Artists in Practice: Training in Community Arts Facilitation

About the Program

Announcing LSA’s new professional development workshop series, Artists in Practice: Training in Community Arts Facilitation!

This six-week program is designed to support emerging artists, arts & culture workers and any artful individuals who are residents of Etobicoke and interested in arts facilitation at the intersection of creativity and community building.

Join us for weekly interactive and discussion-based workshops, as well as insights from experienced artist-facilitators, on a range of topics, from understanding community arts to designing programs within an anti-oppressive framework, to re-Indigenizing community arts. This hands-on program will culminate in participants developing and facilitating a demo arts program for peers.

Those who complete the program may have the opportunity to facilitate future art activations with Lakeshore Arts.

About the Program

Dates: Wednesdays, from March 25th – April 29th, 2026
Time: 6 to 8:30PM
Cost: FREE
Location: In-Person at Lakeshore Arts (2422 Lake Shore Blvd. W., Etobicoke)

Who this program is for:

Open to emerging artists, arts workers, and artful individuals, ages 18+ who are residents of Etobicoke. Priority will be given to those who self-identify as belonging to equity-deserving communities.

Registration:

Registration is open from February 9th to March 4th. Please note there is a limit to the number of participants. Only selected participants will be contacted with a confirmation email.

If you require more information or help with this registration, please contact Steffi Ng, Programs Coordinator at ProgramsCoordinator@LakeshoreArts.ca.

Meet the Facilitators

Coming Soon!

Renu Indapurkar (she/her) is a Toronto-based portrait artist whose love for art began in childhood, inspired by her grandfather, a painter and art teacher. Growing up around his practice and teaching, art became an integral part of her everyday life and a natural way for her to express and connect with the world.

She works across mixed media, oil, watercolour, oil paint and coffee painting, and specializes in portrait art. For the past five years, Renu has been running her small business RK Artworks, creating commissioned pieces that celebrate people and personal stories. More recently, she launched Live Wedding Painting, where she paints live at weddings, capturing meaningful moments as they happen.

Twenty-five years ago, Charlotte founded Wuthering Bites, a café on the Lakeshore in Mimico that focused on the arts and community. With a diverse background in teaching, research and advocacy, and a passion for writing and visual art, Charlotte is thrilled to now be working with Lakeshore Arts as they launch exciting new initiatives for our South Etobicoke neighbourhood. She is especially thrilled to have a unique opportunity to focus on engagement and programming for seniors.

Annie Katsura Rollins (she/they) is a community arts worker, researcher, and puppetry artist. Finding a sense of much needed belonging in community theatre as a young person, she pursued understanding this feeling of connectedness through the arts with degrees in performance (BFA), theatre performance, direction, and puppetry (MFA) and finally a study in traditional lineages of folk puppetry in China (PhD). She concurrently tested this understanding through over 20 years of professional work in art education, facilitation, and community building.

Since moving to Toronto in 2017, Annie has worked in the community arts sector and co-founded and co-curates with Concrete Cabaret, Toronto’s only experimental puppet slam. Annie is a professor in the University of Connecticut graduate certificate program in puppetry arts. She believes that having the arts in our everyday lives is no longer a luxury but a necessity.

Sin Tung (Steffi) Ng (she/her) explores the complexities of Asian immigration experiences through curation, writing and photography. Interweaving these three artistic practices, Ng seeks to build site-specific exhibitions, public programs and installations that amplify marginalized voices and make space for joyful encounters across diverse cultures. Her works have been featured at the DesignTO 2025, Xpace Cultural Centre, Unit 270 and the Graduate Gallery.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Sin Tung/Steffi is currently based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her recent interests include AI image-making of demolished architectures, long-distance friendships and Japanese city boy fashion.

Revital Weiss is a queer Jewish arts worker who believes in the transformational power of the arts. Revital works with artists to develop socially-minded arts programming for marginalized communities. She also advocates for opportunities for emerging artists, particularly BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+ folks, and incarcerated/formerly incarcerated people. Revital has co-curated and supported arts projects at Neilson Park Creative Centre, the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, FENTSTER Gallery, and King Heritage and Cultural Centre. Revital holds a Master of Museum Studies. In a past life, Revital was an urban planner.

Artists in Practice: Training in Community Arts Facilitation

Community Hubs – Winter/Spring 2026

Renu Indapurkar

Charlotte Sheasby-Coleman

Kadeem Parchment

Annie Katsura Rollins

Steffi Ng

Revital Weiss

Sherry Pom Foreman

Andi Canales

May Yebuga

MY REASON FOR SERVING ON THE BOARD…