My name is Ingrid Jones, and I am a creative director and independent curator based in Toronto. Over a 20-year career in media arts, I developed a multidisciplinary practice utilizing design, film, and photography to marry art and commerce and engage with topics of marginalization, memory and gender.

I created DEALR to fill a gap that I noticed in the creative community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, as we all isolated, many artists dealt with a sudden drop in income due to exhibition, performance and project cancellations. Oddly, as they grappled with this uncertainty, the world called on them to produce, inspire and entertain the masses now stuck at home. It was expected that they give their time and talents for little to no reward. And, while countless articles debated the impact on our mental health in isolation, very few mentioned that in those stressful and unpredictable times, music, movies and other forms of artistry kept us sane.

DEALR asks, what if we supported artists as much as they do us? It provides an opportunity for play and invites participants to approach their collaborations without constraints or caveats beyond the initial timeline and theme. The project goal is for artists to share ideas and techniques while taking up the mantle of connection and wonder after a stressful time of relative isolation.

Artists, matched in teams of two, share their respective knowledge with a partner they've never worked with before while having their materials and stipulated time covered. Tasked with figuring out how to meld their skills into one cohesive result, partners must communicate clearly and share knowledge openly.

In DEALR, there are no mistakes or penalties, just opportunities. With relatively few parameters, the final projects are as grand or minimalist as the artists want them to be. And, while teams are encouraged to think beyond the boundaries of their imagination, the experience is what they make of it. By opening the door to chance, there is the possibility of reframing creativity through collaboration, redefining innovation through conceptual work and reclaiming joy through the process of creation. There is also the re-establishment of community and new relationships to offset the stress of isolation.

With gratitude, I acknowledge that this work lives and breathes on the land of our First Nations, specifically the Anishnabbe, the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Wendat and the Haudenosaunee. Currently known as Toronto or Tkaronto, this territory remains under The Dish With One Spoon treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that binds them to share and protect the land. May we all do our part to care for and protect this land in solidarity.

Special thanks to Adam Williams, Yasmine Louis, Natalie Asumeng, Tamara "Solem" Al-Issa, tahsine al hassane and Thomas Bollmann for their inspiring work and camaraderie. I would also like to thank the Canada Council of the Arts, to whom I am grateful for making this project possible.

Play on, Ingrid