Menu
Menu
Menu
Professional artists maintain vibrant artistic careers, surmounting the challenges of ageing.
Creativity Forever 24, CAN’s ninth annual virtual conference, explores strategies for maintaining the passion of artistic careers, highlighting the benefits of mentoring and inter-generational engagement and the health benefits of continuing to live and work creatively.
Artists of diverse backgrounds and disciplines will share candid perspectives on how each continues to explore and produce their art beyond so-called retirement years.. Some become even more prolific in their chosen field, others dare to shift direction and take on new art forms. Through case studies and conversations among artists and experts, panelists will speak about how their art sustains and inspires their lives.
CF24 is presented free of charge through Zoom. Click the button to register or scroll down to find out more.
CHAPTER ONE – Art = Life: The Health Benefits of Creativity
October 28th, 2024 – 1:00 PM Eastern | 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Moderator: Adriana Barton, Author of Wired for Music
Panelists: Dr. David Goldbloom, Florence K, Claire Wootten
Three case studies will be presented from the Canadian Artists Network flagship Artist to Artist Mentorship program. Mentoring is an inter-generational bridge which involves sharing knowledge. Benefits to the community of senior artists include helping to bring new projects to life while maintaining community engagement and fighting ageism.
Through CAN’s mentorship program, films, scripts, music videos, novels, dances, recordings, and designs have come to life. On this panel we will hear from three mentorship teams.
Like all of our programs, Creativity Forever 24 is presented free of charge. But there are significant costs to presenting this conference. So, if you feel you can help by donating $10 or $20 – and we wouldn’t say no to more! – you will receive a tax receipt and our great thanks.
Adriana Barton
Adriana Barton is a Canadian journalist and author. Her debut book Wired for Music: A Search for Health and Joy Through the Science of Sound was a B.C. Bestseller and finalist for the 2022 Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Award. As a staff health reporter at the Globe and Mail, she covered topics including neuroscience, mental health, heart disease and cancer care. Her writing on health, science, visual arts, architecture, music and the environment has appeared in publications including the Boston Globe, Utne, Azure, Western Living, Vancouver magazine, BlackFlash, Reader’s Digest and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Prior to her writing career, Barton studied the cello for 17 years with teachers including international soloist Antonio Lysy and Stephen Geber, principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra. Book research and journalism assignments have taken her to Syria, Jordan, India, Zimbabwe and Brazil. As an author, she has presented at the Vancouver Writers Fest, Wordfest in Calgary and the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts. In 2023, she gave the closing keynote at the 34th Annual Boston International Trauma Conference at the invitation of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and son.
David Goldbloom
Dr. David Goldbloom was born in Montreal and raised in Quebec and Nova Scotia. He completed an honours degree, majoring in Government, at Harvard University and then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar where he obtained an M.A. in Physiological Sciences. He trained in medicine and psychiatry at McGill University and is a Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Goldbloom’s activities have been recognized and awarded by his peers and students. He has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters and has provided talks and lectures to student, professional and public audiences.
He is the editor of two textbooks in psychiatry and co-author with Dr. Pier Bryden of the best-selling book “How Can I Help? A Week in My Life as a Psychiatrist” ( Simon and Schuster, 2016), now also available in French and Mandarin. His latest book is “We Can Do Better:Urgent Innovations to Improve Mental Health Access and Care” ( Simon & Schuster, 2021).
He was the founding Physician-in-Chief at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and subsequently Senior Medical Advisor there until his retirement from clinical practice in 2022.
He served as Vice-Chair and then Chair of the Board of the Mental Health Commission of Canada from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Boards of the Graham Boeckh Foundation and The Daymark Foundation.
In addition to his professional activities, Dr. Goldbloom is a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and a past Chair of the Board of Governors of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Marie-Josée Chartier
A versatile artist, whose talents transcend the boundaries of dance, music, opera and multi-media, Marie-Josée Chartier moves fluidly between her many roles as choreographer, performer, director, vocalist and teacher. Her critically acclaimed pieces have been presented at major festivals and by dance companies across Canada, Europe and Latin America. Her work has been the subject of documentary films shown on national television (CBC, BRAVO!, Radio-Québec) and in film festivals including Montréal’s Festival de Films sur l’Art.
Since 2003, in addition to her dance activities, Marie-Josée directs/stages contemporary opera and multi-media productions for: Gryphon Trio, Toca Loca, Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, Tapestry Opera, Theaturtle and l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal (ECM+). These works have been presented internationally including the Covent Garden (London), the Prague National Theatre (Nová Scéna), Arts and Ideas Festival (New Haven), Festival Ars Musica (Brussels) and Cervantino (Guanajuato).
The recipient of numerous awards including the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize (2015) and the K.M. Hunter Artist Award (2001), she has also been honoured with nine Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations and has received a Dora for fifty-one pieces of silver (2002) and shared two Doras with the multi-disciplinary collective URGE for And by the way Miss (2005).
Marie-Josée founded Chartier Danse in 2003. She formed the company to support her projects and to create a cornerstone for large scale productions and partnerships. Notably petites danses, Stria, Red Brick, Contes pour enfants pas sages, Screaming Popes and Bas-Reliefs.
Jenn Forgie
Jenn Forgie is Métis/French/Settler woman and artist born and living in Tkaronto. Jenn is a professional actor, writer, creator and facilitator of expressive journaling workshops and works as a personal growth mentor for women in the midlife of their journey. She is also a certified Death Doula/ End of Life Caregiver trained by The Institute of Traditional Medicine and certified Tellington TTouch practitioner for companion animals.
Her first play, Seven Pieces, has been generously supported by Native Earth Performing Arts Animikeg program, Stratford Writers Lab, Canadian Artists Network, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, City of Toronto Indigenous Partnership Grant and many artists and performers. Jenn won the 2020 Cayle Chernin Award for Theatre for her play, which supported an 8 month mentorship with Jani Lauzon as cultural advisor and mentor. Jenn is an artist-in-residence with Theatre Passe Muraille in their Buzz Development Program. TPM has been a constant support and advocate for Jenn’s writing and Seven Pieces, with Marjorie Chan as Dramaturge since the inception of Seven Pieces. In May 2024 Seven Pieces was workshopped with a full cast led by the visionary artistry of director Jessica Carmichael. Jenn is excited about what is next for Seven Pieces as she and her team work to bring it to the stage!
Sandy Graham
Sandy Graham has had perhaps one of the most diverse and interesting careers in the Canadian Music Industry.
Currently the Owner and Editor-In-Chief of Cashbox Canada as well as Founder and Managing partner of Record World International, the most recent addition to her CV is being the founder and co-owner of Cashbox Radio. Cashbox Radio is a popular online radio station that prides itself in playing the legendary artists right alongside the new indie artists releasing today.
With over close to 40 years in the industry, Sandy Graham has been involved in many various aspects of the music business, and is a true trailblazer as well as a supporter of music and artists.
She began in record retail, followed by holding the position of the 3rd female Music Director in Canada, and was known to break artists such as Shawn Phillips, Murray McLauchlan, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Ian Matthews, Jesse Colin Young amongst others.
She was also one of the first women to be hired by a major label, holding the position of Eastern Promotions Manager for RCA Records in Montreal, Quebec which resulted in working and touring with the afore mentioned Daryl Hall & John Oates, KC & the Sunshine Band, Natalie Cole, Tower of Power.
For touring and management she has worked with the likes of Andy Kim, Chubby Checker, Tommy James and the Shondells, Gowan of Styx, John McDermott, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Terry Sylvester/The Hollies, Bobby Curtola, April Wine to name a few.
Sandy Graham has owned various music venues in her career, including the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern and Route 66 and produced shows for The Tall Ships, Starlight Foundation, Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, Variety Village, Earth Day 2021 with Tom Jackson.
Aside from currently being a music journalist, musicologist and on air host, Sandy Graham is also a choreographer, having choreographed the first ever halftime show at the Sky Dome (Rogers Centre) Toronto’s 60,000 seat domed stadium. She also worked with Atlantis Films as a dance instructor and choreographer (Robocop, Almost Grown, Maniac Mansions-SCTV, David Chase/Sopranos, Joe Flaherty) and continues to teach dance to this day.
Currently Sandy Graham tours globally on panels in various countries and is one of the partners in Entertainment Music Group (EMG Collectives) who focuses on promoting and providing mentoring and guidance to legendary and indie artists.
Amanda Hancox
Amanda’s performance career as a dancer and an actor in theatre, film and television spanned over 30 years.
From 2006 – 2019, she was the Executive Director of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre (DTRC), a national, not-for-profit arts service organization with a mandate to help dancers make necessary transitions into, within, and from professional performance careers. Throughout her tenure at the DTRC, she contributed her expertise to many major national and international conferences and was a member of the Board of the International Organization for the Transition of Professional Dancers (IOTPD).
Amanda acts as an arts consultant, a career transition consultant within and outside the arts community, and as a facilitator/trainer for the Cultural Human Resources Council’s Maintaining Respectful Workplaces in the Arts workshops. She recently finished a six-year term as Chair of the Dance Committee for the Toronto Arts Council, and is currently Past Chair of Work in Culture and sits on the board of Moonhorse Dance Theatre.
Edward Heeley
Edward Heeley is a producer, director, writer, actor and educator / mentor with over 50 years in media and stage productions. He has created, written and produced well over $10 million in productions in multiple languages. His programs consist of sitcom with CBC, large educational series, documentary series with broadcasts on; CTV, CityTV OMNI TV and Rogers and with international distribution. Web series are also a current area of production.
As an educator he has instructed at the Weengushk Film Institute (producing / writing), Toronto District School Board (1st ever TV series for broadcast) and over $800,000 in federal financing for 5 at risk youth media trading programs – all outcomes for broadcast. Mentoring with new creative producers for The Canadian Artists Network is an exciting new adventure.
For a more detailed profile review; www.edwardheeley.ca and Edward Heeley on IMDb.
Florence K
Florence Khoriaty, stage name Florence K, has always thrived on music and writing. She has led a successful career as a pianist and singer for over twenty years and has received numerous artistic distinctions, including two Félix Awards (ADISQ) and multiple Juno Award nominations for one or another of her ten albums. In 2015 her book Buena Vida, the story of her own depression, became a bestseller highlighting society’s need to talk openly about mental health. This was followed by Nueva Vida: Dancing with Bipolar Disorder (Libre Expression, 2021).
Florence K is currently a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology and research at UQAM, where she is interested in the links between mood variability, creativity and well-being among performing artists. She conducts her research under the supervision of Arielle Bonneville-Roussy, Ph.D, and Pier-Luc de Chantal, Ph.D. She is also a lecturer in psychopathology at Université Téluq. Throughout the course of her studies, she has received the Great Graduate Award from TÉLUQ University, an Honorary Graduate Award from the Communication Department of the University of Montreal, a research grant from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, a perseverance scholarship and an engagement scholarship from the University of Montreal, along with an excellence scholarship from the University of Quebec Funds. She is the recent recipient of the ACFAS New Generation of Researchers Award and a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
She dedicates a significant portion of her time to the destigmatization of mental health and ease of accessibility to psychological care. Her conferences are highly sought after in community, educational, corporate, and health sectors. Florence also hosts the weekly radio show C’est Formidable! on CBC Radio and CBC Music and has a weekly psychology segment on the show Dessine-moi un matin on Ici Radio-Canada Première. Her new album, Brésil mon amour, is a tribute to Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Jobim.
Jani Lauzon
Jani Lauzon (Métis/French/Finnish) is a director, playwright and multidisciplinary performer. Director credits include: Yaga (Belfry), 1939 (Stratford Fesitval/CanadianStage/Belfry)Where the Blood Mixes and Almighty Voice and his Wife (Soulpepper), Rope (Shaw Festival). Directing awards: John Hirsch Director’s Award (OAC) and Toronto Critics Best Directors Award. Memorable acting roles; Cordelia/Fool (NAC), Shylock (SITR) and the Neighbour/Servant (Modern Times/Aluna Theatre). Film/TV: Something Undone, Ruby and the Well, Saving Hope and Conspiracy of Silence. As a puppeteer: Grannie (Mr. Dress-up), Pa Foley (Big Comfy Couch), Seeka (Wumpa’s World). Her company Paper Canoe Projects produces her own work: A Side of Dreams, I Call myself Princess, and the award winning Prophecy Fog. She co-wrote 1939 with Kaitlyn Riordan and is currently working on two new plays. Her daughter Tara Sky has followed in her footsteps and is currently finishing her 4th season with the Stratford Festival. She has been an advocate for inclusion for over 35 years.
Milly Ristvedt
Milly Ristvedt has maintained an art practice for more than 55 years and holds a B.A. (Honours) and M.A. in Art History from Queen’s University. Her paintings have been widely exhibited and can be found in major public collections in Canada and abroad, including the National Gallery of Canada, Canada Council Art Bank, Art Gallery of Toronto, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Winnipeg Art Gallery. She has curated exhibitions, taught at several universities in Canada, and sat on many provincial and national arts juries.
Ristvedt was a founding member and first President of Vehicule Art Inc. Montreal, one of Canada’s first artist-run centres, and Vice-President of Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre in Kingston. She founded Sheffield Lake, an annual one-week workshop attended by professional women artists from across Canada and the U.S. that ran successfully from 1991 to 1998.
She remains active within the local and regional community in which she lives on social, environmental and cultural issues, and was a member of the 2013 founding board of the KFLA Food Policy Council.
Most recently she served as a Vice-President of the Governing Council of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and was RCA Advocacy Representative to the Visual Arts Alliance from 2008-2015.
Peter Rowe
Peter Rowe is a veteran filmmaker whose career began in the 1960’s. His feature films include “The Neon Palace”, released theatrically in 1971, the award-winning “Horse Latitudes”, starring Gordon Pinsent, “Lost!”, starring Kenneth Welsh, Helen Shaver, Michael Hogan, “The Best Bad Thing” starring George Takei, and “Treasure Island”, starring Jack Palance. Among the many television series he has directed are “E.N.G.”, “African Skies”, “The Adventures of Black Stallion”, “Black Harbour” and “Ready or Not”. His documentaries include “Popcorn With Maple Syrup (Film in Canada from Eh to Zed)” and “Shipwrecked on a Great Lake”.
While filming an episode of the series “Angry Planet”, which he produced and directed, he ingested sulphuric acid on a volcano in Vanuatu, which destroyed one of his vocal cords. Forced to curtail most of his filmmaking activities, he has moved into writing and painting. His paintings, mostly in the Pop Art style, have been shown in numerous Toronto galleries. He has had four books published, including “Music vs The Man” (Armin Lear Press, 2020) and “Out There – The Batshit Antics of the World’s Great Explorers” (Sutherland House Books, 2023). His latest book is titled “Polanski Manson – The Parallel and Intersecting Lives of Roman Polanski and Charles Manson”.
Peter is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of Canada, the Directors Guild of Canada and the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, and past president of the Ontario divisions of the DGC and the Explorers Club.
JC Sol
Canadian-born JC Sol is a multi-talented singer/songwriter and performer, whose passion and love of R&B and the classic Philly sound has raised her profile in the world of independent artists. JC delivers a smooth and sensual vocal offering that has found a way of capturing the soulful grooves of that special retro sound while creating current and refreshing productions.
Not new to the music scene, JC Sol is a legacy artist who has toured for many years as a lead singer, providing entertainment on a global level. Today, JC’s special brand of songwriting and production has garnered a fan-based popularity from R & B and Adult Contemporary music enthusiasts all over the world. Her original release of “Our Groove” in March of 2022 was met with gratifying success, earning global acclaim by North American and European R & B/Smooth Jazz Radio Stations and Curators alike. “Our Groove” also received the honour of being among the top ten finalists in the prestigious “World Songwriting Awards” for Best R & B Song of 2022. Influenced by the original track’s success, a dance Remix of “Our Groove” continued to build momentum, followed by the horn inspired “Best of Things”, heart wrenching “Unrequited Love” and smash hit duet, “Callin’ Out” with fellow vocalist Jason Simmons.
A follow-up classic cover set to be released in early 2024 by Canadian Label, Dance Plant Records Inc., is sure to make its mark on the music charts. With a focus on producing her very first EP of original songs in 2024, JC continues to do what she does best, recording self-penned songs filled with love, that fuse all genres influenced through her remarkable musical journey. With a talent like JC Sol, the best is yet to come.
Omatta Udalor
Omatta Udalor is an award-winning multi-talented thespian, creative producer, voice artist, writer, and director with over 15 years experience in content creation for stage, screen and radio. He is passionate about telling stories of unique voices that inspire and encourage conversations. He has worked with various organizations and nonprofits alike in numerous capacities creating and producing various genres of content.
He worked as a Facility Manager at StoryBook Theatre and sits as the Executive Director of African Heritage Initiative, a nonprofit focused on presenting and curating authentic narratives through film, audio and live performances. He is also the Creative Producer at Handcuffs Entertainment Inc. a Film Production company. and has produced numerous award winning shorts and 2 feature films
Instagram – Ohmtee & handcuffsentinc
Scott Walker
Scott Walker has enjoyed a varied career as an arts administrator, producer, actor, singer, and broadcaster. He was one of the founding producers of Toronto’s Reprise Concerts and Coordinator of ProArt Victoria. He has appeared on stages across Canada in productions that range from Shakespeare to Steinbeck to Sondheim. He currently hosts a show called The Musical Milestones on Cashbox Radio. Previous radio credits include anchoring CBC National Radio News. Scott has also appeared on television and film, most recently in the Hallmark movie Freshman Father. His critically-acclaimed solo CD contains a collection of classic pop standards, on which Scott is accompanied by a full 40-piece orchestra. His latest release is the love song Someone I Don’t Even Know. Scott is also the voice of the YouTube comedy hit Spiders on Drugs [more than 60,000,000 hits]. In 2015, Scott became the first full-time Executive Director of the Canadian Artists Network. Website: www.scottwalker.ca.
Claire Wootten
Claire is a semi-retired dance educator joyfully engaged at the intersection of dance and health. For the past 9 years, she has been an instructor with Dancing with Parkinson’s Canada, which offers free movement classes for those living with Parkinson’s Disease and all seniors. She recently completed the Teacher Certification for Dance for PD® offered through the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn, NY. Claire is also a certified instructor of 3-D Workout™, an integrated fitness program based on the work of Bartenieff and Laban, developed by Dr. Dianne Woodruff.
A graduate of the Teacher Training Program at Canada’s National Ballet School, Claire holds an MA in Dance (York). She taught at York University’s Department of Dance for nearly 3 decades, specializing in contemporary ballet and dance education. Her research interests evolved from years of studio-based, student-centred work, and included dance feminisms, radical dance pedagogies, and dance as emancipatory practice. Her current work in dance and health is a natural extension of that foundational research.
When not teaching, Claire can be found working on Argentine tango figures or practicing fills on her electronic drum kit.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clairefwootten
Maintaining Creativity 8
The theme of our eighth annual conference was Artists As Agents of Change. This overall theme was approached from three angles as you can see below.
If you missed it, or would like to see it again, here are the videos of each chapter.
.
Maintaining Creativity V took place in the fall of 2020.
If you missed any part of it — or would like to see it again — here are the videos of each chapter.
Here are images from our first three conferences. You can also find videos in the video section.
console.log( 'Code is Poetry' );
1000 Yonge Street, Suite 302,
Toronto, ON, Canada, M4W 2K2
info@CanArtNet.ca
Toronto phone: 647-854-1434
Toll-free: 844-927-2769
The Canadian Artists Network is a
registered Canadian Charity
80588-6603-RR0001
Photography by Gregory Edwards