Savannah Shea: I grew up in Kingston! My family moved here from Peterborough when I was five years old. Kingston has always felt like home, although growing up in the west end I didn't really begin to immerse myself in the downtown, or the arts community until my early twenties.

Out of high school I went to U of T for one year, took a year off and moved home, went to Acadia University in Nova Scotia, took two years off and moved home, and then finally landed at Humber College where I studied Music. I may have stayed in Toronto if not for COVID. In 2019 I had just started to perform in the city and immerse myself in the scene, but by the time I completed my degree in 2021 the world was still shut down and I needed something more peaceful (and affordable) so I came back home one final time and it stuck.

Thank you to my parents for being willing to take me in through all of my eras of self-discovery!! I am grateful I left Kingston after high school and explored different scenes because it made me appreciate the magic that we have in Kingston that much more.

SS: Thank you! I am grateful to have a variety of creative outlets. When I don't feel like playing music I get to paint and vice versa! My prints are mostly semi-digitized copies of my blind contour paintings. Blind contour is a method of drawing in which the artist looks at the image they are trying to represent but not at what they are rendering! It creates a somewhat abstract overall image with fragments of realism. This is a technique I learned in highschool from my grade ten art teacher Pat McDermott. I have always done it for fun, but a few years ago I began to take it more seriously.

Many of my prints are self portraits. I practice representing my own form through art as a way of healing from body dysmorphia and negative self talk around body image. Creating myself in abstract and bright colours made me see my beauty in a whole new way. I also used this technique to create the album art for my last 4 releases!

My prints are available at Montreal Street Collective! If you have seen something on my instagram (@savannahsheamusic), or in your friend's home that you cannot find at MTL St. Collective please shoot me a message and I will be sure to restock!

SS: I love bringing strangers together and connecting them through music and conversation. I play weekly on Sundays at Musiikki Cafe from 4-6pm. These shows are always beautiful. I have a lovely group of regulars - Jess, Marissa, Claude, Heather, Bill, and Cathy. They have been showing up for me weekly for the last two years and that is an indescribable gift.

I am in awe that people are interested in hearing me play so regularly, but I know that they also come to feel a part of the community that we create together. When other folks come to the shows I like to ask their names, talk to them about their lives, ask questions, and make jokes. Almost every week I watch strangers become acquaintances and sometimes even friends.

Music has such a special way of gathering people, and I love using it as my gateway for creating a supportive and inclusive community. My dream is to create this same environment and feeling in larger and larger venues! I have lots of creative ideas about how to make a big room feel small!

SS: I love that the Kingston arts community is small enough to make collaborations with talented people in all disciplines accessible and realistic BUT big enough that everyone is able to find their own niche. There are so many smaller scenes within the larger arts community. I am grateful to the people who have carved out spaces that didn't exist 10 years ago and demonstrated to young people that there are a multitude of ways to live an artistic life.

I also appreciate that no one has ever asked me to be one thing. I create under the umbrella of many different genres of music, make visual art, dance, write, and this year I've tried stand-up comedy and silversmithing for the first time. In Kingston I am able to be an expansive and ever-developing version of myself. Living in a smaller town that is slower paced and slightly more affordable than Toronto has given me the space to live a life, experiment, and experience. All of these things ultimately make me a more well rounded artist.

Also, to be completely corny, I love my people. I love seeing familiar faces on the street and being close to my family. I love working on new projects with the same people that I worked with 10 years ago. It's amazing to all grow together.