Critical Mass

A Centre for Contemporary Art

Welcome to Critical Mass!

We believe in Art for All!

Critical Mass is a not-for-profit contemporary art organization based in Port Hope, Ontario, on the traditional territory of the Mississauga Nations. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work, create and present art on these lands that the Williams Treaties First Nations have been and continue to be the stewards and caretakers.

We believe that art changes how we see the world and our place in it. We bring contemporary art experiences to Port Hope so that everyone in our community can have the opportunity to see the world anew.

This year, we’re grateful to have the investment from Ontario Trillium Foundation to support 3 exciting projects! Two Seed grants have allowed us to pilot an Artist-in-Residence program, and develop a Sound Art Walking App. A Resilient Communities grant has also afforded us the opportunity to support our organization’s ability to stabilize through this pandemic, reimagine how we deliver our programming, and adapt our space to offer safe art experiences for the community!

Stay connected for updates to our residency line up and programming schedule, artist talks or spotlights, community engagement activities and challenges. Or have a look back on some of our past projects, and check in for artist calls, volunteer opportunities and membership updates.

About Critical Mass

Where to Find Us

Donate

What’s On & Featured

Our artist residencies run June through September.

We're Hiring!

Snapshot of What's On in August

August is Arts Month in Port Hope! We’re delighted to showcase Port Hope based artist Oli Goldsmith for our August Artist in Residence. To register for a workshop rsvp at info@criticalmassart.com.

We're Hiring!

Saturday, June 18 & Sunday, June 19

Come fly a kite with us!

We're Hiring!

June Artists in Residence

NEL2R’s residency project will explore the coalesence of posthumanism, digital intimacy, and contemporary environmental-social discourse. Machine-learning and AI meets installation & performance art, created with Port Hope archival data, community anecdotes, folklore, and more!

Life of a Small Town

Life of a Small Town

Life of a Small Town by Greta Grip & Lee Jones will document a year in the life of the Port Hope community emerging from the pandemic together.

Call for Board Members

Call for Board Members

We’re currently recruiting Board Members to help lead our organization in the next phase of growth.

Until Dec 20

Take Our Arts Survey

Port Hope Arts Impact Survey

We’re considering some big ideas for making contemporary art more prominent in Port Hope, and we really want to hear what sort of arts activities and programming you would like to see, do, and experience!

Procession of Port Hope

Art Bingo & BBQ

Join us Saturday, August 13th at dusk for a visual Art Bingo and a BBQ.

Procession of Port Hope

Raising Big Questions – West Beach

Where do we go from here? Let’s raise some questions together collectively to find out.

Procession of Port Hope

Port Hope Borderlines

Multi-media artist Jessica Thompson uses sound to create new meanings of place. On May 28th, she led a soundwalk in downtown Port Hope. She will return on June 26th for a Borderlines workshop.

Greta Grip

Greta Grip – Life of a Small Town

Life of a Small Town by Greta Grip & Lee Jones will document a year in the life of the Port Hope community emerging from the pandemic together.

Call for Volunteers

Call for Volunteers

We have an exciting year planned and need helping hands for a variety of roles!

Dec 15

Tracey-Mae Chambers

Tracey-Mae Chambers: Hope and Healing Canada

RAIN DATE – Wednesday, December 15th – Hamilton-based Métis artist, Tracey-Mae Chambers will spread her message of Hope and Healing with red yarn installation on the front lawn at Port Hope Town Hall. Residents are invited to watch and to engage with Chambers as she works on her art installation throughout the day.

Andrew Maize

August Artist in Residence

During his August residency, Oli Goldsmith hopes to spark viewers’ imaginations to rediscover their surroundings through ‘new eyes’ – through his own re-discovery and artistic representation of Port Hope.

Andrew Maize

Andrew Maize – Art Innovator

Learn more about Andrew’s art practice.

Jenn Goodwin

Jenn Goodwin – Procession of Hope

Jenn Goodwin, developed a procession to lead the community into spring and encouraging us to reconnect with each other, ourselves, and our bodies.

Lee Jones

Lee Jones – Life of a Small Town

Life of a Small Town by Greta Grip & Lee Jones will document a year in the life of the Port Hope community emerging from the pandemic together.

Call for Local Artists

Call for LOCAL Artists!

August is Arts Month in Port Hope, and we have an artist residency opportunity available for a local artist, curator, or artist collective.

Nov 26 – Dec 18

Take Our Arts Survey

2021 Candlelight Festival

We will host a nocturnal spectacle outside the Little Station in Lent Lane on November 26th. Join us for a projected and live-typed textravaganza An Eye For An Ear featuring local writers, poets and artists. PLUS, drop in to the Little Sation toget a behind the scenes glimpse at a whimsical winter artist workshop. Artist and puppet-maker, Kelly Kirkham will be working on creating a lot of puppets for her upcoming show Sightseer at the AGN, Jan 8 to Feb 26, 2022.

That’s a wrap! 2021 AIR Pilot Program

AIR Wrap Up Celebration

AIR Wrap Up Celebration Event

That’s a Wrap! Critical Mass celebrates the artists of our pilot Artist-in-Residence program, and our funders Ontario Trillium Foundation and Municipality of Port Hope who made it all possible. Join us Saturday, Oct 23rd at 5:30 p.m. for an early evening picnic to recap the highlights!

Sound Art Sundays

Mast Year Collective – July 2021

During their residency, Mast Year Collective will explore how food – from making, to sharing, to eating – is entwined and grounded in our physical environments both past and present.

Sound Art Sundays

2021 Artist-in-Residence Line Up

We are excited to announce our 2021 artist in residence line up! Made possible with funding from Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Sound Art Sundays

Brian Hoad – August 2021

During his residency, Brian Hoad will explore personal narratives from his time coming-of-age in Port Hope, considering themes of memory, nostalgia, and an interest in how people connect with their envionment, both now and throughout history.

Sound Art Sundays

Susan Campbell – June 2021

During her residency, Susan Campbell will be mapping the evolving cultural palimpsest of what our community values and preserves. How we talk to one another through messages, notes, posters, and official signs can be mapped from our environment.

Sound Art Sundays

Lucas Morneau – September 2021

During their residency, Lucas Morneau will explore the cultural environment in sports (hockey in particular), and reclaim the racially charged and homophobic pejoratives often used to attack a player’s “manliness”.

Find us online

Visit our Facebook page for recent event updates and announcements.

Find us on Instagram for event photos.

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