Co-Living Survey - Call for Input - Deadline July 27th & August 13th 2021

The opportunity to participate in the creation of a series of co-living style apartments may be available to Akin, and we would love your thoughts on what this should look like. Co-living is when a tenant lives in an apartment that shares certain amenities with other tenants in the building. For example, a tenant may live in a one bedroom apartment with a private bedroom and living room but with the bathroom and kitchen shared with other tenants in the building. As would be the case here, these types of rental units are often able to be offered at a more affordable rental rate than other units in the area of similar sizes while also allowing for a focus on community amongst the residents.

We are very interested in exploring this concept further, as it may offer access to affordable housing for artists in the City of Toronto. Completing this survey, as well as providing any additional feedback that you feel comfortable sharing with us, would be appreciated and will influence our consideration of the project. We have certain ideas that we’re thinking about, but are very open around this concept and really want to hear from you, our community, in order to learn about your needs and desires for your housing situation in Toronto. Please note, while the feedback received from these survey questions will help to inform the design of this space (hoping that it comes to fruition), the layout has not yet been determined.

The survey consists of 35 questions and as such should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. If you’re able to complete the survey by July 27th at 12pm you will have the opportunity to enter an early bird draw to win a $50.00 gift card to a local shop or restaurant of your choosing. For those who respond after July 27th (and before the survey ends on August 13th), you will have the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a $25.00 gift card to a local restaurant or shop of your choosing.

Call for Ceramic Artist and Organizations Input - Deadline July 15, 2021

Just a reminder to the ceramics lovers out there that Akin's Ceramic Studio Survey is due on July 15th 2021.

Akin is inviting artists in the GTA to help us improve our ceramics services by filling out a short survey. This survey is intended for groups or individuals of all experience levels who work with ceramics, including creatives who do not currently work with ceramics but want or plan to.

The survey can be found on our website at: www.akin.art/survey

Please share widely!

Survey deadline: July 15, 2021

Thanks so much for your help and input! The survey is anonymous and voluntary and all the questions are optional; it’s about 5-10 minutes. The intention for this survey is not to compete with other ceramic studios, services and workspaces but to compliment them by assessing needs that may not be currently met in the city and surrounding area. As we hope you know, Akin is dedicated to serving artists and creative workers, and we strive to provide important and thoughtful programming and studio spaces. Your input helps make this happen! Thank you so much for your time and for helping Akin to learn and better serve our community.

Akin would also like to thank our advisors Janet Hinkle and Natalie Wadell for guiding our work in developing this survey. If you have any questions please let us know! You can email us at info@akincollective.com.

#torontoceramics #CraftOntario #akinstudios #CanadianCeramics #ArtToronto #CanadianArtists#CanadianArtists

Ceramics Community Needs Assessment Survey - deadline to reply is June 15

Calling ceramics artists and businesses in the GTA! Akin is inviting you to help us improve our services for ceramic artists in the city by filling out a short survey. This survey is intended for Toronto and GTA-based groups or individuals of all experience levels who work with ceramics. This includes creatives who do not currently work with ceramics but want/plan to, emerging artists, hobbyists and those who only use ceramics occasionally as a part of their practice as well as established artists and professional craftspeople. Please share widely! Click the link below to fill out the survey.

CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE SURVEY

The survey is anonymous and voluntary and all the questions are optional, so you can skip any questions that don't apply to you. It should only take you about 5-10 minutes to fill out the survey. We appreciate your time and ask that you consider sharing the survey link with other ceramic artists and groups in your network so that we may reach a diverse and broad range of practitioners at every stage to get comprehensive results. 

The intention for this survey is not to compete with other ceramic studios, services and workspaces that are operating in Toronto but to compliment them by serving needs that may not be currently met in the city and surrounding area. Currently, ceramic artists comprise approximately 15% of Akin’s new inquiries and that percentage seems to be increasing gradually over time. It has become clear to us that there is a need for ceramics workspace, ceramics community space, kiln firing services, and more in the GTA at this time. With this survey we endeavor to gather more specific data on that need. 

The deadline to fill out the survey is July 15, 2021.

Here is the link to the survey if you would like to share it with others: https://forms.gle/v2yxPcHJfvw98dzo7

• Here is a Twitter post is you would like to retweet

• Here is an Instagram post if you would like to repost

Thank you! If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch! email ceramics@akincollective.com

Akin would like to thank our advisors Janet Hinkle and Natalie Waddell for guiding our work in developing this survey. 

Image description: photograph of Janet Hinkle

Janet Hinkle is a multidisciplinary artist with a practice rooted in both contemporary fine art and craft. Hinkle has a fondness for mixing juxtaposing materials to create work that frequently explores shared histories through visual narratives. She is driven to explore concepts around identity, pulling inspiration from both mid-century forms and futuristic design. In addition to her creative practice, Hinkle coordinates communications plans, art projects, and artist capacity-building programs. She is an arts administrator and creative facilitator passionate about placemaking and community building. 

Janet was an active Akin studio member from 2015-2020. Starting her ceramics practice at Akin Dufferin, she eventually moved onto Akin Ossington and Akin Richmond where she founded and managed a full-time ceramics brand for many years.

Image description: photograph of Natalie Waddell

Natalie Waddell is a Toronto based ceramic artist. A student of the Sheridan College Ceramic Craft and Design program (2003) she has continued her studies by attending workshops led by local and international ceramic artists and educators.

Since establishing her studio practice Natalie has continuously explored and developed new bodies of functional and sculptural work as well as teaches classes and workshops. She is an active member of the Toronto Potters Association, the Potters Guild of Hamilton and Region, FUSION: Ontario Clay and Glass Association and NCECA – the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts and Craft Ontario and former member of the Akin Artist Collective. 

Tangled Art + Disability & Horizon Survey: Organizational Access Gaps for Deaf, Disabled, and Mad-identified Artists

Tangled Art + Disability in partnership with the Horizon Initiative is conducting research to explore the experiences of Deaf, disability-identified, and Mad artists working with arts organizations in Toronto. 

By gathering a wide range of experiences from artists and organizations they will build a better picture of where access gaps exist. This research will be used to inform Tangled Art + Disability and the Horizon project partners in the creation of new resources and programs to address identified barriers.

The first stage of this research is a survey you can take online. 

You can find the survey on our website by clicking here.

If you prefer, you can take the survey over the phone, or in person in english, ASL or LSQ. If you have any questions, or would like to take it by phone or in person, please contact: victoria@tangledarts.org or call 647 725 5064.

This project has been made possible through funding from the Open Door initiative through the Toronto Arts Council.

Toronto Arts Foundation's 2019 Arts Stats

Akin is concerned about how artists and arts workers are coping with the high cost of living in Toronto.

Toronto Arts Foundation, working with marketing and polling company Leger, will release Arts Stats 2019: State of the Artist in the fall of 2019. The survey asks artists about the high cost of living and working in Toronto. Are you considering leaving the city? Are you paid a fair wage? Are you optimistic about their future?

Click here to complete the survey. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and all of your responses are anonymous. None of the responses will be connected to identifying information.

The results will act as an important advocacy tool. The time you put into the survey will be worth it. The deadline to complete the survey is July 8th. In an attempt to reach as many people as possible the Foundation has widely distributed the survey.