Memory connects to literacy in many ways. Specialists agree that reading comprehension is dependent on prior knowledge, certainly one form of memory. Reading books gives us memories of places we’ve never been. Reading the world is also inseparable from memory, as we weave new memories and draw upon old ones in complex patterns. For some individuals, memory can be a barrier to learning, and many programs for adult learners and at-risk youth focus on helping students mediate and shape their memories as part of the effort to gain self-esteem and move on.

This year’s Grassroots: Community Writing and Arts event will showcase some brilliant examples from Quebec, Canada and abroad of the ways that the concept of multiple literacies can be used to reach more students.

A free three-hour public session at the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival on Friday, April 2, 2004, will give us an opportunity to share the ways that memory connects to learning and understanding in relation to multiple literacies – making meaning through words, sounds and symbols in different media. The invited participants will share their stories, poems, artifacts, performances, videos and music.

In conjunction with this event, The Centre for Literacy will offer a series of low-cost workshops on Thursday, April 1 and Saturday, April 3, that explore how community arts programs connect to literacy, and that consider models for outreach, sustainability and bridging to the formal education sector.

WHO WILL PARTICIPATE?

Writers, producers, coordinators, artists, actors, and animators who have created, performed, written and learned, in community-based settings rather than inside institutions, and who have found unique ways to link literacy and the arts.

INVITEES INCLUDE:

• Paula Belina and a colleague from Streeteaters, Montreal
• Robert Davis and four writer-performers from Beat the Streets Peace Power, Toronto
• Joshua Dorsey and a student filmmaker from O2 Film Crew, Montreal
• Jackie Hall and two student writers from Literacy in Action, Sherbrooke, QC
• Mary Norton and Judy Murphy and from Drawing out the Self (DOTS), The Learning Centre, Edmonton
• Bonnie Soroke and a participant from “Zippers”, Vancouver
• Julian Sefton-Green, Head of Media Arts and Education, WAC Media and Performing Arts Center, London (UK)

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Teachers, literacy educators, arts educators, workers in community-based groups, professional writers, social workers, community animators and members of the public who are interested in alternative forums and venues for learning.

EVENTS

Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival: Community Writing and Arts 2004
A public session

Friday,April 2, 2004 • 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Hyatt Regency Hotel
1255 Jeanne-Mance, Metro Station: Place-des-Arts
NO CHARGE

WORKSHOPS

All workshops will be held at The Centre for Literacy, Dawson College 4001 de Maisonneuve West

Thursday,April 1, 2004

Registration & supper: 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
6:00–9:00 p.m. (Concurrent sessions)

1. Drawing out the Self is a participatory workshop that uses art making, movement, singing and writing to invite people to explore holistic ways of learning and knowing. Workshop participants will be invited to try out some creative learning activities and to share how they might apply creative approaches in their own settings. Facilitators: Judy Murphy, Consultant, adult education and art, and Mary Norton, l.c.a, Director, The Learning Centre, Edmonton
   
   or
   
2. Zippers is a hands-on workshop creating 3-D sculptures from non-traditional art materials. The session will begin with a 10-15 minute slide show of sculptures, many of them from various sizes of zippers, created by Bonnie and previous workshop participants. Non-traditional art materials will be available; participants will select materials that are appealing and start ‘playing’. Zippers workshops can be tailored to whatever theme or issue the participants may be involved with. Facilitator: Bonnie Soroke, adult educator and artist, Vancouver

Saturday,April 3, 2004

9:00 a.m.–12:00 noon

3. Community Arts and Literacy: Sharing at the Grassroots
   There is growing interest in the concept of “multiple literacies”, to acknowledge that we make meaning through many systems of symbols besides print. These include numbers, musical notes, still and moving images, and combinations of these generated manually and via computers and digital technologies. Schools are not necessarily the first to honour other ways of knowing. At the community level, there are a surprising number of programs and organizations that engage adult learners and at-risk youth through theatre, photography, film, video and music, as well as writing.This workshop will be a sharing session for the writing and arts groups who participated in the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival Community Writing and Arts strand.
   
   Lunch: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
   1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
   
4. Creative Media Cultures: Learning beyond the School
   This session will describe Œonline writing, and film-making projects at an out-ofschool community education centre, and show how the unusual pedagogic structures in such an environment can support the production of creative and expressive material. Participants will explore how new opportunities in digital media production may be creating new spaces for young people to inhabit, both to express themselves and to develop a youth sphere. They will consider aspects of this new learning culture from the perspectives of the learner as both consumer and producer. Facilitator: Julian Sefton-Green, WAC Performing Arts and Media College, London, U.K.* This session is being co-sponsored by ATEQ (Association of Teachers of English in Quebec).
   *Julian Sefton-Green’s travel is supported by the British Council

These events have been supported by the
National Literacy Secretariat, Human Resources Development Canada.