Canada blog

A couple of months ago we attended a recording for CARP of an informercial featuring Matt Dusk. As part of the deal, each attendee was asked to contribute a soundbite relating to their interest in CARP – and they used mine! You can view this on YouTube (I haven’t yet watched the whole piece, which is heavy on advertising, but this links to my few seconds!)

CARP is the Canadian Association of Retired Persons,with a remit that covers issues of concern to those over 45 and no bottom limit for membership. It is  based around advocacy, benefits and community, though as a non-profit, its close connections with the commercial agenda of Zoomer (magazine and broadcasting, headed up by Moses Znaimer) sometimes feels a little uncomfortable.

My interest is a real sense of passion for changing the way our society perceives and responds to aging and a return to a recognition of the value and wisdom that older people can contribute. So CARP is quite a key organization for me to have connections into as I move forward and find my place in the next stage of my life.

Tags: age, aging, CARP, milestones
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IdeaCity is an awesome three day event, bringing together an assortment of thinkers and entertainers from the broadest spectrum of backgrounds imaginable.

I’m not sure I’ll every afford to be there as an attendee (door price was $4000 this year), but I grabbed the opportunity to volunteer this year. I was fortunate enough to be put on ‘usher’ duty on the afternoon/evening shift. This meant that I got myself in for the morning sessions each day (8:45) as a member of the audience. Then, from 1:30 until anywhere between 8 and 9pm, I was on duty but able to give at least part of my attention to the stage. Each night, there was then a party, which was open to volunteers as well as to attendees and speakers.

Tags: conferences, culture, ideas
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‘What is this place?’ This was the question posed by Art of the Danforth during the last week of April.

Organized by an independent group of locally based individuals, this new community art walk between Greenwood and Woodbine is rooted in a belief in the power of art to cut across divisions and draw people together.

East Danforth’s population includes an above average percentage of artists and Art of the Danforth certainly showcased some amazing talent. But it also provided a potent reminder that creativity and art belong to all of us.

(Excerpt from an article I have just written for Local Magazine)

We have both been very involved in Art of the Danforth as volunteers since November – it’s been fabulous to be part of something like this that really is conducive to neighbourhood regeneration through the arts. And we’ve met so many amazing people!

Here are my photos from the event that I uploaded to Flickr  - you can see more on the Art of the Danforth Group Flickr page or read about specific artists and installations on the Art of the Danforth website.

Tags: activity, art, Arts, Community, culture, Danforth, diversity, Greenwood, neighbourhoods, Toronto
Posted in Art & culture, Community, Toronto | 2 Comments »

With the art walk looming at the end of the month, we seem to have fingers in lots of lovely pies! Looking at the Art of the Danforth site, I’m increasingly excited at being involved in what I think is going to be a wonderful coming together of creativity and community.

We have both contributed a set of photos for the photo mosaic. This was a great excuse to change the lens through which we were viewing our surroundings, focusing most on colour (we were asked for sets of predominantly red, blue, green and yellow shots).  We spent an absorbing sunny morning drifting down the Danforth, welcoming the warmth after an earlier chilly sunset session the night before.  Paul hasn’t got around to this yet, but I have uploaded some of my shots to Flickr. Tonight we are going to help sort and trim the mounds of photos submitted in preparation for assembling the mosaic.

On Sunday I’m going to take notes from the history group to go alongside some wonderful old photos – what a great way to become rooted in our new surroundings! We are so lucky to be part of this.

UPDATE (April 27):

The speeches from the formal launch of the first Art of the Danforth on Saturday April 24, 2010 – all the indications are that the event really is creating a sense of energy and enthusiasm along the strip! (I’ll post a proper report after the event).

,

Part 1

Part 2

Tags: activity, art, culture, Danforth, Flickr, neighbourhoods, Photographic mosaic
Posted in Art & culture, Community | No Comments »

Shining a light on East Danforth is included in the March/April edition of surface & symbol, the newsletter of Scarborough Arts Council (see page 4).

As I have previously mentioned in the blog, we have been volunteering for Art of the Danforth, a community arts walk scheduled for the end of April.  When I was approached to write this article, given the nature of the publication, I was asked to try to go a bit further than the ‘what, when and where’. This gave me a wonderful excuse to talk to some of the many interesting people involved in the project!

Tags: art, culture, neighbourhoods, writing
Posted in Art & culture, Community | 2 Comments »