The Gathering Space

installation day - collaborative design is not for the faint of heart

2011-07-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

today is the day... that we have been collectively imagining for months now.

imagine the scene. a basement, cool, even cold in summer. round tables with chairs pulled up. tea cups full. and women gazing at a screen upon which is projected a potential banner design.

slow down! says the woman at the computer, who is manipulating the design in photoshop and thinking collaborative design is not for the faint of heart, or the slow of finger. there is excitement as each piece of the banner is created, re-visioned, shifted, added to, re-coloured... until finally everyone in the room says ok, ok, ok. we all agree this works. final notes are taken so that the last design changes can be implemented off site.

this says it all...

2011-07-04T08:10:00.001-07:00

2011-07-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning thinking about the usual things - housing, poverty, making home. And I had a memory of one of the women who made ironing board covers for every ironing board in the shelter...

a sewing machine was donated and it is being used. we hope that we learn enough to keep it maintained! In addition to the ironing board covers there are these insoles - made of layer upon layer of fabric, that is quilted together and then placed into shoes... softening the steps...

home is....

2011-07-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

where you hang your hat...

This is one of the interior banners that will be hung next week! The hats were made by the women...

rose wreath

2011-06-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

these roses were knitted over the weeks of winter, creating a wooly beauty of many colours. roses in the middle of winter allowed our imaginations to turn toward spring and blossoming...

home is....

2011-06-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

we have been thinking about home.... and what it might be. we started with a section of the quilt, reproducing it and playing with it, and then adding text...
"Home is memory."
"Home is a place where I can watch a bird through a window."
"Home is beautiful."
"Home is a place where I can get lost in the shadows."
"It's a routine."
"Sometimes I get lost in the question - what does it mean?"
"Home is where I can sleep and dream peacefully."

we loves our neighbourhood

2011-02-06T16:26:00.000-08:00

yes we do.... and we love being part of the "capitalism and culture in the junction" exhibit at 3901 Dundas Street West... to learn more about this go to: http://capitalismandculture.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/hello-world/ last night we were part of a slow, and thoughtful conversation about the work, and about the exhibit, which Kim Jackson (a red wagon member!) curated and mounted....

we have been showing the work, and conversing about the work at various venues... and keeping up with the banner designs... that in itself is an enormous part of this year's work. as well we find ourselves talking about the work in varied venues including Liverpool, UK! I was invited to a lovely conference and brought the wool, the needles, crochet hooks in order to bring the material life into the discussion of women, poverty, disability and homelessness.... And some of the ambivalence and uncertainty i feel as well, around this work... it is paradoxical to engage in the domestic arts with women denied any domestic pleasures - or perhaps not.

and today we had our community knit in at the gallery... a delightful afternoon with some folk joining in while others looked on through the windows... and tomorrow we knit hearts... and design banners....

Showing the work

2010-10-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

We have exhibited the work in two venues - one, the Arts Festival in the community, and at a conference called "The Art of Public Health". Each has been rewarding for us and multiple conversations have been generated. The work of the quilt - when viewed in public becomes a complex metaphor - for the structural inequities that women who are insecurely and unhoused experience, as well as the gorgeous community that has been created over cups of tea. The quilt becomes performative. And this is something I must consider.... It performs the wish for the domestic as well as its denial in the lives of women living in shelters. But I will close with a wish that we bear witness to the words from the women, as quoted above....

"we are doing beautiful things here"

2010-08-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

We are working toward the banners... half way to our goal with funding.... and it will feel good to have a project produced that has the potential to shift perceptions and attitudes.... there are misconceptions about who is homeless... and part of what this project is doing is attempting to understand more of the social inequities.

We hope the banners will draw people closer to the building.... to this community....

provisional banner design

2010-06-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Feast

2010-06-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

We are about to take a break for the summer months from the main work at the shelter. We will spend the time building community by having events like films in outside venues. And maybe a knit in or two... spontaneous.

The feast - it was indeed a feast! So much food. Many cooks in the kitchen with knives and bowls and kale and mango and goat and rice and oh-so-much-more. We cooked and ate for what seemed hours. When asked if I had brought my camera I said "no". I did not stop to take photographs as documentation because I wanted to really just be there. I figured the documentation could be this writing.

Many of the women in the kitchen have not cooked their own food for years. They exist with limited choice over their food options - they have eaten what has been provided by shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks. This was different. We cobbled together a menu from different continents and made a grocery list. And a task list - some of the women did not want to cook a dish but wanted to just be in the kitchen helping out. Washing dishes, cutting vegetables, stirring pots. It didn't matter.

The smells of the preparation brought many of the workers through. They laughed and chatted with the women.

This group of women are awesome - I have been able to work alongside of them, individually and collectively and I remain uncertain as to why it takes years and decades to find housing. That will be a subject for later contemplation...

2010-06-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

A beautiful hand knitted bicycle seat sweater made by one of the members of the art group. I think this would be a great item to sell at the Junction Arts Festival which is going to be all hand made arts and crafts this year.

"to be flying is not to be in it"

2010-05-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of the women who spoke about flying and what it meant in her life. "To be flying is not to be in it". So simple and strong. For her to act as if flying was transformative and placed her "not in it".
I am so excited by this work, and so happy when I go to visit and make art. Art becomes this wonderful circle, where, at times, the actual making occurs between us, through conversation.... And then I think of all of the wonderful feminist, conceptual artists...

Yesterday was a day of comic errors. I had baked muffins but did not have the key (turns out it was in my possession)... Showed up with the idea that we could at least eat muffins, if nothing else. We tracked down a worker who was kind enough to open a cupboard and the kitchen - so we had tea with our snack. And some beads. But this gave us also an extended period of time in which we could really begin to explore the banner production.

This is a sneak preview of the banner again! We will show snippets over the next weeks. Thanks!

someday is not any day of the week

2010-05-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

We are working on a group of flying women! the women have been so amazing - taking poses with their arms in the air - getting ready for flight! And then I do a bit of digital magic so that we can eventually place them on a banner. Stay tuned to this space as we get ready to produce our first banner with this community of women.

Visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario

2010-05-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

I don't have a photograph to represent our trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Perhaps the image would be of the muffins I baked in advance of the trip. Or the beautiful blue sky. Or sitting on the corner waiting for the bus. Perhaps a collage would work.... as we encountered the work of Kenyan born artist Wengechi Mutu. One of the women who came on the trip was Kenyan! So it was a moment of sheer delight. Big thanks to the AGO for a delightful afternoon of immersion in colour, shape, feeling.

Instead I put up one of the banner mockups - a work in progress collage made up of some of the work done. These are not the kind of colours I often work in but they resonate with what we are doing down in the interior of an anonymous building.... Not so anonymous once these get placed outside!

2010-04-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here is one of our works in progress,

affectionately known as the "crazy quilt." the saying goes "every stitch tells a story." This quilt will keep growing, and in the meantime we are figuring out the technical details of mounting it....

2010-03-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

Our art supplies recycling program is successful by leaps and bounds! Thanks to Karyn from the Workroom (a great fabric arts shop at 1340 Queen St.) for beautiful fabric scraps, Emily for paints, and Michelle also for fabric and other items...we are going to get started on some quilting at Mainstay today....

Happy International Women's Day

2010-03-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

Yeah! Another year of waiting is over and it's here! IWD!!!! Happy day to all of you. We have been working hard - and just finished writing our grants for production. We are hoping to be able to continue this work beyond the next few months. And the above rose is a thank you to all of our supporters... more flowers in the making!

In our grant writing we noted that we were privileged to write from places we can call home. Having a place called home means so much - it is a refuge, where we can think, write, imagine. One of the hardest things is to have no such place. To be in places where your thinking is disrupted, where there is no privacy, no sense of justice. There are consequences to a culture that does not provide for all of her citizens. We live these consequences, many of us on an unconscious level....

more gratitude

2010-02-18T17:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, we received so much! It was a bounteous day at Evangeline.... Bags of wool, boxes of paint and all that has been previously mentioned! A huge thank you to the community who is supporting us. It was a great day to receive these donations as we could not get into the cupboard that contains the materials.... luckily the donations meant that we could continue into another afternoon. And one of the community members brought us Olympic donuts to eat!

We will be taking a trip soon to the art gallery. they have a wonderful program which supports community visits!

2010-02-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

Here is the flyer we made to get more supplies. Yesterday we got a beautiful sewing machine, some drawing stuff and books, as well as boxes and boxes of paints. The sewing machine works perfectly and we are excited to use it....Kim

finding shelter

2010-02-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

this day has been one of lovely conversation and knitting, crocheting, learning and teaching. i returned home to read some articles in order to prepare for class tomorrow. The article writes about Canadian policy and attitudes toward disability - and the fact is: we know very little. We do not understand how poverty and disability intersect; how poverty is persistent for some persons no matter what individual choices are made. it is particularly problematic and troubling if the person also lives with a disability or difference.

Person residing in shelters often experience impairment and disability. Everyday is another day of not quite having enough. Not enough to buy a toothbrush, a new pair of shoes, underwear, socks. The stress is exhausting, it becomes a tangles of knots...

So what you see below is an intial design for a banner - made with the folks at one of Toronto's shelters.... gorgeous isn't it? There is untapped beauty in these old buildings.... let us know what you think!

thinking

2010-01-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

it is a cold day today - extreme weather alert. So the chances of living and staying healthy on the streets is diminishing.

what you see above is our "pot" of wool! it is this that feeds us. we received some community donations of wool, needles, fabric, and more... so an enormous thank you to donors! we appreciate the attention - it really means much more than the wool, the needles. it means that people are actively thinking about this community. and by doing so, thinking, they begin to imply relationship.

happy birthday afternoon tea

2010-01-25T16:32:00.000-08:00

today we celebrated the birthdays of all women with a (vegan) cake - chocolate with vanilla frosting and red icing decorations. around the sides of the cake were written words: crochet, knit, tea, talk, sew... on the top were the words "happy birthday" and some hearts, as well as icing balls of yarn! delicious.

however i felt also like some small piece of this cake was absent. One of the women who comes regularly has now left... and we will miss her but also wish her well as her life continues... it would have been nice to share this cake with her...

today we were 16 women. many of us continue to knit our knee warmers but there are many other projects on the go as well. including baby blankets for one of the women - who is due soon. next week our plan is to begin designing the banners. we are also arranging a trip to the art gallery. and still planning that knit in!

the women are filled with ideas about how to make our shelter systems better. first of all they would appreciate permanent housing, and recognition that shelters are not and should not be long term solutions. they would also appreciate housing for women over 50. there is a sense that perhaps shelters for specific groups would keep more women off the streets... and the usual wish for no bedbugs!

mute, silence

2010-01-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

it's what we do, when the television is on and we want to take a phone call, what we wish we could do when someone is talking endlessly about something we may have a different opionion about.... i get a sense that our society would like to keep women who have experienced homelessness on mute...

but today it was noisey. many voices chattering over tea - women from different cultures, countries, with different belief systems all coming together for an afternoon of art. today we were learning how to make knee pads. one woman stated that they would be really helpful when she had to go back to the streets - good for keeping her knees warm. we thought that once we are done we will photograph us all wearing them! the pattern is not too complex, a ribbed stitch, moving into a shaped purl for the knee and then back to the ribbing (k2, p2) - if we figure out how to write a pattern down i may post it. right now we have an example that we are studying.

some of the women talked about the group itself, and that it was helpful. just to spend some time where there were no rules, where beauty was deemed an inherent part of life. and perhaps also it is a place where women can make some of what they have lost. a scarf, mittens, a sweater or hat. a picture for a wall. small and essential parts of life.

and we may well be knitting outside soon. we have decided that we would like to take our work onto the streets in order to bring more awareness of homelessness and what people in poverty face. stay tuned.

2009-11-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

This is the sign for our group these days! Enough sugar to make it a sweet time for all of us as we continue to work on the crafts that seem to come so naturally...

The tea pot is filled with the reminiscences of the afternoon - now turned to tea leaves. and in the middle of it is the mash up of contributions -looking gorgeous!

learning from our mothers...

2009-11-09T20:53:00.001-08:00

We began our work on obi belts today... hours of work left me with an "h" and an "o"... part of "home" that will eventually be spelled out.

In the quiet of the afternoon, women drank tea, knit, crocheted, embroidered and thought about home.

Today part of what we chatted about was how each of us learned to knit and crochet. We found out that women learned in schools and from the hands of their mothers and grandmothers. Some of us also learned to memorize patterns from a quick look at a book that is too expensive to purchase.

imagine

2009-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

We have been working at Evangeline this autumn and imagining the kinds of transformation that can take place... Here is a banner that we have imagined. We hope to be able to work toward the creation of a series of banners which incorporate the work that we are doing there... bringing the inside, outside...

knitting

2009-08-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a great deal about knitting and crocheting... large and small. Maybe because i just finished the scarf you see above? And I have been looking at the work of many artists including Canadian Janet Morton. Her large scale (and more intimate projects) are inspiring to this Toronto gal. In fact as we begin the next phase of the Evangeline project we will be introducing her work to the women. Our goal is for us all to begin imagining... and what better place to start than with projects that have used the domestic handicraft of women to transform spaces and places.

Some Small Success to Celebrate

2009-08-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Have been wanting to let the community know that the Red Wagon Collective was successful in receiving grants from both the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council. Our deepest appreciation goes out to these Councils - without their support we would not be able to engage in this community arts project. This means we are starting our work with the folks at Evangeline again, so stay tuned!

Working at Evangeline

2009-05-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

The Gathering Space of course changes and somehow stays the same, in its heart. The location has shifted, but the red wagon lives and thrives. We have been working at Evangeline for months now but so busy that we have not posted! We means Loree, Kim (at times), me (Nancy) and Liz. Loree did have to leave us for a post with the Ontario Arts Council... So sad but at the same time... so grand!
And so my intent is to catch up with what we have been doing. And that includes updating, finding images, and telling those who miss us what we have been up to!

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

Home Sweet Home, The Gathering Space's final exhibition at our studio/gallery space at Cool Hand of a Girl in April 2008 featured a unique collection of work that included invitations from artists to participate in the collection and work that was the result of collaborations with community members. We want to thank everyone - artists and community members - for their generous contributions.

Home Sweet Home Artists and Projects

2008-03-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Home Opening- Thurday April 3rd 5-7pm
Join us in celebrating our final exhibition, a presentation of 13 community collaborations and neighborhood interventions. Toronto artists collaborate with students from Lucy McCormick, long-time shopkeepers along Dundas W., children, seniors and residents of Evangeline House, to create engaging and interpretive photography, textile, sculpture and installation projects that explore their relationships to ‘home’ and the Junction. Please bring a small meaningful object that can be incorporated into Kaitlin Gate’s Precious Possessions work. Exhibition will run until April 30th.

DAVID BATTISTELLA
Project: Part of the Junction’s fading charm has been how the storefronts have transformed from apartments back to retail and their built purpose. Another element that reminds me of the Junction’s charm are the storefront churches that find a way to hide between retail stores, and between past and present. People gather here to worship, to find what ever they are looking for and maybe more importantly to be together on the street. As the Junction is bound to feel the weight of ‘renewal’ in the coming years, the places that give way when this dam bursts are places like the storefront apartments and these 15 or so storefront churches that have shaped the character of the Junction for the 14 years I have know it.

Bio: David Battistella is a film maker and pacifist. His films are built on the theme of nostalgia and it's affects on memory. A diverse artist David is also an actor, writer, cinematographer and has even created a spoken word record. With StoreFront churches david has attempted to document a small slice of unique Junction culture.

SARAH CULLEN- Drawing/ Mapping Devices
Project:I will be facilitating residents to make maps of the Junction with my Pendulum Drawing/Mapping Devices. These mapping/drawing boxes provide a unique visual record of a journey. They are maps, but not maps that one can necessarily follow. This record is an added incentive to wander and explore by foot; and to wander physically and mentally.

Bio: I am a Toronto based artist currently living on Toronto Island. I earned a BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2005. Most recently I was invited to participate in an artist’s residency at the Banff Centre for six weeks this past fall. My main interests these days lie in exploring walking and mapping based work. I also draw, sew, knit, and enjoy pin-hole photography.

MICHELLE FERRY & JANE O'HARA- These are a few of my favorite things
Project: We will curate the display of the These are a Few of our Favorite Things photography project that residents of the Junction have been working on over the past two months. Participants were given disposable cameras and asked to take photos of their favorite buildings, neighbors, shop signs, places that are hidden treasures, and features of their home.

Bio: Jane O’Hara and Michelle Ferry are grade 12 student at Humberside Collegiate Institute. They both became introduced to the Gathering Space through the Cranky Movie Project. Jane’s life long interest in art and culture was introduced to her at a very early age from both her parents. Michelle is looking forward to pursuing a degree in Drama and Psychology at Glendon in the fall. Both Michelle and Jane are enthusiastic about curating the ‘These are a few of my favorite things’ exhibition.

KAITLIN GATES- Precious Possessions
Project: We bring items into a space to make it “feel like home.” Cherished belongings rich with history, memories and emotions are introduced into a space to conjure feelings of comfort, security, familiarity, the feeling of being home. Removal of these precious possessions can revert a home back to a mere structure. We are able to invite our neighbors into our lives by sharing our objects that, no matter where we are, transform a space into a home. Participants are asked to bring in a precious possession that, no matter where they are, makes them feel at home. I will sew the items into cupped paper hands with gold thread.

Bio: Kaitlin Gates is a Toronto-based artist and recent graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design where received her BFA in Printmaking. She has been part of many professional group shows with fellow printmakers. Kaitlin is inspired by her personal exploration of her feelings toward romantic love and the way society allows people to accept this very powerful force. Much of her work is based on stenciling, patterning and framing strong central images.

THE GATHERING SPACE- Home Sweet Home
Project: Over the winter visitors to The Gathering Space sheltered against the biting cold and cozied up to mugs of coffee and warm hours of stitching verses of poems, lines of songs, inspiring sayings and memorable anecdotes onto swathes of pastel gingham and florals. The result is a hodge podge collection of textile momentos that harken back to your grandmother’s living room. The frames were generously donated by Pat at Picture it Framed. Thanks to Mimi for helping us sort them out!

NANCY VIVA DAVIS HALIFAX, DONNA JOHNSTON, KATHY CALLANHAN, NICK POWER, ROCCO, XANA DUNCAN, RICHARD- Lucy McCormick? What is this place?

“People see the world as white and black… But we’re definitely within the grey.”

Lucy McCormick Senior School is a congregated setting for students with developmental disabilities.

Actually “Lucy” is the real name of the school and the students it serves are what gives the school its life.

The project Lucy McCormick? What is this place? reveals only one aspect of the life at Lucy. The teachers felt that they could not include the students in the photographs. We have chosen instead to photograph our classrooms, hallways and special teaching areas. We hope to portray the objects that we use on a daily basis as ordinary. The photos reveal that we are anything but ordinary. This is as it should be, because we teach extraordinary people. - The Teachers at Lucy McCormick Senior School

Lucy McCormick Senior School is a school that has its students at its centre. The nature of this documentary photographic project Lucy McCormick: What is the place? is such that the absence of students in the photographs reflects the nature of the ethics of both community arts and the school. Both groups want to protect vulnerable subjects while still speaking to the nature of disability and teaching while they engage together in an exploratory project about teaching and learning at the site of Lucy McCormick. The brief nature of the project spoke to the extraordinary kindness of the teachers, staff and administration at Lucy…. As the artist I can hope in the future to engage in a longer-term project that would do justice to the complexities of this wonderful place. - Nancy Viva Davis Halifax, community artist

Bio: My practices are grounded in a history as a conceptual artist and influenced by the re-enchantment projects that perceive the value of art not as a potential object of consumption, display or investment but relationally. Art wants us to understand it, to perceive it and through this encounter be able to return to the mundane world in a changed way. My project work includes the cultivation of imagination, empathy, social justice, compassion and awareness.

KIM JACKSON- Junction Sound Project
Project: My interest in audio is to displace and reconfigure sounds common to the Junction’s urban environment, and replace them in the context from which they rose. My method is to record samples and make loops of the samples that build into contrived patterns. Out of this process will emerge instances of specific sounds, such as a cash register, bird song, alarms, rings, sirens, traffic, and trains- in other words ‘keynote’ sounds of the Junction.

Bio: I am new to the Junction. I've worked here for two years as a cook and have just become a resident. Since being in the neighborhood I have been struck with the willingness of people here to engage with one another, and have felt inspired by this feeling of quick familiarity. I have learned bits and pieces of a fascinating historical continuum that includes industry and a working class reality, as well as a culture of middle-class aspirations that exist beside a strong presence of economic disenfranchisement. I have felt compelled to respond to the Junction as a sort of battleground between dominant culture and individual voice.

RHONDA NOLAN
Project: The altered book – This is a reclaimed book found in a Junction thrift shop, altered and transformed into a memoir. This book tells the story of a woman from the Junction. Her life develops out of an artistic interpretation of historical and contemporary facts combining photos, snippets of information, recipes, fabrics, and anything else that tells of the woman’s joys and sorrows. Illustrations and embellishments are added along the way.

Bio: Rhonda Nolan comes from a graphic design background, including papermaking, card design, illustration and bookarts. She has designed greeting cards for distribution in Canada and the US.and invitations for corporate and private functions .Her work has been commissioned by private industry, small and corporate businesses over the years. For her illustrations and her art, she uses a mixed media, fluid paint/collage style, layered with glazes and text . She also likes to use found objects in her work. She is a firm believer in self expression through illustrated journaling. This has led to the development and facilitation of journaling with paint workshop. Her conviction that this method of expression can lead to a healthier, happier life is borne of her own personal exploration of inner self, and the resulting new energy and creative spirit. www.rhondanolan.com

SHANNON PHAIR & PETRINA NG- Dear Toronto,
Project:Dear Toronto, is a community art project that invites residents (and visitors) to write a letter to Toronto. If you knew Toronto was listening, what would you say? We all have something to share with Toronto: words of advice, fond memories, constructive criticism, or well-deserved compliments. Write a note, sketch your favourite city scene or respond to some of Dear Toronto’s, past mail.

Bio: Dear Toronto, consists of emerging artists, Shannon Phair and Petrina Ng, recent graduates of Visual Studies at the University of Toronto. Their individual practices range from painting to collage to video to installation to printmaking. Collectively, their community-based collaborative project, Dear Toronto, was first exhibited at Shannon and Petrina’s graduating thesis exhibition in March 2007. It was reinvented for AlleyJaunt 2007 and was recently invited to exhibit at Xpace later this year.

ERIN RILEY, LISE BEAUDRY & LOREE LAWRENCE- Junction Shopkeepers
“The shopkeepers best friend” is a moniker that I was given many years ago by a friend who was bemused by the time I spent talking with shopkeepers when I went into their places of business. I don’t know why I like to chat so much with them but I do. I’m curious and I generally like meeting people. I’m also particularly drawn to talking with small business owners who care about their neighbourhood, have a chair for visitors and a love of conversation.

The Junction is home to a large number of shopkeepers who make this community an engaging place to live, work and visit. As I continue my work with The Gathering Space, I look forward to the pleasure of getting to know more about the people who make this place home.

Thank you to Stephanos and Anna Androkopoulos (Sweet Trolley Bakery), Ralph Cini (Ralph the Barber), Rita Lobe (Henry’s Variety), Shaheed, Zalina and Judy Mohammed (Triple Z Roti), and Simon Neiman (Simon Tailors) for letting us take pictures of you and your stores and, most importantly, for taking time to talk.

This photographic and audio exhibit is the start to a larger and longer piece (with edited audio tracks!).

Photographers:
Lise Beaudry – Stephanos Androkopoulos, Shaheed Mohammed and Simon Neiman
Erin Riley – Ralph Cini and Rita Lobe

Design & Printing:
Erin Riley

Interviewer:
Loree Lawrence

JULIE TUCKER- Pledge
Project: My audio project Pledge will bring together a group of children from the Junction neighborhood to create a pledge in support of a fictitious community group or club of their creation. The children decide the identity of the group and outline the parameters for membership. The pledge they will write will be representative of their groups’ moral code. This project is a recitation of a fictitious pledge reminiscent of pledges recited by Girl Guides or Brownies.

Bio: Julie Rae Tucker received Masters of Fine Arts degree at the University Of Windsor. Her current practice involves installation and audio recordings. Recently, she has received an Emerging Artist Grant from the Ontario Arts Council.

CARMEN VICTOR
Project: I have made a fractured photo collage of photos of doors and windows in Junction Resident’s homes. My collage examines the varied and changeable nature of ‘home’, and attempts to blur the distinction between external circumstance and internal experience.

Bio:Carmen Victor has an MFA from the University of Victoria, BC. She lives and works in Toronto.

Kristen Wulff- Inhabiting the Uninhabitable
Project: My outdoor site specific intervention Inhabiting the Uninhabitable is an ongoing investigation into how the idea of ‘home’ is communicated in iconic representation. It also aims to address our current urban environment where houses are often purchased before a building even begins construction; drawing our attention to how we are able to imagine or envision a space before its realization. I hope to raise questions about our own ideas about the ‘home’: How is it marketed? How can it evolve? What are the required elements to transform a house into a home?

Bio:Kristen Wulff is a Toronto based installation artist and curator who recently received her BFA from the Sculpture Department of the Ontario College of Art and Design. As an emerging artist, she is excited to explore alternative methods of making and showing her work. Her art focuses on the challenges within language and the relationships that develop between objects, sites, and individuals. http://www.terminus1525.ca/studio/view/5870

Gib Goodfellow's Historical Presentation

2008-03-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

On the 28th of February Gib Goodfellow from the West Toronto Junction Historical Society presented a historical slideshow of the Junction. Gib has a background in geographry and had amazing facts and maps about the terrain that informed how the Junction came to be shaped like it is today. For example, Dundas West was built on a curve to bypass a series of ravines that jutted north from Lake Ontario. Many long-time residents attended the event, and we are very excited for them to contribute their own stories to our projects.

Before & After Exhibit

2008-03-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

February was History Month at the Gathering Space. We installed the Before and After workspace, which features historical photos of Junction storefronts and street culture accompanied by contemporary photos of the same sites. Throughout March, we encourage visitors to contribute their memories, questions, reflections, photos and drawings to the workspace, which will develop into our Contact installation at the Agora Cafe in May. We have also installed a Living Timeline of the Junction that we encourage you to add your own historical moments to- The day you were born, the day you opened a business in the Junction, or the First day your children attended a neighborhood school.

Black History Month Celebration!

2008-03-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

February was Black History Month, and the Gathering Space was proud to collaborate with community mover and shaker- Sistah Lois to host the “I woke up this mornin’...andawhatahappenext in the Junction” Cabaret. We are very thankful to Christopher and Rohan at the Rope In West Indian Bar and Grill, Judy and Selena at Triple ZZZ, Legacy Home Video, Aquatropic, Lady Ann Superstore, Dave Da’Costa Furniture, Garnett Graham at New Hope Upholstering, Martin Scott at Forevor Interiors, and Vivine Joseph for generously donating food and gifts to the event. Performances by Nehal, Tuku Matthews, Dovie Rochester, Jah-Paul, Micheal Cooke, and Sistah Lois captivated the audience. Sistah's Living Afrikan Liberation Installation will be on site until the end of March. Residents are welcome to add their stories of powerful anti-racist activist's to the Africanuck silhouette.

Visiting Loyola-Arrupe Senior's Centre

2008-03-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

We took our first steps in reaching out to long-time Junction residents with a visit to the Loyola- Arrupe Senior’s Centre. Filmmaker John Porter joined us in presenting Home Movies and discussing Senior’s stories of shopping, working, and raising children in the Junction. We look forward to returning to Loyola- Arrupe, and inviting its residents to contribute to the Before and After Workspace.

Cranky Movies at Beat the Winter Blues

2008-03-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

On February 15th We presented a selection of our Cranky Movies at the Beat the Winter Blues Community Fundraiser at the DPNC, for families that survived the Franklin Street fire in early January. Performers included, Mark and Ellie , Michelle Ferry, Loree Lawrence and Noah Kenneally. Artists that were not present, but who's films were performed included Ammar Lababneh, Olivia Mahood-Wilkens, Josh Meilach, and Mark Waldhausen.

Home Sweet Home Call for Submissions

2008-02-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

Call for Submissions:  Home Sweet Home
Deadline: March 1, 2008

The Gathering Space is calling artists to submit proposals for wall-hung works, site-specific indoor and outdoor installations, and ephemeral performances for The Gathering Space’s April exhibition, Home Sweet Home. Multi-disciplinary artworks interpreting the theme, “Home Sweet Home”, will be installed and/or performed either in The Gathering Space, in shops along Dundas St. West, or in outdoor venues in the Junction neighbourhood.
All of the proposals should include collaboration with Junction residents in the creation, performance and/or dissemination of the work. Entries should indicate how they will work with residents and whether they would prefer to collaborate with a particular age group, demographic etc. We will assist in arranging collaborations.
The Gathering Space is an arts initiative based in the Junction that uses maps, photographs, text, film, visual art, and objects to research, reflect, and respond to people’s ideas, stories, and memories about everyday life.
Since September 2007 we have been working with residents gathering stories, images, and text and leaving traces of artwork throughout the Junction. We have a public workspace and gallery at 2804 Dundas St. West that we share with Cool Hand of a Girl Coffee Shop.

The exhibition will run from Wednesday April 3, to Thursday April 24, 2008.

Please include the following in your submission:
• Contact information: include telephone number, full mailing address and email address.
• Artist’s bio: max 75 words – Word document
• Artist’s statement: max 75 words – Word document
• Description of proposed work: include size, materials, process and installation (wall-hung, indoor or outdoor,
performance) – Word document
• 3 – 5 images: representation of proposed work- Jpeg format. Images may be sent on a CD or as email attachments.
Emailed image files should be no larger than 640 x 480 ppi (72 dpi) and must be numbered and named to correspond
with the image list.
• Numbered image list: include size of work, medium and any other relevant details.

Submissions:
• The deadline is 01 March, 2008 (must be received by 11pm)
• Entries may be dropped off or submitted by email or surface mail
• If you are sending a submission by email, please include your name in the file names of your attachments.
• If sending your submission by surface mail, please send your contact information, bio, artist’s statement, details of
proposed work and the image list in hard copy along with a CD of images.
• Please include a SASE if you would like your submission package returned.

Send your entries to:

Home Sweet Home
The Gathering Space
c/o Cool Hand of a Girl
2804 Dundas St. West
Toronto, Ontario
M6P 1Y5

Email: gatheringspace@gmail.com

Our 2nd Home Movie Hearth Screening!

2008-02-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

Well, we thought our first home movie screening was incredible.....but our second screening managed to top the quality and energy of the first. John Price's hand developed 16mm reels of his daughter's birth were mesmerizing. Our audience was in awe of the cinematic potential of the 'home movie'. The Junction also got a glimpse into Loree's family through reels of her parent's wedding and her brother's early childhood years. Most curiously was John porter's contribution of his 1st reel of Super-8 film ever shot! We've been told there are many more from that same canoe trip to look forward to at the next screening on March 27th. See you then.

Photo Treasure Hunt @ The Agora Cafe

2008-02-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

To see our latest photo exhibit, a selection of the over 300 photographs taken locally by 17 artists and residents for the ‘A-Z Photo Exploration of the Junction’ currently hanging at our space, visit Agora Mediterranean Market Café at 3015 Dundas St. West. Also on display are two photo mosaics created during our opening in November featuring colours and textures of the Junction.

Cupcakes in the 'hood

2008-01-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

Ok Ok.

I know. We've been in the Junction for a few months now..... but there's been so many amazing people, we just haven't had the time to meet everyone yet! These past weeks we made some major advancements in this department. Two weeks ago we handed out 500 invitations with manila tags, and recipe cards with instructions for residents to share a story of their time in the neighborhood and return it to The Gathering Space. This week we made 50 cupcakes that we loaded up onto our red wagon and delivered to our neighbors along Dundas W. It was a sweet way to introduce the project and make friends in the neighborhood.

We simultaneously hung laminated 'Residents in Reflection' photographs in shopkeepers windows. Next time you're out on the street, see if you can spot them all!

'Home Sweet Home' Embroidery Project

2008-01-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

It's Winter. It's Cold. It's Snowing. It's Windy.

What better way to spend a chilly day then in The Gathering Space with a cup of tea and an embroidery hoop! Come in and choose from an array of fabrics and threads to craft your own rendition of a 'Home Sweet Home' wall hanging; or stitch an inspirational phrase, memorable song lyric, or quizzical poem of your choosing (images welcome as well). We will be framing each embroidered work and exhibiting them in our 'Home Sweet Home' exhibition in April. All works will be returned to the artist after the exhibit.

Cranky Movie Screening with Humberside Collegiate Students

2008-01-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

On January 24th we had a warm and intimate gathering of local artists and Humberside Collegiate students to unveil the Hand Cranked Animations they made in their Drama Classes with Noah. Each artist's work was an original and inventive interpretation of the theme 'Change'. Some even included performative elements. For another opportunity to witness the Cranky Films, check up on our February Listings for our contribution to a fundraiser being held on February 15 for the families who are homeless after a fire near Edith Street.

Photo Treasure Hunt Exhibit Opening & Holiday Soiree!

2008-01-05T13:41:00.001-08:00

On December 21 we revealed the outcome of our Photo Treasure Hunt Project, in which 13 artists and local residents were given a disposable camera and an alphabet of community themes. Each participant was asked to interpret each theme in a single photograph. Photographers: Awna Teixeira, Benny Huizenga, John Porter, Lynda, Edith, Gib GoodFellow, Linda, Rio Chicoine, Carmen Victor, Deirdre O'Donnell, Neill Cunningham, Owen Cunningham, Vandra Masemann, Kim Jackson.

We look forward to selecting two photos from each photographer's collection to create a single alphabet, which will be exhibited at the Agora Cafe near the end of January.

Also, during our holiday soiree we baked gingerbread cookies for our guests to decorate with a message about what they're thankful for.

Animals in the Junction framed prints for sale!

2008-01-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

We have made extra prints of the 'Animals in the Junction' photos that have been hanging in the Agora Cafe. Framed prints are on sale for $75.00

We have also made blank 4 x 6 gift cards with the animal photos on the front. Each package has five unique cards with envelopes, and sells for $10.00.

Cards and prints can be bought during regular workspace hours!

ENCOUNTERS inspires The Gathering Space

2007-12-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

After meeting Ruth Ben-Tovim and Trish O'Shea at the community/performance conference in Rhode Island in 2003 and seeing the work they were doing with their ENCOUNTERS shop projects in Sheffield, England, Loree Lawrence (Lead Artist of The Gathering Space) started fundraising to do a similar project in the Junction neighbourhood. For the last six years ENCOUNTERS has inhabited disused shops in diverse neighborhoods and used them as a base to create artworks around the themes of people, community, identity, and place. The shops attract hundreds of visitors, becoming neighbourhood magnets, drawing in people of all ages and cultures to leave objects, memories, journeys, thoughts and ideas about where they live. In Fall 2006, ENCOUNTERS was featured in the British Pavilion for architecture at the Venice Biennale. Loree visited Ruth and Trish in May 2007 to immerse herself in their world and came back to join with Lise Beaudry, Noah Kenneally, and Amy Kazymerchyk in starting The Gathering Space. To learn more about ENCOUNTERS visit www.sharrowencounters.co.uk.

Home Movie Night in the Junction!

2007-12-10T18:10:00.001-08:00

Our first of a series of Home Movie Screenings was a jam packed 2.5 hours of venetian holidays, beaver hunting excursions, and calgary stampede debauchery. The popcorn was flowing, and the audience provided nostalgic and entertaining narration to family and found films. Thanks to Jonathan and Sue from the HOMEMADE MOVIES Home Movie History Project for supporting and promoting such a stunning event. We have also set up our Junction Home Movie Hearth, which offers 8mm, Super-8 and 16mm viewing stations that are accessible in the Gathering Space during all open workshop hours. The Home Movie Hearth is available to anyone wishing to view and repair their own, or found, film. We will be hosting our second public screening on January 31st.

2804 Dundas W. Opening!

2007-12-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Our grand opening was a huge success. Many Junction Residents, Artists, and Community Organizers turned out to support the Gathering Space and contribute their stories and ideas to a range of installations that we've been cooking. Junction Judy was on hand to collect stories of how people came to the junction; people mapped their fond memories of the neighborhood; and many opened their pockets onto the scanner flatbed to create printed images for a photo collage. Our good friend Iel provided us with delicious cornbread, foccacia and hummous, baked earlier that day in the Cool Hand of a Girl kitchen; and we all toasted to the beautiful 'Reflections in the Junction' Photographs that were newly exhibited.

The Gathering Space found a home!!

2007-10-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

Thankfully! Now that the cold weather is coming we are happy to announce that we've found a warm home for our project. Starting November 1st The Gathering Space with will open our studio at 2804 Dundas St. West. We'll be sharing space with 'Cool Hand of a Girl', popular coffee shop and local gem. Our studio will be open Wednesday to Friday from 12 to 6 and on weekends, while 'Cool Hand of a Girl' serves brunch, we will be out and about in the Junction neighbourhood gathering as usual.

Some things we've found

2007-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

One of the research activities we've been doing for the Gathering Space has been finding interesting and unusual things around the neighbourhood, and here are some photos of a few of our found objects:
1) the strange remains of a lampshade, perched on a fencepost
2) an interesting piece of metal, maybe a belt buckle?
3) some very beautiful blue broken tiles at the construction site
4) a leaf among leaves

Junction Skies

2007-10-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

here are some snaps of the skies above the Junction

Farm animals project

2007-10-01T13:50:00.001-07:00

Another of our research activities is the Farm Animal Project. The Junction used to be home to the biggest stockyards in North America. To acknowledge and remember that, we've been leaving toy farm animals around the neighbourhood with tags saying "send us a story about a pet, the Stockyards, or another animal story" and our email address attached.
We've stared getting responses and it's so exciting!! We'll be posting some of them here on the blog soon. Stay tuned!

Junction textures

2007-10-01T13:40:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the textures we found of the neighbourhood

The Gathering Space has opened it's doors...and windows and walls and alleys and garages and streets...

2007-10-01T12:55:00.001-07:00

Welcome to The Gathering Space, a community arts project based in the Junction.

Our project is interested in collecting stories of all kinds about the Junction area and reflecting those stories back using art.
The neighbourhood is in a time of huge changing and shifting, and we want to document those changes, and the experience and history of the area that people carry around in their bodies and memories.

We originally wanted to open up a community gallery in a storefront on Dundas, but had trouble finding a place that was willing to rent for a shorter period of time. Instead, we've decided to turn the streets into our gallery! You'll find us walking around, taking pictures, asking questions, listening to stories, and getting to know the neighbourhood.

We're presently in our research phase, wandering around the neighbourhood talking to people and collecting things. During the Junction Arts Festival, you may have seen us at our partner The West Toronto Junction Historical Society's booth with our Journey story Judy. These days, you're likely to see us on our own with our mobile 'research station' bikecart, somewhere along Dundas Ave.

On this blog you'll find photos and stories and fragments and our thoughts and ideas of the Junction we've picked up during our time there.

Finally, we're getting the blog going!