KUT 7 is a collective of diversely talented local artists and leaders from the Toronto area.
Be sure to view their portfolios to learn more about them.
Be sure to view their portfolios to learn more about them.
Lisa Alves
Actor, Writer and Theatre Creator
Lisa Alves, an actor, writer and theatre creator, was born and raised in Mississauga. Lisa wrote and performed her solo show, The Visitations, under the mentorship of Tracey Erin Smith, the artist director of Soulo Theatre, in 2014; currently she is Soulo Theatre's intern. Lisa was also involved in the first annual 2014 Theatre Relay where she wrote and directed A Nun’s Conundrum and performed Charles and Squeakums. Lisa has been a faculty member at StageCoach Oakville and Toronto West since 2011 with Tosha Doiron and Mary Long. Her time at Humber College's Theatre Performance Program included workshop productions, such as The Fight, a TYA piece directed by Marie Beath Badian, The Oresteia directed by Alex McLean and Marissa Zinni, and Machinal directed by Nancy Palk. She also appeared as Dido in This Side of Heaven, directed by Varrick Grimes and Kiersten Tough. Recently she finished the run of Approaching Zero with her graduating collective, Calm Cool & Collective at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace. Lisa is very excited to be joining KUT apprenticeship and embarking on a beautiful journey with this team.
Khadija Aziz
Visual Artist, Community Leader
Khadija Aziz is an eighteen-year-old Toronto mixed media artist and community leader who believes that 1+1=3. She is studying at Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD U) to obtain a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art with a major in Cross-disciplinary Art, specializing in Life Studies. As an artist, she experiments with the hybridization of various mediums, which allow her to innovate new ideas and techniques. As an artist, she experiments with the hybridization of various mediums, which allow her to innovate new ideas and techniques. As a community leader, she seeks to engage communities and youth through the arts; encouraging youth participation and advocating for youth accessibility in arts and leadership. She has been successful by founding and curating various for-youth art exhibitions, facilitating live-mural projects where youth experience being the creators of public art for their first time, and by celebrating youth achievements by organizing events - such as Toronto Youth Cabinet's annual Identify N' Impact Award Show. Khadija is also a recipient of the Volunteer Toronto Legacy Award 2015 for her contributions in communities through arts.
Claudia Di Nucci
Arts Administrator, Visual Artist
Claudia Di Nucci values the Kreativ U-turn project and its ability to engage children in the creative process and encourage the sharing of art within all Etobicoke communities. She recently graduated with an Honours Bachelor in Art History and is pursuing postgraduate studies in Arts Administration and Cultural Management at Humber College. Claudia, a resident of Etobicoke, is a Board member of Franklin Carmichael Art Group whose mandate is to provide quality art lessons and exhibition space to the residents of North Etobicoke. Claudia is enthusiastic about maintaining art-inclusive environments in which art is approachable and accessible for all to experience.
Tijana Spasic
Theatre Artist
Tijana Spasic is a theatre creator and installation artist. She likes sliding across genres and finding out what best fits each idea. She's exploring how to do that best. She enjoys creating through collaborative practices, and is passionate about peer to peer mentorship and education. This past summer she interned with Mammalian Diving Reflex. Some of her other projects and training include: Inteatro Academy (Summer 2013, Inteatro, Polverigi) Mood Swings (Luminato,New Waves Festival), The Bus House (Nuit Blanche), Wesoo Hamlet (Bcurrent Theatre), Uth Connexion (reConnexion Collective), The Hurt is Astounding (Toronto Fringe), the Firebird (LabCab 2014), Assistant Set Designer for The Misunderstanding (Lester Trips Theatre). She also speaks Russian and Serbian and is a cookie monster.
Alana Staszczyn (Stazz)
Composer, Harpist, Visual Artist
Alana Staszczyszyn is an avid musician and artist. Her musical endeavours include playing harp, piano, guitar, flute, viola, and singing, as well as composing orchestral, solo, and chamber music. She is also an avid visual artist and crafter; her main mediums include graphite, pen and ink, digital media, quilling, beading, and macrame. She also loves experimenting with new types of craft media whenever she gets the chance. Alana is currently finishing her last year at Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA), where she has debuted many of her compositions as well as participated in many prestigious musical and dramatic ensembles. Outside of ESA, she performs as an independent musician and artist. When Alana is not creating music or artwork, she is avidly studying mathematics and the sciences. She hopes to inspire others to explore the intimate connection between the natural beauty of existence that art depicts with the technological explanation that academia provides.
Evan Tingle
Actor, Poet, Visual/Vocal Artist and Theatre Creator
Evan Tingle was born in Florida and is a founding member of ArtBote Collective, devising a puppetry show titled c u t this past summer. At Humber College, Evan has taken part in scene study with Nancy Palk, played Evan in The Fight directed by Marie Beath Badian, studied physical theatre with Alex McLean, and did a puppetry workshop with Anne Powell of the Puppetmongers. Evan has also toured across Toronto schools performing science shows for children with Chamelea Arts and Science Center, is a published poet in the book Hunger Pangs, and has coached an improvisational team of High School students to the national level in the Canadian Improv Games.
Ksenia Vendrova
Visual Artist
Ksenia was born in Moscow and moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at age four. She learned dancing (Ukrainian, Ballet and POM), community at Russian Cultural School and studied piano with Rusudan Chigogidze. While at Bedford Road High School Ksenia lead ‘Art with Music’ program for Oliver Lodge Care Home Seniors. Ksenia finished Art and Art History Program with Honours Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto Mississauga joint with Sheridan College. While studying, Ksenia did research for and animated UofT’s Blackwood Gallery. She volunteered at Harboufront Center’s Festivals and School Visits. Ksenia assisted McCall Center for Continuing Care Recreation Department. At Music Academy Camp and Owl Youth Camp campers had serious fun with Ksenia. Her work “Past and Present” was shown in the exhibition “Horizon Line" at Blackwood Gallery.