Cultural Events in Oshawa

Culture Days

To celebrate Culture Days, a national celebration of arts and culture, the City invites community members to take part in a walking tour of public artwork. The walking tour features nine sites over a 3.5 km looped route, including The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens.

Residents are invited to pick up free activity kits containing all the art supplies necessary to follow along with the sketch, sculpt, and color prompts that accompany each work on the walking tour. Registration is open until Wednesday September 22 at register.oshawa.ca, with pick up on Thursday, September 23 at select City recreation facilities.

Participants are invited to submit their response artworks by Sunday, October 24 to be entered in a random prize draw for one of three $100 gift cards from Curry’s Artists’ Materials. For more information, including the Public Art Map and Activities Guide, visit www.oshawa.ca/culturedays.

Doors Open

Doors Open Oshawa is digital this year! Celebrate Oshawa’s history through virtual exhibits and tours. A variety of virtual sites are available on the City’s Doors Open website until November 30.

New content and activities for this year include:

• Great Lakes Waterfront Trail Interactive Portal – follow an interactive map to explore Oshawa’s waterfront trail.

• Podcast – listen to a podcast on the History of Library Service in Oshawa.

• Explore Oshawa – beginning on Friday, September 24, download the Explore Oshawa app that takes you on a tour of Oshawa with photos. Answer 10 questions about our city for a chance to win one of three prizes in a random prize draw.

Visit www.oshawa.ca/doorsopen and www.doorsopenontario.on.ca/en/oshawa to start your adventure of local history today.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The City of Oshawa has proclaimed September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This is a day to honour the Indigenous children who endured residential schools, their families and communities, and to ensure that the tragic history and the present day legacy of the residential school system is not forgotten.

There are five locations in Oshawa for residents to bring and tie orange ribbons up until October 5, 2021. Adding a ribbon is a way to show respect to these Indigenous children and their families, and to support healing in shattered Indigenous Communities across Canada in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation.

For more information about the Orange Ribbons, Truth and Reconciliation, and to view a resource guide, visit the City’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation webpage.

Orange Ribbon locations:

• North – Columbus Community Centre

• South – Lakeview Park

• East – Delpark Homes Centre

• West – Civic Recreation Complex

• Central – Oshawa City Hall

The ribbons will be braided together by Bawaajigewin Aboriginal Community Circle and displayed at a future date.

For more information about the Orange Ribbons, Truth and Reconciliation, and to view a resource guide, visit the City’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation webpage.

TeachingCity and Durham College Exhibition

Community members are invited to view artwork created by Durham College students through the TeachingCity Oshawa initiative. During the 2019-2020 academic year, DC students from the Journalism and Personal Support Worker programs interviewed a selection of older adults from Oshawa. Their stories were then interpreted by fellow DC students in the Fine Arts program through visual art. The students’ original artworks are installed at Delpark Homes Centre, Donevan Recreation Complex, Northview Community Centre and the OSCC55+ John Street Branch. Learn more and view the artwork on a virtual gallery on the City’s website at www.oshawa.ca/virtualexhibitions.

Arts, Culture and Heritage Awards Programs

The City of Oshawa is proud to celebrate the individuals, collectives, and organizations that contribute to making Oshawa a great place to live, work, and play.

We are currently accepting nominations for the Community Legends Award and three Oshawa Culture Counts Awards. Nominations are open until February 14, 2022. Visit www.oshawa.ca/achawards for all the details.

City of Oshawa Partnership Grants

The City offers four financial assistance programs for not-for-profit community groups and organizations initiating or delivering programs and services to the residents of Oshawa.

The deadline for two of the programs, the Partnership Grant program and the Anchor Organization program, is Friday, October 1, 2021.

To learn more about the grants and how to apply visit www.oshawa.ca/city-hall/partnerships-and-grants.asp

Oshawa Music Awards

The OMAs team would like to invite you to join the Oshawa Music Award broadcasts virtually this year!

The OMA awards take place online on Thursday, September 23 at 7pm. To learn more about the Awards and the 2021 Nominees & Recipients, visit www.theOMAs.ca

The OMAs 2021 is presented by Durham Region Economic Development and Tourism and is sponsored by Spark Centre and other partners.

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery

The RMG is open! Operating hours continue to be Tuesdays-Sundays from 10am-4pm.

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a vibrant and engaging art gallery dedicated to sharing and protecting the stories of our communities through art, shared authority, education, and engagement. The Gallery is a meeting place for exploration and experimentation, a place where art, artists, and the community come together in conversation.

To learn more and find out what exhibitions the RMG is currently displaying, visit www.rmg.on.ca/exhibitions.

Oshawa Public Library

The Oshawa Public Library is offering Culture Days events between September 24th and October 24th. Learn more about their events at www.oshawalibrary.on.ca/culture-days-2021.

The Oshawa Public Library offers many activities and events – visit their website or Facebook page for more information.

Canadian Automotive Museum

The Canadian Automotive Museum is offering Automotive Heritage Walking tours. Visit their events webpage for more information about future events.

Ontario Regiment RCAC Museum

The Ontario Regiment RCAC Museum is Oshawa’s accredited Canadian Armed Forces Museum, with events showcasing history, Military vehicles and more. Regular events include Tank Saturdays and Aquino Tank Weekend. For more information on ORM events and vehicle displays, visit their website at www.ontrmuseum.ca/tankmuseum.

Supporting Culture in Oshawa

The Culture team wants to help share information and news about upcoming virtual engagements and events in Oshawa’s cultural community. Content may be included in upcoming issues of the Culture Counts Newsletter or on our social media channels.

If you have something you’d like us to share, please submit it to culturecounts@oshawa.ca with the following information:

• Who is presenting, performing and/or involved

• Date and time

• One or two descriptive sentences

• Link to a website or Facebook event page where people can find more details