Research Question: How do programs offered to artists in Regent Park create a more economically just community and what is the role of artists in the local economy of Regent Park?
Research and Interview Process
Updated interview contact and status list
This Week’s Interviews
Our group was able to conduct three interviews this week – with Morgan-Paige Melbourne and Komi Olafimihan, who are two of the artists who work in the Living Lane, and Murshida Samsun Mueen, who is a Regent Park resident. Unfortunately, none of our four interviews so far have featured the entire group, but that has not been a detriment to any of them. There has still been a great conversation with each interviewee, despite one or two voices being missed. This is why it was crucial that we were able to collaborate on the interview protocol, because each of us knows the planned questions, and can sub in as the speaker at any time.
Our interview with Morgan-Paige Melbourne took place early this week and gave us the perspective of someone who was using the space to create music rather than visual art. They spoke in depth about the opportunities that the space had given them to create bigger and better music, expressed by the three pianos they had in the space. What stood out to our group in the interview with Morgan-Paige was how much freedom they felt they had in this studio. They told us that freedom of expression is suppressed in the classical music world, and Morgan-Paige feels like the Living Lane has given them the opportunity to use the space to explore themselves and their art. In the recording, a snippet of our interview with Morgan, they talked about the challenges they faced breaking into the art space as a Black and queer artist, citing challenges and bias despite having the necessary skills and accolades. “How do you break through that?” they said:
Morgan-Paige Melbourne in her studio
Morgan also talked about giving back to the Regent Park community with the opportunity they’ve been given in the Living Lane, including through planning regular open mic nights at their studio and allowing community members to use the space to practice their music, just as their friends had done for them.
Komi Olafimihan in his studio
Komi Olafimihan’s interview was another success because his story continued to intensify the answer we have for our research question. He informed us about how welcomed he has felt as an outsider who has moved into the neighbourhood by describing the opportunities he has had to connect with the community. He also told us about how happy he was to be one of the first people to be involved in the Living Lane program because he wishes to use his experience to inform future Living Lane artists and similar future developments. He strongly believes that programs like this are the future for artistic professionals in urban spaces.
Developing Team Connections
As we have progressed throughout this project, we have gotten to know one another better as teammates. Our team includes diverse perspectives, with Sandesh and Kabir having immigrated from Nepal and Bangladesh respectively, while Connor and Gayathri have lived in Canada all their lives. Sandesh and Kabir also bring their lived experiences as Regent Park residents, which has been instrumental in evaluating the significance of the BNI initiative and art in the Regent Park community. Sandesh even secured an interview with a Regent Park resident, Murshida Samsun Mueen. Being able to work with a diverse range of perspectives, including those based in Regent Park, allows our team to be inclusive of and respectful to the Regent Park community we are exploring in this course.
Kabir in the sun outside Daniels Spectrum.
On another note, our team has also reached a point where we can talk to one another in a more casual and friendly sense, with Kabir sending the following photo outside “getting vitamin D”.
Answering Our Research Question
In our meeting in-class on Thursday, we began to discuss the results of our interview process and the story we wanted to tell began to take shape. Although each interviewee has answered the questions differently, recurring themes about their experience in the Living Lane studios are taking shape. These themes include the artists’ ability to create bigger and better art, the freedom they have to use the space on their own terms, and the opportunity it gives them to have a public-facing storefront for their art.
We also discussed micro and macro storytelling narratives to factor into our projects in class last week. Reflecting on this, our micro narratives would be the findings from our interviews, specifically the story of each artist, while the macro narrative would be the history and rationale of the Living Lane initiative. This macro-narrative seeks to address the absence or underrepresentation of art in highly racialized neighbourhoods, and the lack of creative spaces for their artists.
The Artists team members are Connor, Gayathri, Kabir, and Sandesh