current
Lauren Prousky
Pubic Mice
November 14–December 20, 2025
Sylvie Bélanger & Edith Jackson Galleries
Opening Reception: November 14, 7–10pm
Nutcracker II Performance: November 14, 7:30pm
Nutcracker II (II) Performance: December 2, 7pm
Pubic Mice is a fear-driven inquiry into material destruction and the impermanence of structures. Inspired by the lack of affordable housing and my experience as a renter, the work navigates alternative landscapes of looming precarity through the lens of mice—the main characters, or perhaps, landlords, of this constructed world. Using familiar, found, dirty and broken materials, contrasted with adornments and toys, Pubic Mice will consider what’s left of our once reliable structures and what “ruin” means when destruction=profit for those not physically impacted by the demise.
Performances:
Nutcracker II: November 14, 7:30pm (Artcite Inc.)
Nutcracker II (II): December 2, 7pm (Willistead Manor)
Nutcracker II is the name of two distinct yet connected performances that serve to animate, expand upon and deepen understanding of Pubic Mice. Both performances pull from and subvert the original Nutcracker story, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffmann, to explore themes of housing precarity and the province’s predatory housing policies.
The December 2 iteration of Nutcracker II is a fully improvised tour of Willistead Manor led by performers from the Windsor Improv Theatre. Guests will get to experience the Manor from the viewpoint of its resident mice*, the unlikely landlords of this historic architectural landmark.
Please note that the mice are extremely preoccupied with the state of their real estate investment and are on the brink of war with a human child and an obsolete culinary tool. It is a considerable privilege that they have agreed to host a tour for us at this time.
Registration is required for the Willistead Manor performance. Free registration here.
November 14
Performers: Julie Hall, Maddie Lychek, Tess Martens and Niomi Cherney
Dramaturgy and Choreography: Ben Gorodetsky
Costumes: Nick Chatel
December 2
Performers: Alex Monk and Eric Miinch
Costumes: Nick Chatel
This is a work of fiction. There are no known mice, rats or vermin of any kind presently residing at Willistead Manor or in any City of Windsor properties.
Lauren Prousky is an artist and writer based on land colonially known as Kitchener, Ontario. Her multidisciplinary work manifests as distinct projects, each with their own research tracts and material concerns. The connective tissue of these projects tends to be an interest in teasing out poetic moments from the slippery spaces of transformation and entanglement, where words and materials converge, collide, and evolve.
Lauren has an MFA from the University of Waterloo and a BFA from Concordia University. She was a Writer-in-Residence for CAFKA.25 and an AGO Artist-in-Residence in 2023, where she created the participatory performance project, Black Tie Soup Night. In March 2025, Lauren debuted her first one-person theatre show, Microsoft Office Suite Presence: I Look Forward to Hearing Back with Femme Folks Fest in Kitchener. Recent exhibitions include Ed Video, SPACEMAKER II, Cambridge Art Galleries, The plumb and Xpace Cultural Centre. Lauren has published her experimental essays and poetry with Textile, BlackFlash, Public Parking, Untethered and Peripheral Review.
Lauren Prousky acknowledges support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and the Waterloo Region Community Foundation.
Special thank you to Jacob Irish for building the display structures.
Images:
1–5. Lauren Prousky, Pubic Mice (detail), 2025, installation.
Photos: Lauren Prousky.