Shani K Parsons and Kerri-Lynn Reeves
I want an artworld
I want an artworld, 2026. Screenshot of the text.
About the project
I want an artworld was conceived of by Shani K Parsons and developed in collaboration with Kerri-Lynn Reeves. As contributors to past iterations of the Let Down Reflex, we were invited to write for LDR’s 10th anniversary exhibition. Rather than draft our own manifesto, we thought it fitting to create a multivocal format by including peers at all stages in their “creative caregiving” journey, resulting in an emergent cross-Canada collaboration.
Inspired by Zoe Leonard’s I want a president, 1992, participants were asked to complete the sentence “I want an artworld…” in consideration of their own experience of Art x Parenting.
This creative experiment made space for diverse individual perspectives while advancing a multivocal, yet largely unified vision. It offered participants the opportunity to voice their wishes as an expression of hope, or to publicly lodge their complaints about the impossibility of it all; in the belief that a better (art)world is possible.
Poetic license was taken in editing the collected quotes in a desire to do justice to the source of our inspiration. Zoe Leonard’s I want a president is a trenchant, sharp, and flinty thing that does not merely diagnose, demand, complain, or compromise but rather bespeaks and actively envisions a generative, passionate, and righteous desire for a world that is indeed possible – together.
As with all human endeavour, this remains a work in progress — messy, imperfect, and incomplete — but not inconclusive and replete with potential for transformation. We offer this first iteration in celebration of all that we have already achieved and hope new future versions will evince gains on the issues and ideas herein.
Biography
Shani Khoo Parsons (she/her) is an independent curator, designer, mother, and founding director of Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC). With degrees in architecture (Temple U, Phila) and graphic design (RISD, Providence), she has pursued a transdisciplinary, process-driven practice within both independent and institutional contexts in Toronto and New York, producing an eclectic body of work ranging from intimate artist’s books to immersive exhibitions. With Critical Distance she has collaboratively produced over 70 exhibitions and projects with 350+ artists and guest curators over the past 13 years and has simultaneously developed an experimental independent curatorial practice; in 2022 she received a Master of Visual Studies in Curatorial Studies from the University of Toronto. Key projects include Infinite Distance (accessible/interactive digital exhibition), Love’s Labours (moving image program at Revue Theatre, Toronto, as part of The Let Down Reflex by Amber Berson and Juliana Driever), The Parkette Projects (site-responsive public art exhibition), and The aleatory object (experimental collections-based gallery exhibition, Art Museum of the University of Toronto).
Kerri-Lynn Reeves (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and mother originally from rural Manitoba, where she grew up as a European-Canadian settler on Treaty 2. Often working in craft and material practices, she studies the relationship of the social and the material. With a commitment to blurring the lines between life and art, she explores the confluences of her art making, teaching, and parenting practices in all that she does. Kerri-Lynn holds a BFA from the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB) and a Master of Fine Arts - Studio Arts in Fibres and Material Practices from Concordia University (Montreal, QC). Reeves has received awards from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Winnipeg Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism, Edmonton Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts. Reeves is an Associate Professor in Studio Arts at MacEwan University Amiskwacîwâskahikan, Edmonton, AB, Treaty 6.
I want an artworld [2]. I don't want an artworld [25]. I want an artworld that isn't "all or nothing" [46]. That is more expansive [18]. That moves slower [49]. That is softer around the edges [44]. That centers empathy [55]. I want an art world to be alive [48]; that provides time to play, meander, grieve, take the long way around [14]. I want an artworld that doesn't prioritize thought over play, or theory over the rawness of the body; an art world that doesn't just display life, but sustains the people who create it [53]. An artworld that builds structures that make it possible to create, to grow, to take unannounced breaks, to return without apology or penalty [43]. I want systems in place that support parents beyond letting them disappear for a while [40]. I want an art world that lets me change [50]; that is comfortable with being uncomfortable [10]. An artworld that knows we are radical, hopeful, visionary, and committed because of our children, not despite them [2]. That doesn't equate seriousness with constant visibility [52]. An artworld without categorization [59]. I want an artworld filled with MILCs [Moms I'd Like to Cite 2]. I want an art world that deserves us [58].
