QUIET PARADE Townhall

The Blackwood invites UTM staff, faculty, students, and community members to attend an informational session about , a large-scale public parade initiated by artist Aislinn Thomas that will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 18, 2024 (rain date: September 19) at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

QUIET PARADE is a participatory art project that embraces accessibility as a shared and interdependent practice through the creation of a low-stimulation, yet vibrant event. Like a traditional parade, it brings together a series of artistic expressions to compose a multifaceted whole. On the day of the parade, there will be performances, floats, audiences, and marching bands or musical groups playing soft music. Along UTM’s 5-Minute Walk, attendees will find various stations offering art-making activities and spaces to relax.

In this townhall session, Blackwood staff will discuss the project impetus and development, plans for UTM campus (including the parade route and activations), public programs and workshops, as well as ways for your department, office, student group, or organization to support the project and get involved.

The townhall will be held in person at the University of Toronto Mississauga (Council Chambers, William G. Davis Building 3130) and virtually on Zoom. While the session will be recorded and available upon request, we encourage you to attend the meeting in person or via livestream as you will have the opportunity to ask the organizers any questions you may have and connect with other attendees.

RSVP required; please register to attend in person on Eventbrite or virtually on Zoom.

Live captions will be provided; ASL interpretation available upon request.

Food and refreshments will be provided at 12:30pm.

Drop-in attendance is welcomed.

Directions and accessibility information for the UTM Council Chambers is available as a downloadable document.

About the Project

QUIET PARADE invites artists and the public to create a quiet parade—a sensory-friendly, float-based ensemble that experiments with unconventional approaches to celebration. Conceived by artist Aislinn Thomas and curated by scholar Ellyn Walker, the project is shaped by a commitment to cross-disability solidarity and the desire for pleasurable, joyful, and extravagant experiences of accessibility. QUIET PARADE rejects the notion that the labour required to create collective forms of access is inherently and exclusively burdensome, embracing it instead as a valuable disruption. The intention is to approach the creation of access as an ongoing, iterative, relational process and a deep source of possibility, connection, and magic.

About the Lead Artist

Aislinn Thomas (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist whose recent work responds to disability. She is grateful to work alongside and in the legacy of so many who treat access and survival as spaces for creative acts, experimentation, and pleasure. Aislinn is a white, disabled and chronically ill settler of Ashkenazic and Western European descent. She lives in Unama’ki / Cape Breton, on ancestral and unceded Mi’kmaq territory. Thomas has an MFA from the University of Waterloo. She is the recipient of several awards including the 2010 Royal Canadian Academy of Arts C.D. Howe Scholarship for Art and Design, a University of Waterloo President’s Scholarship, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Masters Scholarship, and funding from the Ontario Arts Council.

Acknowledgements

QUIET PARADE is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the University of Toronto Mississauga. Proudly sponsored by U of T affinity partners. Discover the benefits of affinity products!:

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

William G. Davis Building, 1867 Inner Circle Road, Mississauga, Canada