#yumto

[reeraw]

[reeraw]

#YumTO is a media literacy community project that will meaningfully engage participants in considering how the Bloordale neighbourhood eats.

Facilitated by artists Rea McNamara and Eugenio Salas — both of whom have a background in media justice and community-building projects — this real-time, IRL participatory experience will involve hashtag-driven media content creation tutorials, cooking, interactive storytelling and breaking bread.

Be a part of an immersive cultural exchange involving farmers, neighbours and chefs from the Bloordale community at the Academy of Impossible, a place where people gather and share knowledge to help empower themselves and their communities.

If you are interested in building community around food using new media tools this is for you.

What will the workshops & dinners cover?

Cooking: How to cook fabulous, seasonal local meals & dishes from the ground up Media Production: How to create words, images and audio derived from sensory-rich IRL experiences Social Media: How to outreach and promote the themes, stories and issues around food Community Building & Outreach: How to help engage and sustain vibrant communities

Who should take this course?

Foodies that are interested in food, social issues and self-sustainability from a community perspective

Urbanists who want to learn about and document food cartography — the production and distribution of local food production

Artists & Cultural Workers who work with communities, and want to build upon that engagement with new tools and collaborators

Community Workers who desire a better understanding of a particular community and its issues, as well as access to media content training

Culinary Students who want to learn a more holistic approach to / framework to food issues

Chefs who want to position themselves and their menus as socially-conscious, and create meaningful interactive message awareness inspired by their dishes

Curious Residents and Urban Flaneurs who want to understand the real stories behind some of the food in their communities

When?

Wednesday, March 20th - 7-9pm Wednesday, March 27th - 7-9pm Wednesday, April 3rd - 7-9pm

How much?

$125 (plus HST) Every session will involve breaking bread — food and drink will be provided to registered participants, and an online product will document the gustatory journey. At the end of the series, DIYers will walk away with a tool kit to help guide them in starting their own community-based projects. You’ll pay in person when you take the course. We can now accept credit cards in addition to cheques and cash.

Where?

The Academy of Impossible (231 Wallace Avenue, Toronto)

Kids?

The academy is a child friendly space. We want our members and students to feel their kids are just as welcome as they are. At present we are not able to provide child care, but we do have toys, books, computers, and a belief that young people should be exposed to adults talking about adult things in a safe environment.

Registration

To register, please fill out this form. We will send you a confirmation message within a few days of you filling out this form.

Facilitator Bios

Rea McNamara (@reeraw) is an artist & writer. She makes videos, performances, animations, recordings and combinations of these things. Her work has been shown in both solo and group exhibitions, and she's been published in two anthologies, includingEdible City (Coach House Books, 2009). As a salonièrre, she creates immersive, participatory events and salons. She is committed to analog/digital arts-based community building, and conceptualizes and coordinates neighbourhood-building programmes and projects for non-profits and social enterprises. Rea lives in Toronto, and continues to perform and exhibit her own art projects.

Eugenio Salas (@salas_e) is a Toronto-based artist and media organizer. His experience includes working with farmers from Kawartha and producing a short video about farmers rights and seeding. This piece was part of a platform for collaboration between farmers, activists, filmmakers, radio producers, musicians and academics called the Institute for Community Inquiry for the Art Gallery of York University that he coordinated. Salas also has developed online strategy and media training for the Canadian Harm Reduction Network. Recently he produced a cooking book for The Dream Team which is a psychiatric consumer/survivor group that advocates for safe, secure, and affordable supportive housing.