Holiday happenings & other news

The holidays are upon us, and some events are taking place in our neighbourhood that you might want to mark on your calendars.

DECA’s First Annual East Lynn Park Tree Lighting! 
Thursday, December 13 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, come on out to meet your neighbours and have a cup of hot chocolate together this Thursday – it’s for a good cause, and it will be lots of fun!

EastLynnPark tree lighting 2012

And a big thank you to all the volunteers who braved the rain this weekend to hang the lights in preparation for Thursday’s event.  Check out the photos!

Gingerbread House Building at Cozy Cafe & Bakery (Woodbine & Danforth) December 15 (5-7 p.m.) & 16 (3-5 p.m.) for $25

cozy

Call Cozy at (647) 349-5251 to reserve your spot, and then next Sunday enjoy your clean kitchen after you and/or your kids have iced the floors and furniture at Cozy!

An artful walk?

Remember in the fall when DECA helped to facilitate the painting of some local Bell boxes?  Have you ever wondered, ‘where are those boxes?’  As winter clamps down, if you are like me you probably need an excuse to get off the couch and venture out, so why not take a little walking tour of the murals? Here is a map to show you where the boxes are, and photos to give you a sneak peek of the beauty that awaits you on your journey.

Bell box murals Danforth 2012Stay tuned for information on next weekend’s pop-up events, and details about some late-night shopping specials at some of our favourite local shops!

Bell Box Scavenger Hunt

Before
Before
After
After

This summer the Danforth East Community Association partnered with 6 St. Joseph House, Bell Canada and the City of Toronto. We commissioned eight artists to paint Bell equipment boxes in our neighbourhood. Not only is this an injection of diverse art into our public space, it also deters vandalism and graffiti.

There are eight scavenger hunt questions to be answered. You have to visit the boxes to the find the answer. When you bring the answers to at least four questions to the DECA table at the Danforth East Arts Fair, your name will be entered to win the grand prize.

The Arts Fair is THIS WEEKEND.  10-5 Saturday and Sunday.  If you buy some Christmas gifts there, you will not regret it.  You will feel smug and self-satisfied for supporting local artists and being so freakin’ organized!

As I was saying…here are the questions.

From west to east:

1.  Greenwood Subway Station, Artist: Charles Weiss

What is the name of this painting?

2.  217 Parkmount, Artist: Shayona Panth

There is a number on the top of this painting. What is it?

3.  1675 Danforth, Artist: Greg Marshall

Can you find the artist’s name on this painting? Where is it?

4.  126 Roseheath, Artist: Jungle Ling

Artist, Jungle Ling, is putting the finishing touches on this painting. What is he painting in the bottom-left corner?

5.  331 Wolverleigh Blvd, Artist: Monica Wickeler

What street is this painting inspired by?

6. East Lynn Park: Jennifer Rogers

What year is this painting showing?

7.  2119 Danforth, Artist: Emilia Jajus

What store is this box beside?

8.  7 Barrington, Artist: Tak Bui

What year is this streetcar from?

By the way, this was a comment from one of our artists this week: “This was the most positive public painting experience I’ve had in my 20-something year career as a mural artist and it’s all thanks to the warm and generous spirit of the residents in your neighbourhood.” – Aw shucks.

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.

All singers and players are welcome to a weekly music jam at Hirut restaurant at 2050 Danforth, half a block west of Woodbine. Players and listeners can drop in anytime on Saturdays between 2 and 6 p.m. Call 416- 551-7560 for more info.

National Grilled Cheese Day.

Today is an American holiday celebrating grilled cheese sandwiches. The Toronto Star featured the best five grilled cheeses in the city and one of them was right here at our very own True Brew Cafe.

“Silvia Marga, the restaurant’s chef and owner layers seven-grain bread with creamy goat cheese, sliced tomato, Costco pesto and chopped green onions before warming it in a panini press.”

And sticking with the Toronto Star, it called our little neighbourhood a real estate hot spot.

Calling All Gardeners! 

Interested in growing your own food this summer? Applications are now being accepted at a brand new community garden project at The Church of the Resurrection on Woodbine and Milverton Blvd, affectionately known as The Rez. The Rez has generously offered their prime gardening space to community members to have their own individual plot within the garden.  The Garden at the Rez committee is excited to be creating a local gathering place where people can grow food and beautifying a space that can be used for community events.   For more information about getting involved check out the www.gardenattherez.com website or email Miranda at gardenattherez@gmail.com.

Jane’s Walk

DECA’s very own amateur (but extremely interesting and knowledgeable) urbanist, Steven Wickens is leading the Other Danforth Jane’s Walk starting at 10 a.m. on May 5th at Wise Guys at 2301 Danforth. Steve has been doing these walks for the last few years and the reviews are always terrific. Here’s a taste….

For many Torontonians, the Danforth is the main street of Riverdale or a place to eat Greek food. But that image covers just a small strip of this storied street, formerly known as the Second Concession, the Danforth Plank Road and The King’s Highway No. 5. Danforth east of Pape, often referred to as the “Other Danforth,” wasn’t really developed until the 1920s, after the Bloor viaduct opened. The Other Danforth has always tended to be blue collar and gritty.  And while it has seen hard times, especially in the past four decades, the area is almost certainly about to see a wave of gentrification, investment and development.

Community Clean Up

Join the Earl Beatty Community for the annual Community Clean Up Day on Saturday, April 21st from 10 a.m. to noon. Meet at the front of the school and from there teams will scour the area around the school and community centre: north to Milverton, south to Danforth, west to Coxwell, east to Glebemount and the streets in between. We also tidy the school yard, our nearest green space.

The city suggests bringing small bags from home to participate, but rakes, brooms and dustpans are helpful and wearing garden gloves is suggested. Hope to see you there. And if you have another local clean up to mention, post it here on the blog or send it to me and I will.

Send Us Your Bell Boxes!

Or at least the pictures of your Bell Box.  Do you know of a Bell electrical box that could use some art? We’re trying (trying!) to see if we can’t get some art on to these boxes.  It would make them less likely to be vandalized and more likely to be pretty.  First, we need your help to send in a picture of your box and its location. They should be in this neighbourhood, but they don’t necessarily have to be within our formal boundaries.  So send  your pics to natasha.granatstein(at)gmail.com.  Thanks!