INSPIRE: MPMG’s Team Bucket List

Our arts-loving team members share what they’re most eager to accomplish and experience in this lifetime. Check out some of our artsy aspirations, travel to-dos, and daring dreams!

On Brian’s Bucket List:
A long-time item on my bucket list is walking the Camino de Santiago from Porto. Beginning in a UNESCO world heritage site, the 250km pilgrimage leads one along ancient paths abundant with culture, history, and scenic beauty. As an individual whose interests intersect around art + hiking (and who grew up in the Catholic Church, to boot) – this experience is one I dearly intend to check off in the near future.

On Laura’s Bucket List:
Learning a new craft! I’m keen to learn the art of programming and producing – with a particular focus on producing dance .

On Ines’s Bucket List:
There is an island in Japan called Naoshima that has become an art haven, with entire museums dedicated to the works of Lee Ufan and Tadao Ando, and interspersed with incredible pieces by Monet, Walter De Maria, and so many more. I’ve actually been fortunate enough to visit Naoshima for a travel article, but on my bucket list is to stay at the Benesse House — the island’s official hotel that is connected directly to the museum and grants guests after hours access. Imagine being able to go for a late-night walk amongst modern and contemporary masterworks, in your own private tour of a completely still space. It would be the ultimate art experience.

On Sarah’s Bucket List:
As an avid gardener, one of the items on my bucket list is to travel to Giverny, France to visit Claude Monet’s gardens and home that have been restored to their former magnificence. I dream of venturing through Clos Normand—a freely planted garden full of perspectives, symmetries, and colours—and taking in the many flowerbeds, glorious fruit trees, and climbing roses. I would then make my way to Monet’s Water Garden and stand on the Japanese bridge adorned with wisterias and weeping willows, overlooking a large pond covered with his famous water lilies that bloom all summer long. Monet had a passion for gardening, and many of his flowers and plants were a source of inspiration for his iconic works. It is often said that his true art studio was his garden. Essentially, Monet left a piece of paradise at Giverny, providing visitors with the gift of being able to view his beautiful living works of art year after year.

On Pamela’s Bucket List:
The biggest item on my bucket list as an arts enthusiast is to attend the Venice Biennale. Experiencing some of the world’s best visual art, architecture, theatre, film, dance & more, in a stunning Italian city? I can’t imagine anything more inspiring!

On Ashley’s Bucket List:
I’ve always dreamed of spending a summer embedded at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Berkshire’s of Massachusetts. The festival is a residential theatre development program and a repertory company that develops new plays and musicals. The likes of Jason Robert Brown, Kander and Ebb, Roger Rees, and Renee Fleming have developed and piloted new work and I’d love to be involved as a creator or performer!

On Jesse’s Bucket List:
The most immediate item on my bucket list is to see a concert at Massey Hall. I just love setting foot in historic venues and I still haven’t been to what is arguably the most significant live music venue in Canada. I check who’s playing every time I go.

On Ben’s Bucket List: One of my bucket list items is to organize an event where visual artists beautify the inside of a building. This event would be heavily community based and support a charitable cause. People would be able to attend during the creation process, there would be entertainment, and the space would be open as a gallery afterwards to raise money for the charitable cause.

On Kyra’s Bucket List:
As a huge fan of live music, I try to attend concerts whenever I travel. I find it so fascinating to see explore venues in different parts of the world, see how the audience experience differs, and even check out local artists. It is a bucket list item of mine to attend concerts in at least 20 different countries. I’m a quarter of the way there!

On Angela’s Bucket List:
As an arts marketer, I’d love to learn a musical discipline myself. Perhaps singing or playing guitar. I am constantly listening to a plethora of genres throughout my day and have learnt that each stream of music has an effective way of communicating life experiences and commentaries on society not only through vocals, but with instruments. Having worked with so many talented musicians at MPMG, paired with my background in musical theatre, I have developed a fascination with the art of honing a musical talent that I’d love to explore some day.

On Ella’s Bucket List:
An absolute bucket list item for myself is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It takes place every August and is the largest performing arts festival in the world. Welcoming 50,000+ artists from around the world, performing in thousands of shows (3548 in 2018), and taking place in hundreds of venues across the city, it is a celebration of performance on a massive scale. Fringe festivals happen around the world. What makes them special is that there is no curation or selection committee. Some Fringe festivals decide their programming via lottery or first-come-first-serve. The Edinburgh Fringe is open to anyone who can find a venue, which means it is a beautiful guessing game of theatre, comedy, dance, circus, musicals, opera, spoken word, performance art and more. I can’t wait to, one day, spend an entire month discovering amazing (and potentially awful) creative things!

On Dale’s Bucket List:
My ultimate passion is to travel and see more cultures, so as a short and simple answer ‘I would like to see and visit more of the world.’ Dream destinations include the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Tiger’s Nest Temple in Bhutan, many countries in Eastern Europe and Paris.

Visit our TEAM PAGE to learn more about each of our talented, experienced + passionate MPMG team members!

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