Adventures in Pot Art: Tweed Inc’s New Artist in Residence Program

Pot has been a part of art for as long as anyone can remember. However, Tweed Inc., Canada’s largest legal medical marijuana producer, has taken to mixing pot and art like no before them. Tweed recently announced it had started an artist in residence program.

Ezra Soiferman is Tweed Inc’s First Artist in Residence

Tweed has chosen Montréal based-documentary filmmaker, Ezra Soiferman, to be the company’s first artist in residence. Soiferman is no stranger to cannabis connected projects. He co-directed the 1993 film Pressure Drop about medical marijuana. He also was the driving force behind Hemp for the Homeless. This 2006 project donated hemp food and clothing kits to several Montreal homeless shelters.

More recently, Soiferman involved his talents with Grass Fed. This CBC Documentary channel film followed comedian Mike Paterson, who suffers from sciatica, a painful nerve condition, as he discussed cannabis edibles. Patterson is also a customer of Tweed Inc. It was this project that brought Soiferman to the attention of Tweed and its Chief Creative Officer, Martin Strazovec.

Tweed Inc’s Pot Art Plans

Tweed is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canopy Growth Corporation based in Smith Falls, Ontario. Canopy Growth bills itself as the world’s largest diversified cannabis company. It’s also the first federally regulated, publicly traded cannabis producer in North America.

Tweed is one of the most powerful and influential corporate voices in the legal marijuana industry. Even as Prime Minister Trudeau was planning to create a new legalized recreational marijuana program, Tweed continued to use its political connections to make sure its profitable medical marijuana business would not simply cut out when legalized recreational marijuana arrived in Canada.

Strazovec commented that the role of Soiferman at Tweed would be to “…tell our story in creative ways and to make memorable and unique first impressions”.  The plan is to bring art and cannabis together for making pot art. It gives stoners more beauty to behold, something they can really appreciate.

Soiferman’s Projects

Soiferman’s first project as the artist in residence was The Walls of Montreal, which is a music video using different photographs instead of moving images. The photos captured the murals, painted walls, art graffiti and other beautified backdrops throughout Montreal. The video premiered August 26 at the NDG Off The Wall Film Festival in Montreal’s Girouard Park. Now it is available on YouTube, check this out gorgeous work:

Soiferman’s turn as artist in residence lasts one year. He hopes to “produce work that educates, entertains, and even enlightens.” He called this chance to work as the artist in residence at Tweed to be the highlight of his career.

Soiferman has not officially announced any other projects yet. But he will undoubtedly have more to offer in the months to come. When he does, Tweed Inc. will make the official announcement for his upcoming project.

As a gifted filmmaker, Soiferman has a true passion for his craft. He’s also been an important voice in the normalizing of marijuana. While nobody knows what form his next projects will take, it is certain they’ll be amazing and will push forward the importance of medical marijuana.