October 31st, 2009
Terrible to walk in the rain in but fun to watch.
Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local …
October 30th, 2009
It was another fruitful day at the Creative Places and Spaces: Collaborative City Conference, today in the light-filled MaRS building. Beginning with Welcoming & Opening Remarks by Ilse Treurnicht, CEO MaRS, Joseph L. Rotman, Chair, Canada Council for the Arts and Simon Brault, Vice-Chair, Canada Council for the Arts, we heard about the difference between invention and innovation
Brault asked, “How do you make it real, how do you come to the point where those ideas are transforming the society, reshaping the cities in which we live?” He answered himself by saying that it “means a lot of collaboration, a lot of involvement, you need time, you need to be persuasive.” He added, with relation to challenges of coming from a family of many children, similar to Ken Robinson and Charles Landry, “if you don’t collaborate, you die, you don’t go anywhere.”
The first Video Spotlight of the day was by Luigi Ferrara, director at the School of Design at George Brown College, entitled The Transformation of Montreal. He explained that the transformation in Montreal was possible because of a collaboration between arts groups and all levels of government. His key ideas were that “when you’re not rich you have to make sure things will last,” and that “artists don’t ask where they come from, but what they want to do together.”
Robin Cardozo, CEO of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, said that “opposing collaboration these days is like opposing motherhood and apple pie,” but spoke about key ideas to keep in mind. “It only works when it makes sense. Forced collaborations, marriage of convenience, shotgun weddings, almost never work.” He asked delegates to look beyond their own backyard for collaboration partners, as the outcomes are usually the most interesting.
October 29th, 2009
The Creative Places and Spaces: Collaborative City Conference started with a bang…or rather an om! As delegates filled the round tables in the beautiful Carlu Concert Hall, the stage was filled with lithe, lean bodies, contorting themselves into planks, trees and warriors. Along with rhythmic music and singing, the yoga enthusiasts were soon surrounded by break dancers, tap dancers and an acrobat hanging upside down from a rope. No, we are not at a Cirque du Soleil rehearsal, but rather one of the world’s leading dialogues on creativity.
This year’s conference has the theme of the Collaborative City and promises to be a thought-provoking and inspiring few days. As Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio One 99.1 FM’s “Here and Now” and the MC for the morning session stated, we are going to “hear a lot about how ideas and collaboration can inspire change. Leadership is going to play a large part in that dialogue.” On that note, he introduced Mayor David Miller, to give the first welcoming remarks of the day. Miller spoke about the need to collaborate not only within our own city, but also between cities, with the example of Toronto’s twinning with Frankfurt and their current project to collaborate in the film and television industry. Miller also touched on the idea of asking the experts to help write and develop reports and strategies, rather then asking for their opinions after the fact, which he says they did with Toronto’s Agenda for Prosperity, noting it was unanimously passed by Council, a rare thing for the City of Toronto. Tim Jones, CEO of Artscape, the organizers, said, quite pertinently, “we have a lot to learn from one another…there are tools and there are methodologies, but most important, we need to raise our game as a city.”
October 29th, 2009
HALIFAX — Last night at the Eye Level Gallery in Halifax, the editors of Spacing launched our newest adventure: Spacing Atlantic!
Spacing Atlantic is the third blog added to our …
October 29th, 2009
Some mid-day shadows as the fall sets in.
Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local artist Jerry …
October 28th, 2009
WHAT: First Annual Hallowheelin’ Urban Cycling Challenge
WHEN: Saturday, 31 October 2009.
Registration from 5:30 to 6:45pm. Ride starts @ 7pm M sharp
WHERE: Manic Coffee, 426 College St, Toronto
COST: $8 To Ride, Includes Halloween After …
October 28th, 2009
Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country …
October 28th, 2009
CAMPAIGN DONATIONS LIMIT
• Ontario set to limit municipal election donations [ Toronto Star ]
• Election rules tightened [ Toronto Star ]
• Province aims to limit municipal campaign donations [ Globe & Mail ]
GARBAGE CONTRACT
• …
