The Blue Mountains’ Creator Space Digital Arts Lab is offering local residents access to high-level digital arts equipment, instruction and a community hub of like-minded creators.
“If you are a creator and you want to learn, collaborate and meet new people, this is it. You don’t have to travel far for access to something like this,” says Collingwood resident, Gord Isman.
Isman is an advocate for the Creator Space Digital Arts Lab, a digital arts learning resource initiated in the Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) last year.
“Think about being able to get into the arts without having to make any heavy investment to indulge,” he says.
Through its partnership with the Blue Mountains Public Library, in 2019, the Creator Space conducted 230 workshops, with over 1,000 attendees.
“Each workshop has on average four spots available for attendees, as we focus on quality learning above all,” says Tracey Strnad, creative director for the Creator Space. “The majority of our programs were at capacity throughout the year.”
Strnad says the program was embraced by the community in its first year and now the Creator Space is expanding to work with the Collingwood and Wasaga Public Libraries.
“Digital arts learning opportunities are less abundant in rural areas, and there was a gap to fill in South Georgian Bay. With the support of our partners, we are committed to providing similar access and services that one would find in a large Canadian city,” she says.
Isman agrees, adding that he was surprised to find such a valuable teaching program outside of the GTA.
“If I would have had access to something like this in the GTA, I would have been in a class of 100 and it wouldn’t have been the same kind of attention or experience,” says Isman, who moved to Collingwood from the Richmond Hill-area about two years ago.
“But, not only are there programs about video production, I also get to work with professionals and professional-level tools,” he says.
The Creator Space allows active library cardholders to borrow digital arts equipment, free of charge.
“Equipment is currently available to borrow (free) from the Blue Mountains Public Library,” Strnad confirms. “Some equipment requires proficiency testing prior to borrowing, which is being conducted virtually in some cases due to the pandemic.”
Isman says he has never seen or heard of anything like this program, unless it was tied to a professional art school.
“Rental of gear is very expensive. We recorded our project with Black Magic Cinema 4K cameras. They had it all,” he says.
Previous to arriving in Collingwood, Isman spent nearly 25 years working in the GTA in Information Technology (IT).
“We all come with different skills and experiences, and I think the instructors do a good job of developing the programs to start from the very beginning to slowly build your knowledge base,” he says.
“And then we still covered a lot of things that I had never learned about like colour grading or sound mixing and recording with professional gear.”
Blue Mountains resident and proud senior citizen, Celine Szoges says her situation was quite the opposite of Isman, as she came to the Creator Space with very little understanding of technology.
“I went from using an old flip phone to being able to understand and use some pretty cool programs and equipment,” Szoges says. “These programs have given me the knowledge to feel confident with technology.”
Szoges says she was tired of not understanding how to use technology or being able to share her voice online.
“I jumped in and started to take these classes and if there was something I didn’t understand I would write it down and go back later and figure it out,” she says.
Strnad says Creator Space programs are open to all ages and all skill levels.
“The best experiential learning workshop that we conducted was the Short Film Production Masterclass, which allowed the participants to create their own short films from script to screen,” Strnad explains.
“It is delightful to watch new artists become empowered by new skills they acquired as first-time directors. Filmmaking has to be learned through both theory and practice, and delivering those learning opportunities over a four-week period was exciting.”
This August, the Creator Space Digital Arts Lab will be expanding its programs to residents of Collingwood and Wasaga Beach.
“I had previously been driving to Clarksburg everyday but now there will be access to things right here in Collingwood,” Isman says. "This has certainly brought creators together from across the Georgian Bay to collaborate on some exciting, creative projects.”
Check out an online gallery from the Creator Space, featuring work created by community members here: https://vimeopro.com/mountaingoatfilm/tbmcsvirtualexhibit2020
