The Art Shelter
The future home of Frog in Hand
Artists need shelter.
Shelter is more than weather protection.
It shields from loneliness, isolation and insecurity.
We dream of a place that is defined by radical inclusivity, flexibility, warmth of welcome, respect for nature, empathy, care, long-term planning, service and sharing.
And so we bring you the Art Shelter.
The Art Shelter is a post-pandemic response. It aims to become a platform for meaningful interactions: connecting hope and healing with creativity, generating unconventional solutions for community participation. It will be flexible, accessible, artist-driven, environmentally and economically sustainable - a place for art-infused stories. This will be a place to rebuild differently, to commune with genius loci, the spirit of place.
In 2023, we purchased a 42-ft diameter geodesic dome from Arctic Acres. Once built, the Shelter will be artist-run and community-engaged, an intentional act of climate leadership. Its limited footprint, flexibility and collaborative operating model will provide space to incubate new ideas and forge community connections.
With this project, we hope we can do more with less in ways that are socially inclusive, environmentally proactive, and better aligned with an unpredictable future.
Thank you to the Art Shelter funders
Photos courtesy of Arctic Acres
YOU CAN HELP!
Volunteer with the Art Shelter to join us as we build a creative place from the ground up. Opportunities for community service and volunteering begin this August 2023.
Frog in Hand is searching for volunteers to help with various activities during the building of The Art Shelter on August 8th, 9th, 10th! This work will take place at 887 Hydro Road, Mississauga. Click the button below to learn more and RSVP for a volunteer shift of your choice.
Please connect with Mandy E. MacLean (Arts Activation Coordinator, The Art Shelter) with any questions or concerns. Email Mandy at infoartshelter@gmail.com
Mandy MacLean I Arts Activation Coordinator
Mandy (she/ her) is a Mad Artist. She is a proud Maritimer and is currently based in Toronto. Her formal training is in physical ensemble work and creating theatrical work from source material. She is highly influenced by her Composition and Suzuki training with the SITI Company (NYC) and members of SCOT (Japan). Recent performance work Don’t Go Into the Woods (In Development, Tarragon Theatre, dir Courtney Chg’ Lancaster), You’re Never Alone (Film, dir. Tyler Seguin), Abyss (ARC, dir. Richard Rose). Recent directing includes; Honesty by Jordan Tanahill for the Honest Eds Closing. Recent Arts Educator Work; W. Ross MacDonald School for the Blind, Storytelling Toronto, Theatre by the Bay, NB Drama Fest, and Humber College. Her solo work hiraeth, premiered at SummerWorks 2019. Versions were first staged at Forward March 2019 and SummerWorks 2018 with the support of the OAC and Tangled Arts + Disability. She was a finalist for the 2022 Cayle Chernin Award in Theatre. She is currently managing a project in disability creation practices between Prologue for the Performing Arts & The W. Ross School School for the Blind, and was previously the Operations & Outreach Manager for Storytelling Toronto. She is an Actra Member, a graduate of Humber Theatre, and is originally from New Brunswick. Mandy has over a decade of experience working with youth, has driven a military tank, and is currently searching for baked goods across Ontario.
Photo by @lightsleakin