The KAC Newsletter | April Issue 1

New KAC Exhibit: The Shape of Meaning, Job, Opportunity, & Grant Updates!

April 01, 2025

UNIT 115

Date: 2 April - 30 April
Location: Unit 115, 370 King St. W. Kingston, ON

The Shape of Meaning explores the emotional and cultural weight of language through contemporary Arabic calligraphy. Palestinian artist Jabra Mitwasi’s work blends traditional scripts with abstraction, color, and texture, creating paintings and mixed media pieces that speak across borders and identities. Mitwasi’s practice, rooted in memory and presence, uses script as both a visual element and a vessel for heritage, identity, and preservation.

The exhibition invites viewers to engage with language beyond its literal meaning, deconstructing and reassembling words into new forms. Some works retain the fluidity of Arabic letters, while others dissolve into meditative marks, echoing spiritual iconography and layered cultural memory. Themes of displacement, belonging, and resilience emerge throughout.

Rooted in both Eastern and Western traditions, the exhibition reflects Mitwasi’s ongoing journey as an artist and cultural practitioner. It also offers an invitation to connect across languages, disciplines, and lived experiences. The Shape of Meaning is born from recent residencies at local artist studios and the Tett Centre, continuing the exploration of calligraphy as a timeless form of expression.

The exhibition also bridges the analog and digital by integrating augmented reality into one painting, deepening the viewer’s connection with the work through motion, sound, and interactivity.

About the Artist

Jabra Mitwasi is a Palestinian visual artist and designer whose work bridges heritage and contemporary expression. Trained in traditional Arabic calligraphy and design, Mitwasi’s practice explores the expressive potential of letterforms in today’s visual discourse. His career spans over two decades of teaching, design, and artistic production, beginning in Bethlehem with a deep interest in calligraphy, sacred art, and community-led design.

Mitwasi holds a Master of Arts in Design (with distinction) from the University of Sunderland, UK. His work includes acrylic painting, video installation, sculpture, and icon painting in Byzantine and Jerusalem traditions. Now based in Kingston, Ontario, he continues to push the boundaries of Arabic calligraphy through abstraction and modern design sensibilities.

Mitwasi brings a distinct visual voice shaped by his lived experience in Palestine and his immersion in both Eastern and Western artistic traditions. His work often responds to themes of identity, spirituality, language, and place, creating space for cultural narratives that are often marginalized or misunderstood. His work was featured in Martello Alley's Froid’Art and he was an artist-in-residence at the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning in 2025.

EVENTS

Kingston Symphony
Date: 12 April, 2025 | 7:30 PM

On Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at Kingston Grand Theatre, experience a first-of-its-kind concert concept: an evening devoted entirely to the showcasing of world-class video game speedrunners completing the popular Cuphead and Celeste titles in record time. All of the amazing music from these games will be performed by your Kingston Symphony, live on stage, in sync with the gameplay!

With iconic and genre-defining scores by Canadian composers, Kristofer Maddigan and Lena Raine, Cuphead and Celeste are beloved games and this promises to be a video game concert which is absolutely a cut above the rest. Blazing fast gaming enhanced with a live orchestra – makes for a goosebump-inducing experience!

Queens Musical Theatre
Date: 26 March, 2025 | 5:00 PM

“Heathers: The Musical” follows the story of Veronica Sawyer as she navigates the usual trials of high school: friends, popularity, love and murder. With music, book, and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy, the musical adapts the 1989 cult classic dark comedy movie of the same name.

The musical shows Veronica’s relationship with the popular mean girls at her high school, all named Heather, and her romance with the new mysterious boy in town Jason “J.D.” Dean. But things begin to escalate as J.D. shows his darker side and soon people start to die. Veronica must deal with the school’s believing the deceased to be complex, tragic heroes who took their own lives, instead of bad people who were murdered.

There are always plenty of arts events happening in Kingston and the surrounding area. Check out our Arts Events Calendar to view our full list of upcoming events!

JOBS

Gallery Administrator (Modern Fuel)
Deadline: 9 April, 2025
Renumeration: $21.65 Hourly

Choir Music Director (The Canadian Military Wives Choir - Kingston Chapter)
Deadline: 11 April, 2025
Renumeration: $60/hr rehearsal; $45/hr performance

Multimedia Journalist - Hybrid (The Kingston Whig-Standard)
Deadline: Until Filled

Event Supervisor (Base31 Partners Inc.)
Deadline: Until Filled

OPPORTUNITIES

Call for Artists: Performing Arts
Drag/Burlesque Performers (Kingston Pride)
Deadline: 6 April, 2025

Call for Artists: Performing Arts
Non-Drag Performers (Kingston Pride)
Deadline: 6 April, 2025

Call for Proposals: Performing Arts
Innovative Performances (Kick & Push Festival)
Deadline: 9 April, 2025

Call for Submissions: Visual Arts
Renewal (Melt Studio)
Deadline: 27 April, 2025

GRANTS

Below is a snapshot of upcoming grant deadlines. To view our more comprehensive and fully navigable database of grant opportunities at the local, provincial, and national level, please visit the KAC Grants Board !

Professional Development for Arts Professionals (Canada Council for the Arts)
Deadline: 9 April, 2025

Youth Innovations Test Grant (Ontario Trillium Foundation)
Deadline: 9 April, 2025

Community Anniversaries (Canada Heritage)
Deadline: 30 April, 2025

SUPPORT THE KAC

Love the arts? So do we!

When you support the Kingston Arts Council, you’re helping empower an arts sector that drives innovation, fuels the local economy, and enriches the lives of everyone in Katarokwi/Kingston.

Your donation – whether one-time, monthly, or annual – enables us to deliver impactful programs and services that support the artists and creatives shaping our cultural industry.

As a registered charity, we’ll provide a charitable tax receipt for your contribution. Join us in building a thriving, sustainable arts sector.

THE KINGSTON ARTS COUNCIL IS PROUDLY FUNDED BY