In this live online event hosted by the Gardiner Museum’s Curator of Programs and Education, Nahed Mansour, artist David Constantino Salazar will discuss his community-based project Forever (Bird-Botanicals), which will be presented in the Gardiner’s Exhibition Hall from August 21 – 31.

Kais Padamshi, Interim Public Programming and Partnerships Manager at Workman Arts, will also speak about Workman Arts’ participation in the project and expand on the relationship between art making and mental health.

This project is presented as part of Community Arts Space (CAS), the Gardiner Museum’s incubator for arts-based community projects that build community through clay making.

David Constantino Salazar is a Toronto-based sculptor with a Master of Fine Arts degree from OCAD University. His studio practice is focused on the tradition of hand modeling clay and the fabrication process of casting in bronze, resin, and ceramic. He has exhibited his work in Canada and abroad. Salazar’s public commissions include Carnival, Rio de Janeiro (2012) and the Spadina Museum, Nuit Blanche, Toronto (2015). In 2015, he was commissioned by First Capital Realty Inc. to create two permanent public art sculptures in Georgetown, Ontario. Salazar is currently working on Hogtown, a public art commission that will be installed in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood.

Kais Padamshi (He/Him) is the interim Public Programming & Partnerships Manager at Workman Arts. He is a Black East African settler living in Toronto and a practicing artist, writer, equity consultant, and yoga instructor. His personal and professional practices are centered on exploring and reclaiming identity or creating a sense of belonging, using visual art, writing, yoga, and reiki as tools of healing. His community work focuses on mental health awareness and advocacy, emphasizing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities through programming creation and art exhibitions.