Christopher Cottle

Christopher Cottle is one of the current Resident Artists participating in the City of Mississauga’s Resident Artist Program at the Living Arts Centre.

About the artist

“My name is Christopher Cottle, and I am a Black Mississauga-based artist from Toronto, Ontario. I have been deeply passionate of video and photography since I was young, growing up in several photo studios in Downtown Chinatown. I received my first camera at the age of three. Growing up in foster care offered me the opportunity to gain new perspectives in life that I would not have had experienced if I continued living in Alexandria Park. With my disciplines in classical music, jazz music, media arts, photography, and videography, I have nurtured these abilities to create meaningful and engaging events and content. My degree in Communications and Marketing from St. Clair College has fostered my talents in the creative medium to assist stakeholders within public and private sectors. As a current member of the Bawaadan Collective, I have been able to expand my work in the photography and videography space to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples across Ontario. Recently, our collective was shortlisted for the Hamilton Arts Council 2024 Awards, showcasing our dedication to the local community creative scene. Working in partnership with ArtsCan Circle to support Fort Albany First Nations youth to develop and facilitate arts-based programming in the video and audio production space gave me a new found respect for emerging artists. My desire in becoming an Artist Resident for the City of Mississauga is to expand my work within the Black community of my new home. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what my next project will be, and I know I want to collaborate with other resident artists to learn from them and showcase their work to Mississauga at large.” – Christopher Cottle