A WALK AROUND BECHTEL PARK WITH EMILY URQHART

It was author Emily Urquhart’s pup June that brought us out to the Bechtel Dog Park on a grey Saturday afternoon. We were greeted by a well-dressed poodle in boots and an orange jacket, and June and her new friend ran off while Urquhart and I opted for a slower pace.

“Walking is one hundred per cent part of my writing process,” Urquhart said as we followed the path on a loop around a cluster of trees. “[O]ften, when I’m walking, I’m working something out…something about the movement of walking forwards can sometimes shake things out in a way that, if I was sitting at a desk and trying to write, it just doesn’t work.”

Urquhart was born in Kitchener and lived in Waterloo until she was seven, when her family moved to Wellesley. After high school she studied art history and journalism, then ended up at Memorial University in Newfoundland where she completed a PhD in Folklore Studies and also met her future husband. It was his job at the University of Waterloo that brought them back to Ontario to settle with their family in Kitchener.

“I was always interested in folklore,” Urquhart said. “I had this huge Brothers Grimm silver-coloured book that I used to read as a kid a lot. And I was interested in my Irish culture and heritage, and that kind of naturally coincides with folklore.”

Urquhart’s understanding and exploration of folklore goes beyond the written stories of her youth, and includes visual art, gossip, rumours and even home decor and bumper stickers.

“[Folklore is] the way you’re signifying who you are to the world and the story you’re telling about yourself and your place in it,” Urquhart said. “Once you’ve got [folklore] under your belt, it kind of changes your worldview.”

Urquhart explored folklore in her third book, Ordinary Wonder Tales, published in 2022 and shortlisted for the 2023 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. She drew on her journalism background for her second book, The Age Of Creativity, published in 2020, in which she examined late-in-life creativity using her father, acclaimed painter Tony Urquhart, as the subject and inspiration.

Her mother, award-winning novelist and poet Jane Urquhart, is also an artistic presence in Urquhart’s life. She was in high school when her mother gained wide-spread notoriety for her novel Away, and people became interested in her last name and family.

“There was a rumour at university that my mom was Jan Arden because there was a broken telephone situation…someone said ‘Jane Urquhart,’ but [someone else] heard Jan Arden,” Urquhart said. “So, I’ve always had a kind of kinship with Jan Arden.”

From an early age, Urquhart was an avid reader and was also drawn to writing.

“I had teachers who [said] ‘oh, you’re such a good writer’…But I’d feel like, is that because my mom’s a writer, or is it coming from an authentic place?” she said. “But I knew I liked to do it, and I also knew that it didn’t pay any money.”

Pursuing a PhD allowed Urquhart to continue reading and writing, and also to have some security in the form of teaching. In addition to being a published author and a non-fiction editor at The New Quarterly, Urquhart is also a Professor of Creative Writing at Laurier where she coordinates the Edna Staebler Awards.

It was through The New Quarterly that Urquhart connected with other writers in the area. At the Wild Writers’ Festival in 2019, Urquhart was approached by novelist Carrie Snyder about forming a writer’s group along with author Tasneem Jamal. Urquhart agreed, and they have been writing and workshopping ever since.

“It’s so wonderful to have that community,” Urquhart said. “We write together, which I’d never done…I’ve been through two books with them now.”

Urquhart’s experience of community is one done directly with other people as she is not on any social media. In 2016 she made the decision to leave Facebook when she found the platform to be full of vitriol and in-fighting. She left Twitter not long after.

“It was getting me down,” Urquhart said. “Finally, I was like, no one’s inviting you to this party. You have to stop showing up.”

While she reads poetry daily and cites short stories as a favourite genre, Urquhart is also drawn to some less-expected media.

“I like to watch really trashy documentaries,” Urquhart said. “When I say documentary, people think, ‘Oh, that sounds smart.’ No, I like anything to do with catfishing…I’m really into cults. I just find it fascinating.”

Urquhart’s dog June came over to say a quick hello before going to greet a new arrival. Before adopting June from the Humane Society a year ago, Urquhart and her family rescued a dog from another agency; however, they were unable to keep him because of an aggressive response to walks.

“He was sweet, actually, in the house, but…he wouldn’t go in our yard, so he had to be walked…whenever I walked him, he attacked me,” Urquhart said. “I had leather gloves, they were split open, my parka was split open. I was on the ground trying to shield my face and he had my hand and he didn’t let go.”

The experience did not deter Urquhart from dogs, however. 

“I just got obsessed or something after that,” Urquhart said. “I was thinking about dogs, I only watched things about dogs, and then I started writing about it.”

Part of that writing process included painting a watercolour of the destroyed gloves and using visual art as research. What started as memoir turned into a fairy tale.

“I don’t know if the stories I’ve been writing connect as one piece or if they’re connected stories,” Urquhart said. 

“But they all have some sort of supernatural…element threaded through them.”

While the move to writing fiction might be new for Urquhart, her background in folklore and careful powers of observation honed through journalism will no doubt mean she is right at home navigating these creative waters.

A TIMELY HAIKU

There’s nowhere to put

This fucking, fucking, fucking

Fucking, fucking snow

A WALK IN BECHTEL PARK WITH HIYAM MAHRAT

Born and raised in the United Arab Emirates, Syrian Canadian artist Hiyam Mahrat was used to a desert environment, but when she and her family moved to Canada in 2018, she quickly developed an appreciation for green spaces. 

“I did not think that I would fall in love with nature the way that I did when I came here,” Mahrat said. “There’s just something about being in trees, waking up to the sounds of birds. That’s why I’m now camping every summer.” 

We met in Bechtel Park to walk the trails, embarking on a hike by the water and ending on a bench next to the playground as we talked about Mahrat’s journey to the Waterloo Region and her artistic career. 

She arrived in Canada with a degree in medical laboratory science but found the bureaucracy of getting her credentials recognized laborious.  

After her sister suggested a performing arts program at Sheridan College, Mahrat decided to pursue her interest in theatre and discovered a love of acting. 

While she loved the program and performing, what came after was a challenge for Mahrat to navigate. 

“I would apply for stuff, but I wouldn’t hear back, especially in Toronto,” she said. “I [found] some challenges in auditioning, finding roles that fit me.” 

Mahrat and her family were living in Ajax at that time, but her sister had connections to the theatre community in Kitchener-Waterloo and facilitated introductions. Mahrat began volunteering with MT Space, and a conversation with the company’s founder Majdi Bou-Matar in 2021 shaped the direction of Mahrat’s artistic practice. 

“He told me about his challenges of going into the theatre community,” Mahrat said. “He did not get the chance to do the work he wanted until he recognized he needed to create his own opportunities…that really clicked in my mind.” 

From there, Mahrat focused on building her own project and seeking funding and collaborators to support the work. She went from volunteering with MT Space to working as an administrative assistant before finally landing in her current role as General Manager. In 2023, she convinced her entire family to move to Kitchener-Waterloo. That same year, she won the Waterloo Region Emerging Artist Award. 

The trail took us over a bridge to nowhere and we paused to appreciate the surroundings and the creek while Mahrat told me about Homecoming, a piece she created with Ameya Kale exploring the immigrant experience and housing issues in the Region. 

“What does it mean to create a home while you are still facing challenges in finding a house or a place to call home?” Mahrat said. “We tied the housing crisis to colonization…how that affected high prices and inflation, causing suffering.” 

Mahrat began exploring these ideas in 2022, and kept developing the work, including exploring the perspective of landlords as well as tenants. Under the guidance of director and mentor Nada Humsi, she and Kale unlocked a more physical interpretation of the text. In 2025, the piece was presented at MT Space’s Works-In-Progress Mini Festival, and Mahrat is looking at further development and touring. 

“The journey of creating something over multiple years [is] powerful, and it’s something you cannot just leave and move away from,” Mahrat said. “It stays with you…and it’s part of you.” 

The year 2025 also saw Mahrat tackle directing a full-length production for the first time. She pitched the play Scorched by Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad and it was accepted into the KWLT’s season with Mahrat at the helm. The play was one she first encountered in her program at Sheridan. 

“The script has always been in my mind,” Mahrat said. “I had a burning passion for it, and I had to do it.” 

Passion is a guiding principle for Mahrat who believes in the connection between community and artist, and that each has a responsibility for the other. And for Mahrat, her identity as a newcomer remains at the forefront of her work. 

“All of my art now…talks about the war, colonization, my immigration journey, my journey as a woman of colour who wears the hijab and acts,” Mahrat said. “But I do wish to reach some point where I can talk about my internal struggles…I feel like we don’t have the luxury to do that.” 

The wind picked up as we finished our walk and Mahrat told me about some of her favourite camping locations. As well as planning time in nature, Mahrat also wants to explore bringing dance into her work. 

“I’m interested in the intersectionality of dance,” she said. “How dance can be a resistance tool, and a way of preserving culture.” 

Whatever the artistic medium, Hiyam Mahrat will continue to challenge, reflect, resist and above all persist as she creates and builds art and community in the Waterloo Region. 

A Walk Around Grand River Collegiate with Rochelle Williams 

Rochelle Williams, aka The Dessert Artist, laid the foundation for her career in blending the science of baking with the artistry of design while attending Grand River Collegiate Institute (GRCI) in Kitchener. To tap into those memories, she chose the school grounds for our walk, where her high school art classes inspired her to explore different creative mediums, including food.  

“[I]f I had a different upbringing, if society was different, I probably would have [gone] to school for visual art,” Williams said. “I’ve always had a passion for drawing and sculpting.”  

After high school, Williams studied pastry and confectionery artistry at Humber College. There she learned fundamentals, but her classes lacked the advanced decorating that Williams was drawn to. So, she called on her visual arts background to take her work to the next level.  

“My biggest passion is just making things look pretty, and I also just happen to love eating,” Williams said. “[G]ive me a medium and I’ll figure out how to make it work in my way.”  

Our walk takes us around the fields where Williams played rugby while attending GRCI. We pass the gardens behind the portable classrooms and walk by the new building, added after Williams graduated.  

While Williams takes great care and pride in her food artistry, she has no concerns about watching her works of art be consumed.   

“I do want you to eat it, because it also tastes delicious. So, if you don’t eat it, I’m actually more offended,” Williams said. “To me, the taste is more important than the artistry.”  

Williams never uses fondant in her designs, instead opting to sculpt with buttercream icing and explore the sculpting possibilities of modeling chocolate. She does all her decorating by hand, turning the repetition needed for large orders into a game to keep herself engaged and striving for the highest  quality of presentation.  

Since 2020, Williams has been investing in herself and her own business, first as The Painting Pastry Chef before rebranding in 2022 as The Dessert Artist. She continues to push her boundaries, introducing new products to her line like her Petite Patties, a spin on Jamaican patties.  

“When I get an idea, I have a hard time not doing it if I think it’s a good one,” Williams said. “[O]ne day [I thought] it’d be cool to have a dessert Jamaican patty.”  

Williams plays with traditional Jamaican flavours for her patties, including mango as a nod to her mother, who loves the fruit. She also offers a plantain patty and a rum-raisin patty in addition to the more traditional savoury offerings.  

The expansion into patties is not just a business decision for Williams. It is also a celebration of her heritage and the importance of creating representation in her Black-centric designs.  

“I saw a lack in the community that just needed to be addressed,” Williams said. “As a kid, I would have loved to see Black Santa, seen myself on a cookie…I can’t be the only one who wishes they had seen those things.”  

The decision to create representation in her work came with some uncertainty for Williams, so she started by making both a Black and a White Santa cookie.   

“I wasn’t sure how Black Santa was going to be perceived,” Williams said. “I quickly realized that if [the customer wasn’t] Black, people actually just weren’t sure if they were allowed to buy the Black one.”  

To address these concerns, Williams has included on her website that customers “don’t need to be Black to enjoy a Black Santa cookie.” She now only creates Black Santa cookies to ensure representation in the market.  

And while most customers appreciate the diversity in Williams’ work, she has received some negative responses, including people calling her work blasphemous, and White parents strongly preferring their children not choose a Black Santa cookie. When she asked a local business mentoring group how to market her culturally specific products to White customers, she was told to make products that would appeal to a mass market rather than focus on narrow cultural flavours.  

It is part of these reactions that Williams understands the importance of community in the work that she does.   

“I’m always like ‘community over competition’,” Williams said. “I want to help people. I want to build them up…I don’t want you to experience the same hardships. I want you to experience new hardships that we never experienced before, and we’ll manage those.”  

Working out of the Cafe Clementina kitchen, Williams has strong connections with other local bakeries. She is interested in collaborating and enjoys following the journeys of other local bakers in person and on social media.  

As we walked beyond the high school grounds, through Tecumseh Park and around the neighbourhood, Williams reflected on the role that nature plays in her life and work.  

“I think the biggest thing I hate about my job is that I’m inside so much,” Williams said. “[N]ature doesn’t necessarily influence my work, but it definitely influences my mood.”  

Williams enjoys working with clients to create fun, cool custom designs, and she is also thinking big when it comes to future challenges.  

“I would love to make a full-body cake,” Williams said. “Life-sized and accurate to a tee.”  

While Williams makes plans to create her dream full-size person cake, she will continue to blend artistry with pastry, seek out community, and ensure representation is present in the Region’s baked-good offerings.   

#aWalkInThePark #amyNeufeld #blackSanta #column #craigBecker #dessertArtist #grandRiverCollegiateInstitute #humberCollege #petitePatties #tecumsehPark #theDessertArtist #thePaintingPastryChef

A WALK ON HEALTH VALLEY TRAIL WITH SARAH THOMPSON

When pandemic restrictions began to lift, Sarah Thompson, founder and host of Lavender Fizz Comedy, realized her world had gotten too small and took action to create new experiences for herself.  

“I made the conscious choice to meet more people and get myself out there,” Thompson said. “So, I just started taking classes in anything I was interested in.”  

The decision to try new things led Thompson to the Pinch Cabaret, a local monthly variety show, after a friend gave her tickets. That decision profoundly shaped Thompson’s artistic pursuits, introducing her to a community of performers and collaborators and setting her on the path of standup and improv comedy.  

“Comedy is the way that I process all of my varied…particularly awkward social interactions,” Thompson said. “I love to make people laugh, and I love making people happy…I am reconnecting with the part of me that is really light and fun and funny.”  

It was also during the pandemic that Thompson discovered the Health Valley Trail where we met for our walk. The trail connects North Waterloo to St. Jacobs, and in 2021, with limited options available for activities, Thompson began exploring the space. She was immediately drawn to the trail’s playful elements, such as the carved Wise Old Oak tree, and the potential to see cows and horses.  

“Sometimes I need to get out and quite literally touch dirt or touch grass,” Thompson said. “And I think it’s really important to have accessibility to spaces and trails…to inspire art.”  

Thompson approaches standup comedy through storytelling and mining the humour from her lived experiences. It was at a comedy show at TWB, also hosted by Pinch Arts, that Thompson first discovered her inner comic when the host invited stories from the audience, and, after watching only men take the mic, she decided to jump in.  

“I feel like a lot of what I do is inspired by ‘well, fuck, if men can do it, then…I can probably do it better than they can’,” Thompson said. “[After the story] someone told me that I was really funny…and it was almost like this moment in my head where I [thought], ‘my God, I’m a standup comic!’”  

She began performing at mics locally and in Los Angeles while visiting, but struggled to find her people in the existing structures that were dominated by cis-het white male comics. A year after she started performing standup, Thompson created Lavender Fizz Comedy, Kitchener-Waterloo’s first and only open mic for 2SLGBTQIA+, women and non-binary comics. She hosts the monthly pay-what-you-can event that found a home at TWB Brewing in Kitchener, a space that prioritizes community and inclusion.  

“[Lavender Fizz] was born out of just wanting to find community, but also offer community and that kind of safe space,” Thompson said. “Success to me is just the laughter in the space, and seeing other people thrive…it’s such a beautiful, vibrant diverse community.”  

We passed through farmers’ fields and along well-worn paths under the tree canopy. Stopping on a newly constructed bridge, we peered down at the water before continuing on to a set of gates where horses greeted us in the idyllic trail setting.   

Thompson credits her parents with instilling in her a sense of creativity and the importance of community. Growing up, she watched her mother problem-solve and craft, and her father volunteer.  

“My dad [would] walk into a space and know everyone [there] through some kind of volunteerism,” Thompson said. “I was like, I want to be like that. I want to know the movers and shakers.”  

Not content to maintain the status quo, Thompson has plans for the future of Lavender Fizz. She is looking to move into more booked shows and wants to get a camera to record sets and provide that footage to comics so they can build their careers. And she has found great happiness in her hosting duties.  

“I love riffing, and hosting has really brought that quickness to the forefront and put it on display,” Thompson said. “I love setting people up for success and being the kind of host that I wanted [to have].”  

Only a year after launching the inclusive open-mic, Thompson was recognized with a nomination for Oktoberfest Woman of the year in the Arts and Culture category. And while getting a chance to perform and make people laugh remains important, Thompson’s love of building community is at the heart of her efforts.  

“There’s so much hate in the world and so much anger and so much hurt, and to be able to turn that off for a couple of hours once a month and to have people share their stories and just come together in laughter…is really beautiful,” Thompson said. “I love that people are willing to do that in a space that I created.”   

#2SLGBTQIA_ #AWalkInThePark #AmyNeufeld #artsAndCulture #Column #CraigBecker #HealthValleyTrail #lavendarFizzComedy #lavenderFizz #oktoberfestWoman #pinchCaberet #sarahThompson

A WALK IN BREITHAUPT PARK WITH SAM MERCURY

 For self-described homebody and indoor kid Sam Mercury, a walk through Breithaupt Park provided a chance to connect with her new neighbourhood and establish the area as a green space for this stage of life. 

“It just sort of vibes on a frequency that matches where I’m at in an adult way,” Mercury said. “It’s not bustling, but it is occupied.” 

Mercury was born and raised in Kitchener and attended the University of Waterloo for theatre and performance. She wanted to use stories and performance to put positive ideologies into the world after better understanding the impact that media has on our lives. 

“Then I learned how much power actors have, and how it’s basically nothing,” Mercury said. “Where is that power? I want that power […] it was this different kind of triple threat, actor, writer, producer, […] that really sparked my definition of myself as a creative person.” 

While we walked along the path, the shade from the trees provided relief from the hot day. No bunnies were spotted during our detour down Rabbit Trail, but we did pause to enjoy a butterfly flitting around us in the early evening. 

Mercury graduated from university in 2018, ready to pursue performance opportunities, but not even two years later did the industry came to an abrupt halt when the pandemic arrived, and with it the first lockdown. Mercury was an essential worker in a grocery store and feeling the stress of her risky situation. She decided to quit and turn her energies towards making art, focusing on storytelling, given that performance opportunities were scarce. 

“I discovered my love of script writing,” Mercury said. “And that was when I discovered MT Space Arts Exchange.” 

The Arts Exchange program provided opportunities for Indigenous, Black and Racialized artists during the pandemic to engage in partnerships and collaborations. Mercury applied with an idea to explore her biracial identity, and was selected and paired with actor, writer and choreographer Alten Wilmot to create a piece. 

The collaboration with Wilmot resulted in the play mixed(er), the story of Sam, a biracial young woman who learns her parents are throwing her a surprise birthday party, and who tries to navigate the event while keeping her life compartmentalized. Mercury was inspired by old episodes of the TV show Frasier, particularly the more farcical elements. 

The writing process with Wilmot was a very positive experience for Mercury.  

“It’s been this beautiful combination,” she said. “We write and we do the artist thing, but sometimes we also just talk about things we have experienced and try to parse them out. I feel like I have […] the sibling that I always wanted.” 

For Mercury, representation and self-discovery were at the heart of her impulse to create mixed(er). She was deeply impacted by the Black Lives Matter movement that gained momentum during the early stages of the pandemic, as well as by seeing more interracial families in Kitchener.  

“I was having to reckon with my place in Black culture, where I sat with it,” Mercury said. “I had kind of always gotten away with middling out […] I felt out of place, but also in place because [Blackness] is a part of me […] I’ve come so much more into myself by writing this play, and I just hope that it does that for other people.” 

The support and mentorship Mercury received through MT Space was invaluable to the creation process, and she remains grateful for it.  

“I’ve been so lucky, I don’t know how I got so lucky,” she said. “Mentorship has not just shown me what I can do, but it’s also made me think about what else is possible.” 

Mercury sees a lot of possibility in the arts scene in Kitchener and hopes that the area will attract more diverse voices to contribute to artistic creation.  

“I feel so lucky to live here and to be able to create art here and meet so many new people,” she said.   

A love of all aspects of comedy is currently driving Mercury’s artistic interests. She works with the Toronto-based sketch comedy group Potato Potato, performing in the 2020 digital Fringe Collective. She discovered a love of improv through taking classes locally with Pinch Arts and has found a sense of freedom in comedy.  

Watching improv and sketch live and on television provided inspiration for Mercury.  

“Seeing these people and how ridiculous they could be and how hard it made me laugh, I was like, I want to do that,” she said.  

Looking forward, Mercury plans to dig deeper into comedy, both performing and writing, as well as seeking out new connections and opportunities for collaboration. Exploring her community to draw inspiration and recharge through the green spaces will be part of that process. 

#AWalkInThePark #AmyNeufeld #blackAndRacializedArtists #blackCulture #BlackLivesMatter #breihaupt #Column #fraisier #improv #mtSpaceArtsExchange #Neighbourhood #samMercury #sketchLive #walkInThePark #Wilmot

A WALK IN SNYDER’S FLATS WITH TENEILE WARREN

Birdsong and the barking of friendly dogs provided the soundtrack for my walk in Snyder’s Flats with artist and activist Teneile Warren. The day was warm, the trail was inviting, and the early buds of spring welcomed us to the space.  

“I find it to be a very peaceful place, I think because it’s largely unmaintained,” Warren said. “There’s something very raw about it.”  

Warren’s relationship with nature began growing up in Jamaica where they visited their grandfather’s farm, read the changing seasons through the fruit-bearing trees and developed a love for the sound of running water.  

They came to Canada in 2011 to complete a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a focus on Playwriting at the University of Guelph.  

Warren grew up exposed to theatre, attending pantomimes with their mother and discovering play scripts on their grandmother’s shelves. During their undergraduate degree at the University of the West Indies, they became involved with the Dramatic Arts Society and their passion bloomed.

When Warren decided to come to Canada, theatre played an important role in both motivation and funding. They staged a showcase of their work to help earn money for travel and tuition.  

“Theatre literally brought me here,” they said.  

After completing their MFA, Warren moved to  Waterloo Region to establish roots and start a family. They focused on creating connections to support their life and work here.  

“I learned that you have to find your community,” they said. “I was very proactive about finding organizations to volunteer with, finding spaces where I could…create some type of community,”  

Warren works as an artist and activist. Since 2021, they have held the position of Equity and Inclusion Officer at the Waterloo Region District School Board, a role that has sometimes brought unwanted attention in the form of hateful and intimidating messages and images. These experiences, combined with their work in schools prompted Warren to reflect on the importance of care.  

“The care that your queer staff needs right now, or your black staff[…]is very, very different from the care that your white staff needs, or your male staff needs,” Warren said. “We really need to think about [care] differently.”  

Part of the reimagining of care and work for Warren involves reflecting on pace and action, which sometimes means putting themselves before the work in order to continue to show up.   

“[The activist] community has taught me to know your battles and know when to be out front and when to be in the background,” they said. “We are always working. You’re not always seeing us, but we are always fulfilling our responsibilities.”  

For Warren, art is an essential component of the care they need and provide.  

“Theatre is my church,” they said. “I can just walk into a theatre and just sit there for hours and just find this sense of peace.”  

We continued along the trail loop, passing other people enjoying the day, and stopped to sit on a bench and take in the view. Birds swooped over the water and through the tree branches as I asked Warren about playwriting.  

In January of this year, Warren’s full-length play Beyonsea and the Mothers had its world premiere as part of the Green Light Arts season. Warren began working on the piece three years ago and applied a collaborative approach with other members of the artistic team to the playwriting process. They were deeply affected by hearing from audience members about the importance of seeing themselves represented onstage.  

“[D]oing [Beyonsea and the Mothers], I realized this is my greatest gift,” Warren said. “This is what I can offer[…]we do our greatest learning through art.”  

In addition to being an artist and activist, Warren also claims the title of chef. Since coming to Canada, they have used food to better understand identity and culture.  

“I’ve come to understand the way that food has been colonized and how important it is to the story that we tell and how we[…]communicate with each other,” Warren said. “I have a particular reverence for food[…]I think that eating just to be full is boring and unkind to food.”  

The trail took us back to the parking lot, and I asked Warren what was next for them.  

They serve as the editorial director of Textile Magazine and are excited about new development opportunities for local writers the magazine is supporting. They are also keeping an eye on local political developments and advocating for more art and community spaces in the region.   

“What’s next for me is really just pushing the art and activism,” they said. “And I think that’s where the community will see more of me.”   

#AmyNeufeld #BeyonseaAndTheMothers #birdsong #dogs #greenLighArtsSeason #materOfFineArts #snydersFlats #TeneileWarren #textileMagazine #theatre #UniversityOfGuelph #walkInThePark #warren #waterlooRegion

A WALK IN THE PARK WITH SHARL SMITH

I met artist Sharl Smith for a walk on Sandrock Trail near her home in Kitchener. We strolled through her neighbourhood before connecting up with the trail through paths which felt like a secret entrance to the green space hiding in plain sight. 

“It was one of the first places where I fell in love with the region,” Smith said. “This is just accessible to everyone.” 

Smith took us to her favourite place on the trail, where large stones lie across Detweiler Creek, forming a natural bridge. The spring cardinals flew above us as we stepped onto the rocks to get a closer look. 

“[U]sually [the brush] is so thick you can’t even see the river,” Smith said.  

“I like to come here and sit and meditate. And when my son was born, I brought him here.” 

The flowing water brought back childhood memories for Smith, of catching tadpoles and crayfish in the river where she grew up in Jamaica. 

She moved from Jamaica to the U.S. in the late nineties to attend the New York Institute of Technology where she obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree. She then moved to Berkeley, CA, for work. 

“I knew I didn’t want to work in corporate architecture,” Smith said. “I just thought my soul would die. So, I got a job in a firm that did residential architecture.” 

The firm taught Smith about working meticulously, something that would be essential for her as an artist. She returned to the New York area after several years in California to be with her ailing father. He passed shortly after her return and that loss, combined with the financial crisis of 2008 and Smith’s own struggles with her health, changed her life and working situation. 

It was at that time that Smith discovered beadwork and jewelry making, which launched her into the world of art. In Ithaca, New York, she learned about seed beads, small glass beads that can be stitched, so named from their origins when fine beadwork was done with actual seeds. 

“I would go to grief counseling, stop at [the craft store] Michaels, go home and make something,” Smith said. “I just needed to make things. It was really therapeutic.” 

This period became a time of spiritual awakening for Smith, who began to explore her own upbringing. She read about different philosophies and histories and attended a Buddhist retreat that affected her deeply. 

Smith soon discovered sculptural beadwork, and working in three dimensions changed and shaped her artistic practice. She started an Etsy shop and took her beaded creations to stores in her area. 

“One place in Soho took my little flowers and sold them,” Smith said. “And I was so happy.” 

Not long after, Smith and her partner moved to Kitchener, where he was from, to be closer to family and stability. From that point on, Smith worked as an artist. 

“I’ve always been an artist…but I grew up with the idea that you can’t be an artist,” Smith said. “That’s not something serious people do.” 

But it is something that Smith did. In 2015, she started Sun Drops Studio in Waterloo where she creates works of art through bead stitching. She scaled up her work and created sculptures with mirror gazing balls that functioned as hollow steel beads, using steel cables as thread. These large works allow Smith to occupy more space with her art and underlying themes. 

“It’s a way of…centering women’s history and anything that’s undervalued,” Smith said. “[I]t ends up being about more than just women’s rights. It becomes about anything that’s other.” 

Smith has had exhibitions of her work at the Art Gallery of Ontario where she was an artist-in-residence, the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum and Homer Watson House and Gallery, to name a few. For Smith, arts and culture are the soul and spirit of a city. Fueling that artistic energy requires a community of creators, Smith sought that out upon moving to the region. She joined the board of the Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area (CAFKA), serving as Chair for four years. She is also passionate about breaking down barriers to art. 

“We have to try to include everyone,” Smith said. “Include people who don’t think like you, don’t look like you, who are not from your same economic circle…to me, that’s community building.”  

She acknowledges the hard work involved in developing community and organizing, but Smith sees the value in arts organizations working together to facilitate involvement from all corners. Whether through mentoring emerging artists, getting the word out about events, or connecting with underrepresented populations, Smith is committed to furthering the artistic landscape in the region for everyone. 

#AmyNeufeld #artisitc #beadwork #canadianClayAndGlassMuseum #Column #developingCommunity #flowers #homerWatsonHouseAndGallery #landscape #Neighbourhood #sandrockTrail #SharlSmith #sunDropsStudio #walkInThePark

A WALK IN THE PARK WITH WILLA COWARD

The ground at Huron Natural Area was slippery with a coating of late-March snow when I met musician and concert photographer Willa Coward for a walk. Despite wearing footwear better suited for dry conditions, we ventured onto the trails to experience the beauty of the area and talk about the local arts scene.

Coward has been playing drums for most of her life, and is a member of the bands Body Nest, One More Lane and A Horse Named Friday. She has training and experience on the saxophone as well, but despite engaging in vocal exercises, Coward does not consider herself a singer.

“I know how to scream pretty well,” she said. “I can go really loud.”

Her talent for large vocal production led Coward to join a screamo band, a punk style which she describes as cathartic, emotional and hardcore. Not content to stick with one style, Coward also plays chamber folk, power violence, psych rock and shoegaze post rock. 

“[I]t really is…all types of music that I’m drawn to,” Coward said. “There’s nothing that really deters me.” 

With such a diverse range of styles in her repertoire, Coward lets the music dictate what she brings to her performance, focusing on the needs of the piece to guide her contribution. 

“I basically come at it with whatever feels right, whatever is adding to the song,” she said.

Originally from Caledon, Coward came to Waterloo to pursue music studies at Laurier and was in her second year when the pandemic hit. Burn-out and the challenges of lockdown meant that she chose to leave the program halfway through. 

“It had been the longest time since I played for the sake of playing, or just for the love of it,” Coward said. “[S]chool and I just didn’t really work well together.”

Coward turned her attention to practice and performance but also invested in building the local music community. As we walked along the boardwalk surrounding the pond before heading up another slippery trail, Coward talked about the importance of bringing people together to experience shows, and the emotions that can accompany music.

“I just wanted there to be more music, more things for people to go to, because…they’re pretty necessary,” Coward said. “COVID hit, and everything just became so scattered and dispersed. There wasn’t really that core…to tie people together.”

The community in the region felt welcoming to Coward, which is why she wanted to invest in building local shows. She described people showing up for the love of the scene, and relationships growing from those connections. 

“I feel like…we have a very good community based here, especially in terms of music,” she said.

Community and music connect through photography, another artistic outlet that Coward pursues. She brought her camera when she went to music venues, and began shooting the shows that she was attending, learning through trial and error.

“I didn’t know what I was doing at all. I was winging it!” Coward said. “It was just something I hold really close to heart. It’s nice to have that documentation…to say that it happened, and it was important to a lot of people.”

Coward shoots music shows on a film camera, preferring that medium to digital. Film facilitates other connections; people will approach her at shows to talk about her technique and process. Coward told me about finding a local store to develop film.

“[It’s] run by the sweetest older couple who I would trust with my life,” she said.

We left the trail area and returned to the covered shelter by the natural playground with a view of the art murals to finish our conversation. For Coward, coming to Huron Natural Area meant a return to a site of fond memories. Two years ago, she spent part of her birthday on a hike here at a time of year when the landscape was green and lush.

“I remember being so taken aback by it…I could have walked for hours,” she said.

For Coward, green spaces are where she can focus on herself and be solitary while appreciating nature. Being outside allows her to connect to the sensory experience and helps her when dealing with difficult situations.

“It’s very calming,” she said. “It puts you back into your body.”

We finish our interview by discussing movies. Coward enjoys films that show a quiet reflection of daily life, as well as off-beat cult comedy classics, a further example of the variety of art that she surrounds herself with.  

With a handful of new movie recommendations each, we ended our discussion and parted ways, and Willa Coward returned to her life and work in the community of local artists 

#AWalkInThePark #AmyNeufeld #artisticOutlet #boardwalk #Caledon #Column #COVID #CraigBecker #HuronNaturalArea #localMusic #Love #musicStudies #performance #photography #relationships #scene #waterloo #willaCoward

A WALK IN THE PARK WITH AASHAY DALVI

“I don’t usually go to parks,” Aashay Dalvi said. “I go to coffee shops, I go to bookshops.”

It is why we started our outing at Whoopsie Daisy on the corner of King St. and Victoria St. in Kitchener. With lattes in hand, we looked out the windows from the second floor of the coffee shop and spotted the Cherry Park Trail. Part urban, part green space, fluid and ever-changing— it was the perfect destination for our walk.

Dalvi immigrated from Mumbai to Toronto in 2017, then moved to Kitchener in the early days of the pandemic, quickly establishing themself as an artist and community builder.

With a background and practice in film creation and production, Dalvi also performs stand-up comedy and is the founder of Rad Riot Books.

“I had experienced racism, but I hadn’t experienced racism until I was in KW,” Dalvi said.

“I realized that a lot of the oppression stems from fear and ignorance. So, I could either get all up in arms…or I could use this opportunity to enlighten and educate,” they said.

The second path is the one Dalvi chose.

“We started encouraging folks to read anti-racist literature, translated literature, books about immigrants who have chosen to move to different continents, books about characters learning about their queer identity,” Dalvi said.

The Rad Riot Books platform on Instagram is a place of curation and community with book club meetings, recommendations and a chance for Dalvi to spotlight diverse stories and authors, expanding the conversation around literature, identity and what it means to be Canadian.

We reached Cherry Park and passed children playing on the swings and slides as a ladybug joined us for some of the walk. We kept going beyond the park, seeing where the trails and residential streets took us as our conversation turned to the meaning of home.

“I did not grow up having easy access to wide green spaces,” Dalvi said.

“To me it’s something that I only started doing after moving to this country… I feel solace in the noise of the hustle and bustle of city life.”

Home is not a concept that Dalvi defines easily or traditionally.

“I see home as a place where you are constantly learning and you are constantly learning to love yourself,” Dalvi said.

“Wherever I get to be with people or in spaces where it is normalized for you to be your authentic self…that is home,” they said. “Home is fluid. Home is non-binary.”

Dalvi has contributed to building the home they want through their community engagement. They got involved with the demonstrations to remove the Prime Minister statues in Baden just after moving to the area.

They also founded Ground Up WR, a platform for local activists to influence progressive political change.

We reached Raddatz Park, then transitioned onto the Iron Horse Trail and walked towards Victoria Ave. before looping back towards Cherry Park Trail.

We spotted a little free library and paused to look at the contents. Our conversation came back to literature and the arts, something Dalvi is passionate about.

They moved to Toronto to attend Humber College for television writing and producing and were inspired to come to Canada after connecting with Schitt’s Creek.

“I even wrote that in my statement of purpose,” Dalvi said.

They spoke about Canadian content with admiration and respect, citing Being Erica, Orphan Black and Ginger Snaps as favorites.

In addition to consuming content, Dalvi is also a creator. They started performing stand-up in 2019 in Toronto.

Dalvi found people receptive to their style of comedy at open mics in bars like Tammy’s in Toronto.

“It felt so good and validating because it was the first time that people were laughing at what I had to say and not at who I was,” Dalvi said.

“The best part about comedy is you can mold it to who you’re sharing it with,” they said.

We were back on the Cherry Park Trail when I asked Dalvi about their creative hopes for the future.

“I would love to make long-form content,” Dalvi said. “I want to make a version of Schitt’s Creek with people that look like me…so kids who feel othered don’t feel like they have to end their lives.”

We ended our walk where we began, back at Whoopsie Daisy for a cold drink, before it was time for Dalvi to return to their work of community strengthening, connection and creation.

#AashayDalvi #AmyNeufeld #CherryPark #Column #CraigBecker #LGBTQ2_ #queer #racism #RadRiotBooks