Support Our Friends at Walnut Studios →

In the early morning of May 19, 2018, Walnut studios, nestled between Niagara street and Walnut Ave in Toronto experienced a devastating fire. The devastating fire in the north end of the studio, affected 22 artists who lost not only their artwork but also all of their art supplies. 

Founded in 2008, Walnut Studios is a community of 45 artists in a large warehouse studio in Toronto's King West Village. It is home to Painters, Sculptors, Fashion Designers, Jewellery Makers, Photographers, and Installation Artists.

As the friends, family and community of those artists affected by the Walnut studio fire, let's give back to our creative community during their time of great loss. All funds raised through the GoFundMe campaign will be distributed so that the artists can purchase new equipment and art supplies to get making again. This money will also go towards helping these artists relocate temporarily while the major repairs are being completed on their Walnut studio spaces.

ALL CAPS: Art Show Featuring Luvsumone and Berma →

ALL CAPS is an interdisciplinary show featuring the art of Moises Frank aka Luvsumone (currently practicing out of Akin's St. Clair studios) and Berma aka Berma! Connecting through their love of all things art, jokes and shawarma, ALL CAPS is a show that brings together the creativity of two of Toronto’s hardest working artists.

ALL CAPS will feature works for sale from Luvsumone and Berma’s first ever collection of poetry for sale! Be prepared for some surprises as well! 

When: Friday, May 18th 2018

Time: 7:00 to 11:00PM

Cover: $5 per person

*BYOB

DIY Skateboard Workshop with Greenwood Studio →

SPRING CUSTOM
SKATEBOARD WORKSHOP

(AGES 9 +)

Imagine pulling an Ollie or a power slide on your very own custom designed deck! Using Canadian Maple veneers and a vacuum bag system, you will press your own unique pintail, old school, street deck, or penny board. Brand it with your own personal logo and graphics. Be ready to skate your own deck this summer!

Dates: 5 Tuesdays - May 22, 29, June 5, 12, 26, 2018
Time: 4 pm to 6 pm
Location: 915 Dupont Street, Toronto, M6H 1Z1
Cost: $280 + HST

No experience necessary. This program is capped at a maximum of 8 participants.
Note: Cost includes all materials to complete a skateboard deck. Trucks and wheels are not included.

Greenwood Studio is dedicated to facilitating exploration and creation in a fun and supportive environment. Their collaborative learning environment promotes playful, self-directed learning, entrepreneurial abilities, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. 

TCAF Panel: Building a Comics Community Feat. Althea Balmes →

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) kicks off this weekend with a stellar line up of artists, writers, panels, workshops, kids programming and more. One event of note is the Building a Comics Community panel featuring Akin King member, Althea Balmes.

What: Building a Comics Community Panel

Where: Marriott Hotel (Summerhill Ballroom)

When: May 13th 2018 at 2:45PM

Althea Balmes is a multidisciplinary visual storyteller and artist educator who is interested in collaborative creative expressions to tell stories and make art. Her work has been shown at Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival, Kaohsiung International Film Festival, Scarborough Arts Bridging Festival as well as Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, A-Space Gallery, Blackwood Gallery, Mayworks Festival among others. Her illustrations and comics has also been published by Briarpatch Magazine, Rice Paper Magazine, The Peak Magazine, Our Times Magazine, and Looseleaf Magazine.

TCAF exists to promote the breadth and diversity of comics, and what is considered comics, as legitimate medium of literary and artistic worth. The festival seeks 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.

Financial Planning For Artists - June 6th 2018

An artist’s step-by-step, beginner’s guide to financial planning. 

Wednesday June 6 / Council Chambers at Toronto City Hall - 100 Queen St West / 6:30-8:30pm / PWYC (Suggested Donation $10) / Please register to attend at www.universe.com/artfinance2018


Many artists wonder if they can afford to do what they love. You can with a plan! Join us for an evening full of financial strategies that will help you make the most of your money, so you can make the most of your practice. 

This session includes free worksheets and take home resources to guide you through each step of your financial planning process.

This workshop will cover 8 Steps to a Financial Plan:

Create Goals
Know Where You Stand
Find Income
Save
Track
Make a Budget
Reduce Debt
Make the Plan

The workshop includes:

Presentation on financial planning
Short break
Q&A period at the end
Printed copy of the presentation and FAQs
Free worksheets and resources to take away and guide you through each step of your own financial planning process

Participants should bring:

Pen/pencil/device for note-taking if they wish
Their creativity and questions!

About the presenter:

Diana Bahr is an OCAD U graduate in Drawing & Painting (2016), and former OCAD U staff from the Financial Aid department where she provided financial literacy and professional practice workshops to student artists and designers for five years. She has a master’s degree in education from the University of Toronto and works as an Educational Counsellor for a women’s employment agency. She is an emerging multi-disciplinary artist and has exhibited her work at various locations including a traveling show in New York, the Ontario Science Centre, the Brain Project in Toronto, and Mercedes Benz in Mississauga. She is currently co-organizing and participating in a year-long artist residency program in the east end of Toronto.

The event venue is fully wheelchair accessible and please let us know of any other accessibility needs, including ASL interpretation, so that we can assist you. Please email michael@akincollective.com at least one week before the event and we will do our best to accommodate you. Thank you.

Acts of Kindness Crochet Workshop at TSA →

“When we facilitate workshops, I always say crochet is a great way to lose yourself; to think about everything that’s going on, or to think about nothing at all and just focus on the craft.”

— Chason Yeboah via She Does The City

Join Chason Yeboah and Tumaini Lyaruu next Thursday, May 3rd 2018 from 6-9PM for a workshop that intertwines crochet foundations and mindfulness strategies.

In this workshop, participants will learn to crochet art pieces that externalize the expansiveness of the creative mind by going through the rhythmic and repetitive motions of crochet, recognizing patterns, and learning new stitches of the art form.

Thursday, May 3rd 2018.

6:00-9:00PM

Toronto School of Art - 999 Dufferin Street, 2nd Floor

Registration fee: $45 per person.

Price includes all materials. Participants will get to bring home a crochet hook and skein of yarn.

AOK (Acts of Kindness) is a collective created by Chason Yeboah and Tumaini Lyaruu in an effort to spread love around the city of Toronto through the art of crochet. What started as a love initiative evolved into a practice of community building and skill sharing.

Chason Yeboah is a Toronto based artist who crochets anatomically correct, nude figures that are representative of various bodily forms and skin tones.

Tumaini Lyaruu is a Toronto based HIV/sexual health educator and craftivist. Tumainis’ preferred gender pronoun is ‘T’ and is known for the crocheted vulvas that T creates. T uses the power of crafting, compassion and our truths to foster meaningful growth across communities.

Akin Artist's Spring Courses at Toronto School of Art

Akin members Rebecca Houston, Jess Thalmann, and Candice Davies are instructors of some amazing courses happening this spring at the Toronto School of Art. Join these Spring interdisciplinary courses that follow our belief of Artists Teaching Artists!

Mouldmaking and Multiples with Rebecca Houston  
starting wednesday May 9, 6PM-9PM 

Artists create multiples to emphasize a contemplation of form, to challenge us to see difference or the unique in the face of repetition, to ask questions about value in an age of disposable, identical consumer products or as a meditation on the very process of making. In this course, we will make a series of objects using moulds in plaster and create installations with those objects. Projects will include making push moulds of symmetrical objects and creating multiples with air-drying or oven-hardening clay, making a larger object cast in plaster and a collaborative project in which students will swap cast objects. Casting in plaster has certain limitations as compared to silicone, but also certain benefits. It is cheaper, less toxic and can be used for ceramic slip casting.

Beyond the flat: The photograph as Material and Object with Jessica Thalmann
starting Thursday May 10, 6PM-9PM 

This course investigates the intersection of contemporary photography with sculpture, print, painting, drawings and new media. Since Conceptual Photography, artists have been challenging the ideas and implications of the image, pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a photograph. The inherent qualities of the medium will be explored in this class as it brings together a group of stylistically diverse but similarly innovative artists. Students are guided through technical demonstrations to alter photographs including paper folding, cutting, embroidery, surface treatments and digital interventions. Beginning with the waning days of conceptual art, this class presents a wide variety of artists including Matthew Brandt, Marco Breuer, Alison Rossiter, Letha Wilson, Sigmar Polke, Julie Cockburn, Jessica Eaton, and Gerhard Richter— all of which have reconsidered and reinvented the role of light, color, composition, materiality, and subject in the both analogue and digital photography.

Beyond the Surface: A Contemporary Approach to Drawing with Candice Davies
starting Wednesday, May 2, 10AM-1PM

This course examines the link between drawing, material and space, with a key emphasis placed on contemporary approaches to drawing. Students will reconsider the relationship between the drawn surface and the conceptual/physical concepts of form, space and display. The following questions will be asked:  What defines a drawing?  Are there limits to drawing, and if so how do you overcome them or exploit them?  What are contemporary approaches to drawing?  How can a drawing exist in space, from the space on the page to physical space of ones surrounding?  Can a drawing be a three dimensional object and how can material transform the drawn surface?  What are alternative methods of display in drawing and how can these methods enhance the drawn surface?

This course consists of weekly exercises, discussions, and group critiques. Traditional elements of drawing are utilized, such as various types and sizes of paper and the graphite pencil, providing a foundation in which to build upon. Students are encouraged to think outside the box, to think beyond traditional notions of drawing and display, in order to reconsider drawing in contemporary art.

Akin Comic Day!

Akin Comic Day is a one-day celebration of comic books, comic making and comic artists! Drop in anytime and stay for a few minutes or the whole day. There will be many exciting ways for everyone to explore and enjoy comic books and comic making whether you are a life-long comic fan or completely new to the medium.
 

Featuring comics, art, experiences and more by Akin artists:

Althea Balmes - www.altheabalmes.com

Kate Drwecka - www.katedee.com

Christopher Green - www.mumblethief.tumblr.com

Carmina Miana - www.carminamiana.com

Loretta Miauw - www.instagram.com/loretta.miauw

Jen Pilles - www.jenpilles.com

Sarvenaz Rayati - www.sarvenaz-rayati.com

Yamandu Sztainbok - www.instagram.com/y.smerdis
 

Including:

• Comic Corner: A fun selection of hands-on activities to enjoy all day! All materials provided. Collaborate on group comic projects and individual explorations of comic art and visual storytelling. Suitable for all ages and experience levels.
   
• Comic Reading Zone: Relax and enjoy browsing a curated selection of some of the most interesting and renowned comics out there.
   
• Comic Art Exhibition: Comic art by Akin Collective studio artists on display.
   
• Artist Events: Live drawing, comic readings, book signings and more. Akin Collective comic artists will be on-site during the event. More details to me announced soon - stay tuned! 
   
• Comic Book Sale: Browse the sale table for some comic book treasures to take home with you!
   
• Official launch of the Akin Comic and Zine Library: a new permanent collection at Akin St Clair.

• Official launch of the Akin Comics Club: The Akin Comics Club is a new meet-up group for Toronto artists interested in comic-making and visual storytelling to stay connected and collaborate together on events, workshops and activities in Toronto.
  
  Akin Comic Day and the Akin Comic Club are brand-new initiatives brought to you by Akin Projects. 

Visit www.akin.art/comics for more information

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

** 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

CAKE: A Duo Art Exhibition Featuring Shanna Van Maurik of Akin Dupont →

CAKE: an art exhibition and birthday celebration featuring Shanna Van Maurik of Akin Dupont and Christina Mazzulla. For this show, the duo has joined forces to create an exciting collection of new works that create a playful dialogue between their intertwining worlds.

April 27th 2018

7PM-11PM

DCP's 1444 Dupont Street

Featuring music by THE GRUMP

Light snacks and refreshments available.

Exhibition on until May 2nd 2018 by appointment.

Shanna Van Maurik is a Canadian artist who lives and works in Toronto. Her practice is centered on the creation of invented characters in painting. Shanna received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Art History.

Art Show Reception: Haunted & Healing by Foot to Face of Akin Lansdowne

Haunted and Healing is a collection of ghost paintings and collage poems by Foot-to-Face of Akin Lansdowne at Queen's Shop Hair Salon (near Dufferin Station). The show runs now until April 28. You are invited to the reception on Thursday April 12 from 7-9pm.

Foot-to-Face (Julianne Ess) is a multimedia artist and storyteller who uses her art practice to document processes of transformation and cycles of apocalypse. Her art is about doing the visceral, imaginative and embodied work of exploring and healing our fears around change, the unknown, and our capacity for intimacy. She makes zines, collages, mixtapes, and stop-motion animations, and she draws with ink, watercolours, and acrylic paint pens. Originally from Winnipeg, she’s currently based in Toronto and has done a few stints creating and exhibiting in Edinburgh. www.instagram.com/foottoface

Earth Day Community Clean Up on April 22 at Akin Lansdowne

Join Akin artists, friends and neighbors on Earth Day for a casual community clean up followed by a free beer and a snack courtesy of Henderson Brewing Co. Limit of one beer and snack per person in exchange for a bag of garbage. 

Rain or shine! Gloves and garbage bags will be provided by Akin. Please RSVP on this Facebook Event Page so we know how much supplies we need. Everyone is welcome to participate but you must be legal drinking age to receive your free beer. Garbage pick-up has been arranged by Henderson Brewing Co.

SCHEDULE:
9:45am - We will meet at 87 Wade Ave on the north side of the building.

10am - Garbage clean-up begins as we walk slowly south along Wade Ave to Bloor street and continue West to the West Toronto Railpath. We will then head south on the Railpath and continue our clean-up.

11am - Arrive at Henderson Brewing Co at 128A Sterling Road where you can exchange your bag of garbage for free beer and a snack! 


About Earth Day:
Earth Day is an annual global event celebrated on April 22. Various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection all over the world. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day events in more than 193 countries are now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network.www.earthday.org

About Akin Projects:
Akin Projects is an arts programming organization and registered nonprofit established in 2015 for the purpose of providing both creative and professional development opportunities to members of Toronto’s artistic and cultural community and the public at large. We have offered services to over thousands of individuals since our inception in 2015. Our sister organization, Akin Collective, was founded in 2009 and provides affordable studio and shared workspace in a friendly atmosphere for over 300 members. www.akinprojects.org

Akin Creative: Introduction to Embroidery Workshop on April 4 at Toronto School of Art

Wednesday, April 4 / 6:30pm-9pm / Toronto School of Art 980 Dufferin St - Studio 19 / Limited seating - $25/person - all materials included - Register to attend at  www.universe.com/embroidery2018

Join embroidery artist Claire Davis to learn the basics of embroidery and some historical context on this feminist practise.

In this workshop, we'll be talking about exploring gender through art and reclaiming women's crafts as fine art mediums. We will become familiarized with beginner stitching techniques and some embroidery favourites, like sewing three-dimensional roses.

You will be provided with fabric, a hoop, needle and embroidery floss to get started. Inspiration pieces to be used as designs will be provided but attendees are also welcome to customize designs or go their own path.

Claire is a self-taught embroidery and textile artist that uses fabric, sewing and dye to visualize lived experiences of femme queerness, survivorship and activism. Claire's interest in embroidery started as an affordable way to make gifts for loved ones -- as she fell in love with the care required to stitch an image together millimeters at a time, embroidery became Claire's chosen medium. Claire is constantly taking in her environment and translating it to stitching. Incorporating found items, dyes and salvaged fabrics into her work builds context and sentimental relevance to pieces.

Land Acknowledgement: Toronto is in the 'Dish With One Spoon Territory’. The Dish With One Spoon is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect. Please Acknowledge that this workshop is taking place on stolen land.

Transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, ableism, fatphobia, racism or oppressive behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated. Attendees are expected to uphold these expectations and an Akin staff member will be present to mediate topics of discussion that are problematic and/or intolerant of our inherent values.

Accessibility:
Toronto School of Art is located on the 2nd floor. We regret TSA is not currently wheelchair accessible. When you arrive at TSA’s entrance at the north side of the building, there are 7 steps into the building. Inside, there are 6 steps with a handrail leading to the flight of stairs to the 2nd floor. The flight of stairs is equipped with handrails and contains: 15 steps, a landing, 6 steps, a landing, 6 steps leading to the TSA hallway entrance. Total: 40 steps. Please note: there is no onsite parking but folks may be dropped off at the TSA entrance (vehicles may enter via gate off Dufferin St.). There are 2 gender neutral single-stall washrooms, and 2 multi-stall washrooms to choose from.

Art Ignite Presents 'Metamorphic Reflections' - Free Portrait & Glass Painting Workshops

Art Ignite is a non-profit community arts organization that provides free or low-cost visual art workshops and exhibitions catering mainly to the Flemingdon Park community in Toronto. Many of Flemingdon Park’s residents are new immigrants living in low-income households with limited access to art activities. Led by professional artists, these activities aim to transform community spaces into creative hubs where residents can unleash their imaginations, connect with their community, gain skills, and become leaders of change.

You are invited to participate in a series of workshops on Portrait and Glass Painting from April 10-May 15, 2018 at the Flemingdon Park Library. 

The workshops will begin with an introduction to portraiture and glass painting. Participants will then engage in one-on-one discussion with they photograph each other. These photographs will then be used to paint each other's portraits on mirrors. We hope to the conversations and paintings that result from this project will change the way we view our community members and break through the socially constructed biases we have about others.

This workshop is open to all LGBTQ+ and allies. All levels are welcome, especially beginners. To find out more or register, email Tasneem@artignite.ca.

Date: Every Tuesdays from April 10 to May 15, 2018
Time: 4-7pm
Place: Flemingdon Park Library’s Glass Room (main floor)  29 St Dennis Drive

This project is funded by Ontario Arts Council.

Call for Artists: 2018 Refugee Art Show "Arbitrary Borders"

Beyond Fear Arts Collective and the Quaker Committee for Refugees have issued an open call for artwork for their annual Refugee Art Show. This is the third annual art exhibition in the new series, held to mark the Rights of Refugees Month - showcasing the work of refugee artists from many countries, as well as artists born in Canada who exhibit in solidarity with the refugee artists. 

The theme for this year's exhibition is Arbitrary Borders. Curated by Helen Melbourne at Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave. Toronto

This can be borders that are set by governments or authorities, by war and treaties; boundaries you set for yourself or others.

We will be looking at the concept of immigration and rejection, walls, fences, resettlement, detainment, the millions of people caught in political battles and manoeuvres, and what it means for humanity and individuals when a decision is made to close borders and evict asylum seekers or send them back to their unsafe homeland or to homes that are no longer there.

Forced resettlement is part of this theme as well as the effects of climate change, and the effect mass migration has on our natural world. Borders that set up separate geographical areas and remove traditional lands are also to be considered - there are millions of people worldwide who have been forcibly moved to reserves or camps, or marginal lands and denied citizenship and human rights within their country of birth.

Artwork that considers either the barrier itself or what is on either side of the barrier, the hope for acceptance, or the despair of rejection will be considered for this juried show.

Deadline for submission: March 21 at 5 pm
Arbitrary Borders exhibition dates: April 5, 6, 7, 2018

Setup will be on April 4. Artists are required to assist in hanging and take-down

Up to 8 small Jpegs may be submitted to the curator.

Please email for additional submission details:
helenmelbourne@sympatico.ca
or call Helen Melbourne at 416-424-4334
or Eusebio Garcia at 416-964-9669

'Whose Community?' a drop-in event at Xpace Cultural Centre on Saturday March 17

Saturday, March 17 at 1 PM - 6 PM / Xpace Cultural Centre 2-303 Lansdowne Avenue Unit 2, Main Floor / Drop-in / FREE

“Whose Community?” is a drop-in event that aims to debunk existing tensions in the word “community” while fostering an environment wherein the language of social justice and communal change is accessible to individuals of various backgrounds (including education, class, and ethnicity). 

We invite residents from the Junction Triangle, Parkdale and Bloordale to share the wealth of resources available in their neighbourhood by participating in an ongoing community map-making session. This activity will be facilitated by community members from the following local institutions:

Melody Grant & Erin Howley (Sistering: A Woman's Place)
Mercedes S. Zayas (Parkdale People's Economy)
Althea Balmes (Akin Collective Lansdowne Studios) 
Sheila Sampath (The Public)

Additionally, please join us for an art workshop hosted by Sistering. This activity is open to people of all-ages and all-skills. 

Food catered by neighbouring establishments will be provided. 

Participants can drop in at any time. 

"Whose Community?” is part of Myseum of Toronto Intersections, an annual festival of exhibits exploring different perspectives on the city’s natural, cultural, and historical diversity. We would like to thank Myseum for their generous support.

Akin Creative Workshop: Intro to Pysanky Egg Decorating

Saturday March 24 / 1pm-4pm / Akin St Clair - 1747 St Clair Ave West
$25/person - all materials included / limited seating: get your ticket at  www.universe.com/pysanky2018

Learn traditional techniques to decorate your own festive egg! Eggs are decorated with designs in the technique known as "wax resist". Traditional symbols, designs and patterns are applied with melted beeswax using a tool called a kistka. Eggs are then dipped into successively darker dye baths. At the end of the process the beeswax is melted off to reveal a dazzling display of colour.

Most popularly known as a Ukrainian tradition this is actually common across many Eastern European countries and the practice has been around for thousands of years in celebration of Spring and fertility.

All materials are included. Please note that we will be working with: indelible dyes, raw eggs, and a candle flame.

About the instructor:
Natalie Waddell is a Toronto ceramic artist and a passionate 'Maker of Things'. Always exploring different materials and techniques she saw a photo of Pysanky eggs 7 years ago and has been making them ever since.

The Artist Project opens this Thursday featuring work by many talented Akin artists!

This year The Artist Project contemporary art fair Feb 22-25 at the Better Living Centre and will feature work by over 250 incredible artists from Canada and abroad including some Akin Collective studio members!

Today only you could win two free passes to the early access preview party which is happening on Thursday! Follow us on Instagram and comment on the Artist Project post we put up today with which friend you'll bring along and at the end of the day we'll pull a name from a hat! 

Click here to visit the Instagram post and participate in the ticket giveaway competition. 

The Artist Project is a four day contemporary art fair. From collectors and curators, to gallerists and designers, visitors can explore and discover works of art from over 250 top contemporary artists from Canada and abroad. This is a unique opportunity to meet and buy art directly from artists. We encourage you to check out the fair this week and while you are there please visit our talented Akin artists and chat with them about their artwork! 

Kayla Polan of Akin Dupont - Booth U-6 (UNTAPPED Emerging Artist)

Monique Resnick of Akin Lansdowne - Booth U-15 (UNTAPPED Emerging Artist)

Nancy Bennett of Akin Sunrise - Booth 514

Laura Kay Keeling of Akin Dupont - Booth I-11

Nicole Krstin of Akin Dupont - Booth 812

Chris Harms of Akin Dupont - Booth 340

SHOW SCHEDULE:
Thursday February 22: Opening Night Party  7-10 PM
Friday February 23: 11 AM-10 PM
Saturday February 24: 11 AM-8 PM
Sunday February 25 11 AM-6 PM

Luvsuone of Akin St Clair and Javid Jah present "OPENING" at Hashtag Gallery

To open is to create opportunity - to manifest new pathways for growth and transformation.

Akin St Clair artist Luvsumone has collaborated with street artist Javid Jah on an exhibition of new artwork using modified discarded steel corrugate from shipping containers as the canvas to create a conversation about spiritual openness. The images depicted on these discarded pieces play with our perceptions of individual sacred space - meditative spatial manifestations originating from various spiritual traditions.

OPENING launches tomorrow night with a reception starting at 6pm at Hashtag Gallery and runs until February 18, 2018. 

You can follow the artists Instagram for sneak peek videos, and progress shots of their work for the show:  Luvsumone @luvsumone  /  Javid @javid_jah

Art Propagandha Show 2 featuring work by Akin St Clair artist Stanislav Plavcic

You are invited to attend the opening party of Art Propagandha Show 2 at 2381 Dundas Street West on Saturday, February 10, 2018 featuring new work by Akin St Clair artist Stanislav Plavcic. Doors open @ 5:00 PM, the party runs from 7pm until late.  The show runs until February 22, 2018.