Project Leadership
Robert Motum
Series Editor / Creative Director
Robert Motum is a playwright, director, and researcher. With a background in site-specific performance, Robert has staged work on an active city bus, in a dorm room, in a Queen West gallery, in a castle, in a vacant Target store, and occasionally even in a theatre space. His work has been supported by the Stratford Festival Playwright's Retreat, Why Not Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, the Ontario Arts Council, and others. He is the playwright of A Community Target (Outside the March / Convergence) - a verbatim look into Canada's precarious retail climate.
Robert holds an MA in Performance from Aberystwyth University (Wales) and a PhD in Theatre from the University of Toronto. His work has appeared in Theatre Research in Canada, Canadian Theatre Review, and in collections from Palgrave and Routledge.
He teaches at Toronto Metropolitan University, Sheridan College, and at the Rotman School of Management.
Mollie Garrett
Artistic Producer / Dramaturge
Mollie Garrett is a playwright and dramaturge based in Toronto. As an artist Garrett is interested in text-based creation processes and the inclusion of accessibility dramaturgy in the creative process. She is curious about how audience engagement is considered during the creation process and believes that joy and humor can be our most radical tools for change. In 2018 she completed an MA in playwriting and Dramaturgy at RADA and stayed in London until the pandemic brought her home to Toronto.
Her playwriting has been supported across Ontario by the TAC, OAC, Theatre Gargantua, Tottering Biped Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, Green Light Arts, and Tarragon Theatre. She had been produced within the larger anthology works of Urban ARTeries (Theatre Gargantua) and Play This: Hamilton (Tottering Biped Theatre). In 2023 with support from the TAC, Green Light Arts and Tarragon Theatre she completed her first full-length play and hosted a workshop and reading at Factory Theatre.
She sits on the Board of Directors for LMDA Canada and Shifting Ground Theatre.
Kingston: a guidebook from memory
Amanda Baker
Project Lead - Kingston
Amanda is a producer, theatre artist, and technologist based in Kingston and Toronto specializing in immersive and interactive theatre. She holds a BAH in Computing and the Creative Arts from Queen’s, and a Master’s in Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies from the University of Toronto. She is currently the Festival Administrator for The Kick & PushFestival, Bookkeeper for Generator, and Treasurer for
Kingston Arts Council, with recent work including Quality Assurance for Cohort, Production Manager for Single Thread’s “Virtual Ambrose,” UX Designer for “The Social Within the City”, and Testing Lead for adelheid’s “You Are Swimming Here” AR experience.
Grace Dixon
Illustrator / Design - Kingston
Grace (she/her) is an illustrator and musician based in Katarowki Kingston whose love of storytelling and connection is often woven into her work. Through the use of textures, nostalgic references and sound she explores the avenues of emotive design in visual art making as well as musical composition. Her work has appeared in partnership with entities such as the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, the City of Kingston, the film Queer’s Guide to Spiritual Living and the Canadian Theatre Review. She seeks collaborative opportunities often and appreciates art as an important catalyst for growth, change and healthy community.
Bailey Laing
Curator, Installation - Kingston
Bailey is a recent graduate from the Department of Cultural Studies at Queen’s, where she explored the positive impacts of community-engaged arts on well-being. She earned her undergraduate degree from Carleton University in Art History and Psychology before returning to her hometown of Kingston. Recently she has had the privilege of working with The Kick & Push Festival, Union Gallery and Kingston School of Art. Her main interests revolve around collaborative art-making, fostering community engagement, and developing intentional resources for artists. She is dedicated to supporting creative programming that champions inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility in the arts.
Hamilton: a guidebook from memory
Jojo Chooi-Harley
Illustrator / Design - Hamilton
JoJo Chooi-Harley is a self-taught artist currently residing in Hamilton, Ontario. As a first generation Canadian that is Chinese-Malay, her work investigates how immigration causes diaspora in familial relationships in Pan-Asian migrant families. She examines how Pan-Asian migrant families navigate familial values, culture, and identity in Canada.
JoJo weaves storytelling, photo-voice photography, and printmaking techniques to share personal autobiographical stories of her family that challenge western dominant singular narratives. She is committed to decolonizing stereotypical narratives of Canadian Born Chinese by promoting dialogue on family identities shaped by hope, resiliency, sacrifice, labour, and unity in the face of adversity.
Her work has been supported by the Ontario Arts Council, and in recent years has been shown at Centre3 (Sayang, solo exhibit), the AGH (My Back Pages: The Art of Zines, group), WAHC (Personal Narratives, group), and DVSA (juried art show).
Jonathan Harley
Composer / Musician - Hamilton
Jonathan Harley is multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter based in Hamilton, where he is co-founder and member of rock band CODA FACTO. The band has released two EPs: Jamesville (2021) and Honey Harbour (2022) recorded with producer Carl Jennings at Westmoreland Studios in Hamilton, Ontario. Honey Harbour was partially funded by the City Enrichment Fund from the City of Hamilton and Hamilton Arts Council. Coda Facto is continuing to record new music with producer Tal Vaisman in Toronto, Ontario.
Jon is also a co-founder, songwriter, and band member of Wreckless Harbour – an indie folk band which began in 2022. Wreckless Harbour is currently recording their music with producer Steven Branchaud of the indie record label, Canary Minor Music.
Kitchener-Waterloo: a guidebook from memory
Madeline Samms
Illustrator / Design - Waterloo
Madeline is a lifelong resident of Kitchener-Waterloo. She graduated with a BA in Theatre and Performance and Studio Art from the University of Waterloo. Madeline's recent theatre experience includes: head of properties (Lighthouse Theatre), set design (Unity 1918, UW), and associate set design for The Importance of Being Earnest at UW. Her fine art work has been exhibited in the Y.E.S. exhibition at UWag and the Small Acts of Repair curation at UW.