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Art of the Danforth This Weekend!

There’s lots going on as part of Art of the Danforth this weekend. See below or visit the site at www.artofthedanforth.com

SATURDAY MAY 26

noon – 3 pm:     Traffic Jam Danforth/Coxwell Public Library, 1675 Danforth

1 – 1:30 pm:        Graffiti Removal Removal Tours (GRR Tours) Leaves from 1238 Danforth

1 – 2 pm:              These are the people in your neighborhood. Meet outside Woodbine TTC Station

1 – 3 pm:              Stories You Haven’t Heard NE Corner of Woodmount & Danforth Aves

1 – 3 pm:              Yarn Bombing workshop at the Danforth/Coxwell Public Library, 1675 Danforth
1 – 5:30 pm:        VSVSVS Free School, 1238 Danforth

1 & 4 pm:             Art Amble Meet at LucSculpture School & Studios (663 Greenwood)
8 pm                      Feast in the East #2 at Danny Greens, 1218 Danforth Ave

SUNDAY MAY 27
1 pm:                     Danforth Bike Line. Meet at SW corner of Greenwood and Danforth (The Beer Store)
1 & 4 pm:             Art Amble. Meet at LucSculpture School & Studios, 663 Greenwood
3 pm – 4 pm:      Storytelling in front of  “Integration” at 2013 Danforth

DAILY

All day:                 Art installations and exhibits
8:50 – 9:30pm:   Intersection performance @ Glebemount & Danforth (Intersection)

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DECA’s Doings

The Danforth East Arts Fair is accepting applications for the fourth annual event. Our popular, juried arts and crafts fair will host up to 60 artists this year along with food vendors, musicians, children’s crafts and much more. For more information and to get your application form, visit the website or contact deca.arts@gmail.com

Thank you!

DECA would like to thank Paola Girotti, owner of Sugar Moon for her very generous donation to DECA. We charge $10/family/year and frankly not that many of you cough up the cash. We don’t need much money to do what we do. We mostly run on good wishes and happy thoughts, but it does take a little bit of money for permits etc. We are extraordinarily grateful to Paola for her kind donation to the cause.

What do you want to see on the Danforth?

We have this nasty little habit at DECA of stealing great ideas from other communities and making them our own. The latest is one we’ve stolen from a community in New Orleans. They put signs up on empty storefronts and wrote “I wish I was a….”. We’re doing something similar. We’re trying to get feedback from you about what you want to see on the Danforth. You can write your suggestions on the boards around the neighbourhood or post them here on the blog.

Maybe you think this area needs a new Thai restaurant?  If so, it looks like you’re in luck.  This is an application for a liquor license at the former Western Country Restaurant on the southwest corner of Woodbine and Danforth.

The next DECA board meeting is Tuesday, May 29th. E-mail natasha.granatstein(at)gmail.com for the details if you would like to attend.

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Bananas For Broccoli

Have you spent the last few months awake at night worrying about how to make the perfect broccoli costume?

Didn’t think so. DECA’s Kat Senyk has.

She tossed over the duvet fabric she bought at Value Village. Would it be too abstract?

She opted instead for new fabric, sewing the florets by hand using pillow stuffing, buying dense batting for the structure, and searching supermarkets for organic broccoli stickers to copy, scan, enlarge, modify and print onto an iron-on heat transfer. (In the end, she torqued an organic banana sticker )

She even made her own bias binding tape, which if you know about this stuff, is a big deal.

“It was fun. It will be fun to see it. I don’t want to make anymore,” Kat told me when I picked up the fabulous costume from her house last week. Her 1.5 year old son Rayner was upstairs sleeping. Her husband, Tim, was all-but passed out on the couch from another long day working at the pool company they own together.  “If I hear one more word about broccoli….” he mumbled.

Why would anyone slave over a broccoli costume for DECA? For our farmers’ market, of course. You might have seen one of us dressed as a pea or carrot or apple outside the subway station with market flyers in hand last year?  We needed to boost our supply.

“We moved to the east end 1.5 year ago, and found both farmers markets were a walkable distance from our home,” Kat says. “I love going there with Rayner. We’ve met some good friends there this year.”

A secret: While Kat now works as a project manager for a local engineer firm, she was in the fashion industry for ten years, even running her own label, biokat, for a time. (http://www.biokatonline.com/Home.html). She is case-in-point of the talent we have in this hood.

Check out her work on your way next week. One of us will be wearing it outside your subway station handing out flyers.

Thanks so much Kat!

If you would like to help promote the market this year, we need you!  You can hand out post cards (in boring old regular clothes or in fabulous veggie wear). Let us know at natasha.granatastein(at)gmail.com

The 5th fabulous year of the East Lynn Farmers’ Market starts Thursday, June 7th. 3-7 p.m. at East Lynn Park, on Danforth west of Woodbine.

(This post cheerfully brought to you by Catherine Porter)

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Art of the Danforth

Join us tomorrow for the Make A Joyful Noise parade, proudly presented by DECA with the generous support of Silly Goose Kids and in conjunction with the amazing Art of the Danforth!  The face paint starts flowing at 10:30 a.m. at East Lynn Park near one block west of Woodbine and Danforth.  Come dressed in full costume or just a funny hat. Bring your favourite instrument and join our little walk around the park.  We’ll have some bubbles at the end, but feel free to bring your best bubble blowers too!

There are tons of art installations going in and on the Danforth today. This Art of the Danforth party goes on from May 20 – June 10 so take a look at the website or pick up one of the programs and get in the game.  The Make A Joyful Noise Parade kicks off the fest, but there’s lots more happening tomorrow too.  Art of the Danforth is an absolutely incredible event right here in our neighbourhood. It’s the brainchild of a few local people who believe that art can build community – and a whole lot more. It’s been two years in the making. Check it out.

Sunday, May 20:

10 am +                Art installations and exhibits – lots of them!
11 am                    Make a Joyful Noise Parade at East Lynn Park
11 am –2 pm      TIMEANDDESIRE Performs AUC Workers (Artists Under-Cover) various sites

11 am – 3 pm     Stories You Haven’t Heard Rendez-Vous Restaurant Bar & Cafe (1408 Danforth Ave)
1 pm – 3 pm       Traffic Jam Circus Coffee House (7 Woodmount Ave)
1 pm                      Ten Minute Paint Fight! Assemble at 12:30 pm at Ladysmith & Danforth
1:15 pm                Art Amble Meet at Ladysmith & Danforth, after paintfight
3 pm – 4 pm       Storytelling in front of “Integration” (2013 Danforth)
4 pm                      Art Amble Meet at LucSculpture School & Studios (663 Greenwood)
8 pm                      Feast in the East #1 Danny Greens (1218 Danforth Ave)
9:30 pm-ish         Intersection performance @ Glebemount & Danforth (Intersection)

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Make A Joyful Noise Parade

Join us this Sunday for the sensational second Make a Joyful Noise Parade at East Lynn Park!  As part of the kick off to the Art of the Danforth, DECA is inviting kids and kids at heart to wear a crazy hat or costume, bring an instrument and join the 11 a.m. parade around the inside of East Lynn. The fabulous folks at Silly Goose Kids will have a few surprises on hand and Rebecca will be there with her face paints at the ready beginning at 10:30 a.m.

See you there!

WHAT? A Paint Fight In The Street?

If marching around a park making a racket isn’t enough rowdiness for you, then make your way up to the 10 minute paint fight. 100 gallons of paint. 200 people dressed in white, armed and anxiously waiting for their cue to hurl hues at one another…and 10 minutes later, they will each walk away a living, breathing piece of art.

Participants from all over Toronto will gather to participate in this free, family-friendly, energetic burst of creativity and fun that will kick start the second Art of the Danforth (AoD) festival.

What you need to join in the fun: Dress in white, wear goggles and be prepared to get messy!

MEET at the corner of Ladysmith & Danforth (one block east of Greenwood) at 12:30 pm to register. Paint Fight will begin at 1 pm sharp.

BE ON TIME OR MISS THE FUN!!

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Wood Warblers

Thank you to Julie Graham for this post about the tropical birds we can spot in our back yards!

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Keep your ears open while walking and your eyes on the treetops while not, and right now you may well see tiny, flitting birds working the leaves in any good-sized tree. Get your old binoculars out and you’ll more easily see flashes of brilliant yellow and orange.

These are migrating warblers, and warm southerly winds brought a huge wave of them in to Toronto on May 3 just before our first thunderstorm of the year. There are dozens of kinds of these little birds in eastern North America, and many are long distance migrants who return to us from the southern US, the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America. Many are just passing through the Great Lakes en route to our northern boreal forests, whose moist, treed and buggy expanse is a perfect place to raise the next generation. But some will stay with us in Southern Ontario through August and September before turning south again.

Between 7 and 9 each morning in late spring, the sun stirs the bugs and these famished travelers get to work. Their songs aren’t as sweet or as strong as their names might imply, but their high pitched, delicate songs are worth a listen and can help identify these restless birds. Birders from all over the world consider the Great Lakes a gold mine for wood warblers, and thanks to the many mature trees in our city parks, ravines, streets and backyards, we have lots of opportunity to see birds that are a rarity for most of the world.

An hour in Monarch Park Friday morning found these warblers:
black and white; blackburnian; yellow rumped; palm (running over the grass, no less); black throated green; Nashville; chestnut sided; and blackpoll.

In addition, look for white-crowned and white-throated sparrows as they too pass through for the north. Woodland birds like hermit thrushes will also pop up in your backyard at ground level; they are easy prey for cats during the long, tiring journey of migration so try to limit your cat’s daylight outdoor time through the spring.

If you need help identifying birds, check out Cornell University’s online guide.

Dog walkers and other semi-early risers should luck out with some good sightings, but be prepared to crane your neck and to spend a little time concentrating on what you’re seeing and hearing. Take a little time to wonder at tiny creatures who weigh only a few grams and yet manage to make a journey of thousands of kilometres not once but twice a year. And all they ask of us are trees, clean air and water, and a little space.