In the grand finale of our blog series highlighting members of the Akin Studio Program at Auto BLDG, we’re thrilled to introduce three more talented artists who have been busy creating and exploring in the studio during this culminating year. Learn more about their creative work, inspiration, process and more below!
Read MoreAkin Studio Program Member Highlights Blog #2: Mel Hayes & Erin McCluskey
This year’s cohort of Akin Auto BLDG studio program is packed with talent! We caught up with a couple of them to ask them some questions about their practise and inspirations, in advance of the Open Studio Day at Akin Auto BLDG, 158 Sterling Road, where we’ll be opening the doors for a public walkthrough October 14th, 12-4pm.
Read MoreAkin Studio Program Member Highlights Blog #1: Linds Miyo, Amada Estabillo & Kate Gorman
This month, we’re going to be sharing with you some exclusive interviews with the talented artists from Akin Studio Program at Auto BLDG! Learn about their work here, and then head out to the Open Studio event to meet them in person on October 14th, 12-4pm at 158 Sterling Road, Floor 4.
Read MoreIntroducing the 2023 Akin Studio Program at Auto BLDG Members!
Image description: Six photographs of Akin Studio Program artists, their art and their studios. More information and descriptions of each image can be found at the end of this blog post.
We are excited to introduce the 2023 artists in the Akin Studio Program at Auto BLDG! The current artist cohort includes students, emerging and professional art practitioners and curators living in Toronto. The Akin Studio Program runs from January - December annually. Selected artists moved their studio into the building for a term of one year and will share their practices with visitors through programs such as open studio events.
We invite you to click on the names of each of the artists below to visit their websites and learn more about them and their work:
Afifa Bari
Alison Kruse
Amada Estabillo
Anne Hamilton
Chico Togni
Emerald Repard-Denniston
Emily MacLennan
Emma White
Erin McCluskey
Felicia Cirstae
FRANKIE
Hamid Mohammadi
Ivetta Kang
James Laforet
Jason Bomers
Jo SiMalaya Alcampo
Kate Gorman
Linds Miyo
Maddalena Fuller
Maren Boedeker
Mel Hayes
Sadie Yorath
Tiana Robinson
Torin Craig
Yani Gellman
Below we are including highlights from some of the artists recent news and accomplishments. We look forward to sharing more about this group throughout the year as they explore their creativity and expand their practice in their studios at the Auto BLDG.
Jo SiMalaya Alcampo is a collaborative partner in Kwentong Bayan Collective, they make komiks/comics and create art projects in collaboration with migrant care workers and other communities. They have exhibited and published internationally, their work is taught in elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, and has been integrated into the Ontario school curriculum.
Tiana Robinson will be showcasing a selection of artwork on February 25 starting at 7pm at RAW Toronto Presents PROTOTYPE at The McCormack Warehouse.
Emily MacLennan was awarded the 2022 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair Mayor’s Purchase Award. Her work, ‘Bread Factory’, is now part of the City of Toronto's permanent art collection.
Artwork by Mel Hayes titled ‘Reconstruction of the Future’ has been featured as a part of the Concept of the Year project by YummyColours on the theme “Dear Future”, a project which meditates on the coming year.
Yani Gellman is an actor, writer and director. His film ‘Greetings, from the Planet Krog!’ won the 2020 Spirit of Slamdance Award. He most recently starred in the Queensberry Pictures thriller Departing Seniors, slated for release in 2023.
You can find public artwork by Erin McCluskey inside the BMO Weston Rd & HWY 7 Branch. The mural is titled ‘The Humber River Flows Through Here’ and is a part of the BMO National Mural Series, a collaboration with STEPS Public Art and BMO Bank of Montreal.
Stay tuned for more! Keep following the Akin blog for more Member news & highlghts!
Image descriptions (continued): 1. Artist Linds Miyo is sitting on a stool in her studio and working on a painting. She is holding a paintbrush, behind her are many large paintings. 2. Artist Jo SiMalaya Alcampo is facing the camera. They have their arms crossed are are smiling. Photo credit: Dhalia Katz 3. The studio of Anne Hamilton. There is a desk against the wall with a green chair in front of it. In the foreground is some furniture with a potted plant on it. The plant is flowering. 4. Artist Hamid Mohammadi is sitting on the floor in between his paintings which are leaning against a wall. He is smiling at the camera with his arm resting on his knee. 5. A black and white photo of Mel Hayes. She is standing in her studio surrounded by paintings and art supplies. Light is coming through an unseen window. Her hands are folded in front of her and she is smiling. 6. Artist Erin McCluskey is standing in front of a large colourful mural. She is smiling at the camera and gesturing towards the mural which shows people enjoying the outdoors.
Akin Open Studio Day!
In conjunction with the many arts and culture festivals that are hosted every fall (from the @queenwestartcrawll to @nuitblancheto and @culturedays to name a few), Akin would like to invite the public and its community to visit the place where art and culture is made - the studios!
This October we'll be opening the doors of two west-end locations: Akin Stockyards (at 2231 St.Clair West) and the Akin Studio Program at the AUTO BLG (158 Sterling Rd. 4th floor). For those of you who are not artists yourself, or for a creative individual who is thinking about getting a studio of their own, this is an excellent opportunity to see what a collective art space looks like, as well as to browse the many artistic creations and meet the artists who make them in person.
So pop the date in your Calendar and come say hello. We're looking forward to seeing you there!
Akin is coming to Regent Park!
Toronto, ON - November 11, 2021. Akin is thrilled to announce that we are opening a brand new studio location, Akin Regent Park. We are looking forward to creating a space for our artists in Canada’s largest and oldest public housing neighbourhood.
Akin Regent Park studio members will have access to the space for a minimum of 3 years. There will be approximately 6 Shared Memberships available for $71/month, which includes access to shared working areas, shared storage, kitchen, and bathroom. There will also be approximately 16 Dedicated Memberships available (your own studio) with studios ranging from 30sf for $191 / month - 112sf for $485 / month. There are no completely private studios at this location, or studios over 112sf.
Located at Akin Regent Park at 658 Dundas Street East which is on the Dundas 505 streetcar or Dundas 505 bus route and near the 501 Queen streetcar route, 65 Parliament bus route, 365 Parliament Night bus and the 301 Queen Blue Light Night Route.
The closest wheelchair accessible stop is Dundas St East at Regent Park Blvd, Stop ID: 15873, which is 210m from the studio and the closest Dundas St East at River St, Stop ID: 2126 which is 110m from the studio.
You can view a map of the location at this link: 658 Dundas Street East, Toronto, ON
After years of planning, Akin Regent Park will be opening in the heart of a community that is known for its creativity and its resilience. While Akin’s nomadic nature has served it for many years, we are excited to occupy a new space where Akin artists are at the forefront of the planning process from the space’s very conception.
In efforts to create a space that compliments the community that will occupy it, we’ve created an Akin Regent Park Community Survey to inform us of the needs of the artists that this space will be serving. We want to hear artists’ thoughts about spaces, programming, and other essentials: What do YOU want to see? What kind of programming will enrich your future community and excite you into building this new creative studio? Please fill out our Akin Regent Park Community Survey by November 25 to help us create the best space possible!
We cannot wait to hear your thoughts and needs in our survey and we are looking forward to sharing this space with you soon!
You can share our survey on our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
For any questions please contact info@akincollective.com for more information.
Call for Applications for the 2021 The Akin Studio Program at Auto BLDG (158 Sterling Road)
The Akin Studio Program is a unique and publicly open opportunity for art practitioners, curators and writers (hereafter referred to as artists) to lease shared studio space within the historical Auto Building at 158 Sterling Road in Toronto. In addition to a studio space throughout 2021, selected artists will be immersed within a community of peers, offering various opportunities for engagement. Studio members will be encouraged to develop and expand their individual practices while playing a role in the artistic community within the studios itself.
Studio Rental Program Start Date: January 7 2021
Studio Rental Program End Date: December 31, 2021
Deadline to apply: October 31, 2020, 5:00pm.
Join us on Google Meet on October 13, 2020 at 6:00pm for a live info session on the program to learn more, and have any questions you have answered. Click here to RSVP to the Info Session.
Explore the Akin Studio Program at MOCA at Doors Open Toronto on May 25 and 26!
You are invited to visit the Akin studios at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) for Toronto's Annual Doors Open Festival 2019. The event is free and open to the public all weekend. MOCA is a fully accessible facility.
Date: Saturday May 25th & Sunday May 26th
Time: 10am - 5pm
Location: 158 Sterling Road, 4th Floor
Featuring special events by Akin Studio Program at MOCA Artists:
WORKSHOP | Rock Covers Paper
11am–4pm
Fold, bend, and create your own mini architectural sculpture with visual artist Jessica Thalmann. Transform images of concrete and historical photographs of the Tower Automotive Building into three-dimensional forms that reflect the characteristic edges and corners of concrete structures around the city.
SCREENINGS | Eva Kolcze
11am–4pm
Images of concrete architecture and natural parklands collide in this screening of three films by Eva Kolcze. All filmed in Toronto, Kolcze’s films reveal the city’s infamous Brutalist architecture, the dramatic cliffs of the Scarborough Bluffs, and the experience of moving through Toronto, from its urban to natural environments.
All that is Solid, 2014
Facing the Waves, 2016
Dust Cycles, 2017
About Doors Open Toronto:
Doors Open Toronto returns to showcase some of the most architecturally, historically, culturally and socially significant buildings across the city.
A full list of participating buildings, special programs and walking tours at toronto.ca/doorsopen/.
About the MOCA building:
The MOCA building has always stood above, the tallest in Toronto when it was built in 1919, a factory that produced aluminium products during World War II. When it was built, a hundred years ago, designer John W. Woodman pioneered a new approach called concrete flat slab architecture. Each floor is a slab of reinforced concrete and supported by the columns that make the building so iconic.
About the Akin Studio Program at MOCA:
a unique and publicly open partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada to provide affordable studio space to more than 30 visual artists and cultural practitioners in the Museum's new home on Sterling Road through the Akin Studio Program. The Program is open to student, emerging and professional art practitioners, curators and writers living in Toronto. The inaugural cohort of the Program started their studio residency in the Museum in September 2018. Selected artists have moved their studio into the Museum for a term of one year and will share their practices with the Museum’s visitors through programs such as open studio events. For more information visit www.akin.art/moca
Akin Studio Program at MOCA Year 2 Applications are due on March 31, 2019
The Deadline for Applications to the Akin Studio Program at MOCA Year 2 is fast approaching! Artists of all skill-levels are invited to apply - get your applications in by March 31, 2019 at 5:00pm!
The Akin Studio Program is a unique and publicly open opportunity for art practitioners, curators and writers (hereafter referred to as artists) to lease shared studio space within The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) at 158 Sterling Road in Toronto. In addition to a one year studio space rental, selected artists will be immersed within a community of peers, offering various opportunities for engagement. Studio members will be encouraged to develop and expand their individual practices while playing a role in the artistic community within the museum itself. This Program is open to students, emerging and professional art practitioners, curators and writers living in Toronto.
Studio Rental Year 2 Program Start Date: October 1, 2019
Studio Rental Year 2 Program End Date: September 31, 2020
MOCA Toronto is a fully physically accessible venue.
Visit www.akin.art/mocacall2019 for full application details.
Now Accepting Applications to the Akin Studio Program at MOCA Year 2!
Akin is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the Akin Studio Program at MOCA Year 2 (2019-2020). The deadline to apply is March 31, 2019, 5:00pm. Full details can be found in the Call for Applications. Click the link below to download the PDF or visit www.akin.art/mocacall2019
The Akin Studio Program is a unique and publicly open opportunity for art practitioners, curators and writers to lease shared studio space within The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) at 158 Sterling Road in Toronto. In addition to a one year studio space rental, selected artists will be immersed within a community of peers, offering various opportunities for engagement. Studio members will be encouraged to develop and expand their individual practices while playing a role in the artistic community within the museum itself.
Interested in applying? Join us on February 2, 2019 at the studios to see the space and ask questions about the program. Click here for full details.
Sneak Peek of the Akin Studio Program at MOCA this weekend!
One weekend every year, Doors Open Toronto provides an opportunity to explore some of the most architecturally, historically, culturally and socially significant buildings across the city – many of which are not usually open to the public.
Akin would like to invite you to join us this weekend at 158 Sterling Road as the doors open to a sneak preview of the new home of the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA). Featuring all five floors of the museum. MOCA will be open 12pm-5pm Saturday and Sunday for Doors Open Toronto. Last entry will be at 4:30pm.
This preview of the building will highlight the architecture of the exhibition and programming spaces. Take the opportunity to join MOCA as a member and learn about upcoming exhibitions. An Akin staff member will be on site on Floor 4 to answers questions about Akin.
Akin will facilitate the rental of artist studios on Floor 4 of the museum through the Akin Studio Program. Selected artists will be moving their studio into the museum for a term of one year and will share their practices with the museum’s visitors through programs such as open studio events.
Floor 4 of MOCA will integrate these studios, with residencies and a workshop space for educational programs. The studios will vary in size from approximately 50 to 250 square feet and will be designed by Akin to create a light and welcoming environment for artists to develop their work. Similar to Akin’s other seven locations, the space will foster a community atmosphere and the exchange of ideas.
For more information about the Akin Studio Program please visit akin.art/moca
Akin Studio Program at MOCA: Call for Applications
Akin and The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) are excited to announce our Call for Applications for the Akin Studio Program. This program will provide affordable studio space to 20+ visual artists and cultural practitioners in the museum's new home which is set to open on May 26, 2018 at 158 Sterling Road in the Junction Triangle.
Selected artists will be invited to move their studio into the museum for a term of one year and will share their practices with the museum’s visitors through programs such as open studio events. Regular Akin studio rental fees will apply. The studios will vary in size from approximately 50 to 250 square feet and will be designed by Akin to create a bright and welcoming environment for artists to develop their work. Similar to Akin’s seven other locations, the space will foster a community atmosphere and the exchange of ideas.
This call is open to student, emerging and professional art practitioners, curators and writers living in Toronto.
The deadline for the Call is March 5, 2018 at 5:00pm.*
*Applicants who require additional resources, support or time to complete their applications can request as such. Please request this assistance at least two weeks in advance of the submission deadline. To do so, or for additional information, please contact moca@akincollective.com
The full call is copied below. Please share widely. You can share the call using the following links:
Web Version: www.akin.art/mocacall
Thank you,
Love, Akin
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: AKIN STUDIO PROGRAM AT MOCA, 2018-19
Overview
The Akin Studio Program is a unique opportunity for art practitioners, curators and writers (hereafter referred to as artists) to lease shared studio space within The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) at 158 Sterling Road in Toronto. In addition to a one year studio space rental selected artists will be immersed within a community of peers, offering various opportunities for engagement. Studio members will be encouraged to develop and expand their individual practices while playing a role in the artistic community within the museum itself.
Studio Rental Program Start Date: May 1, 2018
Studio Rental Program End Date: April 30, 2019
Submission Details
Deadline to apply: March 5, 2018, 5:00pm.
Application Criteria, Artist Expectations and Opportunities
Applicants should consider the unique shared studio environment within the museum in which Akin’s Studio Program occurs. Certain processes and forms of production, materials and hardware (especially use of aerosols, and creation of dust or substantial noise) are not well suited to this context. Please ensure that your process is a good fit before applying, and contact us if unsure. While the focus for selected artists will be to use their studio spaces for independent practice, research and development, this is an inclusive, shared studio environment where artists will benefit from insight provided by not only their studio peers, but also guest curators and art professionals. Selected artists agree to participate in three public open studio days, organized in collaboration with the museum, during the course of their year-long program (dates to be determined).
Application Process
Within one single PDF document, applicants are asked to provide the following:
Name:
Email:
Address:
Phone Number:
Website if available:
Link to art-focused social media profile if available:
*Artist collectives please include the name of the collective as well as contact info for its members as indicated directly above and answer the following questions from the perspective of your collective.
A brief artist statement and biography. (300 words max)
Supporting documentation of up to 10 images of work and installation shots, including relevant caption information (title, medium, date, dimension). In the case of curators or art writers, please include two sample texts or appropriate work examples in addition to up to 5 related images if applicable. As noted above, please embed images and all application information into one PDF document.
A written statement considering the following questions: How do you feel your experience and practice will help cultivate and contribute to a vibrant, equitable and diverse artistic community in our shared studio space environment within MOCA? How will you use your rented space, and how do you feel this opportunity will benefit and support your artistic practice at this time in your career? The studios will be flanked by a large open-studio where MOCA intends to develop and host workshops, talks and other programming that focuses on socially engaged artistic and interdisciplinary practices. Do you see your practice aligning with these concerns and interests and if so, please describe how? (300 words max)
CV or relatable artistic experience.
Can you commit to the entire program period from May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019? If not, what duration (necessarily beginning May 1, 2018) can you commit to? Please note that, if necessary, selected artists can relinquish their studio space by way of providing at least one full calendar month notice.
Optional: Should you desire to, please identify if you are a member of one the Toronto Arts Council’s Equity Priority Groups detailed in the Selection Process information below.
Below are examples of sizes and prices of Akin's studios. Please rank the sizes of studios that you would consider renting, beginning with your ideal size. If your application is successful we will do our best to match you with a space that is as close to your preference as possible.
25sf - $160/mth
50sf - $250/mth
75sf - $340/mth
100sf - $420/mth
150sf - $545/mth
200sf - $670/mth
250sf - $780/mth
550sf - $1300/mth
All prices include 24/7 access to the studios, taxes, insurance, wifi, access to communal working areas as well as shared storage, kitchen, and bathroom. There are no additional fees, though there will be a small rent increase in January 2019. Upon selection, artists will be required to pay first and last month's rent in order to confirm their placement within the program. Please note that pricing is the same as at other Akin studio locations
*Selected applicants must be available to begin their rental on May 1, 2018.
Accessibility Information
Within the building, there is elevator access to all floors as well as AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) compliant washrooms.
The Museum ground floor has three accessible entries:
East Vestibule, MOCA – operation-assisted doors to a ramp to an automatic sliding door to the main lobby.
West Vestibule, MOCA – operation-assisted doors from grade directly to the lobby.
West Vestibule, Base Building – operation-assisted doors directly to the elevators to all floors.
The washrooms are gender-neutral.
The doorways into Akin’s studios are 36” wide and are not operation-assisted.
The kitchenette is AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) compliant.
Submission Format
Email application document to moca@akincollective.com with the subject line: Akin Studio Program 2018 Application // [last name]. Please ensure that the total file size of your PDF is 10mb or smaller.
Deadline for applications: March 5, 2018, 5:00pm.
Selection Process
An impartial jury comprised of local artists, curators, arts professionals and MOCA’s Constituent Curator, will select artists and creatives based on their submitted material, anticipated benefit from the program, anticipated contribution to the studio environment, and practical considerations regarding their proposed use of the rented studio space.
Selected studio rental applicants will be notified of their status approximately 2 weeks following the application deadline, or as soon as selections have been made.
A significant component of the jury selection process is a desire to reflect the diversity of our city’s artistic community and the different voices within it. As part of this process, jury members will reference the Toronto Arts Council’s Equity Framework and its list of Equity Priority Groups(Persons of Colour, Deaf Persons, Persons with Disabilities and Persons Living with Mental Illness, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIAP). More information on this framework, as part of the TAC Strategic Plan, can be found here. Please note that the application and selection process for the Akin Studio Program at MOCA has adapted parts of the TAC Equity Framework and that it is not the same process used by TAC for the purpose of adjudication of grant applications.
Adapting the TAC Equity Priority Policy, applications of merit proposed by applicants who self-identify as belonging to one (or more) of Toronto Arts Council’s Equity Priority Groups or who primarily involve or serve artists from these groups will be prioritized. We encourage applications from these communities. The jury will similarly prioritize artists living or working within the museum’s local Junction area given the recent displacement of artists within the neighbourhood.
Application Accessibility Support
Applicants who require additional resources, support or time to complete their applications can request as such. Please request this assistance at least two weeks in advance of the submission deadline. To do so, or for additional information, please contact moca@akincollective.com.
Thank you to The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) and to the Toronto Arts Council for their feedback on the selection process.
Akin Announces Studio Program at the new Museum of Contemporary Art on Sterling Road
Akin is thrilled to announce a unique partnership with MOCA to provide affordable studio space to 20+ visual artists and cultural practitioners in the museum's new home on Sterling Road through the Akin Studio Program. The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada will open on May 26, 2018 at 158 Sterling Rd in the Junction Triangle.
Read More