Exhibits and programs

Home Routes | Artists-in-Residence | Life Upstairs

Home Routes

Join us for our 2026-2027 Home Routes folk concerts at Brubacher House and Emmanuel United Church in Waterloo.

Thursday, September 24, 2026 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Home Routes folk concert: Shawna Caspi

SHAWNA CASPI is a folk-roots singer-songwriter who can make a room full of people feel like they’re hanging out with an old friend in a plush corner booth. She takes her time crafting lyrics that are poetic and meaningful, often using unusual rhymes and surprising turns of phrase. Shawna spent years on the road, playing festivals and concert halls, train cars, backyards, and living rooms, supporting her warm voice with intricate fingerstyle guitar accompaniment, and drawing energy from shifting landscapes and long drives through Canada and the United States. Her songs resonate with stories that are relatable, but told in new and unexpected ways. This is music that makes an authentic human connection, that conveys a sense of closeness, of being understood, of feeling less alone. Her latest album, Hurricane Coming, was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award and
an Ontario Folk Music Award. Shawna is currently working on her next album, slated for release in 2027.

Website | Spotify | Youtube

Fiddle duo Brian Conway and Cate Sandstrom

Friday, October 23, 2026 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Home Routes folk concert: Brian Conway and Cate Sandstrom

THE FIDDLE holds a central place in Irish musical tradition, with distinctive regional styles shaped by generations of expressive ornamentation, intricate bowing, and rhythmic variation. In the early 1900s, Irish immigrants brought these traditions to New York, where the lyrical Sligo Style evolved into the New York Sligo Style, known for its added drive and swing. Influenced by legendary fiddler Michael Coleman and carried forward by musicians such as Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds, this tradition remains a vital part of Irish music. Bronx-born fiddler Brian Conway, a direct link to Coleman through his teachers, has dedicated his career to preserving and sharing this rich musical heritage. As one of the world’s premier Irish fiddlers and a renowned teacher, Conway continues to pass the Sligo Style to a new generation of musicians, including Cate Sandstrom.

Website

Artists-in-Residence

This season, we are thrilled to host University of Guelph PhD candidate and community-based researcher Janna Martin, together with Renison University College Faculty member, theatre scholar, and practitioner of Theatre of the Oppressed Amir Al-Azraki as our 2025-26 Artists-in-Residence. Learn more about the artists.

Join us for their upcoming community theatre events in Kitchener and Guelph: Rehearsing Indigenous-Mennonite Allyship through Forum Theatre!

The Centre for Community Based Research is coordinating the production of a forum theatre play about Indigenous-Mennonite relations in the Waterloo Region. This initiative responds to calls from Indigenous leaders for truth telling and reckoning with the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism. By engaging local Mennonites and Indigenous peoples in participatory theatre, the artistic collective will facilitate an exploration of shared histories, allyship, and reconciliation. Our approach brings forward a bold artistic vision: to use theatre not only to represent tension but to make space for the audience to embody possibility, courage, and change. Event Details

Event Dates and Locations:

Monday, Nov 23, 7:00 pm

Victoria Park Pavilion
80 Schneider Ave, Kitchener, ON N2G 4G7

Thursday, Nov 26, 7:00 pm

Guelph Civic Museum
52 Norfolk St, Guelph, ON N1H 2W9

From Shore to Shore book cover pictured with various fruit pies

The old summer kitchen of Brubacher House was filled with warmth and excitement on Sunday evening, February 1st, as local Mennonite history enthusiasts, members of the literary community, and friends and family of Hannah Gardiner and Jakob-Michael Stephan gathered to celebrate the launch of their first book, From Shore to Shore: Ukrainian Mennonite Poetry in Translation.

Janna Martin and Amir Al-Azraki rehearse for reconciliation through Forum Theatre.

What would it be like to live in a museum?

"Life Upstairs" is a digital exhibit that tells the fascinating history of Brubacher House's live-in hosts through personal stories, photos and videos from past and present hosts.

Curated by Brubacher House 2021 Digital Historian-in-Residence Bethany Leis in partnership with Web Designer Chris Steingart. Supported by the J. Winfield Fretz Publication Fund of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario and Conrad Grebel University College.

Explore the Life Upstairs digital exhibit!

Watch the event recording from our exhibit launch on YouTube.

We loved to bring sledders hot chocolate and meet people out on the winter hill, encouraging them to come visit us again in warmer days.

Jacquie and Karl Reimer (2013-2017)

Photo of Brubacher House host apartment living room