Introducing the Description Rich Story Hour

In this introductory episode, the Described Toronto Collective, Rebecca, Katie and Christine introduce themselves, revealing themselves as a multi-talented, multi-disciplinary gleaming constellation of artists! They discuss what listeners can expect from the podcast series, and describe the upcoming Description-Rich Story Hour at Lee Lifeson Art Park on September 27, 2025.

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The Description Rich Story Hour and The Hopewell Garden Audio Story are created by Christine Malec, Rebecca Singh and Katherine Sanders. They are a trio of artists who came together for the purpose of creating audio experiences of the natural world from a Blind-led perspective.

These stories are made possible thanks to the generous support of the Toronto Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Foundation.

Logo Image Description: A square with large yellow text that reads, "Described Toronto" and below it "PODCAST" in all capital letters, within a yellow rectangle. The title is layered on top of a photo of diverse women standing side by side outdoors in a park. One of the women holds a white cane.

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05)
I'm Christine Malec.

Speaker 3 (00:07)
I'm Katie Sanders.

Speaker 2 (00:09)
And I'm Rebecca Singh. Welcome to episode one of the Description Rich Story Hour podcast series. You'll hear about us, this podcast series and the Description Rich Story Hour event.

Speaker 3 (00:23)
Together, we are the Described Toronto Collective. Last year, we brought you the Hopewell Garden audio story, whose podcast series is findable anywhere podcasts are available. We're committed to creating inclusive events that tell the stories of our city, including in-person events that include ASL, audio description, and venues that are accessible to as many people as possible. I'm a freelance artist, grant writer, and producer living in West Scarborough.

Speaker 1 (00:50)
freelance storyteller, writer, podcaster, accessibility consultant, and musician.

Speaker 2 (00:57)
and I'm a storyteller, actor, producer, and audio describer living in West Toronto. This year, as part of Arts in the Parks, the Described Toronto Collective will be hosting the Description Rich Story Hour at Lee Lifeson Art Park in the North York area of Toronto. In fact, it's just east of North York Centre. On September 27th at 2pm, storytellers will gather in the Parks Amphitheatre and regale us using description-rich language.

Speaker 1 (01:28)
One of the motivations we share as a collective is to honour the land and how it sustains us. We want to create an event that recognises this, and so we invited a group of storytellers, including ourselves, to gather and tell stories based on the following prompt. Create a story in the past, present or future, set on this specific land currently occupied by Lee Lifeson Art Park involving a meeting or parting.

Speaker 3 (02:00)
In a 90-minute event, the three of us, plus storytellers, Trina Moyen, Shaq Gobert, and Olivia Short, will take our audience on a journey to we don't know where or when. In this podcast series leading up to the event, we will explore the history of the park and land and give some background on inclusive storytelling. We will also have some special guests telling us about their connection to the park. After the event, we will play the stories for you here and share some of the audience interactions.

Speaker 2 (02:28)
You can find more information about the event by searching for the description rich story hour on the Toronto Arts Foundation Arts in the Parks website. You can also follow our Facebook page at Describe Toronto and subscribe to this podcast.

Speaker 1 (02:44)
We fully acknowledge the support of the Toronto Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Foundation.