Media and Features
"Not Only Landmarks, But Vibration" Tanya Turton on Her Love Letter to Her Toronto Neighbourhood and Black Queer Womanhood” - Open Book
We're excited to speak with Tanya today about Jade is a Twisted Green and how a project ten years in the making came to be. She tells us about the very moment (to the minute!) that the book first began for her, why the north-west Toronto setting of the book was absolutely essential, and shares the heartbreaking personal losses that informed the writing of Jade is a Twisted Green…
BLMNL Hosts “Redefining Our Standards of Beauty” Events to Educate on Black Hair and the Importance of Shifting Beauty Standards - The Muse
the event’s Keynote speaker Tanya Turton spoke on redefining our beauty standards to start matching with the identities that we carry. What stuck with me was her focus on the relationship between beauty and wellness; how that relationship can help us redefine our beauty. Furthermore, she discussed how redefining our beauty attaches us to another relationship central to the conversation: one between the body, mind and soul.
My takeaway from her impressive presentation is…
CrossTalk with Adam Walsh - Feb. 25, 2022: Black History Month - CBC Radio
Tanya joins the discussion with Adam Walsh and Black Lives Matter Newfound Land to explore the construct of beauty and it’s impacts on the Black Community. Tanya explains Pretty Privilege while also calling for deeper collective care and safe spaces for authenticity.
Real Talk With Wellness Educator & Storyteller Tanya Turton - Vanlis Presents
"Anything we can do to free ourselves from the construct of who we think we SHOULD be is imperative to our health and wellness. " - Tanya Turton
In this episode Natasha sits down with Wellness Educator, Mental Health Advocate, Storyteller, and Entrepreneur Tanya Turton, for some real talk about everything from being a recovering "workaholic" to intimacy beyond sexuality. Natasha also learns about the importance of having spaces just for Black women and femmes, and Tanya shares how makeup can be empowering.
Tanya’s Self-Care and Self-Love Tips:
Wellness Plans
Noticing our authentic self and live into it.
Collective Care - reach out and connect with your support people.
Tanya Turton on healing through art and community - Kids Help Phone
Collective care spaces are super important because in a culture that has been yelling “self-care” at us, people may start feeling this pressure like the only way a person can experience wellness is if they figure it out and find a cheat code to do it on their own. I believe that self-care is best done and most effective in collective care environments…. Read More
‘Law caught up with our reality’: Fifteen years later, couples look back on Canada’s fight for marriage equality - The Star
Turton and Gilmore stressed that there are still hurdles facing Canada’s LGBTQ community. Family planning has “been a challenge,” Gilmore said, adding that queer people face barriers in having children through artificial insemination.
LGBTQ marriage is still a ways off from being fully “embedded in the culture,” Turton added…. More
How we heal: What art and self-care mean as acts of resistance for the Black community right now - CBC Arts
For Tanya Turton, self-care is revolutionary — and she wants all Black women and femmes to share in that. What does it mean to be a Black woman in Canada at this time?
“For Black women and Femmes, success is to feel it is okay to stand in their full authenticity”
What does it mean to be a Black woman in Canada at this time?
Tanya Turton has been asking herself this very question, and she has found a few answers by turning inward and calling on her arts and wellness practice, her commitment to self-love and her dedication to her community….. More
CREATING HEALING SPACES THROUGH DIGITAL ART - By Blacks
Tanya Turton, 30, vividly remembers the painful moment that birthed what is now the Adornment Stories, a 24-week digital arts education program. Throughout their walk around the city, they had encountered multiple black women breaking down on the street, seemingly ignored by people around them.
Adornment Stories is in its third year. When Turton reflects on her own journey with mental health, her past is layered. Turton hopes that she can use her experiences to create spaces for other Black women and femmes to feel heard, safe and creative…. More
Storytelling is human connexion - Mcgill University
Stories can transmit new knowledge and might impact how we treat people who are struggling with mental health, by impacting our understanding of their realities. Yet,**Storytelling can’t change people’s lived experiences. [...] Other pieces are systemic and institutionalized.**, Tanya insists. Where is funding for mental health going? Is it only to clinical, or also preventive measures? What is the place given to community care? Who are the services designed for?A lot of the current mental health dialogue don’t account for culture and race, the services are not adapted. There is obviously still a lot of work to do…. This Article can be found in French here
The Beauty in the Hustle - Pop& Down
Tanya joins Shaunna in conversation about how Jay-Z and Rumi influenced her TrapMy$tic philosphy, how important Janelle Monae has been for black queer femme representation, and how fictional characters such as Olivia Pope (Scandal) and the series Awkward Black Girl have provided some variant representation of black women in the media, and the faith she has in today's young women and femmes to expand the representation even further…. More
Grantee Profile - ArtReach
It is a cold November night when I step into the warm and inviting space just off Trethewey Road, nestled in the community of Black Creek. Tanya notes that, “youth in the program have expressed that it has helped them find ways to care for themselves and become confident.”
'“I knew I was taking a risk creating such a niche program- Black women/ femme mental health, arts and beauty for folks in the west side of the city, does anyone really care? But everything from the grant writing stage (which required lots of research), to outreach and eventually running the program confirmed to me that the need is there. This group of youth, we deserve spaces for us to process and heal collectively” - Tanya Turton ….More