On the other side of the world, it’s already 2021. In these transitional hours between 2020 and 2021, many of us are thinking about the lives we’ve lived these past twelve months. The joys, the struggles, the surprises, and the meaning formed by gestures large and intimate.

At the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence, since the virtual culmination of What Art Has To Offer Immigration, we’ve undergone an intense period of research and development.

• We’re proud to be partnering with the Canadian Mental Health Association, University of Arizona, and University of Santa Cruz to offer Creative Morning Practice (CMP) more widely. Over the fall months, we’ve refined our approach to measuring the impact of CMP on participants’ health and wellness. The results are stunning. We’ve been invited to share this measurement tool with health researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough in a seminar series scheduled for March 2021.
• Since August 2020, we’ve been working with the Saagajiwe Centre for Indigenous Research to co-design the virtual edition of a creative residency for Indigenous youth exploring pathways into the arts and cultural industries. We are humbled to be working with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Dr. Lila Pine on the Creative Native project, which they first created and piloted in 2019.
• Last month, we worked with students at the University of Toronto Scarborough to survey a few hundred members of the multicultural public. This study was created to understand the cultural life of the pandemic, and to explore the public’s aesthetic needs. Over the next few months, we’ll be working with StagePage to unpack our findings in a report on ‘covid culture’ and the different benefits associated with pre-pandemic and pandemic-possible arts experiences.
• Meanwhile, have you noticed? We’ve launched a new website. Visit the People section to get a glimpse of the brilliant new and returning artists, consultants, and young professionals working with the Lab.

We could go on. 2020 was filled with new frameworks, new partnerships, and new insights to cultivate into plans for the year ahead.

And yet it is never all glory. Our acclaimed work applying artistic methods to the challenges of immigration continues to be impressive to funders without resulting in support… I look forward to a new year of doubling down on creating alternative structures.

Many thanks to fierce friends and mighty collaborators like Dr. Mary Elizabeth Luka, Dr. Gurtina Besla, and the Saagajiwe team for helping to make things possible… That’s been our motto these last six months. Making things possible for each other. ‘I need an advance.’ ‘I need a break.’ ‘I need a change.’ ‘I need support.’ ‘I’d like an introduction.’

To our new subscribers, thank you for joining us. Can we help you with anything?

Wishing everyone a happy, joyous, healthy New Year.

Helen Yung
Founder & Chief Artistic Officer