WHO IS COLLECTIVE CITY?
Richard Mongiat has been exhibiting his paintings and assemblages in public,
commercial and artist collective galleries across Canada since 1984. Mongiat
has curated an exhibition at the Doris McCarthy Gallery/University of Toronto
as well as founding the Collectives From*A*Pit and Loop Gallery. Mongiat has
initiated and assisted fellow artists on community art projects throughout his
neighbourhood.
As well, Richard has been a producing and directing films for Collective City since
its inception in 2011. CC was a finalist at the 2018 Toronto
Heritage Awards and in 2019 premiered four new docs at the Museum
of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto.
David Sylvestre’s creative career is split into two distinct phases. First as a painter
and contributor to the artist-run scene of the late 80’s and early 90’s. Second as a
creative director specializing in marketing/advertising and branded entertainment..
David was a part of the organizing committee for Round Up, a 3-day event that
opened artist’s studios to the Toronto public in 1989-90 and 1990-91. In 1990 he
became a founding member of The Red Head Gallery. In 1995 helped form From*A*Pit collective with Richard Mongiat and Krys Verral and co-curated two shows with them.
David has been directing films for Collective City
since the project’s inception In 2011.
Hugh studied fine art at the Ontario College of Art, including one year of independent study in Florence, Italy. He is a practicing artist, and has exhibited at various galleries including Harbour Front, the Artists Project and Gallery 1313, Toronto. He is board member of Gallery 1313, and in earlier times was involved in organising a couple of artists collectives.
He earned a PhD in the philosophy of mind and has taught at several universities in southern Ontario, including OCAD University. He has written essays about artists’ works, as well as a book about Toronto painter Rae Johnson (2020). He regularly writes art reviews for Artoronto.ca.
Mikael Sandblom is a Toronto-based visual artist whose work examines the relationship between perception, memory, and the construction of reality. In his art practice, Sandblom creates layered compositions that combine photography, digital rendering, painting, and textiles. His imagery often juxtaposes geometric structures with natural forms such as clouds and waves, encouraging viewers to reflect on the boundary between the external world and inner experience.
In addition to an art diploma from OCA, he holds an MBA from UofT and a Master of Architecture from Dalhousie.
Tara Spence is Collective City Arts newest member. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant
who works within a public accounting practice with an interest in not-for-profit organizations
and she is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Tara has lived in the Greater Toronto area her whole life and has a deep respect for this city and
its artistic spirit.
Moira’s communications and development career in the corporate and not for profit sectors has supported public outreach initiatives involving multiple community partners to expand engagement and build audiences among likeminded communities. Many of these projects were developed to foster appreciation, awareness and participation in the arts through community-based projects and large-scale public events.
Moira has facilitated public installations with art collectives that include From*A*Pit, Place and Show, Greenthumb, and the Neighbourhood Legacy Project among others. Moira’s work has also supported art projects for youth including Way to Go, a multi-disciplinary resource centre founded by actress Martha Burns.
Moira currently works in Ottawa at Carleton University in a communications and events planning capacity with the Faculty of Global and Public Affairs.
Marcel Canzona is a filmmaker with a career focused on the arts. He brings with him extensive experience in nearly every film role from producer to director, editor, DoP, and of course production assistant. He edited his first documentary for Collective City in 2021. Elsewhere, Marcel has directed and edited two feature-length Opera films for Toronto’s Opera Atelier, over thirty hip-hop music videos, and countless pieces of advertising. After three years at the agency King Ursa he is back to freelancing as BYEMARCEL.
Graeme Leung is an accomplished and versatile cinematographer, editor and colourist whose polished visual style brings depth and atmosphere to both narrative and documentary storytelling. He has built a reputation for creating powerful, emotive imagery tailored to each project’s unique tone and story. As a filmmaker, Graeme has worked across commercials, music videos, operas, and short films. He edited his first documentary for Collective City in 2024, and is currently the leading DoP/editor for the 2025 season.
A member of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and SOCAN for 20+ years,
Nicholas Stirling brings performing, composing and studio recording expertise through
his LuxuriaMusic studio in Toronto.
As a multi-instrumentalist with studies in keyboard, percussion, guitar and woodwind
he has provided original music scores for award-winning network programs including
series, episodic and feature formats on CBC Newsworld, TVO, NFB/ONF, TLC, The
Knowledge Network, APTN, Canadian Geographic, Canal D, and Discovery USA.
Nicholas has contributed original
music and sound mixes for Collective City documentaries with
Richard Mongiat and David Sylvestre from its inceptionin 2011.
Vanessa Jung lives in Toronto where she works as a filmmaker and editor. She met Richard and David in 2016. Since then, she’s intermittently edited nine short documentaries for Collective City, formerly known as Toronto’s Other Art Scene.
In 2017, she directed, produced and edited the short documentary Numbers Guy commissioned by CBC Short Docs. In 2019, she edited videos for three charitable organizations in partnership with Canada Helps. In 2019-2020, she co-directed three commercials with her partner Philip Sportel. She is currently filming and editing a lengthier environmental documentary. She also likes being outdoors, taking photos on her DSLR and testing out new recipes for plant-based desserts.
