Updates
News about our organization and information related to our programs.
Team Transitions: Sedina Fiati
“I am deeply grateful for the 3 cohorts of the Artist Producer Training Program (APT) that I was a part of. They are all such fierce artists and activists making change in the world and I was happy to be a stop in their journeys.”
It’s a season of big staff transitions! Generator is launching into a new era as many of the staff who have stewarded it for the past several years move on to different opportunities and priorities (you can read a note from Keshia on transitioning out of their role here). The staff have all been so flexible and generous in supporting the needs of the organization in this time of immense transition, and have helped bring Generator into its next phase with care and deep consideration.
We know it’s not goodbye, just a transition into a different form of engagement with Generator—and we’re so excited to see the many ways our paths will all continue to intersect.
After three years of facilitating the Artist Producer Training program at Generator, Sedina Fiati wrapped up work as Training Consultant in June, and has continued working with Generator as a Strategic Advisor throughout 2021.
A note from Sedina
Kristina took a chance on me and welcomed me into Generator at a time when I didn’t entirely believe in myself and was trying to find a space to fit in. The live performance world can be an exclusive space, rooted in scarcity and a lack of generosity and innovation. I had doubts about our collective ability to shift these harmful dynamics. However, the 4 of us, Kristina, Keshia and Annie and I, as well as Generator Generations, were able to create a revolutionary space where we could dream, try things out, bitch and really be ourselves.
During my transformative 3 years at Generator, I solidified my facilitation practise and gained and shared so much knowledge about artmaking with a social justice lens. Skills and ideas that we iterated continue to be a part of my practise as a facilitator, producer and artist.
I am deeply grateful for the 3 cohorts of the Artist Producer Training Program (APT) that I was a part of. They are all such fierce artists and activists making change in the world and I was happy to be a stop in their journeys. A huge thank you to the facilitators and mentors who also supported APT.
I look forward to the next steps for Generator as we continue to push and collectively create the thriving, generous and inclusive industry we want to see. I am thankful to Generator for helping me to continue to believe that transformation is still possible.
Sedina + Kristina in Ottawa, toasting to a successful meeting with Canada Council for the Arts
Sedina + Keshia at the Generator office at CSI Bathurst
Team photo! Staff barbeque (left to right: Keshia, Annie, Sedina + Kristina) in August 2019
The first cohort is always the most photographed! APT 2018/19 was Sedina’s first cohort (of three!) as facilitator. This fabulous group was Tsholo Khalema, Teiya Kasahara, Kitoko Mai, Karthy Chin, Mikaela Demers, and Jordan Campbell—pictured below with Kristina and Keshia (left), guest instructor Christopher Manousos (centre), and playing the traditional round of APT Jeopardy to end the session (right):
“I don’t remember how exactly Sedina first crossed my path when I came to Toronto, but from the moment she did, I knew I wanted to work (and hang out) with her. Sedina is a radically generous, fiercely invested, and deeply creative part of Toronto and Generator’s communities. Her capacity to create new spaces—and let go of the ones that aren’t working, while holding tight and dear the ones that are—has been instrumental in the programs Generator has, and will, create. I am so grateful for these past 3+ years of thinking up futures and laughing through the present. Sedina has been one of my anchors in Toronto, and I am so grateful to her for welcoming me in. ”
The self-guided 2020/21 APT cohort was also the all-Zoom cohort: Avery Jean Brennan, Brock Hessel, Olivia Shortt, Makram Ayache, and Rochelle R
Annie + Sedina at the first staff meeting at the Trinity St. Paul’s office in October 2019
Sedina at SummerWorks Exchange in August 2019 - photo by Andrew Williamson
About Sedina
Sedina Fiati (she/her or they/them) is a Toronto based performer, producer, director, creator and activist for stage and screen. Proudly Black and queer, Sedina is deeply invested in artistic work that explores the intersection between art and activism, either in form or structure or ideally both.
Sedina is currently Artist-Activist in Residence at Nightwood Theatre and proud founding member of the Black Pledge Collective. Sedina was the co-chair of ACTRA Toronto’s Diversity Committee and 2nd VP of council for Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Sedina has worked with Generator since 2018, focusing on providing mentorship, program development and coordination for the Artist Producer Training Program. Upcoming projects: Switching Queen(s) (devised street performance), Last Dance (a web series).
Team Transitions: Keshia Palm
“After over three beautiful years creating and producing content for ArtistProducerResource.com, I will be taking a small step back from my role to make space for other things (hello, Paprika Festival!).”
It’s a season of big staff transitions! Generator is launching into a new era as many of the staff who have stewarded it for the past several years move on to different opportunities and priorities (you can read a note from Sedina on transitioning out of their role here). The staff have all been so flexible and generous in supporting the needs of the organization in this time of immense transition, and have helped bring Generator into its next phase with care and deep consideration.
We know it’s not goodbye, just a transition into a different form of engagement with Generator—and we’re so excited to see the many ways our paths will all continue to intersect.
A note from Keshia
After over three beautiful years creating and producing content for ArtistProducerResource.com, I will be taking a small step back from my role to make space for other things (hello, Paprika Festival!).
Like a friend that babysits on the weekend, I’ll still be around to support ArtistProducerResource.com until the next incredible human steps in to bring all their ideas and expertise to the program, and I will join in the celebration of birthdays and other milestones.
Shifting into this new relationship with Generator and ArtistProducerResource.com, I am struck with an overwhelming sense of gratitude – for you who believe in the website so much you have dedicated a portion of your income towards supporting it; for the many artist producers who have contributed to the website writing pages, editing and reviewing content, adding alt text, captioning videos, creating videos and infographics; and for Generator Generations – the smart and insightful and brave and challenging and bold artist producers that have inspired and fed me over the years (and who have probably also edited the website and/or subscribed to Patreon at some point or another).
The expansion and growth of ArtistProducerResource.com was guided by these conversations and relationships. A collaboration with Sage from Deaf Spectrum on Infographics for ASL and Spoken-language Interpretation in 2019 blossomed out of the Woke 2.0 d/Deaf Jam Workshop in 2018, leading us to produce a 3-part ASL vLog series together a few months later. Carlisle, the graphic designer, created an graphic celebrating ArtistProducerResource.com the following year. Many Artist Producer Training folks have become core editors and reviewers for the website, and Resident Companies and Company Collaborators have generously shared their expertise. It really does take a village.
When I first started at Generator in 2018, I was working 5 hours a week. Over the years, I worked my way up to 12 hours a week, always feeling like it was never enough time to really dig in, but also feeling incredibly proud of what Kristina, Annie, Sedina and I were able to accomplish with limited resources.
Our first photo together as a four-person staff team - left to right: Annie Clarke, Kristina Lemieux, Sedina Fiati, Keshia Palm (October 2018)
Keshia collaborating with Tsholo Khalema to produce a series of videos for Generator’s YouTube channel (April 2019)
There are some changes that I am particularly proud of. Reviewing the list of new pages year over year and the values they exude makes me glow. They reflect not only Generator’s priorities, but also a response to the moment – like a time capsule of what was happening in our sector.
There are also places where I wish we had grown deeper faster, like shifting Harassment to better encapsulate other forms of discrimination, and increasing the amount of non-text-based resources across the board. We’ve struggled to upload images and get those dang download links to work. Pages have haunted my and Kristina’s to-do lists for years – like Front of House, Insurance, and Volunteers (if you are dying to write about these topics, please email us!). New content for pages like COVID-19 Health and Safety for Artists becomes out-of-date before we even update them. The call to expand national resources to support artist producers outside of Ontario, and to make the website platform itself more accessible, grows ever stronger.
These changes will come. They are coming! We’re in the midst of a process of collecting feedback from the community that will help shape our decisions and priorities about where to take ArtistProducerResource.com next, and I can’t wait to be on the other side, discovering small but significant changes as a user.
Keshia transcribing notes for ArtistProducerResource.com from the Woke 2.0 d/Deaf Jam (June 2018)
Kristina and Keshia at the on the MOVE conference for dance artists (February 2019)
The number of folks using ArtistProducerResource.com has increased 337% from 2017/18 to 2020/21. Over 20,000 folks a year are searching for answers, and our small but mighty team has done our best to provide timely, accurate, and quality information to the community within Generator’s current operational model. Much of this is thanks to you.
I want to leave you with a little look back at ArtistProducerResource.com over the years. Imagine Vitamin C’s Graduation playing in the background. Thank you for reading, supporting, and sharing. Please join me in celebrating all that we accomplished together in the last few years, and dreaming of what’s to come. The future is bright!
New ArtistProducerResource.com things in 2021:
Childcare (brand new and beautiful; please read)
Expansion and creation of 11 topic-specific Playlists on YouTube
Learning Pathways – a series of blogs and companion resources to inspire self-guided learning on various producing topics
New in 2020:
New in 2019:
Not represented: the innumerable copy edits, major page revamps, broken-link-fixes, templates added, social media campaigns, and accessibility changes year over year.
Keshia + Annie filing the Social Media Playlist (photo by Steph Raposo - January 2020)
Keshia nesting at the Trinity St. Paul’s office (September 2019)
Most joyful projects over the years:
Producing Social Media Playlist with co-conspirator and fellow comms nerd Annie Clarke 🤓
The genesis of the Generator Instagram grid 🙌
Witnessing Sedina facilitate the Woke 2.0 Workshop series (I was there to take notes on the content, and literally was taking notes on how they held those spaces) 🤩
Designing, renovating, and nesting in the new office at Trinity St. Pauls with Kristina (have you seen those before and after photos?!) 👷
Moving day with Annie and the plantmobile 🌱
Coordinating Generator Generations staff parties and creating fun and creative ways to raise money for organizations we care about 💸
Collaborating with so so so many brilliant artists and learning from them in the process ❤️
Keshia + Annie moving the office’s most prized possessions: the plants (September 2019)
The December 2018 Generator Generations Holiday Gathering - back row, left to right: Keshia Palm, Sabah Haque, Deanna Galati, Annie Clarke, Sedina Fiati; front row: Kristina Lemieux, Lisa Alves, Faline Park
“I have had the honor of knowing Keshia in many capacities: first as a program participant, and before long as a collaborator, co-worker, leader, artist, and friend. I can think of few folks who are as deeply invested and passionate about making things better for people—whether that is through working conditions, access to knowledge, or projects that introduce new ways of thinking about art. Keshia’s cleverness and determination have led to so much information being made accessible and spread joyously across the country (and beyond). I have learned so much from their tenacity to stick with what matters to her, and to be in connection with those we know—as well as those we have yet to meet. ”
About Keshia
Keshia Palm (she/her and they/them) is a queer, Toronto-based Filipinx-Canadian settler from Treaty 6 Territory who seeks to expose, challenge and dismantle systems of oppression by creating thoughtful and inclusive art/spaces. Her creative practice includes dramaturgy, direction, producing and performance.
Keshia wants to re-imagine theatre: what it is, who it’s for, and how we do it. She has developed, workshopped and performed new works with theatre companies across Canada and is the dramaturge for a number of works in development by IBPOC, queer, women and trans artists.
Favourite projects include: Shadow Girls (co-created with Claren Grosz) — a bisexual love story featuring a team of queer women in all its iterations; coordinating the Reading the 49 monthly play-reading series for fu-GEN, performing in The Cherry Orchard (Modern Times) and FEARLESS (fu-GEN). Her latest project Make Me An Alleycat invites people to connect over stories and destinations while social distancing by going for a bike ride. Keshia is a playwright in the 2020/2021 Hot House Lab at Cahoots Theatre.
Keshia stumbled into Generator’s Artist Producer Training Program in 2017 and managed to stay despite all odds. She has been tinkering away at ArtistProducerResource.com since 2018.
Photos of Keshia Palm (top and bottom of page) by Haley Garnett
Announcement: Michael Caldwell is Incoming Leadership for Generator
We are delighted to announce Michael Caldwell as incoming leadership for Generator! “I am thrilled to join Generator in this pivotal moment, as we collectively vision a future of shared action and responsibility.”
We are delighted to announce Michael Caldwell as incoming leadership for Generator.
Photo of Michael Caldwell by Ömer Yüseker
"I am thrilled to join Generator in this pivotal moment, as we collectively vision a future of shared action and responsibility. My appointment is simply the next step along a journey towards expanding the ways-of-working for the organization and I am excited to dig in, learn more and uncover all of the possibilities.
“I look forward to engaging with the Generator Staff, Board of Directors, and Strategic Advisors in the next few months, to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and arrive at a future-forward organization structure that is responsive to the field and the creative communities in which we serve." —Michael Caldwell
“This hiring process was a months-long series of inspiring conversations about Generator’s future, its role in the ecology, and how Generator can continue to support independent artist producers. After meeting with several exciting candidates, the committee was unanimous in our support of Michael’s vision, experience, and values. We’re so pleased to have him joining Generator to help us move into the next phase of building a collaborative leadership model for the organization.
“I’m grateful to the whole team of Staff, Strategic Advisors, Board, and consulting artists who helped build this process and respond adaptively to the proposals we received, to Michael, for offering a compelling vision of how Generator can continue to evolve, and to our outgoing leader, Kristina, for planning and leading a generous and caring transition for all involved.” —ted witzel, Generator Board Chair
Michael will be officially starting with Generator on Monday, October 4 and working part-time hours. He will be working closely with outgoing Lead Producer Kristina Lemieux during a period of training and transition this fall.
About Michael
Michael Caldwell is a Toronto-based choreographer, performer, curator, director, producer, and arts advocate. His prolific career includes engagements with over 50 of Canada's esteemed performance creators and companies, with performances across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and earning two (2) Dora Mavor Moore Awards for outstanding performance. His choreography has been commissioned and presented throughout Canada at major festivals, in traditional venues and in site-responsive and community-engaged contexts and he is a two-time finalist for the K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation Artist Award, as well as a nominee for the 2021 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize. As a producer/director, Michael has contributed to the growth and development of Fall for Dance North in Toronto and the Festival of Dance Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia, among others, and he currently serves on the board of directors at The CanDance Network. Read more on our website here.
Meet the Strategic Advisors!
We are thrilled to be working with this incredible group of Strategic Advisors, who have just begun their focus on four primary strategic areas: leadership transition, governance model, taxonomy review of ArtistProducerResource.com, and expanding our networks.
We’re thrilled to be working with this incredible group of Strategic Advisors! We're working with a few of these wonderful folks for the first time, and we're continuing relationships with many. We are so grateful to each of them for the generosity of heart and mind they are bringing to Generator in this transition period.
As Generator looks to the next chapter of our work building the capacity and resilience of the independent performance sector, we are engaging the Strategic Advisors as a paid advisory body. Through our open call for applications in March/April, we sought experienced and active producers and community members, with close ties to Toronto’s performing arts scene. (You can view the call for applications here. Thank you so much to all those who applied!)
The Strategic Advisors will help inform Generator’s next transformation. This transformation will include a leadership transition, governance review, and ongoing development of online community resources. The Strategic Advisors have just embarked on their work, with those strategic areas as a focus.
The Strategic Advisors Welcome Meal at the end of April! The advisory was joined by board members ted witzel, Claire Burns, and Quinn Harris, and staff members Kristina Lemieux, Annie Clarke, and Keshia Palm.
Welcome, Meg!
We’re delighted to welcome Meg Saxby to the Generator team as Project Coordinator for Transform Dance.
We are delighted to share that Meg Saxby has joined the Generator team as Project Coordinator for Transform Dance.
Meg Saxby is a social worker, educator and clinician. She has over ten years of experience in feminist sex education, newcomer support services, gender-based violence prevention and response and the cooperative movement. Meg works with both individuals and organizations who want to imagine, build and restore relational health for better relationships, healthier workplaces and a more just world.
What inspired you to become a part of Transform Dance?
”I’ve been working on gender violence for over a decade, including years practicing as a TJ [Transformative Justice] facilitator and years supporting survivors as they navigate the legal system. I never expected the conversation to reach the mainstream media with so much force as it did in 2017. I think we’re now at a very pivotal moment, culturally -- we have the chance to shift the stigma and silence, and to develop deeper and more effective responses to harm. For me, Transform Dance is a very inspiring and creative approach, because it’s collective, voluntary, one-size-fits-one and focused on healing and transformation. I am very honoured to be a part of this project.”