In a continued commitment to our Artist Equity program we are delighted to present The Strange Victory Performance Lab – a professional development opportunity for regional artists. It’s all part of our Creation Series at Femme Folks Fest ’25.

The Strange Victory Performance Lab
with Tori Morrison and David Gagnon Walker

This workshop will examine how and why to make unusual theatre. Through creation exercises and group discussion, Tori and David will share some of the methods, inspirations, and philosophies behind our creative partnership Strange Victory Performance.

Our focus will be on where ideas come from: how to tune in and harness the creative possibilities in the world around us. We’ll move through a creative process, from idea generation to writing, score-making, and multimedia (sound and video) design. We’ll talk about how to devise unique performance forms from everyday life, and tangibly explore some possible ways of making original work. Everyone will leave the workshop with a concept, early material, and rough design elements for a new performance. Along the way, we’ll discuss artists from across Canada and around the world who have been especially important influences on our work.

Participants may choose to work individually or in collaborative groups. Day one will be about idea generation and development. Day two, we will add design elements, and do some experimentation creating concepts with readymade materials and tech. Day three, there will be an opportunity to present and discuss the work we’ve generated, and talk about next steps like grant writing and the gathering of archival and support materials. We’ll finish each day with some open-ended Q&A time about making, producing, and touring strange shows like ours.

Please bring your smartphone, headphones (ideally with a built-in microphone), and the right clothing/footwear for taking a walk outside, weather-permitting. You might also want to bring any tools that are a regular part of your own creative practice, and that you can imagine wanting access to while making new work (e.g. musical instruments, movement clothes, etc).

• Workshop runs over three (3) days March 10-12, 2025 in Waterloo
• Daily 11am-4pm.
• There is no cost to the participants
• All artistic disciplines are welcome and encouraged to apply
• Participants must be available for all three days of the workshop

HOW TO APPLY: 

• Send us a short bio (maximum 150 words) that summarizes your artistic practice and point of view
• Why you want to attend
• Your Artist CV (Maximum 3 pages) and/or your artist website or social accounts.

To apply please submit the above to hello@patthedog.org under the heading The Strange Victory Performance Lab.

APPLICATIONS OPEN FEBRUARY 6, 2025. CLOSE FEBRUARY 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM.

Strange Victory Performance, established in 2019 in Edmonton and currently based in Toronto, is the artistic partnership of designer Tori Morrison and writer David Gagnon Walker. We make and tour interdisciplinary, participatory, and otherwise unconventional projects emphasizing dramaturgical innovation, emotional depth, and artistic risk. While grounded in text-based theatre, our projects have included artists and techniques from dance, circus, visual art, poetry, and digital performance. We consider a project successful when it feels like the form and content are telling the same story, informing each other through the alchemy we have always recognized in the art we love as audience members.

Our most recent project, This Is the Story of the Child Ruled by Fear, is an interactive show about anxiety in which seven audience volunteers and David read a story out loud, with the rest of the audience playing a poetic chorus. The piece has been touring Canada since 2021, with 12 presenters to date including an upcoming Ontario Presents tour to Kitchener, St. Catharines, and Kingston. The script is published in book form by Playwrights Canada Press.

Outside SVP, we both maintain separate careers. Tori is the Director of Production for Toronto’s Outside the March, and a freelance composer, sound designer, and video designer. David is a freelance playwright, dramaturg, and French-to-English translator.

We are offering five (5) Artist Residencies of $4000 each representing 4-weeks work. This unique residency offers artists the chance to collaborate and create in a public community space.

Although not limited to previous Waterloo Region Micro-grantees, the Artistic Residencies are in the spirit of further advancement and support of the projects begun as a result of stimulation and support from the Waterloo Region Microgrants. The Microgrant program is intended as a “kick-start” to spark the first idea of a new art work and/or to aide professional artists in investigation of their practice, with a focus on process, iterative learning, collaboration, and deep thinking. The Artist Residency program enables further investigation and/or completion of that work. The Waterloo Region Microgrant Program has received a national Award of Excellence from the Creative City Network of Canada (2022) for its “removal of barriers as a catalyst in support of local artists.”

The 2025 Artist Residency program is possible through the generous support of the Waterloo Region Community Foundation.

Eligibility: Artist must be a resident of Waterloo Region. All artistic disciplines are welcome.

Compensation: $4000 representing 4-weeks work. Term to begin between March 2-29, 2025. Artist will provide a short artist talk and/or interactive event about their process and practice during Femme Folks Fest’25. Additional compensation will be provided for this public event.

HOW TO APPLY: 

Please include the following in your application package, in this order:

1. A short bio (maximum 150 words) that highlights your education and accomplishments as a professional artist.
2. An artist statement (maximum 150 words) that, in concise and specific language, summarizes your artistic practice and point of view.
3. Examples of your work.
   • Maximum 10 pages text, images and/or videos total.
4. A project proposal (maximum 300 words) expressing what your artistic practice could gain from this clearly outlining your project, objectives, and desired outcomes for the duration of the residency. If you plan to involve any other groups or people in your work or project, please indicate that here.
5. Your Artist CV (Maximum 3 pages)
   • If you have an artist website or social accounts, please include the relevant links in your CV.

To apply please submit the above to hello@patthedog.org under the heading Artist Residency. 

APPLICATIONS OPEN JANUARY 14, 2025. Close February 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM.

We are holding two virtual workshops to support your application preparations:

Information Session + Application Workshop:

• January 22 at 6-8pm. Register here.
• January 29 at 1-3pm. Register here.

Selection Process: All applications will be read by a selection committee of members headed by Lisa O’Connell, Artistic Director/Pat the Dog Theatre Creation.

Accessibility: Pat the Dog encourages submissions from all individuals. We are committed to the practice of inclusion and diversification. We will make every effort to identify and remove any barriers to inclusion within all aspects of the selection process by making decisions and communicating without regard to ethnicity, age, gender identity or expression, colour, disability, national origin, family or marital status, language, physical or mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or any other characteristic that make our communities and individuals unique.

The 2026 Microgrant Program is made possible through the support of the City of Waterloo and the Waterloo Region Community Foundation. The micro-grant will instigate and spark the first idea of a new art work. This ‘kick-start’ is essential, aiding professional artists in the investigation of their practice, with a focus on process, iterative learning, collaboration, and deep thinking.

Eligibility: Artist must be a resident of Waterloo Region. All artistic disciplines are welcome.

Application Requirements: Microgrant program is for exploration, learning, and time to investigate a project or research question. Timelines of project can vary depending on individual project needs but must be started by June 30, 2026. All Microgrants are in the amount of $1,000. This represents 1 week of work for one individual artist.

To apply please submit the following to hello@patthedog.org

• A Letter of Interest (Max 2 pages) Describe the Project/Research to be undertaken with the Microgrant, articulate the questions and curiosities that you are exploring, describe the process that you wish to undertaking.
•  A resume or CV.

APPLICATIONS OPEN OCTOBER 27, 2025. Close December 5, 2025 at 5:00 PM.

Selection Process: All applications will be read by a selection committee of five members headed by Lisa O’Connell, Artistic Director/Pat the Dog Theatre Creation.

Accessibility: Pat the Dog encourages submissions from all individuals. We are committed to the practice of inclusion and diversification. We will make every effort to identify and remove any barriers to inclusion within all aspects of the selection process by making decisions and communicating without regard to ethnicity, age, gender identity or expression, colour, disability, national origin, family or marital status, language, physical or mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or any other characteristic that make our communities and individuals unique.

Pat the Dog is once again proud to to participate in the Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators program, OAC’s third-party recommender program of grants to theatre creators. Under this program, we are given the opportunity to recommend professional Ontario-based theatre creators for grants from the OAC.

We welcome applications for projects new to us and are specifically interested in artists working and creating in Northern ON and female-identifying, female-presenting, or non-binary artists creating in regional communities.

We will be accepting applications until January 9, 2026, 1 p.m. ET.  Application form is available in Nova.

Questions? Concerns? Just want to chat about a project?  We would love to hear from you.  Please reach out to our Artistic Director Lisa O’Connell .

The Waterloo Region Micro-grants are intended to “kick-start” and spark the first idea of a new art work. These grants will aide professional artists in investigation of their practice, with a focus on process, iterative learning, collaboration, and deep thinking.

Eligibility: Artist must be a resident of Waterloo Region. All artistic disciplines are welcome.

Application Requirements: Microgrant program is for exploration, learning, and time to investigate a project or research question. Timelines of project can vary depending on individual project needs but must be started by June 30, 2025. All Microgrants are in the amount of $1,000. This represents 1-week of work for one individual artist.

To apply please submit the following to hello@patthedog.org

•  A Letter of Interest (Max 2 pages) Describe the Project/Research to be undertaken with the Microgrant, articulate the questions and curiosities that you are exploring, describe the process that you wish to undertaking.
•  A resume or CV.

APPLICATIONS OPEN OCTOBER 15, 2024. Close November 22, 2024 at 5:00 PM.

Selection Process: All applications will be read by a selection committee of members headed by Lisa O’Connell, Artistic Director/Pat the Dog Theatre Creation. Pat the Dog and our Jury provide all administration of the Waterloo Region Microgrants in-kind in support of our local artists.

Accessibility: Pat the Dog encourages submissions from all individuals. We are committed to the practice of inclusion and diversification. We will make every effort to identify and remove any barriers to inclusion within all aspects of the selection process by making decisions and communicating without regard to ethnicity, age, gender identity or expression, colour, disability, national origin, family or marital status, language, physical or mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or any other characteristic that make our communities and individuals unique.

RECIPIENTS

The 2025 application period received 96 applications from artists in Waterloo Region. While we were able to advocate for an additional $5000 from the City of Kitchener, we regret that many strong projects remained on the table.

Jury for 2025: Denis Longchamps (Executive Director, Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery), Tara Butler (Artistic Director, Dust and Soul Dance) and Lisa O’Connell (Artistic Director, Pat the Dog Theatre Creation).