Signing up for a class at your local community centre can be a low cost and low-pressure way to get exercise, de-stress, try out a new hobby or meet people from your community. The community centre itself therefore plays multiple roles for the people that use it. We are curious about the role of the Regent Park Community Centre as a place for people to meet and mix from across the whole downtown east side. Who is drawn to its programming? And what do they learn about the neighbourhood and their neighbours from participating in structured and unstructured activities within it?
This was a jumping off point for our group, which originally formed around the topic of boundaries and borders in the downtown east region. This led us to initial questions about what boundaries exist between Regent Park and the neighbouring communities – how residents experience borders of geography and identity, or if they do not perceive them as important at all. We were initially overwhelmed by the breadth of these questions. In our brainstorming sessions, we discussed how navigating across differences is ultimately experienced at a human scale, in specific locations like a community centre, or even a single art class.
Through our documentary project, we will explore the role of the arts, specifically DJ’ing, in building community and bringing the downtown east together. Our documentary will focus on the AMPED Art of DJing class at the Regent Park Community Centre, which is a free, drop-in program that takes place three times a week. We want to explore this community centre class since it is a low barrier activity open to a range of young people from 14-24 years old. Our next steps include connecting with community centre staff and the course instructor to determine their interest in participating in our project.
The research questions we will be investigating include:
What role does a community learn-to-DJ class play in facilitating social mixing across Downtown East communities?
Who takes the class, and what brings them to it?
How does this community DJing class relate to Regent Park’s legacy of music production?
Pictured is a wooden sign erected in front of remaining Regent Park housing units, written on it is “Wish you were here” on a multi-coloured painted background. Signifying the displacement of the local community during revitalization both physically and socially (image shot by Neil Patel).
Our team’s name is ‘Scratches & Mixes’ and our group is made up of four members: Lisa, Neil, David, and Hana, including four University of Toronto students and one Regent Park community member.
Neil is a fourth-year student in the Honours Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography and City Studies program at U of T. Through this project, Neil hopes to learn how communities attempt to thrive and create a sense of belonging during times of extreme socio-spatial changes. Neil has previously been involved with multiple youth-based grassroots organizations in sports media.
Lisa
David is finishing a Master of Science in Urban Planning at U of T. He’s lived in Toronto for much of his life and currently lives close to the Regent Park community in nearby Corktown. He’s interested in the role of local media in creating and maintaining communities. He’s previously worked in several communications roles creating graphic assets and well as short video content.
Hana is a second-year student in the Master of Science in Urban Planning at U of T. She moved from Vancouver to Toronto for graduate school, but was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, where she grew up involved in the local contemporary dance scene. She also spent a few years in media studies at the University of British Columbia, where she helped co-produce a multi-media student art showcase. Through this project, Hana hopes to learn more about how attachment to place can help build community across differences.
The team members of Scratches & Mixes are David Scrivener, Lisa Truong, Hana Golightly and Neil Patel.