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Delighted to share that my work with Back To The Zone and The Legend of 23 Hop has gotten me a nomination with the 48th Annual Heritage Awards under the Public History Category. It is my hope that the recognition translates into a greater appreciation of dance culture movements and the impact they have on transformative change.

More background on why the project was chosen for consideration:

Sketched Out: The Digitized Graffiti Series is comprised of two documentary films released on December 30, 2022 via YouTube. This project examines Toronto’s largely undocumented dance culture landscape by paying homage to two historically innovative venues and the diverse communities they fostered.

Back To The Zone is a 37 minute film on digital video which takes a look at the Twilight Zone nightclub, originally located at 185 Richmond street west. Over its nearly 10 year lifespan, beginning in 1981, the results on the city’s dance floor culture were palpable, from the sound system to its long list of celebrity Djs and live performers. The club’s popularity would lead to the eventual re-zoning of the Garment District into Toronto’s Entertainment District.

The Legend of 23 Hop is a 23 minute film on digital video that examines another unlicensed warehouse space originally located at 318 Richmond street west. Beginning in 1991, it was utilized by a micro-community of immigrant voices in order to import novel electronic dance culture. Like the Twilight Zone, 23 Hop would transform the city, sparking a youth culture movement, placing it firmly on the world stage as a music culture destination but also critically providing refuge for its multi-cultural and sexually diverse clientele.

This project seeks to preserve the legacy both spaces provided by illustrating their collective cultural and societal impact on the city of Toronto through a series of on camera interviews with eyewitnesses and participants alongside archival footage and recorded sound from those respective eras.

The heritage of marginalized communities in Toronto remains largely undocumented, particularly for the time period (1980 – 1995) and specific to dance culture. This series seeks to rectify the lack of tangible evidence for this specific segment of population and era. The focus of both films is on genres including but not limited to funk, disco, house and hip hop. These musical selections have their roots steeped in black, gay, and Latino communities that were often ignored or oppressed. Similarly, patrons of the Twilight Zone and 23 Hop were not merely there to celebrate music, they were also present because many felt they had no other place to go.

This project examines the intersection where art, culture, human development and self-expression intersect with poverty, mental health, race, gender and sexuality. To the naked eye, both buildings might appear as unfinished warehouse spaces, but harnessed as they were, they acted as agencies of change, where new music was introduced alongside new ideas and oppressed communities came together in strength and safety.

Sketched Out: The Digitized Graffiti Series contributes to the field of historical knowledge by exploring the importance of music culture and it’s impact on diverse communities. It does so by featuring on camera interviews with diverse peoples who were active participants at both venues. It includes original video footage, photographs and sounds from both locations which were digitized and restored. The intention of this project is to showcase their cultural and historical significance with the general public.