a ride. There's 19:39:09 just a lot of different way that is I think we have ways 19:39:14 of supporting and as disabled and chronically ill folks we 19:39:18 have so much genius about ways to figure out how to support 19:39:23 each other. And abled bodied folks should listen. Which 19:39:31 leads me to my article I wanted to share. So 19:39:35 -- 19:39:40 this is art and accessibilitied a mist a 19:39:47 pandemic. And let me just get the thumbs up from 19:39:51 interpreters they are okay to go with this? 19:39:59 Okay, thank you. Among the art world across Turtle Island, 19:40:02 much of 2020 found artists and organizers experimenting, 19:40:06 fumbling, trying new things, and offering alternative 19:40:12 invitations and exhibitions. While I am as a Black disabled 19:40:15 artist used to surviving and creating within alongside, and 19:40:19 underneath capitalism, oppression, racism, and 19:40:25 ableism, the pandemic revealed a new level of perceived 19:40:29 dispose ability. Something became unered in a more 19:40:34 aggressive way as the pandemic spread and regulations 19:40:36 intensified. Much of the messaging in the early weeks 19:40:40 discussed howth the only people effected would be all 19:40:43 deer and the 19:40:47 immune know comp sized. Other people might get it but be 19:40:50 okay. We essentially had government heads telling the 19:40:53 public the risks weren't so high because the only people 19:40:58 who that we would risk losing were sick or old. We witness 19:41:02 stand witnessed crowds march against public health 19:41:07 regulations. And saw governments host 19:41:12 preventing travel over health care. And we saw instances of 19:41:16 our friends, coworkers, ex's, teachers, neighbors choose 19:41:20 version of self-care that put themselves of others and 19:41:23 themselves at risk. It was painful watching friends and 19:41:28 family member , community and kin become ill or pass away 19:41:32 without the deserved care of the comfort surrounding them 19:41:37 because of the restriction. While other groups went to the 19:41:42 cottage or had small semimasked distanced 19:41:45 gatherings. It was a interesting paradox of 19:41:49 observation. My life, for example, is made up up of a 19:41:54 lot of staying home alone. Working virtually, 19:41:58 buildingling distance kinships and preand post-pandemic 19:42:02 ordering things to my house, this is some of my truth. A 19:42:05 prospect of a similarly shaped daily life for most normals 19:42:10 and abled bodies anyway was so abhorrent we couldn't even 19:42:12 get our initial lockdown measures for the three months 19:42:16 it takes a build a newn't habit. I should be understood 19:42:20 I'm not talking about essential workers like health 19:42:25 care woker, transit drivers, grocery store workers, 19:42:28 pharmacists, et cetera. But one of the most challenging 19:42:30 things to arise was the witnessing the world double 19:42:36 down on its disregard for disabled, chronically ill, 19:42:40 neurodivergent and deaf people . The level of gaslighting in 19:42:44 abled people's voices that occurred early in the pandemic 19:42:50 and subsequent quarantines while not surprising was quite 19:42:54 everyone fatticly heartbreaking. On one end the 19:42:59 rhetoric centeredded around our lives being disposable if 19:43:04 that meant more ease and less social disruption to the rest 19:43:08 of society. And the on the other end, internet connection 19:43:12 . Everything was magically available digitally and 19:43:16 remotely. Songs as long as awed computer, fast internet 19:43:18 connection and a camera and could hear or read lips 19:43:23 because a majority of the events shifted so online 19:43:27 without basic accessibility measures like captions or ASL. 19:43:31 By April 2020, the majority of those who could work from home 19:43:39 were opting o mandated to do so. Internet 19:43:45 companies allowed overages. Corporate companies has lounge 19:43:48 wear. And three times as many people were using delivery 19:43:52 services to get their needs met without shame. If over the 19:43:55 first we're year of the pandemic you came across the 19:43:58 term mutual aid, community fridge, care collective and 19:44:07 others, you have sick, disabled LGBTTQIA+2 and BIPOC 19:44:12 thank to think. Along with the wisdom and widespread support 19:44:18 of those most engendered. Suddenly, after years of going 19:44:23 through a myriad of gate keeping hoops to engage with 19:44:26 the more more accessibility only to be told, no, it's not 19:44:30 possible. You're not right for the position. It would wreck 19:44:32 the vibe of the event. It's important everyone is there in 19:44:36 the same room, you understand. After losing opportunities, 19:44:40 income, professional social, spiritual, and cultural 19:44:46 connections. After being told we are not -- that we are -- 19:44:48 that we are not replaceable because we cannot participate 19:44:54 in person. Turns out it's super possible, even easy for 19:44:59 some. The request just has to come from the neurotypical the 19:45:03 abled bodied the economic producers of society. We 19:45:07 disabled chronically 19:45:12 ill deaf people saw it coming. We knew what this would mean 19:45:15 for us and our kin. We showed up for each other. We showed 19:45:20 up for ourselves what was the only option. We practiced 19:45:24 radical vulnerability to practice across distance and 19:45:27 cushion ourself with what care we could. We metaphorically 19:45:30 looked at each other with narrowed gazes and scores of 19:45:37 abled body folk took to both took our viral vulnerability 19:45:42 for granted by continuing to go out, host path gatherings, 19:45:46 travel unnecessarily, et cetera. And wailed about how 19:45:50 lifestyles like ours at home, unable abled to see who we 19:45:53 want or go where we want Shaneing shaping the majority 19:45:58 of your decisions around the potential risk to your immune 19:46:03 system was completely unacceptable and unsurvivable. 19:46:06 Living every day with the above considerations is not 19:46:10 unfamiliar to my disabled people. I know it's very 19:46:14 familiar to me. As we collectively breathe out it 19:46:19 have dust of 2020 and now 2021 , which I think we'll be doing 19:46:22 for seasons to come, I'm left with a vibrating inquiry. In 19:46:27 the coming years as the first cohorts of COVID long haulers, 19:46:32 those are lingering or lifelong symptoms begin become 19:46:36 more normalized enrichments of or community and societies the 19:46:38 percentage of people living with disability, chronic 19:46:41 illness, 19:46:46 neurodivergence and struggling with mental health increase. 19:46:51 How do you show care in our incriesingly distanced and 19:46:57 virtual world? No , I'm really asking. So for me, the purpose 19:47:02 of accessibility is to invite and allow all present to be in 19:47:07 the space virtually or otherwise as their whole and 19:47:10 fullest sell evers. To be able to experience the event 19:47:15 or meeting gathering with a few barriers as possible. 19:47:17 Removing barriers to participation also gives 19:47:23 agency to our apartments to gauge their capacity and level 19:47:27 of engagement. Reminder. This continues to be an impossible 19:47:30 time for our collective mental health and our abilities to 19:47:36 rest and breathe. Abled bodied , disabled, chronically ill or 19:47:42 otherwise. I offer here a list of possible options. The 19:47:46 below applies for your future call toss submissions and 19:47:48 exhibitions and panel discussion and theater 19:47:52 performanceses and film festivals, screenings, poetry 19:47:56 readings, book launches and Zoom meetings and other online 19:48:02 gatherings. One, 12 accessible things to consider when art 19:48:05 sharing or hosting. One, consider access first. Not as 19:48:08 an afterthought. This includes in your yearly 19:48:12 budgets in your grant proposals we are tired being 19:48:15 told we don't have the money. We are triered of being told 19:48:21 the comfort of abledbodied people is more important than 19:48:27 ours. When accommodations are ignored. Two, include a agenda 19:48:30 . There's enough uncertainty in the world. There's enough 19:48:33 uncertainty in the world right now. Tell your guests what 19:48:38 they can expect. And it can be brief and have and it can 19:48:43 have items still to be determined. Three. Caption 19:48:48 all films, video, and live performances. Film makers I 19:48:54 promise you I will not degrade the integrity of your work. 19:48:58 Practice imposing your fames with caption captions and 19:49:02 subtitles with mind. If you have a language with a 19:49:09 language sub titles think of the placement with the 19:49:12 captions, et cetera. Four, image and material 19:49:14 descriptions, especially on social media include a 19:49:18 description in the captions. Because not everyone's device 19:49:21 works with the alt text feature on some social media 19:49:25 platforms. Descrings scriptions are necessary for 19:49:30 blind and low vision folks using screen readers online to 19:49:34 have images read to them. Descriptions are also useful 19:49:39 for other neurodivergent people and others who are 19:49:42 cognitively diverse to help understand the image and its 19:49:46 context. And they can additionally describe the film 19:49:49 maker, a tartist, an opportunity to highlight the 19:49:52 elements they want to draw attention to such as lighting 19:49:57 or composition. Five. ASL interpretation. If there'll 19:50:00 be speaking or singing there should be interpretation and/ 19:50:06 or captioning. Six. Audio describe. Live events and 19:50:11 films when possible. This is to describe any actions, 19:50:14 settings, essential effects of other visual business that 19:50:18 takes up the scene. Seven. Request that everyone put 19:50:23 their pronouns beside their name in the meeting. Not all 19:50:29 women are she/her. Not all people are nonbinary or use 19:50:33 they and them. If your event is specifically for women or 19:50:39 femmes or nonbinary people recognize those labels are not 19:50:41 interchangeable. Eight. Make everything that can be 19:50:47 recorded and archivable available afterwards with 19:50:52 trappingses. Sometimes entering something asat our 19:50:56 own pace is crucial. Just because it's online doesn't 19:50:59 automatically make it easier for someone to intend it have 19:51:03 nine, content warning including flashing lights and 19:51:08 if more familiar warnings for violence, nudity, problematic 19:51:13 language, et cetera. Ten, offer touch tours when 19:51:18 possible for blind and low visual visitors to fete a 19:51:21 tactile information on what is in galleries. And an work of 19:51:26 living behind COVID closed doors 11. Display actionable 19:51:30 information for the event. Venue, virtual, and in person. 19:51:33 Log in and tech requirements. Transit and parking. Scent 19:51:37 restrictions. Washrooms, et cetera. Very clearly on your 19:51:41 website. This includes any measures taken to align line 19:51:45 with COVID-19 precautions and protocols. I'll add, as 19:51:50 chronically ill folks who have to be especially more mindful 19:51:53 of going out during COVID times it's a sign that you 19:51:56 care for us if you tell us what you are doing to care for 19:52:01 COVID in this space. 19:52:09 11. Sorry. 12. Never assume a solely able bodied audience. 19:52:12 We enever know what people are living with. We're so 19:52:15 intersectional. We're so complicated and. We're 19:52:17 changing constantly. My access needs yesterday are 19:52:21 going to be different tomorrow . Yours might be the same. 19:52:24 The more flexibility and gentleness we have with how 19:52:29 each of us has the possibility to exist, the more access just 19:52:37 becomes part of how we make art, how we organize, how we 19:52:40 are activisting with our communities. How we work with 19:52:43 interpreters. How we work as health care professionals. 19:52:46 There's so many ways society tells us not to think about 19:52:49 access because disable people around supposed to be around 19:52:52 and visible and taking up space. But we are because we' 19:52:58 re awesome. So make access just part of the DNA or 19:53:04 whatever is being presented and offered. And again, 19:53:09 reminders that unprecedented moments in how we're 19:53:14 experiencing making art sharing it, media, being in 19:53:17 relationship with each other, building collaborations, 19:53:20 everything is different. And it's really okay to not know 19:53:24 how that feels. How that settles. To not know what your 19:53:28 answers are for a year from now because we are in a very 19:53:34 big orbital shift in this moment. And yeah, I just want 19:53:39 to offer that to always just be gentle and care for 19:53:43 yourselves when you can. And drink water. And that's me. 19:53:46 Thank you so much. And I'm open for questions if you have 19:53:49 them. » JENEL SHAW: Thank you so 19:53:52 much, mel, that was wonderful. So great to hear all these 12 19:53:57 suggestions just really great. Accessibility tips. If 19:53:59 anybody would like to ask a question or make a comment, 19:54:04 feel free to turn on your video, unmute yourself or 19:54:11 throw nit the chat. I see marina M says thanks mel. And 19:54:16 Michelle said really wonderful , mel. Thank you. 19:54:18 » MEL MONOCEROS: My pleasure, thank you. 19:54:21 » JENEL SHAW: Looks like Ted has a question and I'll read 19:54:24 Susan's after. » Couple things a question and 19:54:33 a comment as well. One thing is is that often I've read 19:54:35 about 19:54:42 people being referred to as tabs. Which means temporary 19:54:46 able bodied. And I think it brings to light something that 19:54:48 you talked 19:54:52 about as to not knowing the complexity of the world around 19:54:58 us in terms of how it changes and how people 19:55:03 perhaps have an able body at one point but you never know 19:55:07 what the future is going to hold. And so bringing to light 19:55:14 the kind of understanding of others that you know that we 19:55:20 all have the potential for any kind of physical or mental 19:55:26 disability to happen whatever at any time. And so I thought 19:55:33 I just because of what you've been saying it brings to mind 19:55:37 the idea of tabs. Anyway, so I wanted to bring up that one 19:55:46 thing. [cat meowing] But also when I was looking at your 19:55:49 slides and hearing you talk about the specifics I don't 19:55:55 know if I caught anything you said about smell. Is that one 19:55:58 of the things you also are considering? Things like if 19:56:03 you said the quilt in the backseat of a car. And off 19:56:06 that stuff. And I wondered whether smell was something 19:56:09 you find you brought into your work? 19:56:12 » MEL MONOCEROS: Thank you for asking that. And for your 19:56:16 comment, Ted. Smell is something I think about so 19:56:19 much. But I haven't found a way to bring it into my work 19:56:25 yet. I have some like jars on the go I Reich like to MRIplay 19:56:29 with and see how much smell I can trap. And what can be 19:56:35 offered. I do encourage folks to smell the textiles. Because 19:56:40 wool smells different than cotton smells different than 19:56:45 silk and all these things. And they absorb my hands and 19:56:49 absorb the air. I haven't found a way to bring it in in 19:56:52 a shareable way. But it's something I think about. 19:56:58 » It's a strong scent, strong scent scr ent that is 19:57:01 transported us to whatever we were feeling. 19:57:03 » MEL MONOCEROS: Definitely. » Oh, thanks. 19:57:05 » MEL MONOCEROS: Thanks, Ted. 19:57:08 » JENEL SHAW: Susan I'll let you ask your question yourself 19:57:15 unless you want me to read it? You're muted. 19:57:21 Do you want me to read it? Because you're muted. 19:57:28 » You're muted. [Laughter] There we go. 19:57:34 » MEL MONOCEROS: Still muted. 19:57:37 » SUSAN LAMBERD: Okay, sorry. 19:57:38 » JENEL SHAW: Go for it. 19:57:42 » SUSAN LAMBERD: I'm sorry if I interrupted Ted. Sorry, Ted 19:57:47 . » Not at all, I'm done. 19:57:52 » SUSAN LAMBERD: Okay, my question was that if you had 19:57:54 learning disabilities and I found that my learning 19:57:59 disabilities because I can't learn my hearing. I can only 19:58:05 learn by reading. And so and just the way that you were 19:58:09 talking, I just got that impression. That you kind of 19:58:14 had the same kind of -- that was kind of part of your 19:58:16 neurodivergence 19:58:22 chronic illness. Anyway, that' s part of my 19:58:28 neurodivergence chronic illness. And I also have this 19:58:33 thing about smell. I have that in my message. And then 19:58:36 Ted mentioned it. » I beat you to the punch. 19:58:37 » SUSAN LAMBERD: Ted mentioned something about 19:58:43 smell too. But Ted and I have the connection too. We've 19:58:49 known each other for quite a while. And we end up 19:58:52 ending each other's sentences sometimes. 19:58:56 » MEL MONOCEROS: Thanks, Susan. I definitely feel that 19:59:00 my neurodivergence is 19:59:07 part of my art history. It's part of how I relate to 19:59:12 different -- it's -- there's ways my brain exists. It's 19:59:15 why I like the things I do, obviously. But yeah it's like 19:59:20 I like making things that really engage a lot of 19:59:22 different 19:59:32 scentual elements as I work with them. And I'm particular 19:59:37 about smells and can get grumpy about bad smells I don' 19:59:43 t like. And that can affect things. But thanks for that. 19:59:44 » JENEL SHAW: Go ahead, Susan . 19:59:47 » MEL MONOCEROS: I think there's another question here. 19:59:50 » JENEL SHAW: From Brennan. 19:59:54 » MEL MONOCEROS: So Brennan asked if I would mind speaking 20:00:02 more about film. Which I codo . It's a minute to 8:00. I'm 20:00:08 to stay for a few more minutes if that's okay, Jenel? I 20:00:12 started doing film and started working with digital stories. 20:00:18 And so using photographs to animate and visualize my 20:00:25 poetry. And so I made a view films like that kind of 20:00:31 exploring my interests in what I wanted to see and what my 20:00:36 like interest in editing was. And capacity were editing was, 20:00:40 because it's not for everybody . Turns out I love it. So I 20:00:45 work with digital for a little bit. And I used to live in 20:00:48 Toronto. And there was a film group I was connected with 20:00:56 there. And through that group, I worked with an mentorship 20:01:02 with Fra in, cy Duran who worked herethe other day and 20:01:07 Leslie, who is from here. And I worked on the 16mil the 20:01:10 first time because I was really new to 16-millimeter. 20:01:13 And I didn't really know if filming was what I was excite 20:01:18 excited about as much as the actual 16-millimeter of it. 20:01:24 And I got into it but quite literally gathering a bunch of 20:01:29 16 m lirks il and messing with my hands and looking at it and 20:01:33 cutting it up and poking holes in it and drying it and 20:01:36 bleaching it and painting it and stuff. And did that for a 20:01:40 while. And it's very much how my brain was so into the 20:01:43 touching and into the mess of it all. And then in the 20:01:47 processing of that I learned more about 16 mil and wanted 20:01:52 to make more of it. Yeah, does that answer your question? 20:01:55 » Thank you, yes. » MEL MONOCEROS: Totally, 20:01:57 thanks for asking. » JENEL SHAW: Great, well, I 20:02:00 guess we've come to the end. I would like to encourage 20:02:04 everyone to turn an your videos, enmute yourself so we 20:02:08 can all give mel a round of [ applause]. We'll give 20:02:12 everyone a second there. [ applause] Thank you so much 20:02:13 for sharing with us. » MEL MONOCEROS: Thank you. 20:02:16 » JENEL SHAW: It was a wonderful talk. 20:02:19 » MEL MONOCEROS: Thank you so much, thanks everyone. Thank 20:02:21 you and thanks for your support. 20:02:24 » JENEL SHAW: Have a wonderful evening. 20:02:26 » MEL MONOCEROS: I was going to say thank you for your 20:02:30 support, Jenel, and the AANM. And generally anyone who has 20:02:35 come to a show or watched a thing, I've only been here for 20:02:38 three and a half years and I feel like I'm going to be here 20:02:41 forever and making my art here forever. And thank you for 20:02:43 welcoming me into this community. 20:02:44 . » SUSAN LAMBERD: So wonderful