A Tale of Two Parks is storytelling project that seeks to elevate and amplify the stories and experiences of BIPOC community members who live, work, and play in Toronto parks, starting with Dentonia and Edgeley Parks.
A Tale of Two Parks provided a brave space for storytelling and sharing, especially for people who might not think of themselves as storytellers. We were especially interested in stories from Newcomers and Youth who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Colour. This project was been co-designed with Youth who had connections to these parks and communities who brought their lived experiences, storytelling styles and ideas into action within this project.
A Tale of Two Parks aims is to collect stories about how parks have played a role in people’s lives before, during, and after the pandemic; and imagine what parks can look like in the future to be a safe space for everyone. This project highlights stories about the past, present and future of parks in Toronto.
Project Goals:
By listening to Black, Indigenous Elders, and People of Colour in these communities we aim to foster a safe space for folx to share difficult stories.
Collect stories to support our shared ability to imagine what it looks like for BIPOC communities to have safer/braver spaces within their communities, parks and the city of Toronto.
Collecting and sharing the stories of Newcomers, Immigrants and Youth to better represent the communities living near Dentonia and Edgeley Park.
Story Experiments
During the project, our social researchers conducted story experiments with community members of Edgeley and Dentonia Park in order to highlight the storytellers and stories that we collected over the 6 month period of this project.
Experiments highlighted key goals for our project, including prioritizing the voices of BIPOC seniors, youth, newcomers and immigrants, acknowledging the realities of the safety of parks for BIPOC communities, and of course, imagining safer and braver spaces for BIPOC folx in the communities they live in with storytelling being the conduit for change.
Process
During team meetings, our social researchers brainstormed new ideas for story experiments, and received training on topics such as appropriate outreach methods, research ethics, and building trust and rapport with participants.
We then tested out our ideas and made changes as we gained feedback from the community and team members. Through building relationships and fostering trust with participants, we were able to learn from our process and adapt our story-collecting methods to better suit the needs of the community.
1-on-1 Interviews
Having in-depth conversations with community members of Dentonia Park about their experiences in the community.
Parks Futures
Envisioning a better future for the parks we frequent by contemplating various park designs and honouring the land and who it belongs to.
Participatory Parks Planning Game
How can we design our parks better? How can we make parks safe for everyone?
Group Team Storytelling
Connecting within the Tale of Two Parks team to talk about the safety of parks for BIPOC communities, and our relationships to the land we take up space on.
Park/Land NaNoWriMo
A 30-day writing program inspired by NaNoWriMo to bring awareness to the land we take up space on and foster the art of story-telling in community members.
Shwasti Stories
Engaging with Dentonia Park’s Bengali seniors walking group and their work within the Danforth area.
Park Audio Reflections
An exploration of insights in audio form that we gathered from being at both Dentonia & Edgeley Park as a team.
Park Tabling
Engaging with community members at Dentonia Park.
Youth Program
Engaging with youth who frequent Edgeley Park and fostering their creativity.
Team Members + Roles
Social Researchers
Youth who are connected to their community. They are trained in oral story collecting, story curation, & editing — to amplify, uplift, & listen to BIPOC’s lived experiences. They seek & provide a platform of diverse narratives of the community, who want their stories to be heard & shared.
I am a queer/trans/non-binary/Hindu/Sri Lankan. I have spent a few years trying to recover from activist burnout so at this moment, I am limiting myself to playing two roles – working on this project & being a student.
I’m a Black man (Ghanaian-Canadian) from Jane & Finch. I’m a brother, son, student, & facilitator. I’m from a single parent household & eldest of 3, my voice is one that I’ve been learning to stand firm in all whilst trying to find it.
I am Tamil & my identity was mainly shaped in the growing up in Jane & Finch. A lot of my schooling was in the area & going to uni at York. For me I enjoy chess, helping youth, & in the future I want to be a lawyer & see where that takes me.
I am a first generation student & community leader. I am attempting to learn the French language. I am learning more about myself daily & I love what I am divulging to myself, about myself during this season of my life.
Communication Specialists
Youth who support & collaborate with our social researchers on their individual project timelines. They develop social media content that reflects & amplifies the progress of our team & engages with the public. They ensure our work is accessible to a diversity of audiences.
I am Afro-Caribbean, Queer, neurodivergent. I am a holistic health educator & Reiki practitioner & friend. My voice is one that I’ve had to work with, & learn how to respect so that I can carry that respect with me into interaction with others.
I’m first gen Tibetan & learning the privileges & shortcomings of my identity. I’m a fresh graduate who wants to continue working in non-profit & governance. I feel these spaces create real change for communities I belong to.
Project Caretaker
They ensure that collectively & individually each team member is being supported with care throughout their process. They provide facilitation of our team’s process & provide one-on-one guidance in planning, navigating, & overcoming obstacles that team members are going through.
I’m a 1.5 gen queer non-binary Filipino pal. I’m an artivist, community bridge, & student in ECEC. I’m currently finding my voice again within my commUNITY & how being grounded in community is healing for yourself & others.
Timeline
It was important for us to build trust & relationships with one another to better understand our personal goals & collective aims for the project. This helped ground & guide us how we want to co-design this project together.
We brainstormed our methods of outreach as a team. Then began experimenting with story collecting ideas to highlight the experiences of BIPOC community members. This created a variety of iterations throughout the process.
We believe in creating artefacts that will impact the BIPOC communities we serve, as a gift of gratitude that they can tangibly use at their own time. This can be created in different media that holds meaning for each individual.
Funders
This program has been made possible through the generous funding by the Toronto Arts Council, Arts in the Parks, Park People, & Canada Summer Jobs
Partners
This project is a collaboration between the Department of Imaginary Affairs, Jane-Finch Centre, Green Change, & East End Arts
