AWE at Night - May 2023

Algae Painting with INCUBATOR Art Lab⎮ 5pm – 9pm, 2nd floor, Education Studio

INCUBATOR Art Lab is activating the studio with an algae painting workshop that mixes science and art! Learn how to use algae as pigment to create your very own work of art.

Youth Takeover: AWE Teen Arts Council and School of Creative Arts⎮ 5pm – 9pm, 3rd floor

It’s a teen take over! Meet members of the 2022-23 AWE Teen Arts Council for a night of comradery, board games, art activities, and fun! In addition to the art activities, step into selfie stations created by the council, and inspired by our current exhibition. This event is open to all ages. Students from SoCA will be leading collage activities!

Guided Tour of Jon Sasaki: Aura with Nadja Pelkey and Jen Garden⎮ 6pm – 6:30pm, 3rd floor

Join us for a guided tour of Jon Sasaki: Aura led by Nadja Pelkey, Associate Curator, Projects & Partnerships (AWE) and Jen Garden, Reiki Master Practitioner, Tarot, Oracle and Angel Card Reader. Group of Seven founder Lawren Harris believed that all things are infused with a “spark of the divine” – a spark that is visible in the form of an “aura,” a field of vibrating energy that emanates from both living beings and inanimate objects. Inspired by this concept, artist Jon Sasaki sought help from four clairvoyants to visualize auras emanating from works of art created by members of the Group of Seven. Nadja Pelkey and Jen Garden will help us uncover the scientific and the spiritual, the seen and the unseen. Jen Garden will also discuss the process of working with the Sasaki. Jon Sasaki’s work is rooted in deep admiration for the Group of Seven and a desire to depict it as teeming with life and vibrating with energy. 

Workers’ Rights? A Community Conversation ⎮ 6:30pm – 7pm, 3rd Floor

Background: Windsor has a rich history of union activity dating back to the early 20th century when workers in the automotive industry began to organize. Over the years, unions across Ontario, most recently salt mine workers and federal employees, have played an important role in fighting for workers’ rights and improving working conditions. Some believe that unions provide collective bargaining power, which can result in better wages, benefits, and working conditions while others argue that unions create rigid labour markets and hinder flexibility and innovation in the workplace. Are unions helping, or hurting?

On Thursday, May 18, from 6:30pm to 7pm, join us for Workers Rights: A Community Conversation. Our panel of speakers will offer bold and insightful responses to pressing issues at the intersection of art, social justice and labour. We encourage engagement and respectful questions about the topic of this discussion.

Dancing in the dark: A free-flowing movement workshop⎮ 7pm-7:30pm & 8pm-8:30pm 2nd floor galleries 

Put on your dancing shoes and join us for a dance and movement therapy workshop! Led by artist Catherine Hois, this workshop is inspired by the Toronto-based No Lights No Lycra movement, a casual, free-form dance jam that prioritizes mental wellbeing and the joy of movement. This workshop will happen in total darkness, but fear not! Participants will be provided with glowsticks to break the darkness. With a focus on mindfulness, improvisation, and movement exercises, this workshop will offer a space for self-reflection, helping you to embrace and connect with your own body.

Kindly note that places are limited. Participants will be able to join on a first-come, first-served basis.

This workshop is programmed in conjunction with the exhibition Catherine Hois: Disruptive Body, curated by TD Fellow Muriel N. Kahwagi. Below the 6 is generously supported by TD Bank Group.

Music, food, and drinks ⎮ 7pm – 9pm, 3rd floor 

Let’s celebrate! Head up to the third floor to join us for music, food and drinks provided by Windsor Eats and CJAM 99.1 FM.