CONTENTS 1 WHAT IS WHIPPERSNAPPER page
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2 WHO SUPPORTS YOU page
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3 WHY SHOULD I CARE page
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4 WHAT ARE YOU DOING AND HOW page
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WHAT IS WHIPPERSNAPPER Whippersnapper Gallery is committed to the underdog artist. We provide emerging artists and cultural workers with a platform to expand the parameters of their practice and develop ethical, rigorous relationships with communities, particularly racialized, queer, disabled and working class people. Our teeny tiny gallery is viewable by the public 24 hours a day through fully exposed street level windows. Whip is structured to encourage peer-to-peer mentorship and create innovative programming that catalyzes social transformation. We offer space to experiment and confront displacement in the ever-gentrifying urban core in which we are situated. Our definition of emerging artists includes individuals of all ages, with or without formal art education. We also consider artists who are restarting their careers after significant hiatuses, and artists who are making a significant shift in their practice and experimenting with new ways of working that might not be supported by other institutional frameworks.
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WHO SUPPORTS YOU r A rotating list of dedicated people, foundations, funding bodies, individuals and community members. In this past year the following people have made what we do possible.
Board of Directors Vince Rozario Mitra Fakhrashrafi Maximilian Suillerot Esmond Lee Jaclyn Quaresma Ahlam Hassan
Treasurer chair VICE CHAIR / SECRETARY director director director
Team raven lam Marina Fathalla Nashwa Lina Khan
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING SPECIAL PROGRAMS CURATOR (on display / for review) Kianna Mkhonza VISUAL DESIGNER
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+ Our incredible community for their interest, curiosity and dedication to peeking and playing. 7
WHY SHOULD I CARE We provide a platform for the newest and most exciting artistic voices in the city. For emerging artists who do not have the resources and institutional connections, finding a window to express their perspective and showcase their work is often the hardest but also an essential step for launching their career. That’s where Whippersnapper comes in: by uplifting the careers of emerging artists who face systemic barriers, we are here to create a more equitable future for the arts in Canada. Taking transformative artistic risks is not always glamorous nor financially rewarding. It takes dedication and resources that are not easily available. Your contribution would allow us to sustainably grow this space for artists to experiment and play.
Join us to support emerging and diverse artistic voices today. 8
WHAT ARE YOU DOING AND HOW Whippersnapper has conducted consultations with 17 folks from our community of partners, artists, not-for profit organizations, collectives and collaborators. We have taken valuable conversations, and distilled four common themes/categories that are prevalent for whippersnapper, below. A forthcoming long form report will be published and shared with our community.
4 CATEGORIES
1. 2. 3. 4.
Defining emerging artist working locally whip physical space SUSTAINED & MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT IN MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS
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1 Defining emerging artist “[Some emerging artists] have found their artistic voice, but are not in the funding system, gallery system, or milieu of making art a career.” A man came to show me some work that he has been practicing [when I was gallery sitting], and he was an older man. And so I consider that an emerging artist, someone who was sort of in a phase of exploration and experimentation. “Coming into something else […] that is a purpose of art that isn’t about status or career. It’s about something being exchanged.” There’s a lot of definitions of emerging artists that I’m very against, like coming out of school, for example, or being associated with an arts education…so I really am looking away from that sort of ladder or hierarchical way of thinking about an artistic career or artistic life. A lack of social capital. The art sector really uses social capital as currency […] an artist might be practicing for many years, but not have enough sufficient capital to feel supported
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My shift from emerging to mid-career was because I stopped working a day job … I could have just stayed emerging forever if I just kept working a very demanding job. I know some people also look at what kind of venues an artist was shown in. So for example, they will assume that if the artist has a show in a public gallery, that they’re no longer emerging. But I think there’s a lot of complexity around that… When there was all of that funding for Canada 150 year, all of these huge public galleries who had previously not shown any interest in work by artists of color, suddenly, you know, put their work into shows because they had all this additional money and they didn’t know what to do with it. And then those artists went right back after that year to being extremely emerging artists, again, with this one thing on their CV. Obviously, sometimes that’s a good opportunity, but it can cause issues in terms of thinking about a trajectory if that’s used as the sole defining factor.
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I think emergent artists can be largely self defined. In terms of somebody who’s taking a risk moving from one thing to another, certainly in disability arts, for example, a lot of the folks that we deal with just haven’t had the opportunity to develop. So they might be older, or coming to their artistic practice later in life, because they’d been discouraged before so it’s really self defined in a way of somebody who’s developing. I don’t know how to define that; the person themselves has to discover that or define it. I think a lot of artists are kind of always emerging in a way because I think part of the excitement of creativity is exploring different kinds of mediums
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Sometimes I disidentify with the word artist, and I think, […] I really like the words “cultural worker” because I feel like it has more space to encompass the different things that I try to do, like sense make through art. So I find emerging feels nice, like, I’m new to this, and [that] feels a bit safer. How widely an artist has shown. Sometimes an artist may have shown a lot in the city that they’re from, but nowhere else. And so they might have a seemingly really extensive CV, but the kind of reach and their connections are very concentrated to one place. And they’re lacking in resources to take their practice elsewhere. I [think] sometimes it’s beneficial to be in the emerging category, because it’s easier to access different resources “It took her almost 10 years until she reached her first solo exhibit. When she was in her mid 40s, she was considered an emerging artist.”
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2 working locally “Look at different nuances of Chinatown. There’s a romanticization of Chinatown of the aunties, bubble tea. Whippersnapper is to look towards the nuances. [For example] Joy’s exhibition [wet like an open vowel sound] spoke about materiality of the neighborhood” “[The] purpose was to think about: if an exhibition is put up and makes no sound did it actually happen? Thinking about being small and having a small physical footprint can look like?” Understanding that community engagement doesn’t have to mean 100 people, it can mean two or three, it’s the intention of building relationships and holding space. I felt like the first step is really just creating more connections. Letting people just sort of feel like there’s something that they can connect with… other people and know about other people, because I think some people are intimidated by activism. So trying to find other ways that we connect first.
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[Speaking to collaborators and community:] Did you experience any anti-racism and anti Chinese racism? They’ll be like, oh, you know, nothing serious, just like, when I’m walking down the street, people would yell at me from their cars…I work near the whole foods, and I’m the only Chinese person there. So somebody came in, yelled at me, because, you know, there was no other Chinese people there. There’s this kind of strange, you know, making allowances for racism or minimizing it. So, with the work, I’ve tried to build in a social and historical context.
3 whip physical space SUMMARY: Our physical space has been cherished by our
community of emerging artists. The intimate size of the space is ideal for emerging artists, because it’s not too intimidating, and allows for small semi-private intentional gatherings and conversations around themes in the exhibitions. We have received feedback in seeing value both in 1. physically entering and experiencing the artwork in the space and, 2. its use solely as a window intervention or public art space viewed 24/7 from the street. There is the unique opportunity for the space to be used experimentally: ie: as a neighborhood gallery, a pop up clinic amongst others, depending on community need.
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4 SUSTAINED & MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT IN MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS : A central aspect of Whippersnapper’s programming is around creating residency opportunities and spaces for peer-to-peer learning and mentorship. Creating mutual and sustained engagement in a program can be challenging. We received valuable reminders and insight to prioritize flexibility, and adaptation; consultations/conversation as a practice to renew commitments and goals of learning with participants and mentors; and recommitting to evaluating how we gather to align with harm reduction approaches.
SUMMARY
“Community driven programming, it’s in the name, you need to have it informed by the people you’re trying to bring in, and be flexible adapting” “A fatal flaw is having assumptions that something worked 4 years ago, is still going to work now. In Toronto especially is constantly changing and producing new issues, opportunities, accessibility, and interests change. What’s most important is constantly changing. It can be to the detriment to a lot of organizations to fall into a pattern of having one point of view, or one assumption”
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“A harm reduction approach; you’re focusing on their needs and abilities at that time, without making too much pressure, but also a clear plan so people can come in, feel good, and know what they’re doing, without having things unnecessarily formalized or rigid” “90% of mentorship is affirmation, especially BIPOC mentorship”
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EXTERNAL STRATEGIC VISION 1 Invest in gallery space as a
conduit to community and public engagement in the arts.
a. B. C.
maintain good relationship with building owner INVEST IN REPAIRS TO PHYSICAL SPACE EXPLORE WAYS TO INCREASE GALLERY INTERACTION WITHIN the scope of part-time staff hours. we will do this by focusing staff hours on longer term mentorship within INTIMATE CIRCLES TO UP VISIBILITY OF WS IN AND BEYOND OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD. Performance and Evaluation Measurements
D. e. f. G. H.
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RENEWED LEASE WITHOUT/MINIMAL INCREASED COSTS REVITALIZE IN-PERSON PROGRAMMING TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY clearly defined and readily engaged public REPEAT VISITS TO SHOWS DEVELOPMENT OF A DONOR BASE “FRIENDS OF WS”
2 Recommit to underdog artists as a way of mitigating austerity in arts.
a. B. C.
DEFINE EMERGING ARTIST clarify ws values
D.
consistency in descriptions of ws mission/mandate for website, applications, social media, etc. Connect with community and arts from a place of uniqueness and strength (i.e., what does it mean for WS to represent underdog/emerging artists) > way to scale up to national presence
E.
Invest in finding composite (2-year funding) foR mentorship programs (i.e. PEERS) Performance and Evaluation Measurements
D. e. f.
Clear value/partner proposition from WS WS able to recommit to its values Clear consistent descriptions for purposes of grant applications, donor pitches etc.
G.
A strong ecosystem of partnerships and collabortors, locally and with aligning values to Whippersnapper
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594b Dundas Street West Toronto, Ontario M5T 1H5 general@whippersnappergallery.CA