Crafting Community: A Symposium on Arts Practice & Research

October 19-21, 2022

In the fall of 2022 the Crafting Community Symposium brought together artists and scholars to explore intersections of arts practice and academia – how they clash and/or converge. Throughout three days, events featured hands-on in person workshops, hybrid panel discussions, and a  hybrid roundtable session that explored the question of both craft and community. The symposium  team explored research and pedagogy through community arts engagement.

This project was borne out of the desire to see more of the arts and humanities in technologically-based spaces at the university and to expansively redefine how technology is conceptualized and practiced, from an arts-based perspective.  We explore how disciplines within humanities and social sciences have been key to creative and critical technologies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, art has been a constant in sustaining communities. 

The symposium and ongoing community arts activities is supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) (external link, opens in new window)  with  the Toronto Metropolitan University ( TMU) Libraries (opens in new window) , TMU Faculty of Arts (opens in new window)  and TMU Faculty of Community Services  (opens in new window) . To learn more about the project please vision our About page.

In symposium workshops and panel discussions, both presenters and participants reconsidered the post-secondary institution, and how arts engagement can foster greater inclusivity. We took an intentional approach in selecting a diverse group of presenters for this symposium, that is also congruent with the project team’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racist action. The symposium took placefrom October 19 to 21, 2022.

The presenters include practicing artists, scholars with academic affiliations, university staff members who are engaged with research and pedagogy. The work of students is featured throughout.