Final Days of Narcissus at Remote Gallery, an installation by Renato Baldin - last day is June 10!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has already visited the captivating exhibition, Narcissus, at Akin’s Remote Gallery! Your support and presence have made this experience truly special. As we approach the final days of the exhibition, we invite you to join us for one last opportunity to immerse yourself in Renato Baldin's transformative artwork.

Explore the themes of queerness, self-love, and body nonconformity as you journey through this unique installation. Don't miss your chance to meet the artist in person and gain a deeper insight into his creative process. He will be available during the gallery opening hours to engage in conversations and share his artistic vision.

Here are the remaining days and hours for the exhibition at Remote Gallery (579 Richmond St West, Toronto)

Wed, June 7: 3-4:30pm (please note the changed hours for today)|
Thu, June 8: 3-7pm
Fri, June 9: 3-7pm
Sat, June 10 (Final day): 1- 6pm

The exhibition will close its doors after June 10th, so seize this opportunity to engage with this captivating display of artistry and self-expression.

Image Description: A series of photographs showing different people visiting the exhibition at Remote Gallery. In some photos they are posing with artist Renato Baldin and looking at the camera, in some photos they are taking a selfie in a mirror, in others they are looking at the artwork on the gallery walls.

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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts

#BringingTheArtsToLife @CanadaCouncil

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From Here to Wear community events with Akin alumni Norwin Anne on March 18 & 25

This month you can join Akin Studio alumni Norwin Anne at two free community drop-in events entitled 'From Here to Wear'. Each event offers an inclusive community space where curious, like-minded people can swap and repair clothing while also learning more about "textile waste".

This initiative aims to raise more awareness on the problems surrounding the management of “textile waste” and to help prevent them from being disposed of improperly. These events create a circular closed loop system for clothing that people no longer want, while promoting a reuse and “waste not, want not” mentality. It’s a fun alternative to shopping and an engaging way to upgrade your wardrobe — a conscious practice on how to be more intentional with the clothes you wear.

Click here to learn more about From Here to Wear.

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March 18

12pm-5pm at St Matthew’s Clubhouse, 450 Broadview Avenue, Toronto.

Click here for full event details or to register.

Presented in partnership with East End Arts

March 25

12pm-5pm at stackt Market - STUDIO 28, Bathurst Street Toronto.

Click here for full event details or to register.

Presented in partnership with stackt Market.

Images above: Black and white event posters with text that describes the event details that are in this blog post. The first poster has a white background, the centre is a black and white circular drawing of people, animals, landscapes, and various symbols. The second poster has a dark background and the image on the poster features a repeated image of a planet that creates a curving shape across the image. 

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About Norwin Anne

Norwin Anne is a Filipinx multidisciplinary artist / designer, (re)maker and eco-culture communicator. They studied Fashion Techniques and Design at George Brown College with a waste conscious approach and slow fashion mentality. Primarily working with secondhand materials, they started focusing on textile waste as a research study during school which evolved into learning more about waste generally to understand its environmental impacts and beyond. They want to continue developing their ideas and merge their knowledge of fashion with other subjects by creating wearable art and installations to visually translate complex topics through culture jamming. They always prioritize working with used objects and discarded materials. They’re dedicated to creating conceptual and functional things from what’s seen as useless. It initiates this challenge of exploring different alternatives and they try their best to avoid using new items as much as possible.

Norwin is an Akin Studio alumni from Akin Lansdowne and Akin King.

The Mindful Artist: Virtual workshop with Erica Gittens - Feb 22 at 6pm

Calling all artists... this workshop is for you!

Hosted by Erica Gittens from AURA BODY+HOME, this two-hour workshop will feature a series of short lectures followed by mindful activities to integrate into your everyday life as an artist. Themes include grounding through meditation, unlocking creativity, practices to help relieve stress and tension, creating personal affirmations, and more to support your creative and personal journey. Dedicate space and time for reflection (bring a pen and notebook) and movement (standing or seated).

Erica (she/her) is a Toronto-based mindfulness artist and founder of AURA BODY+HOME for Mindfulness, Meditation, and Yoga. Through movement and stillness, Erica creates imaginative, mindful experiences to support the connection of mind and body as an act of self-love.

This event is hosted online and is free for Akin members, with a pay-what-you-can option for non-members. All are welcome! Participants must register through the ticket selections on this site, and links to join the workshop will be sent the day of the event.

Accessibility: This online workshop includes guided physical movements that are optional for all participants. Please note that a waiver is sent to all ticket-holders through the sign-up process. For any questions please send a message to Erin at erin@akincollective.com. There will not be an ASL interpreter at this event, but Closed Captioning is possible. Please send a note regarding any accessibility concerns in advance and we'll do our best to make things work!

You can follow Erica online at @aurabodyandhome or check out her website at www.aurabodyandhome.com. This is an Akin x AURA collaboration.

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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
@CanadaCouncil  #BringingTheArtsToLife

Tonight! Artist Q&A with Wandy Cheng, Theresa Hopkins & Jennie Town!

Our Scarborough Highlights artist Art Talk is tonight (Feb 6) at 6pm on Instagram Live.

Learn more about the three artists below, and join them online this evening for the conversation! Questions and thoughts are welcome during the event through the live "chat" option, and by messaging erin@akincollective.com in advance. This event will take place through Akin's @akinprojects Instagram Feed. To join, please follow @akinprojects and be on Instagram at 6pm!


Jennie Town is a Scarborough-based Canadian multi media artist and Indigenous Knowledge Keeper living and working in the Guildwood community for over 56 years and counting. Drawing from her experience and learnings as an Afro-Indigenous creator and teacher, Jennie's practice has covered a wealth of mediums from ceramics, jewelry and painting to beading, leatherwork, drum-making, and a variety of craft techniques that frequently use gathered and naturally-sourced materials. A great believer in sharing the creative process and nourishing the experiences of others Jennie's role as an artist extends into community engagement through workshops, guided walks and local events. Follow Jennie on Instagram at @foreverjenniedesigns


Wandy Cheng (she/her) is a multidisciplinary illustrator from Hong Kong whose work embodies contrasting textures and repeated patterns through various creative outputs, including ceramics, paper-cut and public art. She helps local businesses create a memorable presence in their communities by simplifying conceptual ideas into vibrant visuals — an illustrator illustrating illustrations. Her work is inspired by memories of lived experiences, architectures, and environments. In recent years, her illustration can be seen both on the streets of the city and within the pages of international publications. Follow Wandy on Instagram @wandy_cheng


Theresa Hopkins is a black multidisciplinary artist and arts organizer living and working in Toronto. Her work focuses on themes surrounding identity, emotion and her interactions with the world as a black woman. Using colourful, tactile materials and subject matter, her work draws on nostalgia juxtaposed with heavy, mature themes. She has shown her work at 8-11 gallery, The Whitehouse Studio Project, Whippersnapper, The Plumb gallery and most recently a solo exhibition at The Remote Gallery. Follow Theresa on Instagram @thopkinsart



Image Descriptions: 1. Beaded earrings made by Jennie Town are hanging on the edge of a clear glass jar in front of a purple background. The earrings feature many beads with angular patterns with beaded tassels hanging from the ends. 2. A mural painted by Wandy Cheng using blue, green, white and pink colors depicting an environment centered around a waterfall leading to a lake, with plants and animals in the surroundings. 3. A painting by Theresa Hopkins hanging on a wall and brightly lit. In the painting the artist sits at a poker table in a luxury casino. She is surrounded by cartoon characters. In front of her are a stack of chips and 3 tarot cards.

Artist Talk! Theresa Hopkins, Wandy Cheng and Jennie Town - Feb 6 at 6pm

Artist Talk and Q&A: FREE

February 6th at 6pm: ONLINE through Instagram 'Live'

Please join us online on Monday February 6th for a special Artist Q&A with Scarborough Highlights artists Theresa Hopkins, Wandy Cheng and Jennie Town, who were featured participants in Akin's recent Winter Exhibition and Market at the Clark Centre for the Arts in Scarborough. Among other things, we'll be asking what it means to be an artist from Scarborough? What kinds of experiences do artists face when practicing outside the downtown core? How can cities and organizations better support artists facing different barriers of access and opportunity?

This event will take place through Akin's @akinprojects Instagram Feed. To join, please follow @akinprojects and be on Instagram at 6pm on February 6th 2023! Questions and thoughts are welcome during and before the event through the live "chat" option, and by messaging erin@akincollective.com in advance.

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We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
@CanadaCouncil  #BringingTheArtsToLife

One Tender Night at Super Wonder Gallery

Thursday December 5th at Super Wonder Gallery

Poetry and visual art by Jessica Hiemstra with an electrifying performance by SPECIAL GUEST singer/songwriter, Nicky Lawrence.


FREE ADMISSION. CASH BAR.
Original art, books and music for sale.
All are welcome.

Jessica will be raffling off tickets for a beautiful piece of art called The Secret Foot, find out more here.

About Jessica Hiemstra
Jessica is an award winning multi-disciplinary artist whose work has appeared in galleries all over the world, among them Australia, Sierra Leone, Edmonton and Vancouver. She is also an accomplished showroom artist and set designer with experience creating everything from tidal waves using shims to giant iridescent octopuses. She likes using reclaimed house paint, discarded objects and single-use plastic. Since 1998 Jessica has published three full-length collections of poetry and edited numerous anthologies of poetry and creative non-fiction. Jessica likes what Paul Klee once said about art – that one eye sees, the other feels. Jessica works in a variety of mediums on many kinds of surfaces - from watercolour and thread on paper to acrylic on acetate to plastic bags sewn into canvas. One of the things people often ask Jessica is “what’s the difference between all the things you do?” Jessica doesn’t distinguish much between her mediums. She chooses the best medium for exploring whichever question, concern or exaltation is most pressing to her in the moment - from delight in the body to sorrow and anger at how poorly we care for our world and each other. Sometimes she uses words, sometimes pencils, sometimes paint. In 2019 she started tearing her paintings and stitching them back together. She is delighted to be presenting her most recent work for ONE TENDER NIGHT at the Super Wonder Gallery. To visit Jessica online: www.jessicahiemstra.ca
Jessica is an Akin Lakeshore member.
instagram.com/jessicajoyhiemstra

About Nicky Lawrence
Nicky is a moody, tender, tour de force of a performer and vocal artist. Moved to sing by the black women who sang before her and who continue to sing within her, Lawrence’s voice will grab you by the throat with the force of its pain, beauty, rage and ultimately—love. Brimming with the longing, courage and despair of her jazz and blues heroes—Nina, Etta, Ella—Lawrence’s original songs are devastatingly elegant and sensual, lit by the fires of the past alongside the aching light and hope of the future. Lawrence’s vocals are redemptive; with the release of her single, The Ugly Black Woman, Toronto audiences are invited to witness an excavation of truth and history that will cut the heart open and begin to heal us all.
instagram.com/thenickylawrence

University of Waterloo MFA Open Studios | Master of Fine Arts Program

Come check out the University of Waterloo’s MFA program and this year’s cohort at our annual MFA Open Studios on November 7th.

Time: 3:00-7:00 pm
Place: University of Waterloo, East Campus Hall
Address: 263 Phillip Street, Waterloo, Ontario

Participating Students: Jordan Blackburn, Brubey (Wanzhi) Hu, Tyler Matheson, Karice Mitchell, Akin staff member and Akin Dupont Alum Sara Pearson, Akin St. Clair Alum Carrie Perreault, Akin Dupont Alum Kayla Polan, Racquel Rowe, Maria Simmons, and Becca Wijshijer.

A unique opportunity to meet the artists on their own turf—a look at their process and what’s in production.

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of Waterloo is an intimate program built around a solid core of studio research, practice, professional development, and pedagogical training. Each year the program admits five students, resulting in a tight knit community with plenty of access to both faculty and resources. The studio portion of the program culminates in the completion, exhibition, and defense of a coherent body of work in a solo exhibition at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery (UWAG). The pedagogical component of the program includes a seminar in course development, two teaching assistantships and the opportunity to teach a foundations level course.

REUNION: Sunday Drive returns in August with an immersive art show in Lakefield, Ontario

SUNDAY DRIVE ART PROJECTS is once again exposing audiences to art in unexpected places, this time presenting contemporary art in the picturesque rural setting of the Kawarthas. Returning with a new show format, in a new town, Sunday Drive will present REUNION, an immersive art experience on a private farm just outside of Peterborough in Douro-Dummer, running Friday and Saturday evenings in August 2019. 

For Torontonians, Sunday Drive is providing buses leaving from Toronto on specific nights. These buses are exceptionally fun with food and drinks provided. REUNION happens at sundown in open fields and wooded areas. Once you arrive in Lakefield, a bus hosted by the farm’s owners, is waiting to take visitors to REUNION, ten minutes away. This short ride provides time for visitors to get the full backstory of how REUNION came to be, to meet the artists who own the farm and deepen the experience they are about to have.

The show runs approximately 90 minutes. Tickets are $20. Group rates are available.

SHOW DATES: August 9, 10, 16 and 17 (please note, busses from Toronto are only for select shows).
BUSSES FROM TORONTO: August 10 and 17 (Future dates will be announced as current dates get filled. )

“We’re not providing too many details so that audiences get the most from the experience. This is definitely a show you need to experience for yourself.”

- Tania Thompson, Sunday Drive’s Creative Director

ABOUT SUNDAY DRIVE:
Sunday Drive is a registered not-for-profit organization presenting contemporary arts events to audiences in unexpected places. Run by a passionate group of arts professionals drawn to open spaces and concentrated culture. Sunday Drive has one foot in the city and one foot in the country, believing contemporary art should be accessible to everyone, everywhere. For more information visit www.sundaydrive.org or call 416-985-3369

Vector Festival presents Speculative Ecologies: Media Art at the Anthropocenic Precipice / July 11-14

Speculative Ecologies: Media Art at the Anthropocenic Precipice
At a time when humanity’s collective dithering in the face of impending ecological disaster is threatening to harm our world beyond repair, Vector Festival 2019 explores how contemporary media art reflects on this dire state of affairs. Featuring interactive installations, screen-based works, experimental games, generative art, performances, sound art, and other digital works, the festival’s curators invite you to join us in speculating on possible futures, alternative realities, and post-calamity archaeologies of the mess we have created for ourselves.

Vector Festival is a participatory and community-oriented initiative dedicated to showcasing digital games and creative media practices. This year, Vector Festival is happening from July 11-14 and the full schedule of programming includes screenings, lectures, workshops, panels, exhibitions and more! The theme of this year’s festival is Speculative Ecologies: Media Art at the Anthropocenic Precipice.

Events are happening at locations all over Toronto, including InterAccess, MOCA, the Ontario Science Centre, Trinity Square Video, Artscape Youngplace and more. Visit www.vectorfestival.org for a full schedule of events (Although many events are free, some are ticketed and require registration - an All-Access Pass is $25).

Vector Festival is brought to you by InterAccess, a non-profit gallery, educational facility, and production studio. The mission of InterAccess is to expand the cultural significance of art and technology by fostering and supporting the full cycle of art and artistic practice through education, production, and exhibition.

Vector Festival Launch Party & Opening Reception:
Join us on July 11 from 
7-10pm in celebrating the launch of Vector Festival 2019, and the opening of the festival’s flagship exhibition, Future Relics, curated by Katie Micak and Martin Zeilinger. The party is located at 950 Dupont St., Unit 1 and is FREE!

About Future Relics:
How will post-extinction media archaeologists rediscover our lost civilisation? What will robots have to say about the last days of humanity? What possible futures are already inscribed in the technologies and digital tools we use today? Future Relics, this year’s Vector Festival flagship exhibition, presents media artists whose work offers insights and outlooks on digital culture and the environment that oscillate between the playful and the critical, the hopeful and the dystopian.

Symposium: Path of Possibilities - June 21 at the AGO

On National Indigenous Day, Art Starts invites emerging, youth, and/or newcomer artists and people from different ethnographic communities across the city to come together and learn about the 7 Grandfather Teachings, 4 Sacred Medicines, residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action and much more. This free event is in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario. Lunch is included.

There are only 60 spots available for this event. You must register to attend.

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. 

Akin Show and Tell on July 31st at Akin Ossington →

Every month Akin hosts a relaxed and fun ‘Show and Tell for Artists’ at one of the Akin Collective studios or at one of our partner organizations' locations. This is a time for Akin members and other Toronto artists to show completed works or works in progress and get friendly feedback and answers from their peers in a casual studio setting.

Feel free to bring art to share, bring a friend or two, bring snacks or drinks or just bring yourself! Come for the conversation or just to meet other artists and makers. This is FREE public event - everyone is welcome!

The July edition of the Show and Tell is happening at Akin Ossington at 888 Dupont West (northeast corner of Dupont and Ossington) on Tuesday, July 31st from 7-9PM. 

Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship Program - Two Info Sessions Coming Up

The Toronto Arts Council, North York Arts and UrbanArtsTO will be hosting two info sessions for the Toronto Arts Council’s Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship Program. They will be talking about who is eligible to apply, how to find the right mentor for you, and how to get started on your application. Here are the session details: 

January 24 / 1 – 3 pm / Toronto Centre for the Arts, Lower Gallery (5040 Yonge Street) 

February 15 / 6-8pm / UrbanArtsTO Community Arts Council (5 Bartonville Ave East)

The program was created to provide support for newcomer and refugee artists to develop their artistic practice and support the integration and inclusion of newcomer and refugee artists to Toronto. It provides funding for newcomer and refugee professional artists to be mentored in their chosen artistic discipline. Deadline to apply is May 1st, 2018. To apply visit: www.torontoartscouncil.org/grant-programs/tac-grants/newcomers-and-refugees

Please e-mail rupal@torontoartscouncil.org to reserve your spot in either session. Include your full name, which session you would like to attend, as well as any translation services or accessibility services you require. Both venues are wheelchair accessible.

The Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program is open only to professional artists who arrived in Canada after January 1, 2011 and who live in the City of Toronto.

Grant Writing 101 Workshop with the Ontario Arts Council

January 11 / 6:30-8:30pm / Committee Room 2, Second Floor East Side, Toronto City Hall - 100 Queen Street West

PWYC (Suggested Donation $5 to help defray Akin’s costs) / Please RSVP at www.universe.com/grantwriting

Join Akin and the Ontario Arts Council to learn how to learn more about how to get grants from the people that give them! Tickets are selling out fast so reserve your seat online today! 

Writing grants is a significant part of many artist's careers- so let's learn how to do it properly! This interactive workshop will explore the process of planning, writing and submitting grant proposals to different governing bodies. As a major funder themselves, the Ontario Arts Council provides clear examples of the grant writing process and the various the dos and don'ts of everything from creating your budget to organizing your support material and work plan. Following this, there will be an extensive Q&A period.

Toronto City Hall is fully wheelchair accessible. Please let us know of any other accessibility needs so that we can assist you. Email michael@akincollective.com by January 3, 2018 and we will do our best to accommodate you! Thank you. 

About the Presenter:
Maya Bedward is a filmmaker, arts educator and community-engaged artist from Toronto, ON. She is also the Information Services Coordinator at the Ontario Arts Council, where she helps artists and arts professionals navigate OAC’s many funding programs.

"All Are Welcome” by Akin Dupont member Bernadette Peets in the Akin Vitrine Gallery

Introducing our Akin Vitrine Gallery December exhibition, “All Are Welcome” by Akin Dupont member, Bernadette Peets.

“I have been thinking a lot about how recent immigrants and in particular refugees who come to Canada feel about us, this country and in particular what their experience is of our landscapes. 

Is Canadian society the open, warm and friendly culture that we like to think it is for these newcomers? Is our pristine landscape available to them? Does it represent a refuge or is it viewed as threatening due to its vastness and unknown dangers?

I often use wild animals in my shadow boxes to represent the vulnerability of the human characters in the narrative. In this case, the deer with the bullseye carries the symbol of the 'hunted' while at the same time acting as a warning to these individuals. The orange screen across the front is meant to slightly obscure the scene so that the viewer must look even closer to be able to see it completely. The screen says "All Are Welcome" but also acts as a barrier or an enclosure reminiscent of a refugee camp. The scenes on the side walls remind us of the origins of the travellers and the reflective surface creates a way for all of the scenes and characters to merge.

I think that we still need to go some distance in our understanding of how these newcomers may be feeling in their new reality and how we might bridge the gap between viewing them as 'other' and more as part of our communities.” 

Bernadette was born in Toronto where she currently lives and works. Her studio is in the Akin Collective at 1485 Dupont Street. She graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1996 where she majored in Drawing, Painting and Art History. She lived in Florence Italy for two years (1987–88 & 1994–95) where she continued to study Art History and develop her craft as a painter.

She has explored many themes over the past 20 years of her art practice and while she has mainly used painting as her medium she has also included three dimensional installation work as well as other pictorial devices that include shadow boxes, photographs, drawing and printmaking.

Her subjects of interest have been rooted in her political, social and aesthetic ideals. Whether she is using her work as a platform for a discussion on topics as diverse as the female body image to issues relating to the Indigenous Nations in Canada, her approach is always connected to her strong sense of design, colour and technical precision.

Craft is important to her as an effective means of communication. She believes that having a high quality of execution in her work facilitates a more effective communication of her intent.

‘All Are Welcome' 
Mixed Media
Variable Dimensions

The Akin Vitrine Gallery is located at the Clock Factory Building at 1485 Dupont Street (entrance on Campbell Avenue). Find Akin Studio 215 on the second floor and follow the sign into the hallway around the corner.

The building is open from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, or to arrange a viewing outside of those hours please contact the artist: bernadettepeets1@gmail.com

www.bernadettepeets.com
Instagram: @b_peets
#AkinVitrine

2017 Thesis Award Show: 'Accumulations' new work by Jill Smith at ARTiculations

JILL SMITH
Accumulations
June 3rd-13th
Reception: Wednesday, June 7th, 6-8pm
Location: ARTiculations, 2928 Dundas St West / Mon-Fri: 11-6, Sat: 11-5, Sun: 12-5

Jill Smith’s recent body of work, Accumulations, explores the construction and decoration of environments, and how we engage with spaces both real and otherwise- often nonsensical, curious places. Smith not only explores the relationship between various objects in a scene, often rooted in domesticity or referencing still lives, but what it also means to provide a window into another setting through a practice involving sculpture, screen printing and more. Bodily, charming, playful and whimsical the artist takes us to another place- one that is strange yet somehow personal and familiar, odd yet somehow comforting.

The Thesis Award Show is a collaboration between ARTiculations, Graven Feather Studio and Akin Collective in support of graduating post secondary students. In spring 2017 a call was sent out across the Province for applications in search of students demonstrating a coherent body of work unique in both concept and execution. Overwhelmed by the response, we extend a huge thank you to all of the applicants and congratulate this year’s winners, Jill Smith and Kimberly Danielson for their achievements. In addition to solo exhibitions, Smith and Danielson each received a one week print residency with Graven Feather, and a studio credit with Akin Collective as part of the award.

Akin Gallery Crawl: Toronto Art Book Week - Saturday June 17 - FREE!

Saturday June 17 /  Meet at The Public at 12:30pm - 58 Lansdowne Ave. / FREE & family friendly

Akin Projects and The Toronto Art Book Fair invite you to attend a special edition of the Akin Gallery Crawl. Join us as we visit galleries and spaces that are showcasing and celebrating artists' books and printed matter featuring highlights from Toronto Art Book Week. Everyone welcome!

1. Meet at The Public at 12:30pm. (58 Lansdowne Ave)

2. Visit Xpace Cultural Centre (303 Lansdowne Ave, Unit 2)

3. Visit Souvenir Studios (1232 College Street)

4. Visit Akin Lansdowne for a studio tour followed by a visit to Towards Gallery (87 Wade Ave)

5. Visit Akin Dupont(1485 Dupont St) and view the Akin Vitrine Gallery with artist talk by Laura Kay Keeling

6. Anyone with energy left is encouraged to visit Zalucky Contemporary (3044 Dundas St West) for the book launch for "Some Theories" by Kathryn Mockler and David Poolman. Please note this is not an official stop on the Akin Gallery Crawl but is about a 20 minute walk from our final stop at Akin Dupont.

(Those without the energy for Zalucky Contemporary can join the rest of us on a nearby patio for a drink!)

Map of our route: http://tinyurl.com/mrj9o6k
Map of our route with optional final stop: http://tinyurl.com/k8uujg4

About Toronto Art Book Week
Art book week is a series of city wide events that parallel the Toronto Art Book Fair. Art book week features project launches, performances, talks, pop-up exhibitions, and screenings throughout toronto. The goal of art book week is to bring attention to new and exciting artist’s book projects as well as increase the visibility of toronto’s art publishing community. For more information visit: www.torontoartbookfair.com/art-book-week

RSVP on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/128383227716708

Contact Photography Festival 2017: 'WEAVE ME' by Jen Arron of Akin Dupont at The Blackcat Artspace

WEAVE ME is a new series of weaved photographs by Jen Arron of Akin Dupont. The exhibition will be shown at The Blackcat Artspace as part of the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival 2017. The exhibit is a duo show with photographer Alexa Mazzarello and runs May 16 - 31. Opening night May 16th, 7-10pm, all are welcome.

What the show is about:
Two artists finding meaning in natural materials and how they can inform the way we live. Mazzarello has turned to plant life and landscapes to study connections between this world and the human form in her series THE DREAMING PLANT. Arron’s WEAVE ME pieces are woven studies, each one exposing raw edges and hidden meanings through imagery and natural fibres.

Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival 2017 is the largest photography event in the world with over 1500 artists in 200 exhibitions and happenings throughout the month in the Greater Toronto Area.

PiGEON: a Psycho-Geographic-ExcursiON

The Gardiner Museum and Friends of Ogden Park invite your to join them on an urban birding walk entitled PiGEON Psycho-Geographic-ExcursiON this Saturday Apr 29 from 9AM-12PM.

Created in collaboration with data from FLAP Canada, the walk will examine how bird collision detection offers a 'canary in the coal mine' to signal troubling changes in our own everyday patterns of movement through the city. Harnessing the practice of psycho-geography, the walk will explore the Bloor St Cultural Corridor in order to examine what it means to move through the neighborhood from the perspective of the bird.  The excursion will be a fantastic flight into the way human stories intersect with the stories of other species, forming a multi-species worldview.

The walk costs $25 and includes a limited edition map/poster, free brown-bagged lunch and free entry into the current exhibition at The Gardiner Museum: Janet Macpherson: A Canadian Bestiary.
(Arts workers are welcome to use special promo code "ogdenpark" for a 20% discount on tickets)

About Friends of Ogden Park:
Friends of Ogden Park is a Toronto-based artist collective spearheaded by artists Ella Dawn McGeough and Dustin Wilson in 2014, whose purpose is to organize games and activities that function as forms of research. Transdisciplinary in scope, Ogden Park exists without the context of a fixed place. It is a disembodied mind that temporarily occupies various hosts. Whether park, gallery, or online platform, Ogden Park’s host-body functions as an experimental computational device, transforming these sites into a virtual field for game-based research.

About FLAP Canada:
FLAP Canada’s mission is to safeguard migratory birds in the urban environment through education, policy development, research, rescue and rehabilitation. Since 1993, volunteers with FLAP have combed the Financial District of Toronto searching for birds stunned, injured or killed by collisions with lit towers during their nocturnal migration. A few years later, the non-profit organization discovered that daytime collisions with glass is of even greater concern, responsible for the deaths of billions of migrants worldwide. As a result, its rescue zones have increased covering Scarborough, North York, Markham and Mississauga. FLAP now works with many other cities across North America in efforts to create safe passage for migratory birds.