Providing outlets for creativity in the City of Brampton

BY: ALYSSA MAHADEO

It takes courage, and bravery to take up a mic, and share your innermost creatively liberated thoughts with a room full of strangers. In recent years, many have adopted the Open Mic culture of sharing their creative lyrics and poems with an audience of people they aren’t immediately associated with, as a way to feel unjudged and explore their artistic expression.

(P.O.C.) is a Brampton based organization that provides outlets for P.O.C. (People of Color) creatives to share their artistic genius with their community. On Wednesday, November 28th, at downtown Brampton’s Carve on Lot 5, a warm inviting, and chic venue with historical charm, P.O.C hosted the first ever Artist Showcase featuring artists who live in the city.

P.O.C is the brainchild of Vanessa Spence, a Poet, Actor and Performer based out of Brampton.

“I was getting tired of travelling to Toronto for different Open Mics to perform my poetry,” Vanessa shares. “I would have to travel into the City of Toronto because they were the only ones really hosting events like this.”

The Brampton Arts & Culture scene has been growing and evolving over the past few years, but artists still feel they need more events and open spaces where they can freely showcase their talents to the entire community, and specifically their fellow people of colour.

“I spent all this time commuting, so I thought to myself why not start one here in Brampton and shine a light on the Black Artistry in Brampton, artists who are people of color to share their art with the community so that the community can also open their eyes to what is here and available in Brampton and see that they don’t have to keep travelling out of the city to experience art,” Vanessa explains.

For people of colour, providing opportunities for creatives is another step closer in the fight against gaining positive recognition for their work, overcoming prejudice and eradicating stereotypes. Through the organization of such events, they are able to come together and share in innovative ideas that encourage and build each other up.

“When I was travelling to Toronto, I met so many people who were from Brampton and they felt like there was no platform in Brampton to do what they love so I want to be that organization to give them the platform and the opportunities that they are asking for,” Vanessa says. 

The first P.O.C showcase featured a lot of Brampton artists, many of whom she met while travelling to Toronto, artists who have musical backgrounds and artists who have literary and storytelling backgrounds.

Since this was to be the first event in the series, Vanessa wasn’t sure if she wanted to just showcase music, or only feature spoken word poetry. In the end, it was decided that she would smash everything together and put on a display of some of the fresh and creative talent that Brampton has to offer. 

Heading upstairs to Carve on Lot 5’s second-floor, patrons were greeted with mellow tunes by DJ Di Vibez to set the mood. To open the evening, they were treated with spoken word and poetic lyrics from JJ The Dreamer, Sincerely Shyy, Yolanda Spence, Vanessa Spence, and Breanna Chanelle.

Each writer brought something unique to the table, vocalizing their stories, and works of art in through powerful renditions of spoken word poetry. Their words brought tears to some, and evoked feelings of strength and vitality to others as the artist’s poems struck your very soul.

Following a short intermission, the night picked up with musical performances by, Chavy, Monte Biggz, Nova Lush, Durreyl, Archxtect spitting hot and honest lyrics to end the show on a high note.

“It’s a showcase of different things to get people’s feet wet and then using that to plan further events more pointed on what we want to showcase to the community,” Vanessa says.

The P.O.C Artist Showcase is in the works to become a monthly organized event at different venues across the city of Brampton to encourage people to explore the city and enjoy the different spaces that Brampton has to offer and allow people to get to know their city

“We live here in Brampton, but we don’t know of the hidden gems that are here so it’s a mission for me to find those hidden gems or to just give people a reason to go to these places,” Vanessa says.

With the organizational help of Taaya Dominique of Tea With Tay and Jahthane of YBGWAC Photography capturing snapshots of each performance throughout the night, the event was a great success. Vanessa is also involved with the young black women’s project which gave her the confidence to organize and also perform at her event working in a continuous effort to build the artistic community here in Brampton.

P.O.C. Artist Showcase is an after-work social that gives local artists a platform to share their art with their community. It also gives the community a chance to witness the fruits of their city while supporting and encouraging local artists on their journey to stardom.

After the success of this launch future events are to be held on the last Wednesday of every month. They plan on resuming monthly events starting in January next year but, POC will be in collaboration with Tea With Tay events on an event scheduled for December 20th. Stay posted on the latest by following @poc.culture and @vanessacspence on Instagram. Join them in raising black artistry to a pedestal while adding heart and culture to the core of downtown Brampton.