Last Chance For Artists

Two deadlines to let you know about today…

A reminder that the final artists deadline for the Danforth East Arts Fair is June 30th! Visit www.deca-arts.ca to find all the details.

Secondly, today -Monday, is the deadline to apply to be one of the artists who adorns our Bell Boxes with art. (See guidelines below.)

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DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS – MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The goal of this project is to brighten Toronto’s streetscapes by creating original works of outdoor art. The theme of the murals is the history of the neighbourhood and is developed in conjunction with the local residents associations. The murals project brings together a wide range of community members in self-organized activities that help to creatively transform neighbourhoods.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Since 2009 a total of 32 Bell outdoor equipment boxes in Yonge and Bloor neighbourhoods have been painted by artists from the Yellow Door Learning Centre and other creative community centres across the city. The Yellow Door Learning Centre is located in 6 St. Joseph House, a community creative resource centre located in downtown Toronto.

The 2012 Bell Box Murals Project will consist of 16 murals painted on Bell Canada equipment junction boxes in two neighbourhoods, eight near North Downtown Yonge Street and eight near Danforth East between Greenwood Ave. and Main Street.

The project is a partnership between the Seeds of Hope Foundation, Bell Canada, the City of Toronto, the Bay Cloverhill Community Association, the Greater Yorkville Residents Association, the Church-Wellesley Neighbourhood Association, and the Danforth East Community Association.

For samples of previous murals and a map of mural locations see the photos section of the Yellow Door Learning Centre Facebook page.

ARTIST ELIGIBILITY

Open to all artists living in the GTA. Preference will be given to artists located in the North Downtown Yonge Street and Danforth East communities. Please indicate in your application if you live or work in these neighbourhoods.

 BUDGET

Each artist will be paid $400.00 for their mural. Each artist will also be supplied with a quantity of red, yellow, blue, black and white special outdoor latex paint.

ART THEME

The theme for the 2012 murals program is neighbourhood heritage. Historical photographs of North Downtown Yonge Street and Danforth East neighbourhoods will be interpreted by the artist in a full colour mural. The artist can also choose a smaller section of the image to interpret. For archival Toronto photographs see:

Facebook Vintage Toronto page www.facebook.com/pages/Vintage-Toronto/256041347799190

City of Toronto Archives – Searchable archive http://www.toronto.ca/archives/photographs/index.htm
click on Search the Archives’ database and search by street or neighbourhood

SELECTION PROCESS

Artists interested in applying are asked to choose a historical photograph of the North Downtown Yonge Street or Danforth East area from the sources described above or any others. The artist should then submit their chosen photograph, a sketch of the proposed mural and other samples of their work as attachments via email to mcavanaugh@6stjoseph.ca by 5:00 pm Monday, June 25, 2012.

The proposed submissions will be reviewed by a volunteer jury consisting of residents’ association members and workers from other community arts organizations. Artists will be notified of final jury selections on July 9.

APPLICATION CONTENT

  • include your contact information in the body of your email
  • attach your chosen photograph, a sketch of the proposed mural and other samples of your work in JPG or PDF format

• email to mcavanaugh@6stjoseph.ca by 5:00 pm Monday, June 25, 2012.

Important: All proposed project submissions will become the property of the Seeds of Hope Foundation, which reserves the right to reproduce and disseminate them for public, non- commercial purposes, e.g. proposals may be posted online or placed on public view as part of the selection process.

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.

Danforth East Arts Fair – Horst Herget’s Tintype

It is my great pleasure to introduce to you the second in Gillian Grace’s series profiling artists participating in the Danforth East Arts Fair on September 17th and 18th (that’s this weekend!).

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tintype photo example[slideshow]

Everyone has heard of slow food. Some of us — depending on our fondness for the New York Times travel section — have heard of slow travel. But what about slow photography?

Riverdale photographer Horst Herget has recently started taking portraits using tintype, a process developed in the 1850s. Think: a lensman working behind a bellows camera in a period movie; a silvery-hued likeness in an antique locket.

Herget describes tintype as a counterpoint to both his corporate photography work and to speedy, digital shots. Each photo requires varnishing a plate, which takes about 5-10 minutes. The plate must be used while wet, and only once, and require an exposure of at least two seconds. Because of all the hands involved, the result has a unique texture, with “telltale swirls” on the border from  preparation.

In an age when every cell doubles as a camera, tintype requires an unfamiliar commitment — both of time, and, on the part of the subject, involvement in how the final image will turn out. “Because the process is much slower — you can take four portraits an hour — the subject becomes a participant,” Herget says.

At the Arts Fair, Herget, toting a team of assistants, will offer up 4” x 5” portraits for $35;  each works best with one to two subjects, although he can accommodate larger groups. Plan to spend about 15 minutes taking the shot, then another 45 minutes or so exploring the other booths while the tintype is prepared.

“ There’s a tone to it, definitely a softness to the image,” says Herget of the end result. “There’s something timeless about them.”

Arts Fair – Married Spinsters

Thanks to Gillian Grace for the first in our series of profiles of artists showing at the Danforth East Arts Fair on the Sep 17-18, 2011 at East Lynn Park.

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Provenance-minded Torontonians already quaff Ontario wine and make their marinara sauce with fresh-from-the-farm tomatoes. So why not locally made wool?

The Married Spinsters duo — from Markdale, Ontario, and made up of Adele Goldsmith and Michelle Campbell — spin the fleece of Grey County sheep into soft, naturally hued yarns. Shorn from Corriedale and Dorset sheep, as well as alpaca, the fleece gets washed and carded (turning an unruly fleece into a wheel-ready ball of wool) before the pair spin it into a single- or- double-ply, knitting-needle-ready skein (they sell 100 yards for about $30).

[slideshow]

Colours range from an almost pure white to a dark, chocolatey brown, with soft greys in between; the Spinsters also sell a small range of dyed offerings, with some incorporating metallic fibres and sari silks.

As with all the best local offerings, hand-spun wool lures with its individuality. Unlike machine-made wool, which has a uniform texture, the Spinsters’ skeins have a textured feel and subtle variations in colour — one grey knits up naturally into a Balmoral-worthy tweed.

The duo are working their way through some 2,000 pounds of fleece, from a farmer getting out of the wool business;  they’ll bring some of the SUV-sized ball of wool to the fair for spinning demonstrations. Kids can try their hand at carding, and the wheel. (One of the most common questions last year: Will I prick my finger like Sleeping Beauty? No, no pointy spindles — or wicked fairies — on this type of spinning wheel.)

Along side skeins of wool, Goldsmith and Campbell sell kits ($50) for making thrum mittens. A technique that evolved in Newfoundland, thrum knitting naturally insulates garments by working bits of fleece into the inside, making the mittens extra warm, and very soft.

Not feeling like working the needles yourself? The Spinsters also sell decorative hooked rugs — think wall hangings and table runners — and hooked-flap purses, ranging in price from $45 to $175.

Goldsmith and Campbell don’t just turn to hoofed beasts for wool — look for angora, if their rabbits cooperate. Not for sale, but of interest in the pet-adoring Danforth East, is wool spun from the hair of dogs and cats. Along with their willing collie, they’ve spun the fur of a friend’s Golden Lab, creating a hat (for the owner, not the dog!), and preserved the fur of a much loved, long-hair cat. “It spun out beautifully,” Goldsmith says.