A Brief History: The Park of Many Paths
MABELLEarts developed out of a highly successful four-year residency of our predecessor and “Mothership” Jumblies Theatre. The Jumblies residency culminated in a large-scale community play, involving over 100 community members and 50 professional artists. At the conclusion of this project, in March 2007, MABELLEarts was founded, under the name Pigeon Creek Collective.
Our first project, Lantern Garden brought together kids and their families with professional artists and builders to repair the Mabelle Park. In 2008, we began to imagine a project that could harness the energy uncovered during our first summer to transform the park from a neglected thoroughfare into a vibrant, multi-purpose cultural hub. Our park transformation project (called A Park of Many Paths) has included the collaborative creation of new park furniture, an outdoor kitchen, community gardens, performances, ceremonies, community dinners and more. Since 2008, MABELLEarts has worked with over 1000 community members and 65 professional artists, architects, gardeners and others to transform and animate the Mabelle Park.
As we continue to work in the Mabelle Park and with Mabelle Neighbours, our desire and curiosity for expanding our projects has increased to include other parks, public spaces and unexpected corners of the city. Mobile Mabelle is our first step in reaching these locations, bringing the knowledge and experience we have gathered through years in the Mabelle Neighbourhood, along with Mabelle Community Leaders, to other locations in Etobicoke!