The SideOne Profile

Sylvia Sweeney

By Phyl Newbeck

A resident of Jericho, Vermont, Phyl Newbeck is a freelance writer for a variety of newspapers and magazines. She is the author of Virginia Hasn’t Always Been for Lovers: Interracial Marriage Bans and the Case of Richard and Mildred Loving.

Changing the Picture One Frame at a Time

Sylvia Sweeney’s motto is “change the picture, one frame at a time” and in her storied career, she has done just that. The Associate Dean of Film, Acting & Media Production at Humber College, Sweeney has made a name for herself in basketball, journalism, and documentary filmmaking. A recipient of the Order of Canada, the two-time Olympian is known as Canada’s First Lady of Basketball, but her athletic career was just the beginning.

Sweeney competed in the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Games and is a member of both the Basketball and Olympic Hall of Fame. She was the flag-bearer in the 1979 Pan American games and was named the most valuable player in the 1979 World Championship for Women. The Sylvia Sweeney Award is presented annually by Canadian Interuniversity Sport and TSN to the women’s college basketball player who

best exemplifies the combined values of athletics,academics, and community involvement.

FROM ATHLETE TO JOURNALIST

After retiring from basketball, Sweeney workedas an investigative journalist and film producer.She founded Elitha Peterson Productions andproduced over 100 live events and documentaries,the most famous of which is In the Key ofOscar, a documentary about her uncle, jazzpianist Oscar Peterson. Sweeney has served asexecutive producer of the National Film Board’sOntario Centre and director of the Ontario MediaDevelopment Corporation.

“Change doesn’t come instantaneously,” Sweeneysays. “I’ve been in broadcasting for most of myformative years and if you want people to come on

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board, you have to do it one frame or one step at atime.”

Sweeney said her inspiration was Norman Granzwho, starting in 1943, produced a series of concertscalled Jazz at the Philharmonic.

“Granz wanted to change the picture”, she says. “Hedecided it was outrageous that the best musicianscouldn’t play together because of segregation.”

“I’ve been trying to tilt at windmills my whole life,” she says, “and giving artists a voice and a platform to perform is part of that.”

Sweeney says Granz recruited big band musiciansto tour as part of an integrated group. He bookedconcert halls, bought all the tickets and sold themhimself since the halls didn’t allow integratedperformances. Sweeney interviewed Ella Fitzgerald,one of the performers hired by Granz, shortlybefore her death.

“She said the music was used to effect positivechange in an environment where people were notthreatened.” Sweeney says.

“CHANGE CAN’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT”

Sweeney took the lessons of Jazz at thePhilharmonic to heart. She remembers a story fromher uncle, who joined the ensemble after Nat KingCole, the original pianist, left to start his televisionshow. Peterson noticed one music fan who cameto see the group perform at various concert hallsbut when he stuck out his hand to thank the manfor his support, he was rebuffed. The man admittedhe loved the music but was still unwilling to shakehands with a black man.

“Change can’t happen overnight,” Sweeney says. “Westand on the shoulders of Martin Luther King but hestood on the shoulders of these artists.”

Sweeney’s goal is to build on the work done by Granzand fulfill her promise to her uncle to create eventsto bring cultures together.

“I’ve been trying to tilt at windmills my whole life,”she says, “and giving artists a voice and a platform toperform is part of that.”

In 1996, Sweeney brought Canadian artists to theOlympic Games in Atlanta and followed that feat byadding artists from other countries for performancesat Olympiads in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

Sweeney tried to convince the International OlympicCommittee that it made sense to combine the gameswith a parallel artistic competition. Although peopleremembered her for her athletic prowess, she hadalso competed in piano as a child and recognizedthat not all competitions were athletically based.

“People have never connected the dots between thedisciplines,” she says, noting that artists competedalongside athletes in Olympic Games until 1948,when they were eliminated because they wereprofessionals. Since professional athletes are nowallowed to compete in the games, Sweeney sees noreason to bar professionals from other fields. Fiveyears ago, she was appointed to the Culture andOlympic Heritage Commission, where she has triedto bring some of her ideas to fruition.

ARTSGAMES

In 2015, Sweeney created ArtsGames, aninternational arts competition which was basedin Montreal. The inaugural event was held in Riode Janeiro in 2016, but a change in the mayoraltyin Montreal eliminated funding for the program.Sweeney returned to the drawing board to come upwith a new, more grassroots model. The plan is to

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create ArtsGames events which would include eight days of competition in 33 disciplines at a different host city every two years. Competitors would be chosen through 31 different federations, each of which will eventually expand their numbers to include the disciplines of music, dance, literature, visual arts and media arts with the goal of having 200 federations in every country. Each country will stage a national championship, the winner of which will go to the ArtsGames.

“We want to connect the dots but not reinvent the wheel,” Sweeney says. “We are the organizers and agitators. We know it’s possible and we’ll keep walking as long as it takes. If we expire, we’ll pass the baton to the next person.”

Sweeney has a lot on her plate but she’s happy to have added the Associate Dean position at Humber to her portfolio.

“It’s been pedal to the metal since I was hired,” she says. “We’re coming up with ideas on how to give students the full educational experience without mingling.” One solution, according to Sweeney, is virtual reality, where all students get the same experience through their headgear. The school is working on launching three courses to be taught via that technology.

“The pandemic is devastating,” she says, “but it’sforcing people to do things differently.”

Sweeney is impressed with what she’s seen so farat Humber. “They have the will and the bandwidthto make a significant impact,” she says. “I walked inthe door and felt like I was at home. It’s a wonderfulplace.”

In 1996, Sweeney brought Canadian artists to the Olympic Games in Atlanta and followed that feat by adding artists from other countries for performances at Olympiads in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

“My career has been based on finding the yes in onethousand no’s” Sweeney says. “If you’re dedicatedto something, you realize that if everyone could seeit, it would have happened long ago. It’s a long roadto walk and you might be alone. It’s hard when youhave a vision and nobody can see it or they think it’stoo big, but we know it’s possible.”

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