Myths and Mirrors Community Arts is a non profit organization based in Sudbury, Ontario. Our projects bring people together to find meaning and purpose in our experiences through reflection, dialogue and collective creation.
We are committed to our community of Sudbury, a northern Ontario mining town struggling to understand its place in this brave new world. Since 1996, we’ve been based in two of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods, the Flour Mill and the Donovan. Under the shadow of the world’s highest smoke stack, we are committed to planting seeds of creativity and hope in slagheaps of burnt rock, and to joining with others in the creation of our common future.
Being the romantics we are, Myths and Mirrors takes on projects that challenge assumptions, build community and inspire hope.
Myths and Mirrors is a multi-disciplinary arts organization; our mediums include theatre, performance art, murals, mosaics, music and drumming, gardens, celebrations, rituals, stilting, face painting, costuming, visual arts, installations, video, film, games and popular education.
Les Arts communautaires Mythes et Miroirs Inc. est un organisme à but non lucratif basé à Sudbury, Ontario. Nos projets rassemblent des gens avec divers bagages afin de trouver une raison et un but à nos expériences à travers de discussion, réflexion et de création collective.
La communauté de Sudbury, une ville minière dans le Nord de l’Ontario qui cherche à comprendre sa place dans ce nouveau monde, nous tient à coeur. Depuis 1996, nous nous avons installer dans deux des plus vieux quartiers de la ville; soit le Moulin à Fleur et le Donovan. Sous l’ombre de la plus grande cheminé de la planète, nous cultivons espoir et créativité sur le roc noir sudburois ainsi qu’inviter la communauté à nous joindre dans la conceptualisation d’un avenir commun.
Mythes et Miroirs est un organisme d’arts multi-disciplinaires. Nos médiums? Le théâtre, les arts de la scène, des murales, des mosaics, de la musique et percussion, des jardins, des célébrations, rituels et de l’échafaud, le maquillage, les costumes, les arts visuels, des installations, le vidéo et film, des jeux, l’éducation, entre plusieurs autres.
Mythes et Miroirs met en place des projets qui provoque la réalité, qui rassemble la communauté et qui inspire l’espoir.
History
Myths and Mirrors Community Arts began in 1996 as a three year project sponsored by Sudbury’s Better Beginnings Better Futures. Its founder, Laurie McGauley, received a three year grant from the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Foundation’s Urban Issues Program to initiate community based arts and culture programming and projects. Grounded in the two downtown neighbourhoods that make up the Better Beginnings’ community, Myths and Mirrors’ original goals were to engage residents in the creation of art works that explored modern myths and that reflected their own perceptions and experiences. The vision was to create innovative art, to engender a sense of community identity, to challenge the culture industry’s concept of art and culture, and most importantly, to provide a forum for the marginalised to develop a voice.
The first years were so successful, with projects like “A Show of Hands” and “Yespace”, that Myths and Mirrors was named as a recipient of the Trillium Foundation’s Caring Community Award in 1998. In 1999, Myths and Mirrors was incorporated as a non-profit organization, and was awarded a further three year grant from the Urban Issues Program. Over the years, we’ve experimented with collective expression and creation in most artistic mediums with a diverse array of community groups. Over 8,000 people have participated directly with approximately 125 professional artists in the creation of everything from quilts and murals to theatre and stilt dancing. The results have been recognized nationally: we have been invited to Winnipeg, Halifax, Toronto, Montreal, Victoria and Vancouver to present our work, and have been honoured with local and provincial awards, including Community Arts Ontario’s Best Practice award in 2002. Over the years, we’ve received funding from the Bronfman Foundation, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Laidlaw Foundation, Human Resources Development Canada, the City of Greater Sudbury, operational funding from the Ontario Arts Council since 2001, as well as numerous smaller grants and donations-in-kind from local businesses and organizations.
Les Arts communautaires Mythes et Miroirs Inc. est un organisme à but non lucratif basé à Sudbury, Ontario. Nos projets rassemblent des gens avec divers bagages afin de trouver une raison et un but à nos expériences à travers de discussion, réflexion et de création collective.
La communauté de Sudbury, une ville minière dans le Nord de l’Ontario qui cherche à comprendre sa place dans ce nouveau monde, nous tient à coeur. Depuis 1996, nous nous avons installer dans deux des plus vieux quartiers de la ville; soit le Moulin à Fleur et le Donovan. Sous l’ombre de la plus grande cheminé de la planète, nous cultivons espoir et créativité sur le roc noir sudburois ainsi qu’inviter la communauté à nous joindre dans la conceptualisation d’un avenir commun.
Mythes et Miroirs est un organisme d’arts multi-disciplinaires. Nos médiums? Le théâtre, les arts de la scène, des murales, des mosaics, de la musique et percussion, des jardins, des célébrations, rituels et de l’échafaud, le maquillage, les costumes, les arts visuels, des installations, le vidéo et film, des jeux, l’éducation, entre plusieurs autres.
Mythes et Miroirs met en place des projets qui provoque la réalité, qui rassemble la communauté et qui inspire l’espoir.
Contact us at:
MYTHS AND MIRRORS COMMUNITY ARTS
253 Station B
Sudbury, Ontario; P3E 4N5
