Produced by H Visual Media
Claudia Ferraro, The Poet Laureate for the Town of Collingwood, was the special guest for the Institute’s March Arts Check-In event, which finalized the content for the Strategy being released this Spring. Claudia has penned many commissioned poems, performed virtually at local and provincial events, led community workshops, and is currently curating multiple installation pieces to be displayed around the town.
The poem in this video, titled The Starving Artist Always Feeds Their Audience, was recently penned for the Blue Mountain Foundation of the Art’s final Regional Arts Action Network meeting. Claudia was inspired by the theme of this meeting – “Thrive” – for the ways it challenges popular stereotypes surrounding a life in the arts. It recycles loneliness for community, and ineffectuality for prosperity. This past year has proven, among many things, how crucial artists are to a lively, loving, thriving community. This poem is an ode, a witnessing, and a thank you to these people – the ones who continue to create beauty despite all the ugliness apparent in our world.
Special thanks to Tyler Cleary and Tanya Mazza, Town of Collingwood and the Simcoe Street Theatre.