Description Rich Story Story Hour - Part Five

Who makes a city, and How? We all do. Each of us who live work and interact, each of us who dream, scheme and create. The Description Rich Story Hour project is, at its core, about this. As a Collective, we dream and create a city that showcases, honors, and gives voice to more people. Our podcast series has included the stories of folk who leveraged their skills to make a park where art could happen, who made art that reflects the sounds of that space, who danced there, sang there, improvised with instruments there, and who told stories in ways that imagine, and offer a future that reflects all of us. In this final episode, the three members of our Collective, Katherine Sanders, Rebecca Singh and Christine Malec, swap impressions, highlights, and poignant takeaways from the project, and from the event day itself.

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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.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to the Description Rich Story Hour
• 1:04 Reflections on the Event's Success
• 3:55 Accessibility and Inclusivity in Storytelling
• 7:05 The Role of ASL Interpretation
• 9:19 Representation in Storytelling
• 11:03 The Future of Storytelling and Art
• 17:31 Concluding Thoughts and Future Aspirations

Transcript

Rebecca Singh (00:10)
Welcome everybody to the final episode of the Description Rich Story Hour. My name is Rebecca Singh and I'm here with my co-collaborators on this amazing project, Katherine Sanders and Christine Malec. Welcome the two of you.

Christine Malec (00:29)
Hello?

Katherine Sanders (00:30)
Thank you, I'm so happy we're doing this.

Christine Malec (00:32)
Yeah!

Rebecca Singh (00:34)
So we're here now on the other side of this big project we've been working on. We, not too long ago, experienced the Description Rich Story Hour on a beautiful September afternoon with a group, a fairly large group of ⁓ members of the public and friends and family who came out on this sunny day into the beautiful Lee Lifeson Art Park to spend some time and listen to the stories.

I personally am feeling really happy with ⁓ the turnout ⁓ and also with my story. I sort of surprised myself ⁓ in terms of where I thought I was going to end up and where I actually did. I'm curious, how are you feeling about how things went, Christine?

Christine Malec (01:23)
I thought it was a perfect day. Gosh, the weather was amazing. We kept on schedule. Everything went smoothly. It's funny to be an artist and an event sort of involved in the planning because you're kind of approaching it from two different perspectives. Like, did I tell my story well and did the event go well? So I was so happy with the turnout and people mingling around the park and the blind and low vision people taking advantage of the tactile elements. And ⁓ I honestly,

I just want to say I loved your story and I'm happy to say more about why that is. But I was pleased with ⁓ my story as well because, I mean, I didn't forget any important parts and I made it all happen. But one of the things I'd been working on was pacing and going slower, partly because you tell a better story, partly because you keep your mental focus better, but partly because we had an ASL interpreter and it was important to speak in a slow measured way. in my rehearsing of it, I wasn't doing very well, but somehow

stage that thing happened and I just did the thing in the way that I wanted the thing to happen. So it was it felt very triumphant. I was very happy about it and and some of my friends came and I a few colleagues there and and lots of people I didn't know which was perfect. It was it was a beautiful thing. It was a beautiful thing. How about you Katie?

Katherine Sanders (02:43)
Yeah, I think it came together really nicely. ⁓ The thing that surprised me the most artistically is because we didn't really curate the running order of these pieces. We had an order, but it wasn't based on the content of the stories. All of the stories were completely unknown to each other, which was very exciting. Even within our little collective, the three of us didn't know the stories that each other were going to tell.

And the only parameters were the length and the land in the park and a meeting or a parting. And that being said, they all meshed so well together. I felt like they all complemented each other. They produced a well-rounded hour or so of entertainment. They were all land-based. They were all rooted in the land. And also I felt deep in...

everyone's souls as well. Like they all seem to come from a very instinctual place, a very natural place for each of the artists. And it just made sense. The order of it made sense as a producer. It felt very satisfying and cohesive. And that was something that kind of was left up to chance, which it worked out great.

Rebecca Singh (03:55)
There really was something magical about the event and people came up and told us that as well. ⁓ I want to really say that for me, one of the highlights was actually realizing most, maybe not all, but most of things that I've instinctually thought would be really great for accessibility in the past, but either it just totally wasn't in the budget or we thought of...

of it like after the event or something like that. I really, really was so happy to go through the process of creating this gorgeous tactile map. And I'm happy to say like word spread afterwards. And now there's some folks who do some teaching for deafblind interveners who are next in line to experience the map. So yeah, so it was really great to kind of call upon a set designer and then Shaq who has this experience creating

3D scans and working in the augmented reality field to put those together. And it came out like better than I expected. And it made me so happy, Chris, to see you with so many different people really hosting the map on site as you were kind of explaining everything on it with total glee. ⁓

Christine Malec (05:13)
fun. I love that. It's truly beautiful and ⁓ it had raised elements and it was a relief map and it had little trees and little railing down to the amphitheater and grassy hills and shrubs and ⁓ I loved it had the paths laid out in sandpapery texture and the grass was in a carpety texture and I loved guiding

the blind and low vision guests through it, just sort of guiding with their hands showing here's this and you can follow this to that. And here's where you probably entered the park. And, ⁓ and then to see the interest of other people too. And so I don't have a lot of kids in my life. Okay. I have no kids in my life, but there was all of sudden this little group of kids and they're checking it out with their mom. And so I had this opportunity to say, Hey, check this out. This is Braille. This is how I read with my fingers because I'm blind and these were these

tiny little kids, didn't even, I don't think they knew what blind was. And so their mother's kind of, yeah, she can't see. And so I'm tracing their fingers on the Braille letters. And now they know that there's a way that, that blind people can read with, with touch. so, ⁓ that was really sweet. That was a really sweet highlight for me. And, the 3d models of the art were also beautiful.

Katherine Sanders (06:24)
Yeah, and I really want to thank Lindsay Walker and Shak Gobert for their work on that map because it was a chunk of dedicated time. And as you said, Chris, like the detail on the map was so stunning. it was so, it was visually, it looked really cool. And it also could be felt by ⁓ someone without vision or low vision. So.

That was beautiful and that was, know, like you said, the kids coming in and that's another kind of unintended side benefit of this work is we're making the park accessible to our target audience and also to other people who might encounter the park to learn something new about ⁓ where they are.

Christine Malec (07:05)
I enjoyed the opportunity to work even so superficially with an ASL interpreter because, it, made me slow down in my delivery. And that's a performance talent that I work on and that I cultivate, which is when you're on stage, you are the focal point on purpose. And I think sometimes I tend to talk quickly and want to just sort of get my meaning across and not take up too much of anyone's time.

But when you're on stage, you are there to cultivate a presence and people are there to listen to you. And so that's a skill that I work on and having knowing that the ASL interpreter was interpreting my words for others gave me an important reason, ⁓ to cultivate a skill that I already wanted to cultivate. I, I was imagining being actually imagining being sighted and watching.

the ASL interpreter and whether that would be so hypnotic that I started getting distracted because it must be really interesting to be speaking and watching someone translate your words into a gesture, a gestural language. And so in a way I was glad I couldn't see her because I think I'd be completely hypnotized and distracted by that. But I liked knowing that my words were reaching more people than they would have done if she wasn't there.

Rebecca Singh (08:29)
Well, I'm not sure if we really debriefed about this, but there were definitely people who came and were using the ASL interpreter. And one person also who had a ⁓ voice recognition system. I had multiple conversations with her during the, like before the event and after as well. ⁓ She herself came, I think because she was really interested in the aspect of landscape.

She's an artist herself ⁓ and she was using voice recognition software that was listening as we were speaking and basically typing out all of the words. So she was using that as well as the ASL interpreter. So she was having sort of this creating her own access, creating her own open captions essentially.

Christine Malec (09:19)
want to add about your story, Rebecca. I wanted to say a word about it, which is that I loved it and I loved your performative ⁓ on stage-ness. But what I loved most was that idea of who is seen and who is represented. And I felt that in my heart. I really did. That your story involved people who aren't always represented in the public eye and in public art and in public spaces and in decision-making.

It's something I think about all the time when I'm busking in the subway, which is that anyone who's walking by especially young people they're seeing a blind woman in this conspicuous like could not be more conspicuous role that I've been awarded the privilege to occupy and So you see buskers pretty often, but oh, it's a woman. That's pretty cool. You don't see that too often Oh, she's blind. That's really unusual and the more I'm there

the less unusual it becomes. It just becomes normal. And so that for your story, I feel like that was a really important ⁓ statement. And it's so relevant to this whole project, which is the idea of who is present, who is seen, and who exists in the places that we live in. So I was really touched by your story.

Rebecca Singh (10:41)
Thank you, Chris. Thank you so much for saying that. I feel, ⁓ well, I feel strongly about, you know, the topic of who's seen and who's unseen. ⁓ And I feel like this prompt actually you came up that's what caused me to sort of imagine what might be here in the future in this park. And

I certainly am not done with the story. can say that. There's kind of more coming.

Christine Malec (11:09)
I feel that way about mine too. I'm happy to hear you say that. That's great.

Rebecca Singh (11:13)
Yeah,

yeah, no. And I loved your story, too. I love both of your stories. I have to admit to being distracted by producing and and really enjoying the second round ⁓ in the podcast version. But yeah, it's just beautiful how how it all is quite synchronous. Katie, I think you as you said.

Christine Malec (11:35)
It's really neat to watch people, you know, in roles you're not familiar with. I, Katie, I'd never seen you in any kind of performative role. And I loved to watch the strategies of a performer. Like the first thing, your first line out of your mouth of your story, if I may quote was, I was a thumb sucker. That's a brilliant way to lead into a story. Like you're, you're there as the listener. was immediately there with you.

And even if I was or wasn't, but just that, that opening line was like, it's, genius storytelling of how to, how to engage someone's interest. so I loved it. I loved your piece, but that especially is it's fun to watch people you haven't seen in the performer role get up and do their thing and go, man, that's a brilliant storytelling strategy.

Katherine Sanders (12:20)
Well, thanks Chris. I'm glad that it grabbed you. ⁓ That's a funny, like I haven't, part of my story is about the fact that I haven't been on a stage in a decade and so this was a muscle that I haven't exercised in a while. It was a really exciting opportunity to do so. And ⁓ you know, it's so funny. I was that line, that the way I started the story.

Like I was just saying, like everyone's, came from such a personal place and it came from a place of, you know what? I'm in my late forties. I'm going to finally tell the world that I sucked my thumb long after I should have it was, thank you. Because like that was, you know, I was like, if you're really, I'm trying to make things about the park and the land and it.

And I felt like it was kind of superficial and I was like, what will take it there? What will connect it deeply to me? And that was the thing. And it really, it really became like, I'm glad that it stood out for you so much. landed. Instinctive choice.

Christine Malec (13:22)
It it really

landed the way you meant it to.

Katherine Sanders (13:28)
Yeah, thank you. That's great. And I just want to add one other thing that I, you know, one other highlight that has now occurred to me was just as a producer, this is back with my producer hat on instead of my storytelling hat, ⁓ as a producer to see people show up and especially for a one-time event that we are gathering a new group of people to do one thing one time.

And to see everyone show up and do the job that they're being asked to do. And everyone did so well. All of our wonderful sighted guides, our technician, our photographer, Janice, our associate producer, everyone ⁓ showed up and was wonderful to work with. And that was a wonderful, that's a great feeling as a producer to just feel like we've assembled a good team. And as Rebecca alluded to earlier, made possible all of these.

accessibility measures that she's always wanted to do maybe that was like well our event will be improved by this and to have cited guides there to help everyone so we didn't have to worry about our audience ⁓ was a great thing that we were able to offer and our ASL interpreter as well and it just it always gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Christine Malec (14:44)
And I want to just throw in a, know, we, we, in every episode, we absolutely sincerely thank the Toronto Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Foundation. And I've never really been involved with producing an event quite like this. And the events that I have been involved with have been completely with nonprofits and done with volunteer assistance. And I got to say, I loved that we could pay people.

Like the cited guides, they normally you get from a pool of volunteers and you're not really sure. And, they w this was a paid dignified work gig. And that's what it should be. And I love the fact that we can draw on volunteers so often, but all of the professionals and the trained cited guides, we're able to pay them. And it's so important for people to be paid for their work and for their time. And, uh, I'm usually the one sort of.

advocating for that and hoping for that and asking delicately, is this a paid gig or do you want me to volunteer my time? And so to be in this role of like, yeah, we're producing an event and we're going to pay you a fair wage for your time and expertise and what you're doing. And that was really satisfying to me.

Rebecca Singh (15:52)
I think one of the things that I just wanted to sort of mention is I was very inspired during this process by finding things out about how the work it took to build the park, which, you know, in part the city council are talking about how he put himself in the position to make these kinds of things, which was, you know, ⁓

⁓ fascinating story. Yeah. And I sort of see like I hope because people have asked now that if this map could remain at the park of course like it can't, it can't you know withstand the weather but ⁓ but you know that somebody had said well wouldn't it be great if this was a permanent feature in the park and I sort of think like we have ⁓ as artists and sometimes producers ⁓ the ability to

move things forward in our city and make things better for people by sort of showing an example. And even if our map can't withstand the weather, et cetera, and so on, maybe all of our actions together and this podcast will eventually reach the ears of somebody who can make that. So I'm ending this project with both feeling satisfied with having ⁓

⁓ created something artistic that is hopefully going to springboard onto something else. But I also feel good about our action as a team ⁓ of people concerned with how our city is.

Christine Malec (17:31)
I agree. I ⁓ think about John Fillion, I got the chance to interview in an earlier episode, and he talks about that serpentine wheeling and dealing that he did to make the park happen in the way that it is. And what he wanted at the root was a place where people get together to do art. That was his vision, his goal, his driving desire. so to be in that park doing...

some of the recordings for the podcast, but then also just being there to do the art and the storytelling. I felt like I was a bit of a part of a bigger picture of someone who had a vision and he wanted art in that park and he made it happen. Now there's art in that park and then we built on it and ⁓ yeah, I feel that way too that maybe we've advanced the ideas of what's possible and Rebecca, you and I have stories to build on in our imaginary worlds.

Rebecca Singh (18:23)
Absolutely. Well, we'll have to find a next time. ⁓

Christine Malec (18:28)
Definitely. Thank you both for working together. It's been such a learning process and so satisfying. We'd produce something really, really precious.

Katherine Sanders (18:37)
Thank you for all your wisdom and expertise and creativity. It's been great.

Rebecca Singh (18:43)
It's been wonderful. Thank you both. And with that, that's the last episode of this series of the Description Rich Story Hour. And hopefully we'll be back with you in the future with yet another exciting project. Thanks again to the Toronto Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Foundation.

Christine Malec (19:04)
⁓ you