Painting the Town with Pride: IDEA Caledon hosts Pride Picnic

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

IDEA Caledon held its second annual Pride Family Picnic in the Park this past weekend, and the chilly weather didn't stop the community from celebrating as if it was a bright sunny day.

The event featured games, food, and entertainment for all families attending.

Caledon Fire, OPP, and paramedics were also there to take part in the activities.

The picnic featured an artist-led community art project called Paint-a-Picnic Table.

Kate Jones and Sarah Tyl led the project through their company, Golden Butter Murals.

People were invited to help paint the picnic tables in a paint-by-number-style activity. 

The result is five muraled paintings on benches that will be distributed throughout Caledon Parks.

Tyl and Jones applied for the project and were selected by IDEA Caledon to run the initiative.

Golden Butter Murals dove deeper into what the images on each picnic table will represent.

“It's almost like an LGBTQ plus garden; we wanted each of the flowers and elements of the garden to represent members of the community. For example, butterflies are transgender, transformation, violets are lesbian love, lilacs are gay power, so that one will be on another table, and then we also have daisies for joy,” shared Jones.

Jones shared that when you line up all five tables together, it will create an ongoing garden.

Tyl is from Caledon and shared that it's exciting to bring her work to the community.

“Caledon has a special place in my heart. I'm excited to be part of the community and see it in reality.”

The two agreed it was great to see everyone get so involved in their project.

“I think that's where the fun really comes from, seeing other people enjoy painting and kind of being able to bring that to life,” said Jones.

Mackenzie and Neo, two picnic attendees, shared that it was great to have fun painting and supporting the community.

Giuliana Giancotta, Project Manager of Community Projects at the Town of Caledon, said the community painting promotes visual representations of pride throughout the community. 

“An amazing opportunity to do that is through community painting projects just like this where everyone can feel involved in the end result, and then they go out into our parks and public spaces and people can get to enjoy them there. Another opportunity is we're growing our public art program, too, and this is just one of the small ways we can do that,” said Giancotta.

She shared that the picnic tables are also accessible.

“As part of our revitalization journey, public art is a component of that, and we're very proud to work with local artists to engage and activate our public spaces through that,” shared Giancotta.

Sandra Sharpe, Indigenous Engagement Advisor with the CAO's office and co-chair of IDEA Caledon, spoke about the process behind the Pride Family Picnic for its second annual year and the organization behind it.

She shared that IDEA is not only an acronym but an action.

“IDEA is Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility, and it's action because the community partners around the table are taking action and creating a more inclusive Caledon,” shared Sharpe. “Pride for us, and the family picnic, is important because we heard from our pride community in a survey that said they wanted an event that celebrated families and that celebrated pride. So, we had the idea of hosting just a more traditional family picnic with a pride theme. This is our second year, and even though it's cold, you can just tell that it's a feel-good community wonderful event.”

“Pride really is about community, and it really is about family,” said Sharpe.

Sharpe shared that the Caledon Public Library led the event this year and Laurie Groe, Programming & Outreach Manager with the CPL, spoke about how the library got involved.

Groe said they have always had very strong advocacy for the LGBTQ-plus community, and with the creation of IDEA Caledon, they were thoroughly excited to join and have staff on the committee.

They also hosted the previous year, and Groe said they knew they could make it bigger this year.

“We are supportive and we are an ally and we are absolutely, as part of the library's mission, to be inclusive and be accessible, a place for everyone. We take pride in ourselves in being a part of these kinds of events.”

CPL hosts many LGBTQ-plus events themselves, including Queer Village Book Club and their upcoming Math and Drag event.

The Pride Family Picnic also featured The Brave Canoe and the Cedar Drummers, who performed pieces featuring strong themes such as resilience.

Councillor Doug Maskell spoke at the event on behalf of Mayor Annette Groves and the Council.

“Pride is about community and it's about inclusion and pride is also about families, and it's great to be here with the Caledon family today,” said Councillor Maskell. “Thank you to the IDEA Caledon partners for leading the important work of creating a more inclusive Caledon here in our communities and in their organizations. A big thank you to all the volunteers who have been planning this for a long time and who helped to organize this event and so many others across Caledon. You truly are the heart of Caledon. Whether you're a member of the Pride community or a caring ally, you're what makes Caledon so special.”

Residents will soon be able to enjoy the painted picnic tables in public spaces and parks around Caledon.