WHO IS COLLECTIVE CITY?
Richard Mongiat has been exhibiting his paintings and assemblages in public,
commercial and artist collective galleries across Canada since 1984. Mongiat
has curated an exhibition at the Doris McCarthy Gallery/University of Toronto
as well as founding the Collectives From*A*Pit and Loop Gallery. Mongiat has
initiated and assisted fellow artists on community art projects throughout his
neighbourhood.
As well, Richard has been a producing and directing films for Collective City since
its inception in 2011. CC was a finalist at the 2018 Toronto
Heritage Awards and in 2019 premiered four new docs at the Museum
of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto.
David Sylvestre’s creative career is split into two distinct phases. First as a painter
and contributor to the artist-run scene of the late 80’s and early 90’s. Second as a
creative director specializing in marketing/advertising and branded entertainment..
David was a part of the organizing committee for Round Up, a 3-day event that
opened artist’s studios to the Toronto public in 1989-90 and 1990-91. In 1990 he
became a founding member of The Red Head Gallery. In 1995 helped form From*A*Pit collective with Richard Mongiat and Krys Verral and co-curated two shows with them.
David has been directing films for Collective City
since the project’s inception In 2011.
Megan Kee is a Toronto-based visual artist and curator who has worked with Collective City since 2018.
Megan Kee founded Twentytwenty Arts in May 2018 with almost a decade of experience in producing art exhibitions and projects under her belt. After her brother died from an accidental overdose in May 2016, Megan wanted to use her skillset to give back in the only way she knew how. With a BFA in Criticism and Curatorial Practice at OCAD University in Toronto and an MA with distinction in Museum and Gallery Studies at Kingston University in the UK, Megan began working with the non-profit sector to amplify their message and work.
Tara Spence is Collective City Arts newest member. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant
who works within a public accounting practice with an interest in not-for-profit organizations
and she is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Tara has lived in the Greater Toronto area her whole life and has a deep respect for this city and
its artistic spirit.
Nicole Clouston is a practice-based researcher and educator who completed her Ph.D. in Visual Art at York University. Nicole works at the intersection of art and science to explore the enmeshed nature of life. She has exhibited across Canada and internationally, most recently in Berlin, Germany. She was the artist in residence at the Bio Art Lab at the University at Buffalo and at Idea Projects: Ontario Science Centre’s Studio Residencies at MOCA.
Marcel Canzona is a filmmaker with a career focused on the arts. He brings with him extensive experience in nearly every film role from producer to director, editor, DoP, and of course production assistant. He edited his first documentary for Collective City in 2021. Elsewhere, Marcel has directed and edited two feature-length Opera films for Toronto’s Opera Atelier, over thirty hip-hop music videos, and countless pieces of advertising. After three years at the agency King Ursa he is back to freelancing as BYEMARCEL.
A member of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and SOCAN for 20+ years,
Nicholas Stirling brings performing, composing and studio recording expertise through
his LuxuriaMusic studio in Toronto.
As a multi-instrumentalist with studies in keyboard, percussion, guitar and woodwind
he has provided original music scores for award-winning network programs including
series, episodic and feature formats on CBC Newsworld, TVO, NFB/ONF, TLC, The
Knowledge Network, APTN, Canadian Geographic, Canal D, and Discovery USA.
Nicholas has contributed original
music and sound mixes for Collective City documentaries with
Richard Mongiat and David Sylvestre from its inceptionin 2011.
Vanessa Jung lives in Toronto where she works as a filmmaker and editor. She met Richard and David in 2016. Since then, she’s intermittently edited nine short documentaries for Collective City, formerly known as Toronto’s Other Art Scene.
In 2017, she directed, produced and edited the short documentary Numbers Guy commissioned by CBC Short Docs. In 2019, she edited videos for three charitable organizations in partnership with Canada Helps. In 2019-2020, she co-directed three commercials with her partner Philip Sportel. She is currently filming and editing a lengthier environmental documentary. She also likes being outdoors, taking photos on her DSLR and testing out new recipes for plant-based desserts.
