Akin’s 2023 Career Launcher Winners Announced!

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Akin is excited to announce Damon Couto-Hill and Veerta Kumar as our OCADU Career Launcher award recipients for 2023-24. We’re excited to welcome them into the community! 

These talented graduating OCAD students will be awarded $2,000 in credits to go towards a studio space at one of Akin’s studio locations for 2023-2024. In addition to the $2,000 studio credit, each recipient will receive $450 exhibition credit for use at Akin’s Remote Gallery. 

Image Description: Damon Couto-Hill looks directly to the camera in this close up shot of his face and shoulders. Damon has short brown hair, and brown eyes. Damon is wearing a red, blue, white and black striped collared shirt. Behind Damon is a room with white walls, out of focus. 

Damon Couto-Hill is a Portuguese/Mohawk man and an interdisciplinary visual artist. He is a Six Nations of the Grand River member who grew up in Scarborough and currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada. He works with digital collages to entangle his body with images of Canada, nature, the Western art canon, and the internet to visualize the dysfunctions of Western collective consciousness through an intuitive, dream-like lens. He then translates the digital collage into physical form as fragmented wood panels painted in acrylic and oil, making the image again upon the scattered shards of a slanted mosaic. 

Instagram: @damond.liver

Image Description: Veerta Kumar is smiling beside a large artwork. Veerta has curly black hair and wears a black, shirt with an asymmetrical neckline. The artwork, to Veerta’s left, are bright, colourful circles mounted on a black background. Each circle contains  are backlit, translucent photographs . The circles contain photographs

Veerta Kumar was born in India in 1999 and lives and works in Toronto. She considers the flux, chaos, and fragments of our perceptions to decolonize modes of re-presentation and re-creation. In the past year, she observed the interaction of paint and light and engaged in various modes of making and materials, including ornamentation, textiles, found materials, family album photos, personal photography,  and digital manipulation.

Kumar completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting in 2023 from OCAD University. She received the John Madott Fine Art Award for her recent body of work Tedhi Nazar exhibited at Grad Ex 108.

Website:  www.veertakumar.ca
Instagram: @_veertakumar

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts

#BringingTheArtsToLife @Canada.Council

Akin 2022 Year at a Glance

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As the year comes to a close, we’re looking back to what turned out to be an exciting year for Akin. We opened three studio locations, expanded our Team with the addition of 7 new staff members and 4 new studio assistants, hosted dozens of events and exhibitions at Remote Gallery, supported artists in need with over $5000 from the Akin Studio Rent Relief Fund, and were thrilled to offer a variety of programming including more in-person events (while still maintaining lots of virtual programming options as well). We’ve got lots in store for 2023, but first, we thought we’d take a moment to recap all that’s happened in 2022.

Three New Studios Opened in 2022!

Images above: Five photographs of various artist studios at Akin Stockyards, Akin Bloor-Yonge, and Akin Waterfront. The photographs show artist workspaces and works in progress.

Akin Stockyards

Akin Stockyards is currently our largest studio space, host to over sixty artists. Since its opening, Akin Stockyards has shaped into such a wonderful and vibrant community. Highlights include the huge opening party with live music, games and food. Looking for a studio in the new year? Akin Stockyards still has some Dedicated and Shared Memberships available space left, email info@akincollective.com for more details.

Akin Bloor Yonge

Right in the heart of downtown Toronto, Akin Bloor Yonge opened to much excitement, and filled up quickly! (email us to be added to the waiting list). With Akin Bloor Younge we were happy to be able to start offering private studios again, which we have not been able to do since we closed our Akin King location.

Akin Waterfront

Nestled in Waterfront Toronto right near the lake, Akin Waterfront has become an exciting new studio location for us and our members! Akin Waterfront boasts many interesting features, like the Spray Booth, ventilated to accommodate indoor spray painting, and the large flex room for our members to book when they need some extra space to meet a client or photograph their work. We are looking forward to adding more amenities at Akin in the coming years!

Interested in an Akin studio in 2023? Click here to see what is currently available!

Art programming for everyone! Open Studios, Exhibitions, Workshops and more!

Financial Literacy Workshops for Artists

We kicked off the year with a jam packed, sold out webinar explaining how to do taxes as an artist. The talk, given by accountant Kelly Ross, gave attendees helpful tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your returns, keep records, and write off expenses for your business. We followed that with a series of workshops with WealthSimple on subjects such as Financial Planning, and Budgeting Tips & Tricks If you missed these, don’t fear! Stay tuned in 2023 for more financial literacy workshops from Akin!

Public Open Studio Events

After two challenging yeards during the pandemic where we had to keep our spaces close to the public, we were so thrilled to be able to host visitors at our studios again in 2022! We had multiple Open Studio Events throughout the year where our artists had an opportunity to show their works, and visitors got a chance to check out the studios.

Image description: A group of people are exploring the Akin Studio Program at Auto BLDG. The image centres on the aisle of the studio where many people are wandering around and looking at the studios.

Artist Wellness Workshops and Talks

In March 2022, artist Yasmeen Nematt Alla hosted ‘A Love Letter to your Practice’ a virtual writing workshop and meditation to celebrate the love we have for our own art practices. Together, we took a moment to slow down and reflect on how important practice is, how it is a home for our passions, our livelihood, and our mental health. We followed that with a series of online conversations on Mental Health for Artists with artist and psychologist (and Akin member) Kim Foster Yardley. We hope to bring you more wellness workshops in the new year!

Akin Art Crawl, Toronto Biennial Edition

Akin has been hosting Gallery Crawls since the very beginning, almost fifteen years ago. In the spring of 2022 Akin went back to its roots! Friends and studio members met at the Akin Studio Program at Auto BLDG and headed out to view all the work on display for the Toronto Biennial. Did you miss this one? There will be more art crawls in the future!

Scarborough Winter Arts Market and Exhibition

We finished off the year with a bang, hosting a (nearly) month-long Winter Arts Market and Exhibition at the brand new Clark Centre, Scarborough. With over 60 artists participating, there was art on the walls, tables filled with handmade art, and music in the air! A huge thank you to everyone who made that event such a success.

Image: Artwork hanging in a brightly lit gallery space.

Thank you!

We are incredibly grateful to our community; our studio members, friends, neighbors, programming and studio partners, staff, advisors, supporters and board of directors. Thank you for making this year such a fantastic one. We loved every minute of it, and can’t wait to spend 2023 with you.

Stay tuned for what we have in store in 2023. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow @akinprojects on instagram, Akin Projects on Facebook, or visit our website for up-to-date information on events, updates, and studio news as it rolls out in the new year!

Over 70 artists featured at Akin winter art event!

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Written by Charlotte Van Ryn

Image above: A view of the Clark Centre from the outside. The night sky is dark blue and black, and the Clark Centre is brightly lit inside. A person on the street walks towards the building.

This December, Akin is host to a Winter Arts Market and Exhibition at the Clark Centre in Scarborough, nestled in the beautiful, historic Guildwood Park. It’s the perfect place to pick up one-of-a-kind gifts for your loved ones this holiday season, and view three floors of artwork on display by participating artists!

The event is highlighting Akin artists among artists from Scarborough and the surrounding area. Theresa Hopkins’ self reflective, whimsical portrait and Wandy Cheng’s floral, playful paintings were selected as featured Scarborough Artists. 

Image description: Jennie Town sits at her booth at the Winter and Arts Market. Her hair is in braids and she’s wearing a black hat and glasses. Jennie is sewing into a piece of birch bark. On her table is a large display of jewelry, dreamcatchers and handmade crafts. 

The event kicked off last weekend; upstairs, the market was in full swing. Prints, ceramics, even holiday decorations were on full display. Jennie Town, pictured above, had a beautiful selection of birch bark earrings, dream catchers, handmade deer hide drums and willowwork.  A multidisciplinary indigenous artist, and a Scarboroughlocal, Jennie is passionate about Guildwood park and the Clarke Centre, for which she attended the local planning meetings before it was built. 

Image Description: A long white wall inside the Clark Centre displays a series of hanged paintings. Two people stand in front of a large painting at the end of the hal

Paintings and sculpture cover the walls on all three floors of the Clark Centre. Notably, the exhibition Through A Hundred Windows features work from artists who were given the same base material, a wooden “window”,  but styled their own way.  Hung side by side, they create a unified, yet singularly unique look. Through a Hundred Windows will be up all month - all works are for sale directly through the artist and 100% of the proceeds from every sale go direct to the artist. Interested in purchasing work from the exhibition? Click here to see a list of participating artists. 

If you missed last weekend’s market, fear not! There’s another weekend market coming up, December 10 and 11 from 11-6 to pick up holiday gifts for friends and family. The exhibition will be up until December 18th, and can be visited any day of the week. Click here to find out more about the event and the participating artists. 

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

In Response to Growing COVID-19 Changes

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As COVID-19 continues to affect our community, we are determined to keep you informed on how these changes can impact Akin members. The Ontario government recently announced an Update to Public Health Measures in response to Omicron (COVID-19), temporarily moving to a modified Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen.

While Akin studios remain open at this time to members, we have revised our studio policies in response to the rapidly spreading and highly transmissible Omicron Variant, we continue to adjust our policies in order to protect Akin members and our community as a whole. Click here to view Akin's COVID-19 Protocol at Akin Studios.

Some additional changes in the Public Health Measures from the Ontario Government which may impact some Akin Members:

  • PCR testing and contract tracing is no longer widely available in Ontario unless you are a "high-risk" individual. The full list of who is eligible for PCR testing and contract tracing can be found here. In addition, most individuals with a positive result from a rapid antigen test will no longer be required or encouraged to get a confirmatory PCR or rapid molecular test.

  • If you have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19, or if you have COVID-19 symptoms, or have tested positive for COVID-19 with a rapid test, the government is advising that you assume it is COVID-19 and you self-isolate for a minimum of 10 days. 

  • Individuals with COVID-19 symptoms who are vaccinated will be required to isolate for 105 days following the onset of symptoms. Their household contacts are also required to isolate with them. These individuals can end isolation after five days if their symptoms are improved for at least 24 hours and all public health and safety measures, such as masking and physical distancing, are followed. 

  • Individuals who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or immunocompromised will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days. 

  • If you have COVID-19 (or have symptoms or been in touch with someone who has) you should also notify your close contacts. A close contact is anyone you were less than two metres away from for at least 15 minutes, or multiple shorter lengths of time, without personal protective equipment in the 48 hours before your symptoms began or your positive test result, whichever came first. 

  • Employers cannot threaten, fire, or penalize an employee in any other way because the employee took or plans on taking job-protected leave due to COVID-19, and doctors notes are not required for employees to use the leave. You can learn more about job-protected leave here.

If you require assistance while isolating, visit COVID-19: Support for people. You can also contact their public health unit for many isolation supports including:

  • Use of isolation facilities;

  • Referral to community supports and agencies;

  • Mental health supports;

  • Courier and delivery supports for food and necessities;

Additional resources available to support isolation through the High Priority Communities strategy.

Please don’t hesitate to email us with any questions or concerns at info@akincollective.com

We hope the upcoming days are safe and healthy for you and your loved ones,

Akin

Akin's 2018 Summary Report

Looking back, 2018 marked another exciting year for Akin (our 10th birthday!) and, as we have done previously,  we wanted to be open and share a bit of an update including the yearly financial results of our non-profit Akin Projects. As a very small artist staff and a volunteer board, we’re glad to share this information with you even though it’s later than we had hoped. We wanted to be sure that we put this all together as thoroughly and thoughtfully as possible.

Reviewing the charts below, you will see that the most significant cost incurred is the rent paid to Akin’s landlords. Other substantial costs include staffing to run both the studios and programming, utilities, insurance, studio supplies, repairs and maintenance. All of this amounts to 75% of the rent artists pay for their space going right back into facility costs. Our organization remains entirely artist run, with our seven staff (in 2018) and now eleven staff balancing their artistic practices with their work for Akin and for the artists we serve.

 In 2018 Akin Projects was fortunate to receive one time support from the Metcalf Foundation’s Inclusive Local Economies Program- aimed at improving the economic livelihoods of Toronto’s working poor. These grant funds were used to work with NetGain Partners to assess and restructure Akin Projects with the aim of increasing our overall sustainability and ability to support the artists we work with, especially by building our partnership with MOCA Toronto (more below). With 40% of members at Akin identifying as working at or below the poverty line in our Demographics Report we strive not only to continue to provide low-cost studio space, but also professional opportunities for our member artists with $12,282 being paid out in 2018 as CARFAC and other artist fees.

Other major work that began in 2018 and remains ongoing has involved learning about and identifying the ways in which Akin Collective and Akin Projects work together. As of 2020 the collaborative relationship between the sister organizations will be detailed in a service agreement that will see Akin Collective principally facilitating space on behalf of Akin Projects which will allow both organizations to better support one another and the arts community on the whole.

Major 2018 milestones include renting half of the fourth floor of MOCA Toronto (our first space in a museum!) to launch the Akin Studio Program at MOCA- providing 32 artists around-the-clock access to studio space in the museum at the same rates as all of Akin’s other locations. The first year of this exciting program culminated in an exhibition showcasing many of the artists’ work in, ‘An Index’ that we hope you had a chance to see this past summer! Last year also saw Akin relocate over 100 artists facing the loss of their studio to a new space- Akin King- located in the center of the city near King & Spadina thanks to a unique partnership with Allied Properties REIT. Akin’s Co-Directors Oliver Pauk and Michael Vickers also headed to Ottawa to make an address to The House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on the need for creating and preserving artistic space across our country.

In total, Akin Projects featured 133 artists in exhibitions, presentations, and artist markets in 2018, while offering over 70 events and programs to roughly 3,000 attendees including various creative and professional development workshops and lectures, museum collaborations, public mural projects, earth day community clean ups, a winter clothing drive and a series of free programs at multiple CAMH locations.  We are also thrilled to have had Rania El Mugammar join our team last year as a consultant focused on our ongoing equity and inclusion work, the development of the inaugural Indigenous Elder Artist in Residence program with artist Catherine Tammaro (Taǫmęˀšreˀ) and the creation of a safe space policy, the results of which can be found here,

If you have any questions about our the information shared here or ideas for Akin as we move forward, please get in touch with us. 

We’re so grateful to all of our studio members, attendees of our programmed events, partner organizations and supporters of Akin. The support of individuals like yourselves is incredibly important for Akin as we continue to grow and evolve in 2019 and 2020, now over 300 artists strong. With your help, we can continue to serve the artistic community and to impact artists directly in ways that increase the creative vitality of Toronto. Please click here to learn about ways in which you can contribute.

Thank you,
Your friends,
The Akin Projects’ Staff and Board

Notes:

Akin studio members pay an average rent of $26 per square foot per year, including the communal space within the studios.


Akin studio rental prices include:

  • 24hr access

  • Taxes

  • Insurance

  • Wifi

  • Utilities

  • Maintenance and management

  • Storage

  • Kitchen

  • Bathroom

  • Communal working area

Akin Projects 2018 Programming Highlights

Introducing our Akin Vitrine Gallery artists for the month of April - Sarvenaz Rayati and Jill Smith

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** Please note that both exhibitions run for the entire month of April. **

Akin Dupont Current Exhibition:

'mother / rhythm' by Jill Smith - April 2018 / May 2018

Introducing our April / May 2018 artist, Jill Smith. Jill is an Akin Dupont member, and her new work 'mother / rhythm' is on exhibition in the Akin Vitrine Galleries for the months of April and June. 
 
Transforming space into narrative, 'mother / rhythm' presents a series of bodily sculptures that come together to explore complex power-based relationships. This installation emphasizes materiality, scale, and gesture as elements that have the ability to relate to human forms and body movement. Primarily using clay and concrete, mother / rhythm demonstrates a compassionate, yet commanding relationship between ambiguous material bodies.
 
Jill Smith is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto, Ontario (b.1995) and recently completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honors Specialization in Studio Art) At Western University. Her most recent work explores the fragility and absurdity of the body and mind, as well as the connective possibilities of materiality. Smith has exhibited work in galleries across Ontario, such as the Artlab Gallery, Forest City Gallery, The Arts Project, Open Studio, and Earl Selkirk Gallery at ARTiculations, as well as Friends and Neighbours Gallery in Montreal, Quebec. She has recently participated in artist residency programs at Sparkbox Studio in Picton, ON (May 2017) and at AGA LAB in Amsterdam, NL (September 2017). Currently, she is a member of the AGO Youth Council, and has upcoming residencies with Graven Feather and Artscape Gibraltar.

'mother / rhythm'
mixed media
2018
dimensions available

'mother / rhythm' will be on view for the month of April in our Dupont Akin Vitrine Gallery, located in 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 Saturday.
 
The exhibition will then travel to the Akin St. Clair Vitrine Gallery and be on view for the month of April at 1747 St. Clair Avenue West. Gallery is street level and can be viewed at any time.
 
To contact the artist:
www.jillpaulinesmith.ca
Instagram: @very.petite
#Akinvitrine

For more information about Jill Smith and her work, follow our Instagram account @akinvitrine.

Akin St Clair Current Exhibition:

'The Embrace' by Sarvenaz Rayati - April 2018

Introducing our April 2018 Akin St Clair Vitrine Gallery artist, Sarvenaz Rayati. Sarvenaz is a multidisciplinary artist and an Akin Lansdowne studio member, . Her new installation 'The Embrace' will be on exhibition at the Akin St Clair Vitrine Gallery. Her work discusses ones love or longing for nature, particular mountains and trees.

'The Embrace'
mixed media
2018
dimensions available
 
The Embrace will be on view for the month of April in our Akin St. Clair Vitrine Gallery at 1747 St. Clair Avenue West. Gallery is street level and can be viewed at any time.
 
To contact the artist:
www.sarvenaz-rayati.com
Instagram: @sarvenaz_ray
#Akinvitrine