I can’t help but wonder if I am alone in feeling this October was gone in the blink of an eye. I could have savoured another week or two in the rainy, spooky season. It has been another month filled with emails, planning, organizing, and documenting and I have been loving every minute of it. Plans are really taking shape for the Drawing Thanks 2025 Concert Series which I will keenly be organizing through and with great support from Side Door. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Side Door is a live event-hosting platform cofounded by Dan Mangan and Laura Simpson. Dan has been one of my community-building creative heroes for a long while and it has been such a surreal and cherishable privilege that he has not only invited me into the Side Door community with friendly eagerness but also connected me with Laura and Sean from the team who are going to help amplify all the exciting events to come. Pinch me!
The first few months of events in 2025 are taking shape behind the scenes and that’s not all that has been happening with the residency. I have now reached the milestone of 50 portraits produced in and for the community of Maple Ridge. You might be wondering where you can see these portraits… just wait! I plan to deliver them with mindful blog posts, including guest writers, interviews, and some related event coverage. One portrait series even has an awesome community partner involved! This is taking more time than expected because there are a lot of wheels in motion to bring the most value to these shares. I truly expect the drawing traffic jam to clear up in November and establish a regular post flow. Being that the residency workload equates to about an hour a day for the whole year, it has been a great, welcomed challenge for me as an artist to learn to budget my time producing art, gifting/delivering it to those I draw, organizing events, workshops, and documenting it all in the process. This is the calm before the storm for the blog as so many efforts are on the cusp of share-ready. It is an exciting time for me and it will be twice as exciting when I can get into the rhythm of clicking “post.”
Speaking of exciting times, my partner Faune and I had a delightfully spooky experience at Maple Ridge’s Celebrate the Night. I remember watching Memorial Peace Park from the window of my office at the ACT in the early morning thinking “now THAT is rain.” Yet the hardworking, dedicated staff at the city didn’t back down. An all-day downpour wasn’t going to stop us coming together as a community! A funny thing about the hard rain—people tend to bundle up and get covered. While at the event, I had my eyes out for familiar faces, but had much difficulty making them out. I knew friends from the city staff would be there, the folks from Lupita and their families (if you live in Maple Ridge and haven’t tried Lupita, get on that. I often meander in on my walk home from work for a bite and a chat), as well as some friends new and old. I didn’t spot one familiar face! Umbrellas and jackets kept everyone safe and warm, but also made for huddled, bunched groups. It didn’t make for the best mixing and mingling, but I found myself eager to illustrate a sea of umbrellas within the first hour.
The Carnival Band, Blackberry Wood, and The Matinee had Faune dancing in the rain and neon glow of the carousel—making a memory that will forever put a smile on my face. The music was truly the secret ingredient that brought huddled groups all together in a shared celebration.
As we walked home with our kettle corn in hand, Faune and I both reflected on the wonderful time we had at the park and the gratitude we had for the people who put the event together. The most special part of this residency has truly been engaging with community in the thoughtful ways event organizers continually bring us together. I can’t wait to get my own community organizing started soon. This late 2024 has had me excited, eager, and deeply inspired.