Our team

Wendy Wu

Valeria Duarte

Luísa Cruz

Research Assistant

Research and Project Manager

Research Assistant

Luísa is a filmmaker and graduate student at TMU’s Communication and Culture program. She has produced several feature-length, digital media, and commercial works; engaged in community-based arts and cultural programming initiatives; and directed short documentary/experimental works on the topics of immigration, placemaking, and cross-cultural communication. Her current research explores dimensions of the integration of newcomer and immigrant artists into Canada’s public arts & culture sector.

David Gauntlett

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David is Canada Research Chair in Creative Innovation and Leadership in the Faculty of Communication and Design, Ryerson University, Toronto (since January 2018). He was previously Professor of Creativity and Design, and Director of Research, at Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster, UK. His teaching and research is about creative processes, self-initiated everyday creativity, and cultures of making and exchanging. He is the author of several books, including Creative Explorations (2007), Making is Connecting (2011, second edition 2018), and Making Media Studies (2015).

Wendy is a multimedia artist and a Journalist studying at TMU. She has experience as an independent artist and previously managed a local brand that promoted and produced merchandise for artists. Wendy has worked as a managing director and event organizer for a non-profit organization that internationally supported the education of young girls and women. Her work as an independent creator explores themes of connection shared with a wide and intimate community through a variety of mediums, particularly that of illustration and photography.

Valeria is a researcher and project manager with a communications background working as a creative director in the Advertising Industry. She has led teams in the production of projects for institutions including the Colombian government and numerous commercial clients as well as non-profit organizations in the arts and culture sector. She holds a master’s degree in Communication and Culture and her research focuses on creativity, the formation of the creative self, and sociocultural studies around the act of making.

Principal Investigator

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Chhandasi is a research assistant and an international master’s student in the Fashion program at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a bachelor’s in English Language and Literature with a minor in Film Communication. Chhandasi is a storyteller with an experience in visual content communication. She has previously worked in the education-tech industry as a content developer reviewing videos, storyboards, and artworks. She has also been a research assistant for a project that looked at how rural women are preserving folklore in the face of urbanization in India.

Chhandasi Ganguly

Previous team members

Research Assistant

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Mary Jane is a master’s student in the Fashion Studies program at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a graduate certificate in Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management and a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art. Mary Jane is a multi-disciplinary artist with a focus on textiles, embroidery and upcycling. She has previously worked in the art industry as a gallery assistant, managing a collection and curating exhibitions. She is also involved in multiple arts-based organizations promoting music and fashion in her hometown of Thunder Bay.

Mary Jane McDonald

Research Assistant

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Research Assistant

Caleb Tao is a researcher and an independent musician in the Joint Program of Communication and Culture program at Toronto Metropolitan University and York University. Tao’s current research focuses on digital labour, digital platforms, and e-commerce live streaming as a cultural phenomenon in China. His music practice explores the socio-cultural phenomenon concerning problems of identity, social equality, and politics.

Caleb Tao

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Project Collaborators

  • Jodianne Beckford

    Photographer and Creator. Producer of The E project podcast and founder of Noire Girls Plant

  • Claire Hopkinson

    Director and Chief Executive of Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation

  • Ramona Pringle

    Multiplatform producer, interactive video artist and leader in innovation within the creative industries

  • Tess Sutherland

    Creative educator in the Makerspace at the Royal Ontario Museum and at InterAccess, Toronto’s leading artist-run gallery

  • Shawn Newman

    Research and Impact Manager of Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation