Long before I could visualize the boundaries of Regent Park, I had a clear sense of its shape, not from experience, but from stories. The kind told by media, scholars, and urban legend. This story began as an idyllic project, something offered to the deserving poor at a time when limiting suffering was high on the minds of a post-war world. Later, that image capsized and was rebranded as a slum, isolated and degraded, its decline attributed to the very people who lived there. The undeserving poor.
These images were assembled at a distance, without spending time in this place made up of complex, divergent identities. Stories: Told, is as an attempt to move closer. Rather than re-hash the well-worn history of revitalization, we want to look at what Regent Park is now, and whether the people who live here, still call it home.
The goal is to document how two women artists living in Regent Park experience and represent the neighbourhood today, and to explore how art functions as a vehicle for visibility, and identity. Regent Park’s storied past is well-represented in scholarship and media, but its current and future state is less known. Through the lens of Madhu Kumar and Morgan-Paige Melbourne, two current and future imagineers, we witnessed the next chapter. Collaborators and neighbours, they worked with 3 other artists to produce the immersive art installation A Place Called Home showcased at Daniels Spectrum during Nuit Blanche 2025. We helped them tell their story.
For a neighbourhood that’s so often been described from the outside, the work of Madhu and Morgan became our way to get a peek behind the curtain. From the beginning, the interview revealed something unexpected: both spoke about the neighbourhood with a sense of ease and attachment, describing it as vibrant and deeply livable. This stands in contrast to what I encountered in readings and conversations, which often emphasized loss, displacement, and an overall dissatisfaction with what Regent Park had become. Perhaps most surprising was their perspective on the role of Daniels Corporation, the primary developer that partnered with TCHC to build the new Regent Park. I was fully prepared to receive the message that a “corporation” didn’t care about the neighbourhood. Instead, they described Daniels as a consistent and meaningful community anchor, who supported artists and many other local projects. Morgan, the original incubator for the Nuit Blanche concept, did not have her proposal approved in the open call process. Without Daniels’ backing, the collaboration would not have come to life. This challenged my own assumptions. I approached the redevelopment with a fixed skepticism, expecting to find evidence of harm. Instead, I discovered a more complicated reality.
The Nuit Blanche collaboration was comprised of 5 artists, of which we interviewed two. Our documentary will include the work of all participants, highlighting their contributions and showing audiences how to engage with them directly. What began as a limitation in access ultimately sharpened our focus, allowing us to explore a smaller story, in greater depth.
Throughout the course I’ve held a dim view of the revitalization, without being able to clearly articulate an alternative. That position, while sincere, was incomplete. By engaging directly with residents, we were able to see another side of what life in Regent Park can be. Or perhaps what it is becoming; it’s too soon to tell. Stories: Told is not trying to replace one narrative with another, but offers a new entry point; one of belonging, creativity, and home, that exists alongside the stories of loss and disruption.
It is a privilege to contribute, even in a small way, to the emerging re-imagination of Regent Park, and the stories it will tell. If this project does anything, it is to pause briefly in that shift, and listen a little more closely to the ones already being told.
The one hour of raw footage has been transformed into approximately 13 minutes of (draft) documentary we continue to tweak. Below is the rough outline we used to map out our play. In three acts.
Beginning
Opening (the sounds from the exhibition) like ambient music and we fade into the room- b roll clips from the exhibition - dark ambient vibe https://youtu.be/Nu9jTzLcees?si=A74Sd6z2PYnluSIF
Use Morgan-Paige’s original music as background
Morgan, a classically trained musician
The team members of Store-ies are Eryn McDevitt, Andrea Jakaitis and Caitlin Devion.