Train of Thought (Community Arts Tour)

Train of Thought
Founded	2015
Founder	Jumblies Theatre
Type	Community Arts Tour
Location	Canada;
Website	trainofthought.co

Train of Thought is an evolving Canadian community arts journey from west to east coast, with on-board activities and over 20 stops along the way. Train of Thought is produced by Toronto's Jumblies Theatre with partners all across Canada and will be taking place May and June 2015.

History

Train of Thought was hatched by a group of artists sharing community engagement practices and projects across the country. Its focus is collaborations and alliances between First Nations and settler/immigrant artists and communities.

Themes

In developing the idea for Train of Thought, Jumblies Theatre and partners asked what theme merited such a huge cross-country undertaking, a question that led to a focus on collaborations and alliances between First Nations and settler/immigrant artists and communities: the most challenging and urgent matter that all of us are grappling with and learning about from our different regional and cultural perspectives. Thus, Train of Thought takes a counter-colonial route to collect and share stories, buried histories and imagined landscapes of the land where we live: as it might have been, as it is, as it could be: drawing on perception, memory, history and imagination; merging whimsy and serious intent, bringing together artists and community members, the land's first people and all those who have found refuge here over the years and generations.

Production

Train of Thought is an evolving community arts journey from west to east coast, with on-board activities and over stops along the way. At each stop, a travelling company will get off until the next train comes through. Local arts organizations will host interactive events, and add to creative tasks. Additional travellers will hop aboard to join in conversations and art-making en route.

Purpose

Train of Thought is less about trains than about the relationships and discoveries that the journey will enable. The tour is an imperfect and incomplete adventure - part of a longer and unending imperative to learn, connect and help to change tracks.

Route

British Columbia

Victoria partnered with From the Heart
Vancouver partnered with Vancouver Moving Theatre, Vancouver Park Board, Round House Community Centre
Enderby partnered with Runaway Moon Theatre

Prairie Provinces

Edmonton, Alberta partnered with Rising Sun Theatre Society, Ground Zero Productions, and the Edmonton Community Arts Network
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan partnered with Common Weal Community Arts
Winnipeg, Manitoba partnered with ACI Manitoba and Urban Indigenous Theatre Co.

Ontario

Sioux Lookout partnered with Municipality of Sioux Lookout
Kenora partnered with Kenora Association for Community Living and the Community Arts Hub
Thunder Bay partnered with CAHEP
North Bay partnered with White Water Gallery and Aanmitaagzi Storymakers
Manitoulin Island partnered with Debajehmujig Storytellers
Blind River partnered with Thinking Rock Community Arts and AlgomaTrad
Sudbury partnered with Myths and Mirrors
Toronto partnered with Arts4All, MABELLEarts, Making Room, Community Arts Guild, Red Dress Productions, The Mississauga Arts Council, CityPlace Railway Lands Resident Group, and The Amy Project
Windsor/Brantford partnered with Arts Council Windsor and Region
Kingston partnered with Stage and Screen Studies (Queen's University)
Ottawa/Killaloe partnered with Ottawa Valley Creative Arts Open Studio, Carlington Art Initiative, and Canada's Magnetic North Festival

Quebec

Montreal partnered with Contactivity Senior Centre, NDG Senior Citizen's Council, Concordia Theatre and Development, RECCA, Art Hives/ Ruches D'Art

Maritime Provinces

Halifax, Nova Scotia partnered with Halifax Circus School, 4 C's Foundation, and Wonder'neath
Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia partnered with The Deanery Project
Rock Barra, Prince Edward Island partnered with Rock Barra Retreat

External links