Eastern Front Theatre Accessibility Project Skills Exchange & Community Capture Sessions

Seeking performing artists willing to discuss their experiences, challenges they face to inclusion and dreams for the future!

About the Project -

The Eastern Front Theatre Accessibility Project team has as a goal to recognize the barriers faced by underrepresented artists to accessing the performing arts in Nova Scotia, to offer recommendations on how we can clear these roadblocks and create a more welcoming arts sector for everyone.  These barriers move beyond the definition of physical accessibility and include challenges faced by anyone viewed as invalid by the larger arts community.  We will create a space where those most affected feel safe to dream together, support one another, and reimagine a future where there are options to success.  We recognize that those who must be prioritized in this conversation are those who have faced the most challenges and who have been left on the outside.  Artists with intersecting identities are least likely to feel included in this process and are those we have the most to learn from and will be welcomed as leaders in this process.

Our team of Community Consultants is made up of underrepresented artists including Nat Chantel, Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis, Carmen Lee, Raymond Sewell, Kirsten Olivia Taylor, Maeghan Taverner and is led by April Hubbard.

Who We are Looking For –

If you are an artist who has ever felt the need to hide part of their identity to be welcomed in the Nova Scotia art scene then we want to hear from you!

As a team of artists ourselves we recognize that this industry has an ideal artist in mind and those who do not match this ideal face a different path to inclusion than those inside the norm.  We want to have a conversation about how we can collaborate to make the path easier for everyone.

Examples of underrepresented artists we are hoping to connect with are 2SLGBTQIA+, IBPoC, newcomers to Canada, those with visible and invisible disabilities, neurodivergent, Deaf or hard of hearing, blind or partially sighted, Mad artists or artists whose gender sits outside the binary, who work and live in Nova Scotia. We also hope to hear from underrepresented artists who live rurally as we realize that most conversations center the Halifax experience.

Allies are welcome to attend the sessions by donation.  You are invited to witness but please abstain from the community capture portion of the event (the last 35 minutes) out of respect for the prioritization of those with lived experience.  If a session is filled before the event date, we ask allies to please forfeit your spot for an underrepresented artist with lived experience.

What We are Offering -

We are offering 3 Skills Sessions as the first step in our community connection.  Each session will take place over Zoom and will last 75-minutes, including a 10-minute break. Keep reading for descriptions and tickets for each session.

We wish to build ongoing relationships with those who join us, so we have chosen to provide you a skill building session led by one of our talented and knowledgeable team members as our appreciation for offering your time, lived experience, and emotional labour.

What We are Asking of You:

Following the Skills Sessions, our team of artists will lead a community capture session where we will ask questions with the goal of gathering information about your personal experience seeking acceptance as an artist and what changes you dream of seeing which would make performing arts in Nova Scotia more welcoming for all.

Image Credit @invidia.ocsura