SAW Video Media Art Centre Celebrates Grand Re-opening

January 27, 2018$249,500 Ontario Trillium Foundation Grow Grant funds substantial expansion and innovation of SAW Video Media Arts Centre’s successful media art training program Ottawa – On Saturday, SAW Video Media Art Centre celebrated its grand re-opening in a new purpose-built space as part of the Ottawa Arts Court re-development with an Open House. Invited guests, members and the public had a chance to tour and experience SAW Video 2.0. As part of the festivities, Local MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers, and Ruth Mackenzie, Chair of the Champlain Region Grant Team of the Ontario Trillium Foundation were on hand to formally congratulate the organization on receiving a $249,500 OTF Grow Grant in 2017, that funded the creation of a new, much bigger and fully accessible workshop space and the launch of new training initiatives over the next two years. Kerry Campbell, Board Chair Saw Video; Nathalie Des Rosiers, MPP for Ottawa Vanier; Penny McCann, Director SAW Video; Ruth MacKenzie, OTF volunteer ‘’I am very pleased that the Ontario Government is supporting SAW Video in creating this new arts-based learning space,” said Nathalie Des Rosiers, MPP for Ottawa-Vanier. “It will help foster the development of relationships in the artistic community. This project is creating a tremendous opportunity for Ottawa-based artists to access skills development in technologies that are cutting edge, allowing them to create new, inspiring works to be shared with wide audiences.” Building on SAW Video’s successful media art training program these new initiatives will foster artistic engagement and support the professional development of artists, as well as increasing skills in cutting-edge technology, focusing on youth and emerging artists, visual artists, and Indigenous artists. New activities include the development of community partnerships to create more arts-based learning opportunities; a new creation-based workshops series aimed at youth between 16-30; an ongoing series of master classes with local, national and international media artists; and the development of workshops aimed at introducing Ottawa artists to virtual reality and video-mapping technologies. "SAW Video has a long history of engaging a broad spectrum of the community with media arts through training. Be it working with youth at risk in the past, or, most recently, piloting media arts training for Deaf and disabled emerging media artists, we have seen the impact it has had on participants, empowering them as professional artists. This grant is making it possible to build on our experience, providing a brand new fully accessible learning space and integrating it with our state-of-the-art technology in the centre, inspiring a whole new generation of media artists,” said Penny McCann, Director of SAW Video Media Art Centre. SAW Video Media Art Centre has been supporting Ottawa's independent film and video community since 1981 in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. SAW Video is a not-for-profit, artist-run media art centre that fosters the growth and development of artists through access to equipment, training, mentorship, and programming. Our mission is to support a diverse community of media artists empowered by technology, programming and the exchange of ideas. SAW Video’s core principles are independence of expression, affordable access to all, and paying artists for their work. SAW Video values diversity and actively promotes equity for all artists regardless of race, age, class, gender, sexual orientation, language, or ability. SAW Video is supported by its membership, Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Ottawa, and the Ontario Arts Council. sawvideo.com An agency of the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is one of Canada’s largest granting foundations. With a budget of over $136 million, OTF awards grants to some 1,000 projects every year to build healthy and vibrant Ontario communities. www.otf.ca _______________________________