Story Garden is a multi-year theatre and arts project that focuses on the power of shared storytelling while considering:

• What are the stories we want to preserve and pass on?

• How can we re-imagine old tales?

• What new legends do we want to create?

• What stories do we need to hear right now?

The project explores stories as theme and form, focusing on narrative and text-based community-engaged theatre, bringing together professional storytellers, playwrights, and community members to build skills, explore folktales and legends, and share personal stories experiences.

In 2026 Story Garden included explorations inviting two writers - Diana Tso and Geethangali Lena to create short written works inspired and informed by the community stories gathered the year before, leading to public readings in March, and May. ALso in May, as part of the Community Arts Guild’s annual evolving gallery at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre, a new phase of Story Garden will be launched. The gallery’s title this year is Plots & Patches, and the theme is community-engaged textile arts. During the gallery’s 3 weeks of acivities, people will create their own fabric ‘Victory Gardens’ to add to a large community quilt.

About the May 2025 Story Garden Evolving Gallery:

An evolving gallery show that invites visitors to create and share stories like we tend to a garden. The installation consists of watercolour and mixed media works. Collaboratively designed and created with Scarbrite Collective—Frannie Potts and Sylvie Stojanovski.

The gallery consisted of four phases:

The Seedling : The moment everything starts. In the seedling room, take a marker and respond to the themes on the wall. Plant your story seed!

The Sprout : What comes next? How does that seed grow? What does it look like? How is it nurtured? Sprout your ideas by continuing your story or someone else’s on a leaf.

The Bloom: Your story is almost complete! Unclip a flower from the wall. In the centre of your flower, write or draw the theme of your story seed. On the petals, expand on elements from the sprout stage to complete your story.

The Sharing: Share the elements of your story in a performance, or maybe just a select few words. Up to you!

This project was produced by Community Arts Guild and was created In partnership with Scarbrite, with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Scarborough Arts and Native Child and Family Services.