Better Ballots Mayoral Candidates Forum June 2010

Keith Cole is a queer

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and political activist. Originally from

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populatio ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Paul Bellini
"Will a queer be Canada's Worst Handyman?"
''

fab Fab or FAB may refer to: Commerce * Fab (brand), a frozen confectionery * Fab (website), an e-commerce design web site * The FAB Awards, a food and beverage award * FAB Link, a European electricity link * Flavoured alcoholic beverage or alcopop, ...

'', Issue 290. he is currently based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, Ontario. An alumnus of

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

's Fine Arts program, Cole has worked in film and video, dance and theatre performance, both as himself and in character as

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

Pepper Highway. He has produced and hosted live events in Toronto, including ''Porn-a-Roake'', a comedic event which blended

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

performances with amateur porn videos, and ''Cheap Queers'', an annual performance night of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

entertainers at

Buddies in Bad Times Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, ''Buddies in Bad Times'' is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical ...

. In addition to his sometimes controversial drag performances, Cole is perhaps best known for his 2010 campaign to be

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

Theatre

Cole's theatrical work has included the shows ''Mine'', ''Alma'', ''The Needle Exchange'' and ''Dodged Bullets/Missed Opportunities''. He also appeared in Maggie MacDonald's play ''The Rat King'', Luis Jacob's ''A Dance for Those of Us Whose Hearts Have Turned to Ice'' and Jim LeFrancois' musical revue ''Arthouse Cabaret'', garnering a Dora Award nomination for Best Male Performance in a Musical in 2008 for ''Arthouse Cabaret''. In 2013, Cole participated in

Salvatore Antonio Salvatore Antonio is a Canadian actor and playwright. Early life He was born Salvatore Antonio Alessandro Migliore in Toronto, Ontario. He attended an enriched Arts programme at Unionville High School, and upon graduating he was one of 10 stu ...

's ''Truth/Dare: A Satire (With Dance)'', an interactive

audience participation An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

show which featured staged reenactments of scenes from Madonna's 1991 film '' Truth or Dare'', at Buddies in Bad Times during Toronto's

Pride Week LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sh ...

."Truth/Dare takes on the Material Girl"
'' NOW'', June 20, 2013. The show's cast also included

Adamo Ruggiero Adamo Angelo Ruggiero (born June 9, 1986) is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Marco Del Rossi in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. Career Ruggiero has been acting since the age of seven or eight. He has starred in many plays inclu ...

and Gavin Crawford. In 2014, Cole performed in a solo re-telling of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's visit and lecture at Toronto's Allan Gardens in 1882 called ''Wilde in Allan Gardens''. The work is immortalised in Michael Alstad's award-winning ''Queerstory'' app. Cole had an onstage role in the creation of ''Box 4901'', an ensemble play about personal ads and queer love written by Brian Francis. The work premiered at the Summerworks Festival in

in 2018 and was re-mounted at

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, ''Buddies in Bad Times'' is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical ex ...

in February 2020. Cole, along with the rest of ensemble of Box ''4901'', was nominated for a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped est ...

for Outstanding Performance in the 2020 Dora Awards Independent Theatre Division. In October 2021, Cole appeared in Sky Gilbert's musical revue, ''The Little Show'' alongside Veronica Hurnik and Shaun McComb.

Television

Cole has had cameos in ''

Queer As Folk ''Queer as Folk'' may refer to: * ''Queer as Folk'' (British TV series), 1999–2000 * ''Queer as Folk'' (American TV series), a 2000–2005 American and Canadian version of the UK series ** ''Queer as Folk'' soundtracks, soundtrack albums from ...

'', ''

Locker Room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, elementary schools,middle and high schools, transp ...

'' for Pride Vision, '' Colin and Justin's Home Heist'', and CBC's ''

Baroness von Sketch Show ''Baroness von Sketch Show'' is a Canadian television sketch comedy series. It debuted on CBC Television on June 14, 2016. Produced by Frantic Films, the series is an all-female comedy series starring Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora ...

''. In 2006, Cole was a contestant on ''

Canada's Worst Handyman ''Canada's Worst Handyman'' was a Canadian television series that aired on Discovery Channel Canada from March 13, 2006 to June 13, 2011. Based on a one-off 2004 episode of ''Britain's Worst DIYer,'' the show was produced by Proper Television, who ...

'' on

Discovery Channel Canada Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is a Canadian specialty television channel owned by CTV Speciality Television Inc. (a joint venture between Bell Media/ ESPN Inc. (80%) and Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns the remaini ...

. Cole went on to win the competition.

Film

Cole has directed a number of experimental short films, including ''Toilet'' (1996), ''Nancy Boy vs Manly Woman'' (1997), ''Coyote, Beautiful'' (2002), and ''I Think I'm Coming Down With Something'' (2003). He collaborated with visual artist Michael Caines on ''The Boys Next Door'' (2001), ''Sunflower'' (2004), and ''Une Petite Mort'' (2005). In 2004, a cover story for the

Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (or LIFT) is an artist-run charitable organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It provides resources such as classes, production space and discounted production equipment for filmmaking and p ...

(LIFT) magazine described his films as "full of beautiful images that also make you giggle". In 2009, Cole was the subject of the Toronto-based

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specificall ...

band Kids on TV video ''Still On About Keith Cole'', which he also directed and choreographed.

Visual and Performance Art

Cole is notorious for an incident in December 2004. While hosting a

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

at Buddies in Bad Times, the audience appeared to be losing interest in some of the performers — accordingly, during one of his introductions he pulled down his pants and began to

urinate Urination, also known as micturition, is the release of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, voiding, uresis, ...

on the stage."Keith Cole is still No. 1"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', October 20, 2007. Although he was publicly criticized by Fife House, the event's beneficiary, he has noted in subsequent interviews that the press attention he gained from the incident actually advanced his career. Cole has made and exhibited work that incorporates both performance and material objects. In 2007, he collaborated with Luis Jacob on ''A Dance for Those of Us Whose Hearts Have Turned to Ice'', an installation based on the work of contemporary dance pioneer Francoise Sullivan and British sculptor

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a lea ...

. Cole choreographed and performed in the video component of the work, which was first presented at

Documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

in Kassell, Germany, and later at Birch Contemporary in Toronto. In 2015, Cole turned his attention to the late Canadian painter

Tom Thomson Thomas John Thomson (August 5, 1877July 8, 1917) was a Canadian artist active in the early 20th century. During his short career, he produced roughly 400 oil sketches on small wood panels and approximately 50 larger works on canvas. His ...

. Partly developed at a Drake Devonshire Residency in March 2015, the Thomson project culminated in ''#Hashtaggalleryslut'', presented at the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Be ...

in 2016. The event was curated by Wanda Nanibush and featured found objects and imagined artifacts, video and performance incorporating a tribute to the late artist David Bucan and Cole as Thomson drowning in a canoe full of water. Cole has exhibited performance and other work at Paul Petro Contemporary Art in Toronto, including the solo show Three Bad Words in 2011. Cole also presents regularly with FADO Performance Art Centre. His performance art practice often intersects with pedagogical conventions such as academic presentations and lecture demonstrations. FADO projects, including Vivencia Poética in 2008 and Valley of the Dolls with Keith Cole in 2018, are examples of this.

Awards

* Harold Award (1999) * Pink Triangle Award for Community Service in the LGBT Community (2000) * National Tap Dance Award (2004) * XTRA! Magazine Mouthiest Queer Activist Award (2010) * NOW Magazine Best of Toronto Reader's Choice Award for Best Performance Artist (2014)

Mayoral candidacy

In 2010, Cole ran as a candidate for

in the city's

mayoral election Mayoral may refer to: * Mayoral is an adjectival form of mayor * Mayoral, a Spanish Children's Fashion Company * Borja Mayoral (born 1997), Spanish footballer * César Mayoral (born 1947), Argentine diplomat * David Mayoral (born 1997), Spanish f ...

."Keith Cole announces Toronto mayoral bid"
. ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

'', February 19, 2010. His major campaign themes involved support for arts and culture, improvements to the city's

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

network, and efforts to increase and develop a renewed sense of civic engagement in the city, where recent municipal elections have seen

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...

of as little as 40 per cent or less. He also campaigned on the issue of adding green space to the city's Yonge-Dundas Square, staging a " MILF Diaper Toss" on May 9 after having a political discussion in which he was discouraged from pursuing the issue on the questionable grounds that adding trees to the square would encourage young mothers to litter the space with dirty diapers. He was one of two "minor" candidates, along with Rocco Achampong, selected by an online vote to participate alongside the six "major" ones in a debate on municipal

voting reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of: * Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...

sponsored by the civic advocacy group Better Ballots.

Academic career

Cole holds a BFA from

and an MFA from the

OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

. Since 2014, Cole has taught visual culture in the Faculty of Liberal Studies at

Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a multiple-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada regions. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccalaureate, diploma, certificate an ...

. In 2019, Cole was appointed to the Faculty of Community Services and Faculty of Arts as Artist-in-Residence at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

References

Canadian drag queens

External links

IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Keith Canadian performance artists LGBT artists from Canada Canadian LGBT people in municipal politics LGBT rights activists from Canada Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Queer artists Queer men Participants in Canadian reality television series Politicians from Thunder Bay Artists from Toronto Living people York University alumni Ontario municipal politicians