Caring Cultures: Welcome

ArtsPond is a changemaker of a different kind.

From our office in Tkaronto (Toronto), we are grateful to live and work on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, and Mississaugas of the Credit. These territories are part of Treaty 13 and the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Covenant and are now home to many diverse Indigenous nations, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. We recognize Indigenous peoples as caretakers of Turtle Island and honour their traditions, cultures, and legacies in all realms of life, including digital spaces.

We stand firmly in allyship with Indigenous people and other justice-deserving groups and believe arts and culture can play a powerful role in decolonization. Through creativity, we also aim to challenge the roots and impacts of sexism, racism, economic inequality, ableism, audism, the climate crisis, digital transformation, and other systemic harms in society.

Caring Cultures is proudly presented by ArtsPond with funding from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Government of Ontario.

Stay committed

We ask that you commit to the fellowship by showing up and getting involved as much as you can. This includes things like replying to emails, attending important meetings, working with others, and completing your project. If life becomes unpredictable, just let us know. We are here to support you. Your wellbeing will always be our priority, even when things feel difficult.

Own your journey

This fellowship is an opportunity for you to explore your life, work, and community with curiosity and care. We encourage you to stay open to your own experiences and what you are learning from the world around you. The more you take charge of your journey, the more you will grow and learn from it.

Contribute to community

We value the many perspectives you bring. Collaboration and sharing ideas are essential for creating a community where everyone can learn and grow together. The more we share, the richer the experience for everyone.

Explore other perspectives openly

We all have values and beliefs that shape who we are, and we respect that. At the same time, we invite openness and respect for the stories and perspectives of others. Many of you are exploring new ways of thinking, and this space is about growing through those explorations.

Embrace the highs and lows

Creative growth often means facing challenges. We encourage you to embrace both the highs and the lows and see them as opportunities to learn. It is completely okay to ask for help. We believe your resilience will lead you to meaningful work that reflects your unique voice.

We chose to bring Indigenous, Racialized, Deaf, Disabled, Outside the Core, and other justice-deserving gig workers from across Ontario together for this fellowship because we believe your voices and experiences are essential to building a more fair and caring future.

Too often, these groups face barriers in arts and culture and rarely have the chance to connect and share in the same space. This fellowship is an opportunity to build trust, respect, and support between these communities while learning from each other. By working together, we can strengthen the potential for allyship and cutlivate spaces that include and uplift everyone.

While the majority of the fellowship is self-directed, fellows will have opportunities to share ideas and care with each other at regular intervals. They will also have opportunities to meet the 14 gig workers from the I Love My Gig Ontario fellowship that is occurring at the same time. While the starting points are different for both fellowships, the journeys themselves are similar.

For example, in the image below, both fellowships have their own perspectives for the first stage, Reflect. They then share the same perspectives for the remaining four, including Imagine, Connect, Share, and Grow.

The world can feel like it is constantly facing new problems, making it hard to keep up and stay hopeful.

For many years, issues like poverty, social injustices, and environmental damage have put communities at risk. While effects of the Covid-19 pandemic still linger, some of the biggest concerns taking focus now include war, political uncertainty, cost of living increases, climate disasters like wildfires and droughts, pollution, digital threats, trade wars, erasure of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) protections, social isolation or loneliness, youth unemployment, housing shortages, and more.

Earlier this year, the Doomsday Clock moved closer to midnight than ever before, as scientists warned of increasing risks from nuclear war, disease, and extreme climate events. At the same time, communities continue to fight for social justice, including Indigenous rights and reparations, disability access, liberation for Black, trans, and queer people, fair wages, access to health care, rural economic development, and more. All of these issues are connected and impact the wellbeing of people and the planet.

It can all feel overwhelming, making it hard to see the value of creative work when so many urgent problems need attention. But how do we talk about these challenges? What roles can gig workers in arts and culture play in creating solutions? What does youth-led social change and care look like to you?

Some tentative definitions

• Crises are big problems that develop over time and disrupt how societies, systems, and the planet function. They need urgent attention but do not always cause immediate destruction. Examples include climate change, growing inequality, and threats to democracy. Crises often require long-term solutions, creative problem-solving, and changes in laws and policies to address them effectively.

• Disasters are sudden and serious events that cause major harm to people, communities, or the environment. They often lead to loss of life, destruction of property, and urgent recovery efforts. Disasters are usually regional or focused on a specific issue, like an earthquake, a wildfire, or a financial crash that impacts a certain sector or population. They demand quick responses from governments, social services, and local communities to manage the damage.

• Emergencies are situations that require immediate action to prevent harm. Unlike crises and disasters, emergencies are more personal or local, such as a health emergency, an unexpected job loss, or an eviction notice. While they may not impact large numbers of people at once, they can still be life-changing and require fast support.

• Polycrisis happens when multiple crises occur at the same time and make each other worse. For example, climate change leads to extreme heat, which causes wildfires that destroy homes, worsen air pollution, and create health problems. This can then increase poverty, make housing less affordable, and force people to move. Because these issues are connected, solutions must also be coordinated and address multiple problems at once.

Some promising responses

Thinking about major global issues can feel overwhelming, but artists and cultural workers have a powerful role to play in shaping awareness, care, and action.

• Raise awareness
  Art can help people understand complex issues and connect emotionally to important challenges. Films, performances, murals, and digital storytelling can shine a light on topics like climate change, housing, and social justice.

• Create spaces for dialogue
  The arts can bring people together to share ideas, build understanding, and explore solutions. Public art, storytelling, and cultural events create meaningful spaces for conversations about pressing issues.

• Support healing and care
  Creativity can help people process trauma, find hope, and rebuild after crises. Community arts programs, music, and creative therapy provide comfort, strength, and a sense of belonging in difficult times.

• Adapt and innovate
  Gig workers in the arts are used to uncertainty and finding new ways to navigate change. By sharing knowledge, working with mutual aid networks, and exploring creative business models, artists can build more sustainable ways to support themselves and their communities.

• Advocate for change
  Arts and culture can influence policies and inspire collective action. Whether through protest art, activism, or direct engagement with decision-makers, creatives can help push for solutions and demand better responses to crises.

What else can we do? What do you need? What do you want to try? How can we connect and collaborate together? While the world faces immense challenges, creativity remains a powerful tool for making sense of them, responding with care, and imagining new possibilities for the future.

Stories help us learn from the past, understand the present, and imagine a better future. They show us what has worked, what has not, and what is missing. Your experiences offer valuable lessons that can help shape meaningful change.

We invite you to spend a few hours reflecting on and documenting your personal stories as a creative being trying to survive and thrive in an increasingly uncertain, complex, and cruel world. If you are unsure where to start, think about challenges you have faced, barriers that have held you back, or moments where you found creative ways to navigate the system. Of all the crises and threats we face as a society, which have felt the most urgent to you, to your community, to the planet? What has kept you awake at night? What has filled your heart with hope? Where have you felt the most compassion or courage? Consider the ways creativity has helped you, what has brought people together, or how certain experiences have shaped your life in positive or memorable ways.

If that doesn’t feel like the right approach, try thinking about challenges (major losses, disasters) or gaps (shutdowns, shortages) you have experienced. What everyday struggles or wicked surprises have stood out?  Were there acts of care, moments of hope, or unexpected opportunities? Have you felt abundance and connection, or was your experience marked by insecurity and loss? These reflections can help uncover important lessons for building a more caring future.

We are primarily interested in your own experiences. If you feature stories from others, it is important to do so with care. Sharing someone else’s experience requires consent, acknowledgment, and accountability to the community. If your project includes a survey or interviews, we will support you in ensuring participants understand how their information will be used and that they provide clear consent.

If your project includes images or stories from children or youth under 18, a legal guardian must provide written consent for their material to be used. We also encourage young participants to give their own consent in a way that feels right for them.

Some of your reflections may be difficult to process. We are here to support you as you navigate them. Others may be affirming and remind you of the strength and wisdom in your creative practice. Wherever your stories take you, we look forward to learning from and celebrating them with you.

Your suggestions are where your creative journey truly begins in this fellowship. This is your opportunity to imagine and propose ideas for strengthening personal and community care in the future.

We invite you to dedicate much of your fellowship to thinking about, researching, and documenting your ideas for a more caring world. Try to connect your suggestions to the personal stories you are sharing. Your lived experience is a valuable guide for shaping meaningful change.

If you are unsure where to start, consider the types of care that helped you or your community through a difficult time. What should be carried forward or improved for future crises? What new, established, or forgotten approaches could help people not only survive but thrive? Your ideas might include actions you want to lead, support, or encourage others to take, using your experience to inform the way forward.

Think about how youth-led initiatives or community-driven collaborations could improve access to care. If you need inspiration, imagine a future crisis such as youth unemployment, global warming, or deepening racism. What lessons from the past and present should be preserved, changed, or left behind to create a better future? Or reflect on how recent challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic might offer insight into handling other crises, such as threats to democracy, war, or poverty.

How can youth-led efforts help address these challenges? What role do you want ArtsPond and others in your community to play in supporting these changes?

Explore what others are already doing. Research, take notes, and draw inspiration from existing initiatives. If you reference non-public information, make sure you and ArtsPond have permission to share it.

If focusing on solutions feels overwhelming, we are here to support you in finding a balance that aligns with your interests and experiences. Your insights matter, and together, we can work toward a more caring and just world.

Change happens in many ways, from slow and steady progress to big, sudden transformations. Some changes focus on shifting policies, while others aim to reshape culture, relationships, or entire systems. Below are different ways to think about change and how they can apply to intersections between arts, culture, and social justice.

• Transformational change – Shifting systems
  Transformational change happens when we rethink and rebuild the systems that shape our lives, rather than just improving what already exists. It requires bold action and deep shifts in power, values, and structures. Movements for decolonization, disability justice, and economic alternatives like cooperative businesses are all examples of transformational change.
• Incremental change – Small steps forward
  Not all change happens overnight. Incremental change focuses on small but meaningful improvements over time. Accessibility reforms, like adding captions to videos or ensuring fair pay for gig workers, often happen step by step. These changes may seem small on their own, but they build momentum toward larger transformations.
• Adaptive change – Learning as we go
  Some challenges are unpredictable, requiring flexible and evolving solutions. Adaptive change means responding to new problems with creativity rather than following a fixed plan. Mutual aid networks that emerged during the pandemic are a great example. People came together, figured out what was needed, and adjusted as situations changed.
• Revolutionary change – Demanding a new system
  Sometimes, small changes are not enough. Revolutionary change happens when people reject harmful systems and push for entirely new ways of living and working. Movements for climate action, trans rights, and racial justice often take this approach, using protests, strikes, and direct action to demand urgent, systemic change.
• Cultural change – Shifting values and norms
  Laws and policies matter, but lasting change happens when people’s beliefs and behaviors evolve. Cultural change takes time and often happens through storytelling, art, and community conversations. The increasing visibility of 2SLGBTQIA+ identities, disability inclusion, and Indigenous self-governance are all examples of cultural shifts that have been shaped by the arts and media.
• Regenerative change – Restoring and healing
  Instead of just preventing harm, regenerative change focuses on rebuilding and replenishing communities, environments, and relationships. It is about more than survival. It is about creating a future where people and nature can thrive. This approach can be seen in land stewardship movements, eco-friendly public art, and healing circles for those affected by trauma.
• Disruptive change – Breaking old patterns
  Disruptive change challenges traditional ways of doing things by introducing bold new ideas. Digital technology has reshaped the arts, from online performances to AI-driven music production. Disability justice movements have also disrupted outdated ideas about accessibility, pushing for design that includes everyone from the start.
• Evolutionary change – Long-term adaptation
  Evolutionary change happens slowly over generations, as societies adjust to new challenges and realities. The way we work, communicate, and express ourselves in the arts has been shaped by decades of technological and social change. For example, gig work has become more common, but the fight for fair wages and protections continues to evolve.
• Relational change – Transforming through community
  Change does not just happen in policies or systems, it also happens through relationships. Relational change focuses on deep listening, building trust, and strengthening networks of support. Community-led initiatives, mutual aid groups, and solidarity movements are all examples of relational change in action.
• Restorative change – Repairing harm
  Restorative change focuses on healing past harm and making things right. It is seen in truth and reconciliation efforts, as well as trauma-informed approaches to justice and care. In the arts, this can look like reclaiming stolen cultural traditions, ensuring fair representation in storytelling, or creating spaces for people to process grief and injustice through creativity.

Change as care

Change is not just about fixing problems; it is about creating or amplifying conditions where everyone can thrive. It is about supporting those affected by harm while also empowering them to lead change.

Just like care, change is interconnected. A shift in one area, like making public spaces more accessible, can ripple out to affect economic justice, community wellbeing, and environmental sustainability.

Artists and cultural workers play a key role in shaping change. Whether by telling stories, creating space for dialogue, or reimagining how we live and work together, their creativity helps people see, feel, and believe in a better future. Change is not always easy, but by working together, we can build a world where justice, access, and care go hand in hand.

A fellowship is typically a self-directed opportunity where participants work independently to develop ideas and create work based on their experiences, with support provided for personal growth and contributions.

A residency, on the other hand, is often a more structured program focused on collaboration and co-creation, with participants engaging in shared projects and activities.

We chose a fellowship format because collaborative co-creation is challenging in a virtual-only setting. A fellowship allows for flexibility and independent reflection, while residencies, which we will only host in-person, are better suited for collective expressions.

In many ways, you could think of yourself during this fellowship as any of the following:

• Creative or cultural researcher, futurist, architect, or engineer
• Social issues journalist or opinion columnist
• Community-engaged activist, provocateur, positive deviant
• Mindful storyteller, elder, grandmother
• Agent for change and care
• And many more

What do you see yourself being during the fellowship? What do you imagine becoming after it is over?

Some questions to consider:

• What should we do now to prepare before the next global crisis hits?
• What care practices from times of crisis (whether past or present) do you want to keep and amplify?
• What care practices do you think should be let go, changed, or completely reinvented?
• What types of care are best led by individuals or small, informal groups in local neighborhoods and communities?
• What types of care are best led by larger organizations, educational institutions, governments, or other collective bodies at a regional, provincial, national, or systems level?
• What types of care are best led by established service or support organizations in arts and culture (ASOs)?
• What types of care are best led by emerging social purpose or social change organizations within arts and culture (ASOs+)?
• What types of care are best led by future leaders who have yet to emerge or be recognized?
• What types of care are best led by creative youth in arts and culture?
• What types of care are best led or supported by you?

Creative expression takes many forms. It can inspire, connect, educate, or simply exist for the joy of creating. Whether it drives change, strengthens care, or builds community, creativity shapes how we understand ourselves and the world.

If you are an artist, consider how your creative work fits into any of these different approaches, as described in more detail below. None are meant to be more important than another. Has the focus of your work changed over time? Are there others that are missing? What kind of support does your work need to thrive? How do you hope to use it to share care with others?

• Art for art’s sake
  Creativity for the pure joy of making. It values imagination, beauty, and self-expression without needing to serve a larger purpose like activism or healing. A painter creating for personal enjoyment or a musician composing for the love of sound are examples of this.

• Art for change
  Creativity as a tool for social action. It highlights injustice, sparks conversations, and inspires movements for fairness, justice, and sustainability. A mural about climate change or a play about racial equity are examples of art driving awareness and transformation.

• Art for care
  Creativity that nurtures wellbeing and connection. It can offer healing through therapy programs, create safe spaces for self-expression, or strengthen communities facing challenges. It can also care for public spaces, the environment, and larger systems through creative solutions.

• Art for learning
  Creativity as a way to educate and explore. It helps simplify complex ideas, share cultural knowledge, and spark curiosity. Documentaries, interactive exhibits, and storytelling projects can inspire deeper understanding of history, science, and social issues.

• Art for / with / by community
  Creativity that strengthens relationships and shared experiences. It preserves traditions, amplifies underrepresented voices, and cultivates belonging. It also includes community-led projects where people, not just artists, shape creative expression. Public murals, festivals, and storytelling circles are examples of how art can empower and bring people together.

Each of these forms of creative expression is valuable. How do your artistic practices fit into these ideas? How can they evolve to meet your needs and the needs of your community?

What is an ASO? ASO stands for Arts Service Organization or Arts Support Organization. These groups, usually set up as non-profits, offer affordable services or free community support to creatives in one or more artistic disciplines at local, regional, or national levels.

In Canada, ASOs are typically member-led organizations that represent professional artists or arts groups. They focus on advocacy, professional development, research, and raising public awareness. ASOs are funded through a mix of membership fees, service fees, and grants, playing a key role in building connections, supporting growth, and shaping policies in the arts.

There are different types of ASOs:

• Local ASOs (LASOs): Support arts in specific cities or regions, often across multiple disciplines. Examples include Arts Etobicoke and Scarborough Arts in Toronto.
• Provincial ASOs (PASOs): Focus on a single province or territory, usually in specific industries, like Craft Ontario or Dance Ontario.
• National ASOs (NASOs): Operate across Canada, often with a single focus (e.g., CARFAC or Canadian Music Centre) or, more recently, across multiple disciplines, like ArtsPond.

ArtsPond is one of the few NASOs supporting all disciplines nationwide. However, we see ourselves as more than a traditional ASO. Service and support alone do not fully describe our work as a changemaker and caregiver in the arts. We think of ourselves as an ASO+, offering deeper accountability and care for the creative communities we serve.

What is an ASO+? ASO+ describes organizations that go beyond traditional arts services and support to drive systems change and mutual care in arts and culture. This approach involves five connected points of view:

• Service: Providing affordable services and resources to help artists and creatives meet immediate needs and navigate challenges like disasters or resource gaps.
• Support: Offering community assistance and advocacy to help individuals and communities move from survival to thriving by addressing systemic barriers and unmet needs.
• Social purpose: Creating pathways to elevate the value of care, working directly with underserved communities to co-create solutions that address their unique challenges.
• Social change: Encouraging collective action and structural reforms to tackle systemic inequities and build a fairer, more inclusive future.
• Social innovation+: Using creative strategies and partnerships to dismantle harmful systems and create lasting, transformative change over longer timelines.

Compared to traditional ASOs, ASO+ organizations take a broader, more impactful approach to strentheing access to care, equity, and transformation in the arts and culture ecosystem. They combine both immediate support and care with long-term change.

Coming soon!

Your journey will have two basic stages:

• Planning activities include going through this Welcome Guide, coming up with your main project idea, joining four group meetings with other fellows, and having two one-on-one check-ins with your Care Doula(s). We expect you will spend about one-fifth of your time (around 15 hours) on planning.
• Creating activities include researching and creating personal stories or ideas related to your final project, plus joining optional drop-in sessions to get support from other fellows. You will spend about four-fifths of the fellowship (around 60 hours) on creating your project.

The hours above are just estimates to help you plan. Since this is a flat-fee contract (not hourly), we will not be tracking how much time you spend. You might take more or less time depending on your situation. Our Care Team will help make sure your goals are realistic within the time we have.

Your focus will be a creative project of your choice. We invite you to reflect on your experiences navigating complex challenges, whether in your personal or professional life, within your community, or on a global scale. Through your project, you will explore and offer suggestions to improve community access to care, helping shape stronger, more supportive responses to future crises in Ontario. Your project can take many forms:

• Creative journals, essays, blogs, sketches, community research, mind maps, and more
• Desired minimum scope is one of:
  • 1,800 to 2,400 words
  • 10 to 12 minutes of video or audio with a written summary and transcript
  • 5 to 8 images or sketches with a written commentary
  • Other meaningful contributions to be explored with the care team
• While all fellowship meetings will take place in English (with ASL/CART available on request), your project may use any other languages you prefer. Ideally, you will be prepared to provide translations in one of Canada’s official languages, English or French.

We focus this journey on three key questions, exploring the past, present, and future:

• Past
  What have you learned about giving and receiving care in a world in crisis?
  (i.e., What worked well? What was missing? How did these experiences shape your understanding of care?)
• Present
  What kind of care do you need right now to thrive?
  (i.e., What are you dreaming about right now? What care do you want to offer to others? How can you prepare for future challenges based on what you’ve experienced?)
• Future
  How do you want your creative work and career to contribute to positive change and care?
  (i.e., What issues or opportunities do you want to focus on in your own life or with others? What support do you need from your community, organizations, or government to help make this happen? What do you need others to do?)

Research-creation started in the arts and academic world as a way to blend making art with doing research. It involves using creative practices, like painting, performing, or writing, as a way to explore and understand a topic or question. Rather than just studying something through books or research papers, it uses art to create new knowledge and insights. It is now used in both academic settings and community projects to explore ideas in a hands-on, creative way.

This fellowship adapts some aspects of research-creation in a community context, where research is rooted primarily in exploring and documenting the knowledge and wisdom found in stories from the past and present, while creation is focused on making suggestions and sharing ideas for the future. If you need help planning your fellowship journey, we invite you to consider alternating your focus between research and creation.

For example, at ArtsPond, we use our Wisdom Well practice as a guide to help engage in research that is both creative and caring.  It involves cultivating knowledge in five interconnected stages, including Seeking, Sensemaking, Shaping, Stewarding, and Sharing. Similarly, we also use our Creativity Well practice as a guide to imaginative and mindful creation. It also features five interconnected stages, including Seeding, Growing, Cultivating, Harvesting, and Sustaining. These two practices can be combined to create a clear roadmap for your fellowship journey.

For example:

• Week 1: Orientation (Preparing)
  Identify the topics your personal project will focus on.
• Week 2: Research (Seeking)
  Begin seeking out the stories and knowledge you want to dive into. Gather anything that interests you whether they might feel relevant or not to your chosen topic. Try to trust your intuition.
• Week 3: Research (Sensemaking)
  Continue seeking out new stories and materials that interest you. Take a look at everything you have gathered thus far. Try to identify what they are telling  you. Start to prioritize those with the most potential to support your project topic and explore them a bit further. Identify what is missing. Try to make sense of any unknowns, challenges, or biases.
• Week 4: Creation (Seeding)
  Continue seeking out new stories and materials that interest you. Take another look at everything you have gathered and learned in the past three weeks. Consider which confirms and which challenges your original assumptions. Think about how you will express what you are learning with others. If you have not already done so, start experiment with sketching out your ideas in tangible ways. Make tweaks to your project topic or plan based on your emerging insights.

More detailed descriptions to come for the following weeks:

• Week 5: Research (Shaping)
• Week 6: Creation (Growing)
• Week 7: Research (Stewarding)
• Week 8: Creation (Cultivating)
• Week 9: Research (Sharing)
• Week 10: Creation (Harvesting)
• Week 11: Creation (Sustaining)
• Week 12: Research-Creation (Harmonizing)

Your commitments and benefits

• Be paid a $3,000 flat-fee
• Engage in visionary group discussions with other fellows, committing to mutual respect and care
• Receive one-on-one mentorship and care from our community elders and doulas
• Contribute a personal project to a collective publication that imagines creative pathways to a caring Ontario in the face of future crises post-pandemic
• The work you produce during the fellowship will remain your own intellectual property
• All creators will be properly credited
• While ArtsPond typically publishes work in the creative commons, fellows are encouraged, but not required, to do the same
• Fellows will grant ArtsPond first and perpetual (but not exclusive) rights to publish the content they approve for publication
• If creative content is to be reproduced for sale, a separate agreement will be made
• Fellows may have their content published elsewhere afterwards if ArtsPond is credited as the original host and publisher.

ArtsPond commitments and benefits

• Support the individual and collective journeys of all fellows
• Cultivate creative connections with fellows from our other initiatives (such as I Love My Gig Ontario)
• Ensure the contributions of all fellows are appropriately acknowledged
• Complete a literature review and share knowledge resources with fellows and the public related to the evolution of post-pandemic mutual aid and care in arts and culture
• With your permission, we will:
  • Publish all personal projects by fellows in an online repository with translations or interpretations where possible into Fluent and Plain English, French, Sign, and other languages. Your projects may be part of a larger hub of similar material on different topics, including youth-led social change (Caring Cultures), digital justice (Together There), and more. The hub currently in development is hive.artspond.com.
  • Reflect upon key suggestions from fellows and adapt them to our emergent Care Plan 2033
  • Seek further input on key lessons and suggestions from other youth-led organizations and youth leaders in the community
  • Share key recommendations with other stakeholders and the public to help support the continued growth and evolution of youth-led social change and care in Ontario in the future
  • Seek your guidance on ways to improve this fellowship experience. As a pilot project, we hope to host additional cohorts across Canada after this to help cultivate national perspectives.

Additional details

As a fellow, you will dedicate approximately 75 hours over three months. This includes about 60 hours of self-directed work, plus 15 hours of group and one-on-one meetings with other fellows, elders, and doulas.

As a flat-fee contract, we will not be tracking your hours. You will receive the maximum contract amount of $3,000 if you attend all meetings and complete a creative project as outlined above. If you are keeping track, this is generally equivalent to about $40 per hour on average, or $1.10 to $1.20 per word, $165 to $200 per minute of audio and video, or $250 to $400 per visual image plus commentary for your project. We are also happy to discuss other possibilities with you. If you do not meet minimum expectations that are agreed upon for your contract, your total compensation may be adjusted to reflect the work completed.

We acknowledge that we are not paying you enough to make fully fleshed out works of art. That is not the purpose of this fellowship. We want to learn from your stories and suggestions for the future. While you may use creative methods to express them, we are more interested in the messages than the means. However, we will be delighted if what you learn and share during the fellowship becomes fodder for new creative artwork in the future.

We issue payments via direct deposit only.

To receive payments, please provide your banking information using our vendor direct deposit online form. Your banking information will be deleted from this online form once it is entered into our accounting system. Alternatively, you may download our vendor direct deposit PDF form and email it to us.

To receive a payment, please send an invoice (and the PDF direct deposit form if you prefer) to finance@artspond.com. Your invoice should include the date, your name, address, GST/HST number if appropriate, invoice number if appropriate, as well as an item description (“Caring Cultures, fellowship, installment #”), item amount, and total amount.

Please bill invoices to:

ArtsPond / Étang d’Arts
225-38 Abell Street
Toronto, Ontario M6J 0A2

• Pre-planning
  • February 24, 2025
    An offier is sent to invite you to participate in the fellowship.
  • March 3, 2025
    Accept or decline offer to participate in the fellowship.
    Sign contract that is emailed to you via Docusign.
  • March 3-14, 2025
    (Optional) Request a meeting with care team to create an individual access and care plan for your fellowship journey, if needed. Meetings can take place March 3-7 and March 10-14.
    (Required)  Submit direct deposit documents and send invoice to receive first payment.
• Main fellowship period
  • March 17, 2025
    Start of fellowship research and creation.
    First payment deposit upon receipt of invoice.
  • March 19, 2025, 9:30 to 11 am (Required)
    Opening plenary meeting with all fellows from I Love My Gig Ontario and Caring Cultures.
    Alternative dates to be determined between March 17 to 21, 2025.
  • March 26, 2025, 10 to 11 am (Optional)
    Group care drop-in, 1 of 3, with all fellows from Caring Cultures and Caring Cultures.
  • April 2, 2025, 10 to 11 am (Optional)
    Group share drop-in, 1 of 4, with all fellows from Caring Cultures and Caring Cultures.
  • April 7 to 13, 2025 (Required)
    Personal one-on-one check-in with your care doula, date TBA. May be the following week if necessary
  • April 16, 2025, 9:30 to 11 am (Required)
    Second plenary meeting with fellows from Caring Cultures only.
    Alternative dates to be determined between April 14 to 17, 2025.

April 18 and 21, 2025
Our offices are closed for the Easter long weekend.

• • April 23, 2025, 12 to 1 pm (Optional)
    Group care drop-in, 2 of 3, with fellows from Caring Cultures only.
  • April 25, 2025
    Second payment deposit upon receipt of invoice.
  • April 30, 2025, 10 to 11 am (Optional)
    Group share drop-in, 2 of 4, with all fellows from I Love My Gig Ontario and Caring Cultures.
  • May 7, 2025, 10 to 11 am (Optional)
    Group care drop-in, 3 of 3, with all fellows from I Love My Gig Ontario and Caring Cultures.
  • May 14, 2025, 10 to 11 am (Optional)
    Group share drop-in, 3 of 4, with all fellows from I Love My Gig Ontario and Caring Cultures.

May 19, 2025
Our offices are closed for Victoria Day.

• • May 14, 2025, 9:30 to 11 am (Required)
    Third plenary meeting with fellows from Caring Cultures only.
    Alternative dates to be determined between May 12 to 16, 2025.
  • May 20 to 23, 2025 (Required)
    Personal one-on-one check-in with your care doula, date TBA. May be the previous week if necessary.
  • May 28, 2025, 10 to 11 am (Optional)
    Group share drop-in, 4 of 4, with all fellows from I Love My Gig Ontario and Caring Cultures.
  • June 4, 2025, 9:30 am to 12 pm (Required)
    Closing plenary meeting with all fellows from I Love My Gig Ontario and Caring Cultures.
    Alternative dates to be determined between June 2 to 6, 2025.
  • June 6, 2025
    End of fellowship research and creation. Submit your personal project (preferred deadline).
  • July 25, 2025
    Submit your personal project (final extended deadline).
    * Final payment deposited upon delivery of completed project and receipt of invoice – any time before July 25, 2025.

• Additional activities
  • October 28, 2025
    We share publication preview of your personal project for comments and feedback. Send comments back by November 10, 2025.
  • November 25, 2025
    We share pre-launch preview with all projects for your comments and feedback. Send comments back by January 6, 2026.
  • January 19, 2026
    Launch final publication.
  • Please note:
    The official fellowship period ends no later than July 25, 2025, but there are a few tasks after this date. This includes 1 to 2 hours to review and provide feedback on pre-publication previews of your work. We are applying for additional funding in March 2025, with results expected in August 2025. If successful, we will extend your contract to pay for this review time and host an additional gathering for all fellows to reconnect and share feedback together. For now, we ask that you save about an hour from your current contract for this review.

Free research tools like Zotero (a bibliography manager) can be a huge help for managing and citing knowledge resources.  We will be sharing an open repository of good reads and other resources in Zotero as a part of this project. So you might want to try it out for yourself.

Other free tools to consider for notetaking and visual mapping include Obsidian, Notion, Miro, and more. You will receive a free Microsoft 365 account with us during the fellowship and for a period of 12 months after. It includes 1 TB of personal storage and applications like OneNote that can be useful for notetaking.

If your project features a visual timeline in some capacity, a free project like Timeline JS can be a beautiful option powered by a Google Sheet. No coding needed. We have a Virtual Private Server for our websites and can easily host this kind of option for you.

We have pro accounts to software programs like ChatGPT, Miro, Zoom, Airtable, Adobe Creative Cloud, Ableton Live 12, Cubase 13, Max 7, along with a few broadcast quality video cameras, microphones, projectors, and such. With enough notice, we are able to loan out some of this equipment or provide access to software for your creative activities.

We have a budget for an omnimedia designer that can provide some input on your production needs. We will also be bringing in experts who have experience around accessibility measures for multimedia content online that will be available to provide advice and support.

The majority of this fellowship is self-directed. There will be a limited number of opportunities to collaborate with other fellows during the group meetings. These include the four required group meetings or plenaries, plus the optional semi-weekly care and share drop-ins.

We encourage you to reach out and connect with other fellows on your own time as much as possible. However, we will not be able to pay you for this time.

For those that are interested, we would enjoy staying connecting and meeting with you on a more casual, volunteer basis after the fellowship is over. This could be a few times a year or other schedule depending on interest.

You can read more about our Care Team here.  You can email the entire Care Team at care@artspond.com. This is probably the quickest way to get an answer to your question, but it can also flood all of our team’s inboxes. Instead, you can contact individual team members for specific topics, as listed below.

• General questions (meetings schedules, agendas, notes, access support requests)
  Email: Rana
• Financial questions (contracts, invoices, deposits)
  Email: Jessa
• Care questions (your creative journey and project)
  Email: Contact the Care Doula that has been assigned to you in your Welcome Email.
• Creative questions (overall project vision, mandate, purpose, goals, objectives)
  Email: Jessa
  
• Complaints (if you experience a problem with another participant or staff that you want resolved)
  Email:  Jessa, or if you prefer not to talk to staff, you can email our Board of Directors

Summary

Here are five key things to work on before the main fellowship period starts on March 17, 2025.

1. Review the contract and submit your financial details by March 3.
2. Confirm your availability for meeting dates by March 3.
3. Create an access and care plan (if needed) and schedule a check-in with your Care Doula by March 14.
4. Explore the Welcome Guide at your own pace before March 17.
5. Prepare for the fellowship start on March 17.

Detailed instructions

Here is more detailed information about each step.

Step 1

Review the contract and submit financial details
(By March 3, 2025)

• Sign your contract via Docusign by March 3, 2025.
  If the contract is not signed, your seat may be given to someone else.
• Submit your financial details including an invoice to finance@artspond.com to receive your first payment.
  For questions about the contract or financial details, contact Jessa Agilo at jessa@artspond.com.
• Need more time or support?
  Jessa is happy to help you understand the contract. You can schedule a 30-minute Zoom or phone meeting for a walkthrough. If you need accessibility support (such as ASL), please email Jessa first to arrange accommodations.

Step 2

Confirm your availability for meeting dates
(By March 3, 2025)

Not everyone is available on the Wednesdays we proposed for meetings. Please let us know your availability by March 3, 2025.

• If you need help filling out the form, contact Rana at rana@artspond.com
• You can also email Rana directly with the weekdays before 1 pm (March 17 to June 6, 2025) that work for you. If it’s easier, you can list the dates and times that do not work instead.
• Let us know when you are available so we can schedule meetings that work for as many people as possible!

Types of fellowship meetings

Required meetings

• Group Plenaries: Collective meetings with all fellows, with a set agenda. There are four of these meetings that are 1.5 or 2.5 hours each.
• Personal Check-ins: One-on-one meetings with your Care Doula to support your progress, with a set agenda. There are two of these meetings, about 30 minutes each.

Optional meetings

• Care Drop-ins: Casual meetups for fellows to support each other, with no set agenda. There are three of these meetings that are 1 hour each.
• Share Drop-ins: Casual meetups for fellows to exchange creative ideas, with no set agenda. There are four of these meetings that are also 1 hour each.

Step 3

a) Create an access and care plan with your Care Doula (if needed)
(By March 14, 2025)

• You will soon be introduced via email to your personal Care Doula, who will support you throughout the fellowship. Feel free to introduce yourself and get to know each other.
• If you have specific access or care needs, your Care Doula will help you create a personal access and care plan between March 3-7 and March 10-14, 2025. This can be done by email, online meetings, or another method that works best for you.

b) Schedule your first check-in with your Care Doula
(By March 14, 2025)

• By March 14, all fellows should schedule their first of two required check-ins with their Care Doula to take place during the week of April 7-13, 2025. Your Care Doula will arrange a time with you based on their availability.

About Care Doulas

A doula is someone who provides support during important or challenging experiences. While commonly used in childbirth, doulas can offer care in many ways.

• Access Doulas focus on planning and checking in on accessibility needs, such as accommodations for meetings.
• Care Doulas (in our fellowship) support both accessibility and personal wellbeing. They can assist with creative inspiration, emotional support, and self-care.

Our five Care Doulas work part-time, so while their availability is limited, they will do their best to meet your needs. If additional support is required, our Founder, Jessa Agilo, is available full-time to provide extra care.

Step 4

Explore the Welcome Guide
(Before March 17, 2025)

The Welcome Guide is here to support you, but it is not required reading. Feel free to browse at your own pace. You do not need to read everything now, just get a sense of what is included.

• We will reference specific sections throughout the fellowship.
• New materials and resources will be added based on your questions and experiences.
• The first two group meetings and drop-ins will summarize the most important parts.
• Your Care Doula can help you navigate the guide if needed.

While the guide is written in plain language, we know it contains a lot of information. We are planning to create a shorter, condensed version but have not had time to make it yet. If a summary would be helpful, let us know at care@artspond.com.

Step 5

Prepare for the fellowship start on March 17

Begin exploring what you want to work on during the fellowship. What is your primary project idea? What stories, ideas, or creative work do you want to develop?

Our first group meeting (between March 17 to 21, 2025, exact date TBA) will help get things started. In addition to learning all about the fellowship, you can expect to be asked to do the following:

• Introduce yourself (30 seconds per person)

  • Share your name, pronouns, and location with the group.
  • What do you hope to learn and contribute during the fellowship?
    • Please note: All 23 fellows from Caring Cultures and I Love My Gig Ontario will be in the room together. Since there is limited time, we ask you to prepare your statement in advance and keep it to the time limit as an initial greeting. There will be lots of time to get to know each other better. You can speak, sign, or write it in chat according to your comfort level.

• Collective care brainstorm (5 minutes)

  • How do we want to care for each other as fellows during the program?
  • Your answers will help shape a community care agreement that we can continue to add to and refine over the course of the fellowship.

• Storytelling circle (20 minutes)

  • In small groups (2–3 fellows), discuss:
    “What does care look like for you and your community during a crisis?”

A full agenda for this meeting, including additional activities, will be shared soon!

Wisdom Well is a practice for deepening wisdom and knowledge. As an alternative to traditional research, it features five streams that help ensure that the legacies of wisdom are valued, protected, and shared in meaningful ways. While they will each ideally happen all at once, beginners can go through them one at a time to better understand how they work together.

Path Well is a practice designed to identify and prioritize the stories and dreams of various groups across different levels of connection and experience. It includes the following:

• People (individuals)
  Focuses on the needs and stories of individuals in their personal, family, and professional lives.
• Populations (groups)
  Includes diverse groups of people, organizations, and other informal or formal collectives.
• Places (spaces)
  Examines real, virtual, natural, and other spaces, including those that are seen, hidden, contested, imaginary, or forgotten.
• Publics (communities)
  Considers larger shared environments like cities, municipalities, and public spaces where people gather and interact.
• Planet (systems)
  Looks at environmental and systemic connections that shape the wellbeing of all living things on a global scale.

Revolution Well is a practice to help identify the barriers that make it hard to thrive and those that are working toward positive change and fairness. The five aspects include:

• Roots (systemic causes)
  Roots are the deep problems in systems like arts and culture, caused by things like unfair policies, discrimination, and lack of support. Understanding these hidden causes helps us figure out why harm and inequality happen.
• Ripples (gobal impacts)
  Ripples are the effects of these problems spreading out, like waves in water. They show how issues like poverty or cultural loss affect communities locally and globally.
• Responses (ecosystem reactions)
  Responses are how people and communities react to these problems. Some responses are positive, like coming together to help, while others can be negative, like stress or division. Looking at these reactions helps us learn how people deal with challenges.
• Remedies (community solutions)
  Remedies are the solutions communities create to fix problems. These could be new ideas, helping others, or changing policies to make things fairer and better for everyone.
• Resources (individual leaders)
  Resources are the people who lead the way with creativity and care. These leaders, like artists or activists, inspire others and show what is possible when we work for positive change.

Demand Well is a practice for exploring both immediate and long-term needs for care. It focuses on five key areas:

• Disasters
  Urgent crises or emergencies that disrupt systems and require immediate care and action.
• Deserts
  Situations where resources are scarce, communities face shortfalls, or essential supports are unavailable.
• Dailies
  Everyday needs and experiences, whether positive or challenging, that shape daily life and learning.
• Doulas
  Examples of care and support currently making a positive impact in the present.
• Desires
  Aspirations and dreams for improved care and support in the future.

Activate Well is a practice focuses on cultivating meaningful action to build fairer, more inclusive, and connected communities. It includes five elements:

• Belonging
  Creating spaces where everyone feels welcomed, valued, and part of the community.
• Inclusion
  Actively involving diverse voices and perspectives in all activities and decisions.
• Diversity
  Celebrating and respecting differences in identities, experiences, and ideas.
• Equity
  Ensuring fair opportunities and resources for all, especially for those facing barriers.
• Access
  Removing obstacles to participation and making spaces, resources, and opportunities available to everyone.

Life Well explores the interconnected realms that shape our experiences and understanding of the world. It inclues five viewpoints:

• Real life (IRL)
  The tangible, everyday environments where we live, work, and connect.
• Virtual life (IVL)
  Digital and online spaces that expand how we communicate and create.
• Natural life (INL)
  The ecosystems and landscapes that sustain life and inspire care for the planet.
• Dream life (IDL)
  Imagined or aspirational spaces that foster creativity, hope, and future possibilities.
• Ancestral life (IAL)
  The wisdom, traditions, and legacies passed down through generations that guide and ground us.

Care Well (Action) focuses on building a foundation of fairness, connection, and wellnesss through five guiding principles:

• Rights
  Upholding the inherent rights of all individuals to dignity, equity, and justice.
• Respect
  Valuing the experiences, identities, and contributions of others with care and understanding.
• Reconciliation
  Addressing past harms and working to rebuild trust and relationships.
• Reparation
  Taking responsibility and making amends for injustices to promote healing and equity.
• Reciprocity
  Creating relationships rooted in mutual care, shared benefit, and balanced exchange.

• Careseeker (the receiver)
  You are someone who receives care from others. You may feel that the world is uncertain, and you focus on your immediate needs to feel safe and secure. Your experiences with self-care and seeking support can provide valuable insights to others who are working to create positive changes.
• Caretaker (the protector)
  You are someone who protects access to care for yourself and others. You focus on addressing present challenges while preparing for future needs. You bring people together to safeguard care, though you may face difficulties due to limited resources or knowledge. With the right support, you can help guide essential changes for a better future.
• Caregiver (the nurturer)
  You are someone who gives care to others. You see the world as hopeful and focus on helping individuals and small groups thrive in the short term. While you may feel overburdened at times, your patience and empathy inspire others and ensure that critical care continues.
• Caremaker (the builder)
  You are someone who creates and builds systems of care. You focus on long-term goals, working to create conditions where individuals and communities can thrive. You push for meaningful change and inspire others with your creativity and dedication, even when facing resistance.
• Careshaper (the visionary)
  You are someone who envisions and inspires new ways of providing care. You see both the challenges and possibilities in the world and focus on creating solutions that address long-term needs across generations. You guide and motivate others to imagine a better future, helping to shape systems of care that sustain everyone.

Justice Well explores pathways to fairness and equity by addressing five interconnected areas of justice:

• Spatial
  Ensuring fair use and access to physical spaces, including land, housing, and public areas.
• Socioeconomic
  Tackling economic inequalities and creating opportunities for financial stability and prosperity.
• Environmental
  Protecting the planet and promoting sustainable practices for current and future generations.
• Disability / Accessibility
  Removing barriers and creating inclusive environments where everyone can participate fully.
• Digital
  Advocating for equitable access to technology, online spaces, and digital tools.