Shared Ground

→Click here to view the Recap video of our first Shared Ground event

On June 25th, Arts Ottawa hosted the first event under our Action Lab, Shared Ground—a day of learning and collaborative design, where we began shaping a collective vision for arts sector readiness.

Our learning day was hosted at Place de Ville, and 300 Sparks where a unique former cinema connected to the Lyon LRT station resides.

Together, we mapped, prototyped, and modeled sustainable, arts-forward space activations through community visioning and participatory design. Learnings from the day shaped a charrette exploring how vacant urban spaces can be transformed into cultural assets. This day also launched the Shared Ground Leadership Circle, calling in community voices to contribute to this Action Lab as it identifies strategies and pathways to bridge the gap between artists and revitalization projects

We explored how we can future-proof arts spaces as places for community gathering, creativity, and collaboration—grounded in cultural co-design, community expertise, and the power of imagination in city-building.

CLICK HERE TO  READ THE EVENT SUMMARY REPORT

About the presenters at Shared Ground on June 25th:

• Kwende Kefentse (he/him)Memetic Media  Kwende Kefentse is a creator, researcher, administrator and cultural innovator based in Ottawa. His 20+ year career bridges the worlds of creative practice, the research and development of cultural industries, and civic leadership / city building. Most recently he was the first Executive Director of CKCU-FM, reimagining the station's operations post-pandemic, focusing on technological modernization and community reconnection. In his former position as Cultural Industries Development Officer for the City of Ottawa he led the development of Ottawa's Renewed Action Plan for Arts, Heritage, and Culture (2013-2018) and the Ottawa Music Strategy (2018-2020), among other critical city-wide cultural initiatives. He serves on the Boards of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, Ottawa Film Office, and Carleton University Art Gallery. As DJ Memetic of the TIMEKODE collective his productions have received critical acclaim from international outlets like Vice Thump, Radio Nova, and Wax Poetics. He has been requested as an opening performer for luminaries like Nas and Barack Obama. Kwende has earned a Masters of Research (MRes) from UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture focussed on modelling the spatial dynamics of cultural production in the music industry. In 2025 Kwende is establishing his consultancy Memetic Media, and launching the TIMEKODE CoLABoratory, a dynamic, interdisciplinary project that commemorates 20 years of local nightclub heritage, while charting its future through innovation, collaboration, and community engagement. 

  
  

• Alex Glass (she/her) ArtsBuild Executive Director

  Alex has been with ArtsBuild for over eight years and successfully grown ABO’s programs and partnerships. Alex managed the development of the Accessibility Toolkit for Creative Spaces in Ontario and corresponding six-part webinar series, the Creative Spaces Case Study Series, and the expansion of SpaceFinder across Canada in 11 communities. 

  
  

  Bringing 14 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Alex has previously worked with organizations such as the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Talisker Players Chamber Music and Canterbury Hills Camp & Conference Centre. She has an honors degree in English and Cultural Studies from McMaster University and graduate certificate in Public Relations from Mohawk College. 

• Eva Hellreich (any pronouns) ArtsBuild Program Manager

  They are passionate about providing under-served communities access to resources, knowledge and networks that enable and sustain self-empowerment through creative leadership and community building. They bring over 7 years of arts and funding administrative experience spanning non-profit, community arts, festivals and government funders, as well as experience as a youth and adult educator. In addition to ample experience with program development and service delivery, they served a 3 year term as a working Board member of Mayworks Festival of Working People and are currently serving a 3 year term on the Toronto Arts Council’s Creative Communities Committee. 

  
  

  Eva has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in Immigration and Settlement from Toronto Metropolitan University, where they conducted primary research for their Major Research Paper on the experiences of newcomer artists and art as a tool for civic engagement. 

  
  

  Eva is enthusiastic about sharing their passion for project management, collaboration and creative problem solving with community engaged artists and organizations through skill and resource exchanges, collaboration, and peer mentorship. Eva believes in art for art’s sake and challenges the influence of capitalism on determining the value of a creative practice or production. Their personal practice includes photography, textile art, and creative writing. 

• ArtsBuild Ontario (ABO) ABO is a provincial arts service organization that provides small and medium-sized organizations with tools, training, and advice to successfully manage physical and digital creative spaces. ABO works to reimagine the future of creative spaces through dedicated research projects and an engaged network of supportive partners.

  
  

Thank you to our Sponsors and Partners from June 25th