Kate Moo King-Curtis, HBA, MA, Art Therapy student (TATI)
Greater Toronto Area, ON

Rooted Storytellers is a column by Envisage contributor Kate Moo King-Curtis, dedicated to unearthing and amplifying diverse voices and knowledge keepers in creative arts therapies, primarily in Canada. It seeks the inclusivity of histories that have shaped art therapy to reflect and represent diversity in the field.

Kate is a Toronto Art Therapy Institute (TATI) student with extensive experience in the arts and film. She completed an MA in Humanities and an HBA in Childhood Studies (York University). As a multiracial/multistoried woman, emerging practitioner-researcher, and arts facilitator, Kate’s interests are grounded in underserved youth’s mental health and their communities through an anti-oppressive lens.

As a follow-up to our first Rooted Storytellers post and to continue to excite its initiative, I have invited another group of inspiring practitioners, an art therapist, an expressive art therapist, and a fellow art therapy student to answer the following question: What do you envision for art therapy in Canada?

Some of the ripples of wisdom this group has created... Reclaiming. Ancestors. A returning as diverse communities. Therapy as activism.

Jacquie Compton (she/her/they), RP, RCAT
Tkaronto, Turtle Island

Dreamer, dancer, mother, poet, educator, learner, social justice mover, somatic arts therapist. Reclaiming magic, on a continuous journey of embodying the land of the iguanas, Louanaloa/Hewanorra, the traditional land of the Arawak and Caribs and my African ancestors.

The Return

It is a remembering
an unforgetting
it is a reclaiming
centering sacredness and magic
a returning
honouring ritual
honouring organicity
the inner rhythms of our ancestors
dismantling meanings that were never ours
moving with intentions
allowing the emergence of healing
the emergence of natural states
of deep meanings from the deep
stories that live within the landscapes
a landing back
an understanding and acknowledgement of truths
decolonizing the power of art
letting go of structures and honouring wise currents
the wisdom of earth
healing rituals
letting go of direction
trusting in possibility
feeling into emergence
a being with
trusting in the unsaid
bringing our truth forward

A truth shaped by our ancestors 
and the dancing mirrored light
of the earth’s wisdom
lifting the story of those hands to the surface
ancestors raising up
reaching beyond
the place of dreams
reimagining
to and through this body
pulsing, expanding, stretching
as if little particles of justice are working
their way through
ready to be spoken out
poured out into a beautiful verse
that encapsulates the meaning of being
the meaning of our worth
awakening into a place of belonging

Magdalin Livingston, BA, MT, DTATI (Candidate), RP (Qualifying)
Tkaronto (Treaty 13) on Turtle Island

Descendant of Black-American and Anglo-Indian families, a settler near the Huron-Wendat trail in the North-West region of the Greater Toronto Area. Toronto Art Therapy Institute student, and Toronto District School Board teacher, loving any opportunity to read aloud. Crafter and sometimes-poet on the living room floor with loved ones. Story-listener and teller.

I envision Black and Brown folks reclaiming ancestral practices. Black and Brown folks in community and healing – laughing, playing. That art therapy, by shifting our relationships to ourselves and to each other, will also centre (and disturb when necessary) the relationships we have to land and water, restoring and reconnecting to a sense of being with.

ceremony. body. movement. access. access. access.

The words, rebel, revel, reclaim, reconnect, and ripple come to mind. I have made the piece “w o v e n” to represent each of these words. I think, perhaps, I am less so “envisioning,” and more so hopefully (as in, with full hope) stepping into a vision that many folks are actively dreaming and creating together.

Virginia Jahyu (she/her/她), MA, ExAT
Tkaronto, Treaty 13 commonly known as Toronto aka T-Dot aka The Six aka The Screwface Capital, ON / Turtle Island

Virginia Jahyu is a queer expressive arts therapist, intersectional hood-feminist, and a passionate Hip-Hop aficionado. As the daughter of refugees, a sister to mothers, and a spouse to a B-boy, she supports her community by championing local artists and movements, and promoting transformative justice through facilitation and community arts engagements. Virginia serves as the VP of the Ontario Expressive Arts Therapy Association and proudly works in the clinical department at Vita Community Living Services, serving folx living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Freewriting Oracle / Oral-Call (pt.1)

mixing colours and scratching strokes /
brushes and spray cans have become instruments of empowerment, and murals juggle stories of resilience and hope /

in this future, arts therapy is the beat maker, the dj, the emcee, the breaker, and the writer / we listen to the wordplay of street scholars up to The Red /
weaving a vivid tapestry through the rhythms of our city /
externalizing what has been internalized in our heads /
and hearts -- the evolution has already start /
to take tour -- from cardboards to olympic floors /
these doors have opened for you and yours /
like Black Star, I can feel the city breathing /
the dews formed from Respirations reflect the rich mosaic of identities and experiences /
a future where reparations are made and transformative justice is paved /
satisfying the needs of what once was craved /

in this future, healing is a responsive and accessible journey /
a testament to collective strength -- however far we must go to reach those lengths / therapists and clients dance as co-creators in a creative duet /
smooth out rough ridges and preserve like fridges /
crafting pieces that break chains and build bridges /

where power moves is when power moves in and with /
it's when the Jedi comes head to head with a Sith /
art becomes a powerful act of defiance and dialogue /
challenging the systemic shadows that play as Madvillains that loom /
like MF DOOM /
over marginalized communities

different lines /
for different times /
different rhymes /
vibing on different wages /

we do what we do to break cages /
this freedom is the movement that rages through the ages /
and engages the spirit of shamans and sages /

this is therapy as activism

in this future, virtual realities and digital landscapes ensure that the transformative power of the arts is within everyone’s reach /
and it won't be Common to be on a land of frozen sun /
where 1's are turned away /
and none are left behind /   

In this future, we transcend physical and economic barriers /
truly /
moving beyond the binary /

arts therapy is a living -- breathing revolution /
a colourful uprising that nurtures the soul and celebrates diversity /
in thoughts, feelings, experiences and expressions /
wisdom find Resurrection through eternal reflection /

driving transformation /
affirming transformation /
evolving approaches /

one moment at a time

The Source (in order of reference)

Jaylib - J Dilla & Madlib. "The Red (instrumental)." Champion Sound. Stones Throw Records, 2003. https://archive.org/details/jaylib-the-red-the-official/The+Red+%EF%BC%8F+The+Official/02-The+Red+(Instrumental).mp3

Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli. "Respiration." Black Star. Rawkus Records, 1998.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5mxVKAuunOKqcBfR5ivbRf?si=1c50b9efbf924680

Madvillain - MF Doom & Madlib. Madvillainy (Full Album). Stones Throw Records, 2004. https://open.spotify.com/album/19bQiwEKhXUBJWY6oV3KZk?si=BPAapmwrSomapWnp5m-zZA

Common. "Be." Be. Good Music, 2005. https://open.spotify.com/track/11aFVmFy8903RwDx4ohQiq?si=6e300fdef9284943  

Common. "Resurrection." Resurrection. Relativity Records, 1994. https://open.spotify.com/track/4u7hiFNXUeTG3A4dqQrkcd?si=7634874965eb4904   ‌