Engage Windsor is a non-partisan, community-based organization dedicated to empowering residents to shape the future of their city. Through civic education, community engagement, and advocacy, Engage Windsor helps people connect with municipal issues, participate in local decision-making, and work together to build a more transparent, inclusive, and vibrant community.
Citizens-in-Residence
The Citizens-in-Residence (CIR) program invites community members to explore ideas, issues, and opportunities that shape life in Windsor-Essex.
The Citizens-in-Residence (CIR) program invites community members to explore ideas, issues, and opportunities that shape life in Windsor-Essex. Through community conversations, creative activities, and collaboration with artists, residents, and local organizations, CIR participants use art as a tool for civic engagement and social inclusion.
This community gathering space shares ideas, experiences, and perspectives collected through the residency. Rather than presenting a single point of view, the display serves as a platform for dialogue, reflection, and collective learning. Visitors are encouraged to consider how they can participate in shaping the future of their communities and contribute their own thoughts, questions, and experiences.
The Citizens-in-Residence program is an initiative of Art Windsor-Essex that supports community-led projects exploring issues connected to belonging, participation, and civic life in Windsor-Essex.
AWE’s 2026 Citizen-in-Residence Display and Programming has been generously supported by the O’Neil Foundation.
About the Artist Commission
The Citizens-in-Residence (CIR) project invites community members to explore ideas, issues, and opportunities that shape life in Windsor-Essex. Through community conversations, creative activities, and collaboration with artists, residents, and local organizations, CIR participants use art as a tool for civic engagement and social inclusion.
Throughout the residency, photographer Douglas MacLellan is working alongside selected CIR Engage Windsor to explore the stories, questions, and perspectives shared through community conversations. His evolving photographic project responds to the themes that emerge during the residency, creating a visual counterpart to the ideas gathered in this space.
Douglas MacLellan
Douglas MacLellan is a Windsor-based documentary photographer whose work explores community, place, and the lives of people often overlooked in mainstream narratives. Working in the traditions of photojournalism and documentary photography, he has created long-term projects focused on housing, migration, healthcare, social justice, and community building in Windsor-Essex, across Canada, and internationally.
His photographs have been published in the book ‘In the Face of It’ and reflect a commitment to respectful storytelling, human connection, and the everyday experiences that shape civic life.
Throughout the residency, photographer Douglas MacLellan is working alongside selected CIR Engage Windsor to explore the stories, questions, and perspectives shared through community conversations. His evolving photographic project responds to the themes that emerge during the residency, creating a visual counterpart to the ideas gathered in this space.
Citizens In Residence Events
See the Calendar
Community Conversation: How All Levels of Government Work with Engage Windsor
August 20 | 6 pm – 7 pm
