FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN 2023

Some years, Studio 303 hosts a recurring Salon Lab for resident artists (and sometimes others). Salon Labs are mutable and emergent: the group decides on their frequency and format. Since 2011, the lab has provided a safer space for deep conversation, for peer feedback, and for exchanges with invited speakers. In 2020-21, the labs provided emotional support during a troubling time, shapeshifting between casual hangouts and participant-led structured workshops.

We generally invite artists involved in our current season but if you would like to participate in Salon Labs just let us know!

Photo credit: Kinga Michalska // Photo edit: Noel Vezina

Dear friends, colleagues and community,

Thank you for your solidarity this past year. It’s been intense, and your presence, creativity and care has kept us moored and hopeful. You have also helped us prioritize and make the most of this unprecedented disruption.

While governments, funders and large institutions are working to anticipate and respond to large scale trends, we remain focused on the micro. In a time of difficult social contexts marked by violent inequality, we see a wealth of possibility in rethinking our relationship mechanisms and emphasizing trust, supported by an active process of transparency and listening. 

How can we better relate to one another? Trust is key to good relationships, and we believe that transparency and listening support trust. For instance, rather than adopt a blanket approach regarding accessibility, we have been consulting with disabled and Deaf artists who want to participate in our workshops, to build a pilot project (21-22) tailored to their specific needs. This has been a very enlightening process; we’re learning to move through discomfort, and (to try to!) let go of our assumptions. 

Other behind-the-scenes activities involve taking a good hard look at equity across all of our pay scales – including staff, artists and contractuals – as well as how wage transparency could support open discussions around money, and improve accountability. We believe that these incremental efforts will lead to important positive shifts. We are proud of our steadfast, though mostly invisible, labour over the past year, and are keen to experience its outcomes with you all next season and beyond. 

Your donation allows us to pursue our unorthodox trajectory – to go where we are not expected, to think differently, to sometimes confront and to often take care. Your unconditional donations support Studio 303’s independent thinking and doing. 

Thank you for believing in us!

Love,

Team 303 💛

Last update: August 4th, 2022
Our protocols will be regularly updated with the most recent health guidelines. If you have any questions please be in touch.

Last update: August 5th, 2022
Our protocols will be regularly updated with the most recent health guidelines. If you have any questions in the meantime please be in touch.

Please note: these measures do not apply to workshops offered online.

By registering for a workshop, you agree to cancel your participation if you have symptoms, or think you have COVID-19. It is also your responsibility to notify Studio 303 if you have participated in an activity and test positive for COVID-19. Please consult the most recent government guidance on testing/isolating.

If after receiving a negative COVID-19 test result you would like to return to a workshop, please contact info@studio303.ca to determine the conditions of your return, according to your individual situation. (Please note that we may ask you to share your vaccination status or other pertinent info.)

Preparing to come to the studio

– Mask-wearing. Studio 303 is a closed public space. We continue to recommend that renters and participants in our activities wear a mask.

• Although no longer legally required, masks remain an effective means of reducing risk of transmitting covid-19.
• Our community includes immunocompromised people who deserve to feel safe at the studio.
• Our community is also largely comprised of independent artists, who often rely on precarious contracts to make ends meet.

All to say, the possibility of contracting covid-19 is still a major concern for many folks we care for, and as always, our individual comfort levels may vary from others we share space with. If a teacher/artist prefers that participants wear masks, we will support them in that choice. Masks will be available in the studio for you if needed. Thank you for your care and understanding.

– Clothing. If possible, arrive in comfortable clothing for movement, as our dressing room is small and poorly ventilated. There are designated areas for your belongings.

Arrival

– Please arrive 15 minutes early. 
– Please disinfect your hands upon arrival.

During the workshop

– Take breaks when you need them (rather than in a group).
– Avoid touching curtains, windows, switches, doors – ask the workshop assistant to do so.
– Don’t hesitate to share any concerns or discomfort you may feel. 

Navigating comfort zones

Our maximum capacity for workshops is 25 people in total, including the teacher and the workshop assistant, and we do not accept drop-in students.

Please check-in with colleagues when being in close proximity from other participants. We realize this may be frustrating, but bear in mind that every individual has a different level of comfort and this needs to be honoured. Some questions to ask yourself:
– What is my comfort level in relation to physical distancing in the studio? In general? Today? 
– Do I need more information about the content of the workshop? 
– Am I comfortable being surprised by the teacher’s proposals?
– Do I need to get to know the participants in order to feel comfortable moving with them?
– What conversations am I willing to have with the workshop group?

Please read Studio 303’s COVID-19 Protocol, for more details about studio cleaning and our special measures.

Last September, we playfully announced that this year was 303’s Saturn return – a time to reflect, prioritize, realign. What an understatement that turned out to be.

Studio 303 is no stranger to uncertainty, but of course this pandemic brings it to a whole new level. We must find ways to support one another, honouring our diverse contexts and coping strategies. In May, we hosted a Town Hall with resident artists and studio users. Our biggest take-away was a collective need to slow down, to listen and to observe; an imperative to re-evaluate our relationship to systems and to time.

Today we find ourselves in a historic moment of deep mourning and powerful protest following the brutal murder of George Floyd – a tipping point for collective awakening, racial justice and police reform. We are moved by the brave wave of momentum generated by those on the front lines and are determined to amplify marginalized voices and fight white supremacy as individuals, as a team, as part of a community, and as an institution.

We need to work more deeply and thoughtfully. We are cutting back “productivity” next season: reduced programming will better support artists at their rhythm, and allow for ideas which have yet to take shape. We will take 12 months to nurture an inclusion project we had initially planned to do in three. We envision a paperless year, and gentle, incremental and minimalist communications, allowing us to channel funds and energy elsewhere while better embodying our environmental aspirations. We look forward to trying to think and do things differently.

We are very fortunate: governmental emergency aid is ensuring our short-term survival, and core funding means we can protect staff, teacher and artist wages. However, the rental and workshop losses we anticipate threaten our ability to hold onto our beloved studio – our creative home for the past 30 years. We are counting on your support to help us navigate the rough waters ahead, and thrive as a physical space where thinking can be embodied.

We know many of you are exhausted and facing financial hardships of your own. And we don’t want to add noise to your inbox and social media feed unnecessarily.

This is it.

For those who are able to help out this year, thank you in advance!

You can donate from now until June 30th 2020 via Simplyk or by cheque.

Take very good care of yourselves, in solidarity,

Team 303

– Kim-Sanh, Miriam, Noël, Ola, Ornella et Victoria

• Online: April 30th to June 4th, 2020 (6 classes)
• Wednesday 6 p.m. – 7 p. m.
• Price: voluntary contribution*, $10 per class suggested
• E-transfer to ariana.psanchez@gmail.com
  514-972-9062 / Bilingual teacher

CONTENT //A course adapted to do at home and in small spaces. We will use an approach combining dance, improvisation and yoga. Through simple exercises on the ground we will activate the body and the senses by relating them to internal and external space. We will awaken the body to lead it to an effective and sensitive coordination.

This course will allow dancers to improve their skills by using their curiosity and creativity in the dance movement.

With guided improvisations or choreographed sequences, dancers will be encouraged to work in different isolations from the body to explore their own way of moving. By trusting their intuition, participants will explore different states: physical, mental and emotional to find the balance between control and letting go.

BIO // Ariana Pirela Sánchez is a choreographer, dancer and researcher living in Montreal. She graduated from L’école de danse de Québec and have a complementary practice in yoga and physical training. She presented her solo, “Manos de Mujer,” at the Phenomena festival, Cuisine Ta Ville and the Festival Vue Sur la Relève. She is a 2020 artist in residence of the Montreal Arts Intercultural Support Program with the Conseil des Arts de Montréal. She has an intimate approach and her work is inspired by a quest for identity, cultural and political issues as well as human relations.

• Video:
• https://youtu.be/U_n0kXckrG4
• https://youtu.be/JJDa_RLCSUU

By participating in this online offering, you acknowledge that there are inherent risks of physical exertion to any activity, and agree to hold harmless Studio 303 and its employees and contractors from any and all liability for personal injury, however caused, arising from your participation. You freely accept and assume all such risks from participation in any ctvity or event with Studio 303. Please note that RQD members usually covered by CNESST are NOT covered during online activities. Thank you for your understanding!

Online: April 28th to June 2nd, 2020 (6 classes)
Tuesday 5:45 p.m. – 7 p.m.
$60 for the full session or $16 drop-ins
Payment methods: e-transfer by email (sarah@inhabit.life) or paypal 
514-929-1635 (texting preferred) / Bilingual teacher

Following registration/payment, you will receive the link for the online class by email. The class will take place on ZOOM.

CONTENT // Find physical ease, become more embodied, and develop your somatic mindfulness practice with Sarah’s gentle, verbally-guided movement meditations. Whether you have a relationship with your body that’s close or complicated, you’re welcome here. We’ll explore movements while lying, sitting, or in our imaginations. The emphasis is on how a movement feels rather than on how it looks, so you can expect a truly non-judgemental environment to explore.

These classes are body positive, LGBTIA+ supportive, sex and sex work positive, and trauma-informed.

BIO // Sarah is an enthusiastic teacher who’s known for their welcoming presence, warm sense of humour, and engaging teaching style. They’re especially passionate about helping clients develop skills needed to practice embodied self-respect, curiosity, and creativity. Sarah graduated from their 800-hour Feldenkrais training program in 2016 and facilitates group and one-on-one somatic sessions in English at their office in Montreal and virtually online.

www.inhabit.life

@inhabit_movement

By participating in this online offering, you acknowledge that there are inherent risks of physical exertion to any activity, and agree to hold harmless Studio 303 and its employees and contractors from any and all liability for personal injury, however caused, arising from your participation. You freely accept and assume all such risks from participation in any ctvity or event with Studio 303. Please note that RQD members usually covered by CNESST are NOT covered during online activities. Thank you for your understanding!