Archive for the ‘Parkdale’ Category

 

Located at 78 Brock Avenue, The Japanese Paper Place is a warehouse that welcomes artists and conservators alike. Recently the JPP teamed up with OCADU‘s second year lithography students (formerly known as OCAD). They gave the OCADU students paper to work with, and taught them about the paper making process.

The JPP will be hosting an exhibit of the second year students work, displaying their final lithography projects. The student’s prints will be shown at the JPP on December 7th for about a month, be sure to go check it out!

 

Now, you ask, what exactly is lithography?

Lithography is a type of  printmaking with an OLD process. OCAD(U) is one of the few universities left that still teaches this process. The process involves drawing with grease on a limestone (which is an extremely rare stone), and then using nitric acid to burn into it. Lithography is based on the principle that grease and water repel each other. These students are assigned a giant rock at the beginning of the semester, told to name it, and away they went.

Visit The Japanese Paper Place’s website if you want to know more!

 

Thanks to BlogTO for the awesome post full of ancient photos of Toronto! It’s amazing to see the city in its early years, and to see parts of Parkdale as they once were.

1. Queen Street West, looking east towards Dufferin Street (you can see the Gladstone Hotel on the left). That brick retaining wall on each side of the road is gone now.
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2. The South Parkdale Rail Station was located at Jameson Avenue and Springhurst Avenue. Those big houses in the background are probably still there, split up for rentals by now.
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As I was searching around for old photos and trying to identify Parkdale’s train stations, I came across a neat site for train enthusiasts, Old Time Trains. Here is a photo of the tracks and bit of the neighbourhood around Dufferin and Queen.
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Click here for some general history of Parkdale. You can also check out a series of posts about Old Parkdale here.

“Spread the Word” is a series of posts we’re writing about our lovely customers, those who consistently support what we’re doing to promote Canadian designers, and who are engaged in amazing work that in turn deserves our support. This is where we’ll spread the word about the wonderful people around us. Sarah Selecky is our second customer to be featured in this space.

Dear World,
Will you please read this book? You’ll love it, I promise.

Love,
Ashley

For serious. Read this book.

We at Shopgirls are so thrilled to have met author and writing instructor Sarah Selecky a few years ago in the shop, and these days we love calling her a friend. Sarah is a local Parkdalian, hosting writing workshops in her beautiful home, and befriending and supporting local businesses like Shopgirls and Coriander Girl. She even participated in our Walk the Walk fundraiser for Windfall last September, strutting her stuff on the runway for a great cause. And she rocked it!

Thus, as friends we are pumped to help promote this beautiful first book of hers! This Cake is for the Party is a collection of ten perfect little stories. I really couldn’t say it better than Lisa Foad, who reviewed the book for the Globe and Mail:

“Sarah Selecky’s debut is an exceptional story collection full of regret and celebration, wisdom and wit. And while the collection explores sites of emotional and physical volatility, Selecky sinks her teeth into something far more powerful than the violence of loss: she skillfully wrests devastation from its customary gloom of lamentation and regret, and bares its overwhelming beauty. Each of the 10 sharply cinched tales within This Cake pivots around this powerful inversion. Selecky’s stories are also ridiculously witty. Compelling, clever and exceptionally crafted, This Cake really delivers.”

And if that somehow did not convince you, then I demand that you read this excerpt from Toronto Craft Alert.

One of the things that so drew me in about this collection is a comment Sarah made during the launch party, where she was interviewed by writer and broadcaster Jeff Warren. Jeff shared with Sarah a deep interest in meditation, and in response to his probe regarding the subject, Sarah talked at length about her writing process as heavily influenced by the practice: the slow (and I think, daring) work of quieting the mind and digging in, in an effort to embody each of her characters so they come out true. Which clearly works for her, because funny or flawed, everyone in this book is familiar.

If you are inclined to try this kind of practice, you’re in luck! This September will see Sarah teaching the writing portion of Breathe in, Write Out, a rural retreat where participants alternate between yoga, meditation and writing; in doing so, they learn new ways to adapt to the present moment, allowing space for authentic writing to happen.

Shopgirls encourages you to go to your local, independent bookstore to pick up a copy! Closest to us here at the shop is Type Books, just on the South side of Queen Street, across from the lovely Trinity Bellwoods Park. Ooh! Buy the book and then read it in the park! Sarah would love that.

In the meantime, read Sarah Selecky’s Twitter Feed for news about This Cake, daily insights and tips for writing. Also, please see Sarah’s website for more information about her classes, her writing, and her stupendous self.

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We leave you with more reviews of This Cake is for the Party:

“Selecky’s stories are ultra-lush and wise, wickedly wry. She is uncannily accurate about all the tender, blasted-open moments that change us for the good. This Cake… is delicious.” Lisa Moore, author of February and Alligator

“An elegant collection that weaves between life’s everyday pleasures and everyday pain…a beautiful book.” Erin Balser, Torontoist

“The short story by Sarah Selecky is everything a story should be: smart, wise, achingly poignant, its tightly sprung pages enfolding lifetimes of experience. The story is one of the highlights of This Cake is for the Party, the 35-year old’s first collection.” Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Sun

This is the first in a series of posts we’ll be writing about our lovely customers. “Really,” you say, “You’re going to write about the people who shop there?” Yes! All of our staff have commented that the people who come into the shop are the most interesting, smart, funny and creative people we meet anywhere in the city. They are writers, artists, teachers, filmmakers, moms, bloggers, and just about anything else you can think of. They are forces of nature, women (and men) who consistently support what we’re trying to do (promoting the work of Canadian and local artists and designers) and who are constantly doing amazing work that in turn deserves our support. This is where we’ll spread the word about the wonderful people around us.

The first of our featured customers is Summer Love (what a name!), who lives right near the shop and has been dropping in ever since we opened in December 2007. We have learned gradually over the years about Summer’s film projects, and the one in particular we want to tell you about has been in the works for 7 years. 7 YEARS! She is nothing if not dedicated. Of course, she is much more than dedicated; she’s smart, funny, fiery, and passionate. We love her visits to the shop.

So a week ago, some of the Shopgirls staff attended the NXNE launch of Sounds Like A Revolution at the NFB, directed by Summer Love and Toronto-based Jane Michener. We squeezed into a packed-house theatre with over a hundred other people to catch this pro-active and energizing documentary about a new generation of activist musicians who are living proof that music is an important and powerful tool in the ongoing struggle for social change (we never doubted it!). They’re not anywhere as mainstream as dissenting musicians in the 60′s were, but the doc features people from the pop country Dixie Chicks to Michael Franti to the punk band Anti-Flag, artists from all ᠋across the musical spectrum – so important for engaging a diverse audience in this important dialogue about the role of artists in society, freedom of expression and democratic participation.

Anyway, the film is outstanding. It will at times make you laugh, and at others give you shivers. But it is always provocative, and totally relevant. GO SEE IT!

Sounds Like a Revolution – HD Trailer from Deltatime Productions on Vimeo.

And to check out CityTV’s coverage, and short interview with Summer, click here.

Check out the Facebook page to connect and share the film with others! Spreading the word through channels like these will help grow awareness of the film and get it the audience it truly deserves!

Sounds like a Revolution is playing all week at The Royal (608 College St. Toronto, ON). Here are the dates!

Friday June 25
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Introduction by Alan Cross + Q&A with filmmakers)
9:15pm –Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers)

Saturday June 26
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)
9:30pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)

Sunday June 27
4:30pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Justin Sane)
9:15pm – Sounds Like A Revolution

Monday June 28
9:30pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers + acoustic performance by Jessica Stuart)

Tuesday June 29
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers) Mac Graham special appearance!

Wednesday June 30
7pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers)

Thursday July 1
9:15pm – Sounds Like A Revolution (Q&A with filmmakers)

If you miss out on the Royal dates get to the Carlton Cinemas from July 2-8, 2010. There will be a Q&A with the filmmaker most screenings.

FOUR STARS – NOW Magazine! “Terrific energy. But it’s the interviews with the articulate musicians that are most inspiring.” – Susan Cole

Shopgirls is so thrilled to have partnered with newish Parkdale business Coriander Girl to bring beautiful fresh blooms into the shop every other week!

Shop owner Alison Westlake is a sweet pea and her space is filled with beautiful blooms, locally-made crafts and botanical lotions, and good vibes. Once in a while, you’ll even catch her dancing off her stress to groovy tunes in the middle of the shop! Awesome. We love her and fully encourage you to check out her shop and all the beautiful things it has to offer!

Shopgirls was thrilled to read recently that Parkdale has been found to be one of ten neighbourhoods in Canada with a high concentration of artists in the local workforce. Awesome!

Click here for the full article, where you can actually read about neighbourhoods with decreasing artist populations, mean salaries for artists by neighbourhood and even stats for female artists in certain area. And of course, here’s a snippet of the article, along with a list of the other neighbourhoods:

This study, prepared for the City of Vancouver, the City of Calgary, the City of Toronto, the City of Ottawa and the Ville de Montréal, shows that, collectively, the 53,500 artists in these five large cities represent 38% of all artists in Canada, a proportion that is much higher than the five cities’ share of the overall Canadian labour force (21%).

The report provides an analysis of artists residing in various postal regions – “neighbourhoods” – in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver in 2006. The report provides lists of the ten neighbourhoods with the highest concentration of artists in each city. Nearly 22,000 artists live in the 50 neighbourhoods in the five cities’ top ten lists. This represents 41% of the artists in the five cities and 16% of all artists in Canada.

Each of the five cities has areas with above-average concentrations of artists. However, among all Canadian neighbourhoods, certain Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver neighbourhoods have the highest concentration of artists.

1. Montreal’s H2T neighbourhood has 7.8% of the local labour force in the arts. H2T extends northward from avenue du Mont-Royal to avenue Van Horne (and the railway tracks) between St-Denis and Jeanne-Mance. This is the “most artistic neighbourhood” in Canada, with an artistic concentration that is nearly ten times the Canadian average (0.8%).
2. Montreal’s H2W neighbourhood, directly south of H2T, has an artistic concentration of 7.5%.
T3. Toronto’s M6R neighbourhood (Parkdale west to Parkside Drive) has 6.0% of its labour force in arts occupations.
T3. Montreal’s H2Y neighbourhood (the Old Montreal and Old Port areas) also has an artistic concentration of 6.0%.
5. Toronto’s M6J neighbourhood (West Queen West, centered on Trinity-Bellwoods Park) has 5.5% of its labour force in arts occupations.
T6. Toronto’s M6G neighbourhood (north of M6J, extending from College Avenue to St. Clair between Bathurst and Ossington) has 5.3% of the local labour force in arts occupations.
T6. Montreal’s H2J neighbourhood, which extends east of H2T (from St-Denis to Papineau between the railway tracks and Rachel) has an artistic concentration of 5.3%.
T8. Montreal’s H2V neighbourhood (Outremont) has 5.2% of its labour force in the nine arts occupations.
T8. Toronto’s M5R neighbourhood (the Annex and Yorkville areas) has 835 artists out of 15,910 total workers, for an artistic concentration of 5.2%.
10. Vancouver’s V5L neighbourhood (centered on Commercial Drive and extending from Burrard Inlet to East 1st Avenue between Clark Drive and Nanaimo Street) has 5.1% of the local labour force in arts occupations.

Below: Ten Toronto Neighbourhoods with the highest concentration of artists, 2006.

Shopgirls has been waiting patiently since we moved into Parkdale for some big changes, specifically a reconfiguration of the Dufferin Jog. We have found in the last few years that local residents love us, but it’s been tough to get Queen West shoppers to walk past the bridge. With the current changes underway, that whole area is going to be one big invitation into Parkdale, and it’ll be that much easier to get to Shopgirls! Public art, green space, bike and walking paths – we’re so thrilled about this project. And finally we have pictures!

Torontoist details the history and development of the project here.