TCAF 2017 - The Toronto Comics Arts Festival - May 13 & 14

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is taking place in On May 13 & 14 with corresponding events happening throughout May. The main event is a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world and will be held at the Toronto Reference Library with readings, signings, panels, workshops, gallery shows, installations and more taking place in the surrounding Bloor/Yonge neighbourhood.

The first Toronto Comic Arts Festival was held in 2003. The Toronto Comic Arts Festival exists to promote the breadth and diversity of comics, and what is considered comics, as legitimate medium of literary and artistic worth. They seek to promote the creators of these works in their broad and diverse voices, for the betterment of the medium of comics and to reach as wide an audience as possible for them.

Main Exhibition: Saturday May 13 and Sunday May 14 at Toronto Reference Library

Some of the Other Events and Exhibitions (Full listing on the TCAF website):
Professional Development for Librarians and Educators: Friday May 12
TCAF Kick-Off: Celebrate 25 Years of Image Comics: Friday, May 12, Doors at 6pm
TCAF KIDS DAY: May 13, 10am-5pm @ St. Paul’s On Bloor
French Comics Framed Exhibition: May 2 -31 @ Toronto Reference Library
My Brother’s Husband – Artwork by Gengoroh Tagame: May 9-30 @ Toronto Reference Library
Guy Delisle: An Exhibition: May 2-31 @ Toronto Reference Library

All TCAF events are FREE and suitable for all ages.

Akin's First East-End Gallery Crawl

Saturday, May 13 / 11am- 3pm / Meet at Project Gallery, 1109 Queen St E / FREE

Join Akin for our very first gallery crawl in Toronto's east end! Free and all are welcome. Stick around and join us on a patio after!

1. We will meet at Project Gallery (1109 Queen St E) at 11am

2. After our visit we will take the 501 Streetcar East to Studio 888 (2359 Queen St E) Please note that this leg of the journey involves using the TTC. This is a free event but please bring your own TTC fare/tokens. If you require another form of transpiration please get in touch and we will provide alternative transportation.

3. Walk to Creative Space Residency (70 Silver Birch Ave)

4. Walk to Cobalt Gallery (870 Kingston Rd)

5. Walk to Yellow House Gallery (921 Kingston Rd)

6. Visit Great Escape Book Store (957 Kingston Road)

Map of locations is here: https://tinyurl.com/n5xes45

Questions? email michael@akincollective.com

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ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION:

There street parking near the Project Gallery on Queen Street East, but there is no designated handicap parking. There are no level or accessible entrances. The front entrance has one small step and the doors are not automated. The washroom is on the ground level, but there are no grab bars in the washroom and the toilet is not raised.

Studio 888 has street parking only. There is one step to enter the gallery but there is also a ramp. Studio 888 does not have automated doors but if the weather permits, the door is often propped open. The gallery is on the ground floor. The public washroom is large but navigating a wheelchair may prove awkward. Studio 888 has a ramp main gallery space and it is all accessible after entering. Is no there grab bars in bathroom and the seat is not raised.

While there are plans to make the church building housing Creative Space Residency accessible, it is not currently accessible. The studio, an apartment inside the church, is up one flight of stairs. There is free street parking along many side streets surrounding the church, and pay parking on Queen Street East. There is roughly 3 or 4 steps to enter. There are washrooms on the main floor and second floor. It is two flights up to the studio.

Cobalt Gallery does not have designated handicap parking. There are steps to enter the gallery and no automated doors. The washroom is not on the ground level. Their is no grab bar in the bathroom and the toilet is not raised.

There is street parking near Yellow House Gallery. There are three steps to enter the gallery. Once inside the gallery it is all one level with no more steps.

The Great Escape Book Store is a converted garage behind a bookstore on Kingston Road. The garage is located in an alley with street access from Scarborough Rd. It has double barn doors that allow wheelchair access. The store has access from Kingston a Road on the sidewalk with a ramp but there isn't any access to the washroom, or for a wheelchair to go through the store.

West Toronto Railpath Art walk - Saturday April 22 - FREE!

Join Friends of West Toronto Railpath, The STEPS Initiative, Crazy Dames, Akin Projects and ====\\DERAIL Platform for Art + Architecture for an exploration of the past, present and future of art initiatives along the Railpath. We’ll check out some street art projects, graffiti, installations, artist run galleries and studios, and we’ll talk about what kind of new imagery you’d like to see along the Railpath in 2017.

Meet at Henderson Brewing Co. (128A Sterling Road) at the west side of the Brewery, between the Brewery and the West Toronto Railpath at 2pm. This is a free event.

Free Contemporary Art Bus Tour on Feb 5

The tour starts at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto (15 King's College Circle) at 12 PM, and then departs for Gallery TPW, Blackwood Gallery, and Oakville Galleries, returning to King's College Circle for 5 PM. Seating is limited.

Please RSVP by 5 PM Friday, February 3 to blackwood.gallery@utoronto.ca or 905-828-3789. This event is free.