Holly Joth-Smith

Dec 1, 2024 | capitalcurrent.ca | Laura J. Gillis |Cara Gordon |Holly Joth-Smith |Thuy Anh Nguyen |Thủy Nguyễn

On a busy Saturday morning in downtown Ottawa, graffiti artist Mique Michelle is working on a new mural decorating a storage container for the ByWard Market’s new skating rink. As the work takes shape, passersby stop to watch. A teenaged boy says, “Nice painting!” Two middle-aged women admire from afar, then ask how long the process takes. Michelle says these positive interactions are common when she’s out painting: “I’m a big fan of the process, of being communicative,” she says.

Sep 27, 2024 | capitalcurrent.ca | Holly Joth-Smith

In mid-August, a large, mysterious cube appeared inside the Rideau Centre. Located next to Bento Sushi and tucked underneath an escalator, it attracted a line of curious mall-goers. Some had seen it on Instagram; others had not. Turns out the Cadillac Fairview (CF) CAMP Cube is a futuristic marketing tool that provides shoppers with a sci-fi gameshow experience. It will disappear Sept. 30.

Sep 19, 2024 | capitalcurrent.ca | Holly Joth-Smith

Kaite Burkholder Harris is the executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa. In a, Burkholder Harris described how she was a social work student at Carleton when she got a job at a downtown drop-in centre in Ottawa. There, she said, she first saw how the previously unpredictable behaviour of some unhoused people could be improved through a positive environment.