Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
|||
(27 intermediate revisions by 19 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{short description|Canadian artist}}
'''Ruth Howard''' is a Canadian artist who creates
==Early life and education==
Ruth Howard was born in Durham England on April 29, 1957, to mother Antonie Howard (née Eber) and father [[Ian P. Howard]], a renowned researcher in visual perception. She has younger twin brothers, Neil and Martin. In 1966, the family moved to Manhattan for a year and then to Toronto, Canada, which has remained Ruth's home-base ever since, although she has also lived and worked in many other places. She currently lives on Wards Island with her partner of many years, Stephen Cooper. They have three children: Shifra, Helah and Eli.
Ruth studied at the [[Eastbourne College of Art and Design]], at the [[University of Toronto]] where she obtained a BA Honours in English Literature and Drama, and at the [[National Theatre School of Canada]] (Design Program).
==Early work==
In 1991, Ruth was invited by Dale Hamilton to be a designer for the ''Spirit of Shivaree'' in [[Rockwood, Ontario]], a project inspired by the British work of the Colway Theatre Trust with director Jon Oram. This introduction to the [[Community theatre|community play]] form, which combines high-calibre art making on an epic scale with a
Ruth went on to design community plays
==Jumblies Theatre==
[[Jumblies Theatre|Jumblies]] has since undertaken residencies in
Ruth has mentored and supported many artists, projects and organizations. Jumblies' residencies resulted in a series of independent "Offshoot" organizations: [https://www.arts4all.ca/ Arts4All] in Davenport West, [http://www.mabellearts.ca/ MABELLEarts] in Etobicoke, the [http://communityartsguild.ca/ Community Arts Guild] in Scarborough, and an "adopted" Offshoot: [https://making-room.org/ Making Room] in Parkdale. Other thriving community arts organizations outside of Toronto mentored by Ruth include [https://www.aanmitaagzi.net/ Aanmitaagzi], [http://www.thinkingrock.ca/ Thinking Rock] and [https://ov-caos.org/ OV-CAOS]. In 2016, Ruth initiated into the Jumblies Studio, a strand of the company dedicated to learning and mentorship in community-engaged arts, including workshops, courses, internships, mentorship, resources and special projects and partnerships.
*[[Lawrence Heights]]-ending with a production called ''I’m Tapingi Too!'';▼
In 2014, Jumblies moved to a downtown Toronto Location (The Ground Floor). From here, Ruth and Jumblies undertook a multi-year exploration of Toronto's layered, Indigenous and colonial histories, leading to the 2017 "Touching Ground Festival" of new works, two national tours ("Train of Thought" and "Four Lands"), and "Talking Treaties", a project led by Associate Artistic Director, Ange Loft, including a spectacular performance at Toronto's Historic Fort York (2017 and 2018), and an interactive installation at the Inaugural Toronto Biennial of Art (2019), two films and an educational website (talkingtreaties.ca). Ruth and Jumblies have also produced two Canadian Tours: Train of Thought (2015) and Four Lands (2016 to 18).
Ruth has created and produced many other projects with and outside of [[Jumblies Theatre]], including:
▲* a one-year residency at [[Lawrence Heights]]
* "the Toronto Seder", an adapted secular Passover Seder telling an urgent story of Toronto's Indigenous history (2014);
* "Being Margolia", a choral work commissioned and performed by the Toronto Children's Chorus, composed by Martin van de Ven, libretto by Ruth Howard, based on the Camp Naivelt Jewish commune re-enactment project (2010);
* Other newly commissioned musical works, including "Under The Concrete" (Composed by Martin van de Ven and Rosary Spence), "Voices Dangle Like Bells" and "Quarry" (composed respectively by Jason Doell and Juliet Palmer, in partnership with Continuum),"Round the Table" (with 7 composers - rounds to accompany a meal), "Endings" (composed by Lieke van de Voort), and "Odaabaanag" (composed by Melody and Beverley McKiver, in partnership with Soundstreams);
* "Grounds For Goodness", an interdisciplinary exploration of 'social goodness' (2019-2022).
In 2022, Ruth stepped aside her artistic director role with Jumblies, making room for new leadership (Artistic Director Sharada Eswar) and continuing to work as a consultant, mentor and independent artist.
==Publications==
Line 39 ⟶ 47:
==Professional affiliations==
* Associated Designers of Canada (
* Common Weal (
* [[Jumblies Theatre]] (
* Community Arts Ontario (
* Shadowland Theatre (
* Advisory
▲* Advisory Council Member for [[York University]]’s [[community art|Community Art]] Program (2005 to present)
* Consultant for [[Art Gallery of Ontario|AGO]] Arts Access/ Collection X Project (2005 to present)
* Toronto Arts Council (board member and chair of Community Arts Committee, 2009 to 2014)
* FixtPoint (board member, 2012 to 2019)
* Aanmitaagzi (board member, 2019 to present)
* Theatre Direct (board member, 2021 to present)
==Awards==
Line 63 ⟶ 72:
* 2012 Canadian Urban Institute City Soul, Urban Leadership Award
* 2012 TAPA George Luscombe Award for Mentorship in Theatre
* 2015 Shortlisted for the TAF Martha Bindhardt and Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award
* 2018 Toronto Arts Foundation Award for Celebration of Cultural Life
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Ruth}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Canadian
[[Category:Canadian women artists]]▼
[[Category:Canadian costume designers]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
|