23rd Annual Being Scene Exhibition

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The Being Scene Annual Juried Exhibition serves as a platform to showcase the rich and varied talent within the Workman Arts community. We aim to continue brightening the city with our diverse and inclusive exhibition. This annual event is a celebration of creativity that contributes to and fosters a sense of belonging within the broader cultural landscape.

This year, the Being Scene exhibition will be held at two locations: Remote Gallery, opening Saturday, March 30, and Workman Arts’ offsite location at Artscape Youngplace, opening Friday, April 5. These springtime exhibitions will display over thirty juried artworks selected by Aidan Cowling (The Blackwood Gallery), Heidi Persaud (Tangled Art + Disability), and Jesse King (Art Gallery of Ontario). 

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Days and Times Open to the Public:

March 30 - April 19
Wednesdays to Sundays, 12-5 PM (closed Mar. 31)

Opening Reception: 

March 30, 5-8 PM, Remote Gallery, 568 Richmond St. W.

Image Description: Illustration of a human wearing a pink scarf on their head under a textured background of light blues. The following text lives on a solid chartreuse rectangle. OPENING RECEPTION: Sat. Mar. 30, Remote Gallery, 568 Richmond Street W. Toronto, ON M5V 1Y9

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Participating Authors/Artists:

Áine Belton
Adi Amit
Anna Camilleri
Cassandra Chassi
E. Franklin
Grigio Liu
Ica Pas
Jace Traz
Lorette C. Luzajic
Ronald Berberich
Serena McCarroll
Shannon Taylor-Jones
Stephanie Avery

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Find Workman Arts on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

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Remote Gallery, 568 Richmond Street W. Toronto, ON M5V 1Y9

 

Akin Artists at The Artist Project, April 11 - 14

The anticipation builds as The Artist Project approaches! We're thrilled to announce the participation of six current Akin members alongside numerous alumni. Join them at the Better Living Centre in Exhibition Place from April 11-14, along with over 250 independent artists. Immerse yourself in an atmosphere crafted to spark meaningful dialogues and forge intimate connections with art. Delve into a vast array of artworks and large-scale installations, partake in curator-led art tours, and discover that perfect piece that speaks to your soul.

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Ashley Snook, Booth 437

Ashley Snook (Akin Dupont) is an award winning interdisciplinary artist, researcher and educator. She holds a PhD in Art and Visual Culture from Western University. Informed by biology, scientific research and socio-cultural dynamics, Snook explores the complexities of diverse living networks and the concept of animality. To Snook, exploring ones own unique position in animality has the potential to open perspective on human existence and relationships with one another, human-animal relationships, and relationality to the more-than-human world. It is a rebellious act against hegemonic forces that have enabled things like environmental degradation, capitalism, hate, overworking, and conformity. Her practice explores connections through differences, impermanence, composting, and imaginative reworlding, and therefore, animality is a constant theme of contemplation in Snooks work. Working predominantly in drawing, sculpture and installation, animality is imbued in everything she does. She is fascinated by the micro and macro relationships between human animals, nonhuman animals, bacteria, fungi, and vegetal/botanical life—this prompts her to blur distinctions as to what is human, animal, plant, living, or nonliving. Within these methods of creating, Snook looks to ways in which she can further engage her audience. This often looks like incorporating viewer participation, encouraging presentness, sensory awakening, for example, by incorporating smell, mood lighting, tactility, sound, and playfulness in her work.

View her entire Artist Project profile here

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Janne Reuss, Booth 100

Janne Reuss (Akin Yonge-St Clair) was born and raised in Mexico City and is currently based in Toronto, Canada. She has been a professional practicing artist for more than two decades, having lived, worked and exhibited her artwork in Mexico, United States, Germany, Italy and Canada. She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Art & Design in Stuttgart, Germany. Her preferred media are photography and collage, but she also paints, often cycling fluidly between the three. A constant theme in Janne’s work is her interest in human nature and how memories and experiences are imprinted deep inside of us. Janne’s work is held in private and public collections including the Donovan Art Collection at St. Michael’s College (Canada) and the Municipal Gallery of Ostfildern (Germany).

View her entire Artist Project profile here

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Jen Arron, Booth I-02

Jen Arron works with globally sourced fibers in her studio-based practice. Weaving in a freestyle approach, her large-scale pieces reveal connections about time, texture, and materials. Jen’s process of discovery often reflects an ecosystem of life.

View her entire Artist Project profile here

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Lindsay Chambers, Booth 318

Lindsay Chambers (Akin Richmond-Bathurst) is a contemporary Canadian artist who currently lives and works in Toronto. Her work belongs to collections across Canada, as well as in the United States, UK, Dubai, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Japan. Her work explores the delicacies of the human condition through paintings based on crumpled paper sculptures. All reference material, including any pattern or text, is carefully executed by the hand of the Artist. Chambers’ painting objective is to explore materials, to manipulate paint and maintain the visibility of layers. At all times a viewer is reminded of the painting process through layers of paint, variation in directional brushwork, and texture. These works are not as concerned with realism, rather the fluidity of materials and the painting process.

View her entire Artist Project profile here

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Loren Kaplan, Vessels & Sticks Gallery, Booth 125

Loren Kaplan (Akin Dupont). In my work I integrate symbolic, visual, tactile and spiritual values – blending form, function and meaning. My work resonates with light, sound, pattern and texture and includes pieces that are created by coiling and hand-building as well as specialized ranges of thrown work. Once built, the surface of the vessels are carved, sculpted or engraved with intricate patterns and symbols that combine the geometric and organic. There are many diversities and extremes that I try and hold and balance within my life and work. Within them all, they hold the silence and meditation of the making, the time, the process and the attention to detail. I make vessels because containers are about potential. My focus is on the space-in-between; defined spaces of emptiness making room for something to be held.

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Miles Ingrassia, Booth 224

Miles Ingrassia (Akin Dupont) is a painter and printmaker based out of Toronto.

View his entire Artist Project profile here

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Alyssa King, Akin X Collision Gallery, Booth 517

Carolina Reis, Akin Logan, Booth 130

Chris Harms, Akin Dupont, Booth 439

Kristy Blackwell, Akin Sunnyside, Booth 332

Linds Miyo, Akin AUTO, Booth 925

Natalie Plociennik, Akin St. Clair, Booth 222

Ryan Jester, Akin Waterfront, Booth I-19

Kristen Stephen, Akin King, Booth 1011

Stephanie Avery, Akin AUTO, Booth 403

Zach Atticus, Akin Lansdowne, Booth 518

Zoey Zoric, Akin River, Booth I-17

Jonah Strub, Akin Dupont, Booth 316

Good Luck to all of the Artists!

Love,
Akin

Grant Writing Tips and Tricks - Upcoming Grant Opportunities

Grants: they may not be a walk in the park, but they are an important part of many professional artist’s careers. Grants can afford you the time and space to take your practice to the next level. Here are some helpful tips to get you started. 

1. Tell your story

Put lots of thought into who you are and what kind of project you’d like to accomplish. What is the magic cocktail of experience that makes you the right artist for this project? Why now? What in your experience has prepared you to pull this off? Believe it or not, grant writing is storytelling. Don’t hide behind jargon and big, fancy words. Writing your story clearly and passionately is the best way to capture the panel’s attention.  

2. Don’t take it personally 

Easier said than done, right? If you aren’t chosen for a grant, try not to let it interfere with your self worth/sense of confidence as an artist. Ask for feedback from the grant panel, they’ll usually be happy to give it to you. Remember, your entire career doesn’t ever rest on one grant. Being able to keep up a steady routine of grant writing over the years will absolutely pay off in the end.

3. Turn the grant writing process into something more 

Essentially, the grant panel wants a business plan for your art project. They want you to know you’ve thought through every aspect; the themes, the timeline, the materials. If you take this process seriously, it shows! And whether you land the grant or not, you’ve finished a comprehensive plan for the future of your practice. 

4. Don’t go it alone! 

You should never be the only reader of your grant. It’s hard to look at your own work with eyes fresh enough to catch your own mistakes. You can ask a professional, a friend, a mother, or a studio mate to read it over. Choose your editor wisely, whoever they are, be sure they will give an honest opinion.

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UPCOMING GRANT OPPORTUNITIES:

Skills and Career Development: Indigenous Arts Professionals and Arts Professionals of Colour, Ontario Arts Council 

Deadline: May 4, 2023 

Description: This program supports Ontario-based Indigenous arts professionals and arts professionals of colour, or ad hoc groups and collectives made up of Indigenous arts professionals or arts professionals of colour for professional development and skill-building opportunities that advance applicants’ work and careers. It funds all contemporary and traditional art practices that are supported at OAC. Projects can include: study and training, mentorship, internship and apprenticeship and documentation of art work.

Find more details here

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Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship, Toronto Arts Council

Deadline: April 24, 2023 

Description: Newcomer and Refugee Artist Mentorship program provides support for newcomer and refugee artists to develop their artistic practice and to further their integration and inclusion to Toronto. We define a newcomer as: an immigrant or refugee who has lived in Canada for less than 7 years; a refugee is a person who was forced to leave their home country and is now located in Canada.

The program provides funding for individual newcomer and refugee professional artists to be mentored (guided) in their chosen arts discipline 

The mentorship application is submitted by the newcomer artist with the mentor as the co-applicant. Both the applicant and the mentor must identify as professional artists. 

Find out more details here

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Craft Projects, Ontario Arts Council 

Deadline: October 25, 2023

The program supports craft-based practices through grants to Ontario-based artists, curators, ad hoc groups, collectives and organisations. The program has five categories:

• Research/Creation/Development – Emerging artists and curators: to help cover the costs of research, experimentation, creation, production and/or career development

• Research/Creation/Development – Mid-career artists and curators: to help cover the costs of research, experimentation, creation, production and/or career development

• Research/Creation/Development –  Established artists and curators: to help cover the costs of research, experimentation, creation, production and/or career development

• Research/Creation/Development – Collaborations: to help cover the costs of artists to collaborate on research, experimentation, creation, production and/or career development

• Connections: to help cover the costs of projects that connect Ontario craft with audiences and expand the public profile and appreciation for craft; programming that encourages craft-based critical discourse and curatorial practice; and activities that make connections within the Ontario craft community

Find more details here

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Black Arts Projects, Toronto Arts Council

Deadline: Applications accepting on an ongoing basis 

The Black Arts Projects Program supports arts projects by Black artists, Black artist collectives, and Black-led, Black-focused and Black-serving organizations. For the purpose of this program, “Black”  refers to African descendant people across the diaspora including but not limited to African Canadian, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, East African, West African, Southern and Central African, Afro-Arab, Afro Indigenous, etc. This funding program is intended to support the development, continuation, and  flourishing of Black arts communities.

Find more details here

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Visual Artists Program: Creation, Toronto Arts Council 

Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis 

Toronto Arts Council’s Visual Artist Program: Creation provides support to visual artists who have a professional independent art practice for the creation/production of new work or the completion of works in progress. Funds are intended to cover direct costs of creation/production, and materials. 

Visual Arts includes drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, printmaking, performance art, installation and fine crafts and more. The Visual Artist Program: Creation does not include film or video makers- they apply to the Media Artist Program: Creation. 

Find more details here

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Writers Program, Toronto Arts Council 

Deadline: June 15, 2023 

Toronto Arts Council Writers Program supports the creation of new literary works or works-in-progress in the genres of fiction (including novels, short stories, children’s literature, graphic novels, etc.), literary non-fiction, poetry and oral traditions such as storytelling, dub, rap and spoken-word.

Find more details here

Fire Over Water: Catherine Tàmmaro at Remote Gallery - Opening Feb 18, 1-4pm

Catherine Tàmmaro . Fire Over Water 

Feb. 18 - Mar. 17. | VIEWINGS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Opening Day: Sat. Feb. 18th 1-4pm

Remote Gallery: 568 Richmond St West, Toronto

Updated on March 3: Fire Over Water: viewings by appointment only. Take the opportunity to sit with the artist to view the work. Available throughout the week. Please call Catherine Tammaro at 647 222 5548 to book an appointment or email catherine.tammaro@gmail.com. Thank you! 

Catherine Taǫmęˀšreˀ Tàmmaro is a multimedia artist and seated Wyandot FaithKeeper. Since 2019, Catherine has been Akin’s Elder Artist In Residence. We’re so excited Elder Catherine’s work will be coming to the Remote Gallery for her installation entitled FIRE OVER WATER. Fire Over Water involves sound, video, paintings, vitrines and more - inspired by Dr. Kathryn Magee Labelle’s book, Daughters of Aataentsic: Life Stories From Seven Generations, in conjunction with the Wendat Wyandot Women's Advisory Council. 

Focused on Wendat/Wyandot women and their connection to their Ancestors, the land and waters; the Great Mystery and our Kin in the Natural World, Fire Over Water offers insight into Wendat/Wyandot placemaking, placekeeping, our Narratives, Motherwork as well as our precious relationships to each other across time, within the Wendat Confederacy.

Catherine Tàmmaro, Huronia: Sky World View, 2023, Acrylic on Canvas, 30 x 30"
Image Description: Abstract painting with undulating shapes in earthtones on canvas.

Catherine embarked on this project ten years ago with Dr. Labelle and the Council. These works are her reflections on this deeply felt spiritual connection through time and space.

Catherine is active throughout the City of Toronto and beyond, in many organisations as Elder in Residence, Mentor, Teacher and Cultural Advisor. She is an alumna of OCA and has had a diverse career, multiple exhibits and installations, published written works and more. She served on the Board of the TAC, TAC’s Income Precarity Working Group and was the Chair of the Toronto Arts Council’s Indigenous Advisory Committee in 2020/21. Catherine is the Indigenous Arts Program Manager at Toronto Arts Council and continues teaching, learning and exploring her creativity and that of others. 

Learn more about Catherine and her projects through her website, twitter, or instagram. You can listen to Catherine’s music project subductionCurrent,  here

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Image Description: Image with five logos. The logos are: Akin, Remote Gallery, Toronto Arts Council, Conservation Halton and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada 

This project was supported by the Canada Council of the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, Conservation Halton, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Dr. Labelle, the Wendat/Wyandot Women’s Advisory Council, Akin and the Remote Gallery.

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

Collision Artist Spotlight: Maren Boedeker

This month we checked in with some of the resident artists in our studios at Collision Gallery to see what they have been working on over the last few months.

This week we caught a glimpse of new work in progress by Maren Boedeker.

Maren Boedeker studied visual arts and art education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Münster, Germany.

Her abstract, large-scale canvases have been shown in galleries in Germany, Belgium and Canada. She received the artist-in-residency-grant Liguria, Italy and was awarded first place in the exhibition "Art for Europe", curated by the European Community in Brussels, Belgium.

Besides her artistic practice, she has continuously been working with children, teens and adults as an art teacher and instructor.

Since 2013 she lives and works in Toronto. She was selected for the AKIN Studio Program 2018/19, first year, having her studio at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA).

Video by Maren Boedeker. Filmed in Toronto, ON.

To learn more about this artist and her practice visit www.marenboedeker.com/ or via instagram at @marenboedeker.artist

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Collision Artist Spotlight: Maria Kim

This month we checked in with some of the resident artists in our studios at Collision Gallery to see what they have been working on over the last few months.

This week we caught a glimpse of new work in progress by Maria Kim.

"During the past three years, I have been given opportunities to participate and work with international artist residencies for six months each in Paris, Barcelona, Seville and a full year in Leipzig. After returning to Toronto last September to participate as a Resident Artist at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre (MLAC), I had to decide to lengthen my stay to be with family through the events of the pandemic, and have now joined AKIN X Collision residency for the rest of the year.

Current conditions have opened my mind in redefining blurred boundaries of interior and exterior spaces, public and private realms, the lucidity of time, and notions of progress and regress. Personally, I have always been heavily informed by histories, individual and collective experiences, distorted and manipulated memories, altered perceptions of the world through the intergernerational transferring of beliefs, values and stories, and notions of truth. These interests were born initially from being a Korean-Canadian, as I long searched the tangible stories of Korean diaspora left in lands without citizenship throughout Asia during WWII and the Korean War. Through constant research and exploration of transgenerational trauma and how it affects individuals in present situations, I paint the figures using the face and body as the place which holds the traces of human experience.

This exhibition titled: "Singled Out" reveals some of these expressions, and blurred lines of memory with reality, painted during my time away and upon returning home." - Maria Kim

Video by Maria Kim. Filmed in Toronto, ON.

To learn more about this artist and her practice visit www.mihyunmariakim.com/ or via instagram at @singmariamaria

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Collision Artist Spotlight: Lindsay Chambers

This month we checked in with some of the resident artists in our studios at Collision Gallery to see what they have been working on over the last few months.

This week we caught a glimpse of an ongoing series of painted photographs by Lindsay Chambers.

This month we checked in with some of the resident artists in our studios at Collision Gallery to see what they have been working on over the last few months. This week we caught a glimpse of new work in progress by Lindsay Chambers.

"Hello, my name is Lindsay Chambers and I am an artist at Akin's Collision Studio''. “Paper, by virtue of its intended function, has a relationship with the human need to communicate with others. With or without obvious markings upon its surface, crumpled and discarded or particularly arranged, there is an under-standing that a piece of paper has been created and influenced in content, form and gesture by its previous handler. Paper is made to capture a piece of ourselves, and my work explores this relationship.”

Lindsay Chambers is a Canadian artist currently practicing in Toronto, Ontario. Her work explores the delicacies of the human condition through paintings based on crumpled paper sculptures. All reference material, including any pattern or text, is carefully executed by the hand of the Artist. Chambers’ painting objective is always to explore materials, to manipulate paint and maintain the visibility of layers. The subject matter, as it explores our relationship with paper, is at times representational while at other times aims to find a space between realism and abstraction.

Chambers has an Honours BA from the University of Waterloo in Fine Arts and Psychology, a certificate in 3D for Broadcast Animation and Design from Humber College and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Windsor. Her work belongs to collections across Canada, as well as in the United States, UK, Dubai, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. View the full video via the link in our bio. Video by Lindsay Chambers. Filmed in Toronto, ON.

To learn more about this artist and her practice visit www.lindsaychambers.ca or via facebook/instagram at @lindsaychamberspainting.

Stay tuned for updates on Lindsay Chambers’ upcoming programming onsite at Collision Gallery this Fall!

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Collision Artist Spotlight: Janne Reuss

This month we checked in with some of the resident artists in our studios at Collision Gallery to see what they have been working on over the last few months.

This week we caught a glimpse of an ongoing series of painted photographs by Janne Reuss.

Janne Reuss is a multidisciplinary and conceptually-driven artist. In her recent series Rewriting the Story, she combines photography and painting, creating ambiguous spaces that evoke imaginary and spiritual landscapes. A constant theme in her work is the exploration of the human condition of freedom and confinement. The process of liberation and transformation of false narratives and identities.

She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Art & Design in Stuttgart, Germany, and History of Art in Mexico City, where she was born and raised. Her work is held in private as well as public collections: The Donovan Art Collection at St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Canada (2013), and the Municipal Gallery Ostfildern, Germany (2008).

Video by Janne Reuss. Filmed in Toronto, ON.

To learn more about this artist and her practice visit www.artjanne.com or https://www.instagram.com/jannereuss.

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Interested in viewing Janne's work in person? Visit Remote Gallery (568B Richmond Street West) September 14-23, 2020 for 'Selfreflections3'.

Join the virtual opening on September 14th at 7pm. RSVP to join via selfreflections3@gmail.com.

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Collision Virtual Group Exhibition - On View Now!

With the goal of reconnecting communities and highlighting the voices of the artists working in the Collision Gallery space, this virtual group exhibition shares recent work from the artists working in our shared artist studios at 18 Wellington Street West.

The work presented here reflects a small selection of works, old and new, by artists at Akin’s Collision Gallery location.

Exhibiting Artists:
Maren Boedeker, Lindsay Chambers, Kai Hart, Antonio Pendones, Janne Reuss, Joanna Strong

Collision Artist Spotlight: Antonio Pendones

This month we checked in with some of the resident artists in our studios at Collision Gallery to see what they have been working on over the last few months.

This week we caught a glimpse of an ongoing series of mixed media sculptures by Antonio Pendones.

Antonio Pendones works with a variety of media including digital canvasses through the use of mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad. Harnessing the skills and knowledge earned after years of working as a designer, Antonio’s art is bold and colourful, intricate and complex, refined and elegant, and, as he says, “wondrous and surprising”. 

Since 2004, Antonio has lived and worked in Toronto, both as an artist, as well as an Art Director. His work has been featured in galleries, venues and events throughout Toronto, such as Moniker Gallery, Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, the Pan-American Food Festival and Koyman Galleries in Ottawa. In 2014, Antonio exhibited at Spectrum Miami Art Fair during Art Basel. 

Born in Guananico, The Dominican Republic, Antonio moved to New York City at the age of 20 to pursue his passion for design. He earned an Associate’s Degree from Bronx Community College. He then went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design degree from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in 1999. After completing his degree, Antonio began his design career at the prestigious The New Yorker magazine, where he held the position of Senior Designer.

At the core of each of his pieces is a story Antonio is driven to tell. Moments and experiences from his life are woven into each of his pieces, whether directly influencing the subjects he chooses, or reflected in the overall look and feel of his works. The vibrant colours characteristic of much of Antonio’s work, are inspired from his Dominican upbringing. Not easily categorized or defined, Antonio’s work continues to evolve alongside the digital technology from which it originates.

Art by OCAD U Students and Grads Now Available Online

“There’s an economic insecurity that artists feel in Toronto.”

— Hana Elmasry via BlogTO

OCAD University has partnered with Partial Gallery to launch OCAD U Artist Showcase, an online market with more than 270 curated pieces by 24 students and graduates. Pieces are available for rent or purchase at affordable prices.

Partial is an online service that launched in 2016 with the aim of connecting artists with buyers at affordable rates. Consumers can rent an artwork for up to three months and if they decide to keep it, rental payments are deducted from the sale price. This allows customers to see how a piece looks in their space before making a long term commitment.

"This opportunity not only connects emerging artists with potential buyers excited by new works, but also demonstrates how affordable owning original art can be to a whole new group of prospective art collectors,” Partial Gallery’s co-founder, Tammy Yiu Coyne, said in a statement.

This benefits the artists and consumers as selling online is a way for artists to sustain themselves and for buyers is a chance to buy something more unique than a mass-produced piece from a furniture store.

"Time for Toronto to decide whether it wants to keep its artists" - Andrew Kennedy via the Toronto Star

Last week we were pleasantly surprised to read a very relevant and honest opinion piece in the Toronto Star by Akin Dupont member Andrew Kennedy. Continue reading for a brief excerpt or click the link at the bottom of this post for Kennedy’s full article.

In speaking about the modern ways of urban development and gentrification, the esteemed writer Fran Lebowitz once said “we do not like cities because they are noisy, crowded and dirty. We like them because they are interesting.”

I would wager a small sum that anyone of a certain age who’s lived in the city of Toronto for a good amount of time would agree with Lebowitz’s sentiment. And if we take her statement to be true, then this year’s Art Stats report from the Toronto Arts Foundation should provide a warning that the City of Toronto could be sliding towards a less interesting existence.

According to the report, 80 per cent of Toronto’s artists believe they cannot make a living wage and 73 per cent have thought about leaving the city. In other words, if artists in Toronto were creatures from the animal kingdom, they might be in danger of trending towards the endangered species list.

Toronto Arts Foundation's 2019 Toronto Arts Stats

Art Stats 2019 turns its lens to artists and arts workers. This report brings together results from a public opinion poll that surveyed over 1500 artists and arts workers to ask questions about costs of work space, homes, essential training and income.

Since 2013 Toronto Arts Foundation has been working with Leger to research public opinion about the arts and document the findings in our popular Toronto Arts Stats booklets. What has emerged is a record of the appreciation Toronto residents feel for the arts and an understanding that the arts add value to their lives and the city far beyond economics. For many, the arts are a defining asset of our city.

This year, for the first time, we examine the city from the perspective of individual artists and arts workers. The results of the 2019 survey are sobering. Bearing disproportionately high costs for both work space and essential training, and burdened by disproportionately low incomes, many Toronto artists believe they cannot sustain a living and are considering leaving the city.

As with most research undertaken by Toronto Arts Foundation, the learning gleaned from Arts Stats 2019 will be applied to future planning. Just as Neighbourhood Arts Network was created to respond to the needs of artists located outside Toronto’s core, and Arts in the Parks to offer accessible programming for under-served communities, the Foundation will work with this data and with other partners to explore solutions. We applaud those who are currently engaged in finding solutions and thank them for their vital leadership.

Akin Lakeshore Studios Featured in Etobicoke Guardian!

“It’s about cross pollination”

— founder Oliver Pauk

Akin Lakeshore makes art studio space affordable in Etobicoke!

Last week Akin’s newest location in Etobicoke was featured in the Etobicoke Guardian and we couldn’t be more appreciative for this and the wonderfully positive response and warm welcome we have received in this new neighborhood. Continue reading below for an excerpt from the article by Tamara Shephard.

“Photographers. Painters. Sculptors. Writers. Video creators. Fashion designers. Jewelry makers.

Toronto is home to artists of acclaim in every medium, yet there’s an ever-increasing shortage of affordable workspace.

Akin Collective’s model responds to the challenge with monthly, affordable rentals of art studios and workspaces of varying sizes across Toronto, everywhere from inside the Museum of Contemporary Art to a converted former butcher shop at St. Clair Avenue West and Keele Street.

Next month, Akin Lakeshore opens to Etobicoke-based artists as 6,000 square feet of converted vacant commercial space on the third floor of 2970 Lake Shore Blvd. W. at Eighth Street.

Daylight floods through four foot tall windows and bounces off the bright white walls in a labyrinth of rooms, soon to become more than 30 dedicated art studios and shared workspaces, square footages taped out on grey carpet.”

INTERESTED IN AKIN LAKESHORE?

We are currently scheduling one-on-one tours. Please get in touch with Laura Keeling at laura@akincollective.com for more information, pricing inquiries, to book a tour or to share ideas. We look forward to hearing from you!

BMO 1st Art! Competition Recognizes Fresh Perspectives from Emerging Canadian Artists.

BMO Financial Group announces one national winner and 12 regional winners of their annual BMO 1st Art! competition

• $15,000 is awarded to the national winner; $7,500 is awarded to each regional winner

• All selected works will be showcased from November 21 to December 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 158 Sterling Rd, Toronto

National Winner from Manitoba
Figure as Index (Triptych) by Luther Konadu

TORONTO, August 12, 2019 – BMO Financial Group today announced the winners of its 17th annual BMO 1st Art! competition, recognizing visual arts excellence among undergraduate artists across Canada.

The invitational competition presents emerging artists with cash awards of $15,000 to one national winner and $7,500 to 12 regional winners from coast to coast. An esteemed panel of jurors selected the 13 outstanding works from a pool of 291 submissions. All winning pieces will be showcased from November 21 to December 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 158 Sterling Rd, Toronto, following a private exhibition opening on Wednesday, November 20.

“I’m proud of all of the work that BMO does to support emerging artists through its various projects year-round,” said Cameron Fowler, President, North American Personal & Business Banking, BMO Financial Group. “It’s an honour to be part of an initiative that recognizes the wealth of Canadian talent from coast to coast. Congratulations to the 2019 winners on their accomplishment.”

“It’s wonderful to see such inventive and complex projects from a group of graduates, knowing that their generation is the future of art in Canada,” said Dawn Cain, Curator, BMO Corporate Art Collection. “We applaud this year’s honourees and look forward to celebrating their well-deserved recognition in November.”

Once again, Deans and instructors of 110 undergraduate student art programs were invited to select three graduating students from each of their studio specialties to submit a recent work.

For the first time in the competition’s history, the 2019 submission guidelines allowed for time-based media including video, film, slide, audio and computer technologies, in addition to the previously accepted mediums of drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, sculpture, glass, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, and installation works.