In the newsletter: So much 2010s content

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Hi, art lovers!

I suspect it'll take a good chunk of 2020 to consume every last bite of our "Best of the 2010s" coverage — but as I teased (and then teased some more) over the last couple newsletters, it's finally ready for you: essays and lists and videos (and more essays and lists and videos) all smashed into an interactive timeline about the top Canadian artists and cultural moments of the decade.

Remember how I asked you to share your own picks last week? Well, it turns out we have a ton in common.

Thank you to everyone who got in touch over the last few days, and before I get all Romper Room on you, you might find it interesting to know that just about every artist you mentioned popped up somewhere in the 2010s package. (I thought it was cool, anyway. Great minds, right?)

Jay Merriott, Mia Nielsen and Cheryl Zubrack suggested Kent Monkman — who, incidentally, debuted two new paintings at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art this past Tuesday, an event that really could've warranted its own essay. (Here's CBC News Entertainment's coverage of the unveiling, in case you missed it.)

Lisa Deanne Smith wrote in with two solid suggestions: Shary Boyle and Alanis Obomsawin. Writes Lisa: "[They] blew me away with their method of working as well as their finished works." Marion Robb-Gardner thought Gord Downie was the most influential Canadian artist of the decade. Christine Didur chose Buffy Sainte-Marie. (Alicia Elliott cites the legend's Polaris Music Prize win in this essay about the Indigenous Renaissance in Canada.)

And on Facebook, Matthew Johannes left this comment about Drake, a performer who dominated the sound of the decade (and our 2010s coverage): "He changed the marketing, branding and sound of popular music and played a massive role in the rebranding of Toronto as a hip hop hub." (Matthew: where were you when we were casting this video?! You would've killed at Stan Wars!)

And because we promised you eye candy

Wait! I have one more reader reco to share! Shane Neville's "best of the decade" pick is the artist behind this particular painting. Here's what he wrote: "When I think about Canadian artists who have done their own thing and grabbed the world's attention, Vancouver-based pop surrealist painter Camilla d'Errico is the first person who comes to mind. She's not a traditional painter by any means, but she's doing it her way."

Scary Christmas! That's a still from Reception by Jenn E. Norton. (If you're in Montreal, Ellephant's put the video in their street-level windows. It'll be there every night to Jan. 15.)

CBC Gem hired Quebec artist Suzie Bergeron to make them an "advent calendar" advertising the four weeks of holiday specials preceding the birth of the blessed bébé. They're promos, but Suzie's 3D paper illustrations are a treat, and she uses a similar technique in her own animated films. (Watch those here.)

More paper! Clare Celeste is the artist behind that marvellously vibrant tropical installation. (To-do: hide in one these floral fantasies till the spring thaw.)

Something else to help you forget about winter: watercolours by Robin Crofut-Brittingham. You'll find loads of surreal leafy scenes on the Montreal artist's Instagram.

You've got to see this

Next stop: history - They can be crowded, slow, plagued with mysterious smells. But Toronto's streetcars are iconic — one of the city's few recognizable symbols — and the '70s-style vehicles long synonymous with downtown are about to disappear forever. On Dec. 29, the old-school streetcars retire, and these artists are sure going to miss them. Find out why.

Can singing improve your mental health? - Just a hunch, but everyone in this video would probably tell you yes. Every Monday, a group of ordinary people meet up at Toronto's Workman Arts to sing. They're the Bruised Years Choir, and beyond a shared love of music, every member has faced mental health and/or addiction issues in their lives. Drop in on one of their rehearsals and hear the singers' stories. Bruised Years isn't about clinical art therapy, but as they'll tell you, the joy of singing together can have a transformative effect.

Bringing Mi'kmaq history to printmaking - The biggest archive of porcupine quillwork is in Nova Scotia, so when Jordan Bennett came to Halifax for the NSCAD Lithography Workshop, the Mi'kmaq artist wanted to reference this tradition from his culture in a new, original work. Go behind the scenes in the latest episode of Print's Not Dead.

Follow this artist

Katie Kotler (@katiekotlerart) - Katie's animation appeared on CBC Arts: Exhibitionists recently, and before you click on her Instagram, crank the volume. Katie also composes music, and you'll want to hear the soundtrack for this one.

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The newsletter's taking a mini break for the holidays, but it'll be back to its regular schedule the first week of January. See you in 2020!

XOXO, CBC Arts