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.

Sunday, May 3, 2026 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Home Routes folk concert: V. Poulsens Kapel

V. POULSENS KAPEL grew out of a deep immersion in traditional Danish music, learned firsthand from mentors, friends, and local tradition bearers. Their repertoire traces a clear lineage to the music of Ewald Thomsen and the many musicians who shaped the brothers’ musical upbringing, passing tunes hand to hand and ear to ear. Through extended stays in Canada, they also developed a lasting love for traditional Canadian music, forming close friendships with leading musicians from Quebec and Cape Breton. These exchanges allowed the music to take root, evolve, and continue living in Denmark—exactly as traditional music is meant to do.

Website

Spotify

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

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.

More information to come about their upcoming publications and Forum Theatre performances braiding Indigenous and Mennonite histories in Waterloo Region!

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