Northern Mosaic Performing Arts Camp is drawing emerging young artists together to make room onstage and offstage for queer justice through the power of music, art and spoken word.
The camp helps provide not only a safe environment where 2SLGBTQIA+ youth can thrive, but also helps them build the skills to continue creating those much needed spaces.
“For Queer youth it’s a scary time, and so having a safe place to be with other Queer people who understand what it’s like, who share your interests in things like music and social justice is really valuable for building confidence, self-worth and self-expression, connection,’ said Archie Collinson, Community Programing Coordinator at the Northern Mosaic Network in Yellowknife.
Begun nearly 10 years ago, in partnership with Folk on the Rocks, Northern Mosaic Network’s Performing Arts and Queer Justice Camp offers participants a chance to learn about queer social justice, work with professional musicians and take part in the creation of music and spoken word pieces.
Each year, the camp hosts a group of participants led by an Northern based artist and an artist from the southern part of the country to mentor young artists. This year, Fontine, an Indigenous Queer artist based in Winnipeg has signed on to mentor participants.
Organizers said the Northern artist from Yellowknife is to be announced but they are are still accepting applications.
The week long camp brings participants together with activities to help them get to know each other, build relationships, and engage in artistic and social justice workshops.
“So, talking about social justice, queer justice, learning, discovering what’s important to everyone, and then we use that as a launching point for songwriting and spoken word pieces and it’s also an opportunity for participants to experiment with instruments they might not have played before. We usually try to do a big group song together, and then there’s opportunity for individual participants to work more one-on-one or in, like a smaller group with the artists to create their own songs or spoken word pieces,” said Collinson.
“It looks different every year because it is such a creative process,” added Collisons.
The workshops allow youth to work in groups and individually. Participants can express their own independent artistic spirit while also building on the energy of fellow artists in the space.
“We have a lot of participants who come back year after year because they enjoy it so much,” explained Collinsons.
“Many of them have been coming for a majority of the time the camp has been running. It’s a really big opportunity for growth,” added Collinsons, who was once a participant himself.
“I found it was always a big milestone in my year, and I think a lot of participants feel similarly in just the way that the camp space transforms you and your thinking, and you learn more than you knew going into it.”
Art can function as a healing platform for people to express their feelings and their experiences around queer justice.
“Music is such a connector of people. There is so much joy and sorrow and emotion to be found in music and also in spoken word. It’s a really accessible outlet, especially because we work with artists who have experience with instruments that can be a big barrier for people when it comes to things like songwriting because learning an instrument well enough to feel comfortable performing with it on stage is really difficult, and so having that barrier lessened makes the space more accessible as well,” said Collinsons.
Creating room for art can also help create safe spaces for expression to build lifelong skills, relationships while engaging in issues that are important to 2SLGBTQIA+ folks.
“There’s a lot of space for conversation in the creative process. There’s a lot of space for vulnerability to ask questions that might feel hard to ask and to get answers that are respectful of the vulnerability it takes sometimes to ask those questions,” reflected Collinsons.
The camp helps provide not only a safe environment where 2SLGBTQIA+ youth can thrive but also helps them build the skills to continue creating those much needed spaces.
“I mean with the way the world is now for Queer youth it’s a scary time, and so having a safe place to be with other Queer people who understand what it’s like, who share your interests in things like music and social justice is really valuable for building confidence, self-worth and self-expression, connection, I think, is also a really big part of it,” said Collinsons.
The camp also provides a great opportunity for young Queer artists to get onto a big stage. Some past participants have gone on to perform as solo artists at FOTR after participating in the camp.
“There are other participants who I’m hopeful will go on to have their own careers as Queer artists in the North,” said Collinsons.
“This is an opportunity to help them build their skills and their confidence on stage to carry on forward into their lives,” he added.
Not everyone who attends the camp is interested in pursuing a career onstage. Participants are focused on a broader picture and building an inclusive, positive space across platforms beyond the stage.
“”It’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of exploring art creativity and identity. We have also had participants who aren’t interested in pursuing performing as a career or long-term project but still find joy and value in the experience of being at camp,” explained Collinson.
“It is for anyone who’s interested in music and social justice and queerness.”
Collinson said the application period is open up to July 2.
2SLGBTQIA+, questioning, and allied folks ages 16-30 who live in the Yellowknife area, including surrounding communities of Behchokǫ̀, Ndilǫ and Dettah who are interested in applying can head to Northern Mosaic’s link tree or social media pages to apply.
Organizers are awaiting approval to accept applicants from across other areas of the N.W.T. but Collinson is encouraging youth across the territory who are interested to apply in the meantime.
This year the camp is scheduled to take place from July 13 to 17 followed by a performance on July 18 at Folk On The Rocks.
