Sixteen years ago, nine friends sparked an idea in a pub that became the arts and culture blog you’re reading today. On this 613 Day (June 13), we celebrate sixteen years of shining a light on our city’s vibrant creative community.
While 613 Day has often brought us together in person, this year we’re celebrating online. As we enter a transitional period of hoping to grow the organization further into the heart of local arts and culture scenes, we would like to take a moment to honour the incredible energy, creativity, and dedication of our contributors and community members.
We are endlessly grateful to our contributors, so this is our love letter, dedicated to all of you. And to our audience, this might be a bit more of a long read than you’re used to from us, but we hope you take some time to get to know some people behind this platform!
From attending events, writing, taking photos, and sitting down with our editors over a quick Google Meet call to go over the best way to tackle a big story, to sending us a quick pitch over email, or even just checking in — we appreciate every one of you. We have been able to cover a wide variety of topics like food, literature, theatre, cinema, visual arts, dance, music, and much, much more, and that’s only the beginning. Your passion and dedication to our corner of the internet has been nothing but special; something that not many other cities can boast about. Though many of us have heard that Ottawa is “boring,” we have all shown up day after day to our best capacities to prove that belief wrong. Some could say that it’s working (we hope).
613 Day 2023. Photo: Curtis Perry.
To further highlight the people behind the scenes, we spoke to a handful of our contributors — new and veteran — about what the Apartment613 community has meant to them over the years. You may recognize some of their names from story bylines you’ve seen here and there, but you’ve probably never heard their stories.
Keep in mind the key word here is “handful”: there are countless people making Apt613 tick, and this is just a small selection of our contributors. Whether you’re a photographer, writer, editor, reader, or just a supporter: thank you, and we hope you enjoy.
Hannah Manning
Hannah Manning, volunteer writer and senior editor alumna, says she first stumbled upon Apt613 when she moved to Ottawa for university.
“I have always loved writing and was looking for ways to become involved in the community so when I saw an opportunity to attend a contributor meet up, I went! I picked up a couple of pitches before joining the Weekend Roundup crew back in 2016 and have been contributing ever since,” she says.
This November will mark ten years since Hannah started volunteering for Apt613. Since then, she’s written for our Best Bites column, Weekend Roundup column, and a plethora of other stories.
“There has been so much change in that time, but I think Apt613 has a special place in covering local arts and culture, filling a gap with a hyper local focus,” she says. “Over the years, it’s been great to see not only how Apt613 benefits the community by sharing local stories, but also how contributors benefit from the blog by having an outlet to try new things and hone their writing skills.”
But most of all, Hannah says while she has attended many incredible events as both an editor and a contributor, her fondest memories are from Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017.
“It was amazing to see the city come together to experience events like Red Bull Crashed Ice, La Machine, and Sky Lounge,” she says. “More recently, I’ve really enjoyed being able to shine a light on the folks who make Ottawa so special (and delicious) by contributing to the Best Bites series, highlighting charitable events like SnowBall and Harvest Ottawa, and sharing ways that readers can make the most of the city.”
Photo: Hannah Manning
Julia Bueneman
“I know how important media is, and I think that being able to write for artists has been so empowering and incredible and helpful to the artist community,” says longtime Apt613 contributor Julia Bueneman.
Julia has been writing for Apt613 on and off for almost ten years, covering and reviewing performing arts around Ottawa. From Fringe to Fresh Meat, their contributions have put a spotlight on new, unique, and most importantly, local, artists.
“Reviewing for Apt613 opened up the doors to allow me to tour to different festivals and meet the artists,” says Julia. “It’s been really incredible to just be able to have that propel me into this beautiful space where I’m able to uplift and support these artists in these beautiful ways.”
But now, the spotlight has turned on them — this year’s Fringe Festival will be Julia’s first time actually performing as an artist themselves.
The show will be about Julia’s journey between the ages of 8–13, through a compilation of their childhood diaries.
“I was such a wild child, I was absolutely bananas, and I was obsessed with this concept of finding the perfect person because of all of the media I’ve been consuming, like my Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Moulin Rouge, and Lizzie McGuire,” they say. “I think it’s going to be very nostalgic, and it’s also a beautiful exploration of queerness and understanding yourself.”
Julia also says that it was the community they were able to build at Apt613 that inspired them to create their own show.
“My contributions have allowed me to maintain these beautiful relationships with artists because my contributions are what keeps me going back to Fringe,” they say.
Marc Lepage
Arkells. Photo: Marc Lepage.
Photographer Marc Lepage says his favourite Apt613 shoot has been Arkells at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“Surprisingly, it was my first time seeing them, but I had heard great things about their live shows, and it turned out to be absolutely worth the hype. From the slick frontman stylings of Max Kerman and his dance moves, to the extra pizazz of having a horn section on tour with them, or the phone booth dedication station set up in the middle of the arena — Arkells know how to give fans their money’s worth,” Marc says.
Kimberly Lemaire
Kim, an author herself, first found out about Apt613 in 2022, when she most recently moved to Ottawa and was looking for ways to join the local writing community.
“I wasn’t sure I was an arts and culture person until Tara Shannon’s book, You and the Music Business, was published and I got to interview her. She was so inspirational. I was hooked!”
Kim says meeting creatives, attending events, and reviewing shows has “opened [her] eyes to a whole other side of the city.”
“I feel like I’m now part of a community I didn’t even know existed — because my art is writing, and it’s typically solitary. I imagined everyone else was working in a silo too,” she says.
“I love being a part of Apt613, shining light on how creative and beautiful Ottawa is under the veneer of government offices and academic buildings. I don’t need to visit another city for entertainment or inspiration. It’s all right here.”
Kim says she hopes to get involved more with Apt613’s Best Bites column in the future, as a big foodie herself: “combining my love of food with my love of writing seems a natural next step. And a girl’s gotta eat!”
Josh Lemoine
Josh learned about Apt613 in the earlier days of the blog, and like it did for many people, it became a go-to website to find out what was happening around Ottawa. For him, bringing sports coverage to the forefront was another main driving force towards joining.
“With so much professional sports available in the city today, it’s wild to think how little there was 10 years ago. When Ottawa Fury FC was starting out, I was keen to support them, but when I’d bring them up in conversation, very few people knew Ottawa even had a professional soccer team,” he says. “I wanted that to change, and thought maybe an outlet like Apt613 could help provide a platform for me to write about the team. Everyone at Apt613 was incredibly supportive and encouraging, and helped me create work that I was very proud of.”
In his time writing about sports for the blog, Josh says one of the highlights was his first foray into investigative journalism: chasing down the original Pedro the Panda.
“That took a few weeks of emails and texts, until finally an unnamed source sent a picture of Pedro with a newspaper from that day. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t thrilling!”
For several years, Josh also hosted the Apt613 podcast, which aired weekly on CHUO, and 613TV.
“613TV was the brainchild of the brilliant Hingman Leung to produce video content for YouTube. It was doing what Apt613 does best, highlighting cool things in the city, but in a format we hadn’t really been doing yet,” he explains. “Again, I volunteered just to see how I could help, but it resulted in some really fun shoots where I learned a lot about video production and being in front of a camera. We even had a screening of some of the content for a live audience at Arts Court!”
While the podcast and 613TV are no longer a current project, Josh says he is keen to continue with his soccer coverage, and meet new talented and creative contributors.
Landon Entwistle
Daniel Ceasar. Photo: Landon Entwistle.
Photographer Landon Entwistle shares his top pick:
“It was incredibly hard for me to pick a favourite show that I’ve covered for Apt613. In my nine years working with the blog, I’ve covered well over 1,000 artists that have come through town, with each providing special moments and memories behind the lens. My favourite in the last few years was Daniel Caesar in 2023 at the Canadian Tire Centre. Ever since I saw him open at Bluesfest years ago to what must have been a crowd of only 50 people in a very early time slot, it was a full circle moment with a sold out show in Ottawa’s largest venue. He’s also been one of my favourite R&B artists from the last decade and has been on the vast majority of my playlists.
This moment created one of my favourite captures, freezing the falling linen surrounding Daniel Caesar as he belted one final note. It’s these instances that remind me of my love for our niche of photography. Capturing a scene that will never take place the same way again, continuously adapting to lighting, movement, and being in the right place for action at the right time. It’s adrenaline-packed, and a thrill to be able to be a part of these moments.”
The BFFs
“We’ve been following this incredible source for all of Ottawa’s arts and culture for ages,” say the BFFs (Broadway Friends Forever) Laura Gauthier and Samara Caplan. “So long that it just feels like it’s always been our go-to and we can’t remember life before it!”
From their first article in 2018, and receiving the award for Most Prolific Coverage with a whopping 42 articles in 2019, this team has been hitting the theatre almost two or three times a week, letting everyone know about all the incredible local productions that come to Ottawa stages.
“We met working together at a non-profit, but quickly bonded over a shared love of musicals and theatre,” they say. “When we realized we could contribute theatre reviews and promos with Apt613 and help get the word out to others across the city about the incredible wealth of great live theatre we have here, we knew we’d found our home.”
The incredible diversity of shows to see in the city are what keep this duo tuned in to the blog, or excited to catch the next performance.
Thank you to all the contributors, editors, photographers, small business owners, content creators, and more who have been a part of our journey! We hope you will continue to follow along and share your ideas with us.
You can follow us on Instagram, or get in contact with us via email, editors@apt613.ca.
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