Local non-profit Take Something and Run is continuing to provide all-ages venues for young musicians and artists by hosting a January showcase as part of the Broadway Theatre’s Winterruption event series.

Andrew Magwood- Dufour, a second-year student in the College of Arts and Science, and Adam Swalm, a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy degree, both currently sit on the board of directors for Take Something and Run. They both sat down to talk to the Sheaf about their upcoming showcase.

Magwood-Dufour is the financial director of TSAR, and Swalm serves a more general role in the organization that Magwood-Dufour calls “the Swiss Army Knife director.” Over the last year, the organization has expanded in a few ways, most notably by becoming incorporated as its own entity, which can apply for funding independently.

“We’ve had more time to set ourselves up as a real grown-up organization rather than the little grassroots thing we started out as. Now, we’re going to be applying as an independent organization for grant funding rather than as a sort of specialized wing of CFCR,” Magwood-Dufour said.

Magwood-Dufour also identifies expanding connections within the community as a source of growth for the organization.

“For two years now, we’ve been running collaborations with Nightshirt Festival. In the last year, we’ve opened up some more doors. We’ve been running some shows with the Broadway Theatre just out of [the] desire to have a bigger venue where we put more artists on stage. That began a relationship that resulted in at least one more show,” Magwood-
Dufour said.  

After previous collaborations with the Broadway Theatre, TSAR was invited back as part of Winterruption. 

“I think it was kind of a mutually beneficial thing because they were looking for something all-ages to do during Winterruption, and they knew we could organize that with them,” Swalm said.

The showcase will include musical acts like Suns to the Sky and Between Bridges. They are also including spoken-word artists Lauren Klassen and Peace Akintade, who are performing with TSAR for the first time.

“Because the spoken-word community already exists in Saskatoon and there’s already people who have a bit of a directory, what we’ve been doing is getting in touch with people who know more than we do and trying to get some names sent to us,” Magwood-Dufour said.

For TSAR, festivals like Winterruption will play a bigger part in the organization’s work in the future. The group hopes to provide a path for younger artists to play larger venues in the city. 

“I think the big difference-maker between our operations now and our early operations was it was about just us running a stage once a month, and now, it’s more about building a bridge between young artists in Saskatoon and the more publicized stages — not just our own but other festivals and events that we can integrate into,” Magwood-Dufour said.

Both Swalm and Magwood-Dufour express an openness towards collaborating with performers regardless of experience, and they encourage potential applicants for the Board of Directors to submit applications.

“We’re more than happy to get people helping out, and we’re more than happy when people want to play,” Swalm said. “People sometimes think, ‘I’m not good enough to play,’ but we seek out people. Sometimes, we have trouble finding people to play, so it’s awesome when people approach us,” Swalm said.

Take Something and Run can be found on facebook at @TSARSask, and performers can reach them at takesomethingandrun@gmail.com. The TSAR Winterruption Showcase will be on Jan. 25 at the Refinery, with tickets available through the Broadway Theatre.

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Cole Chretien / Culture Editor

Photo: Riley Deacon / Photo Editor