SPACING PRESENTS

Release parties
The release of each issue of Spacing offers the opportunity to throw a party and invite subscribers and readers. The magazine hires a local DJ or band, and programs the evening with activities related to the theme of each issue. These parties usually attract up to 300 people and have been held at legendary local establishments the El Mocambo, Arts & Letters Club, Gladstone Hotel, Berkeley Church, and the (now closed) 360 Legion Hall on Queen Street West.

• The Political Party
Spacing teamed up with Eye Weekly during the 2006 municipal election for The Political Party, a debate between the leading candidates for mayor. The event was held at Revivial, a renovated nightclub space housed in a former church. After the debate, a the new band led by Emm Gryner, The Hot One, performed their first Toronto gig. The event attracted 550 antendees and garnered numerous media features.

• Toronto The Good
Spacing co-hosts and programs Toronto The Good in partnership with ERA Architects, the Toronto Society of Architects, and the [murmur] project. The goal for each event was to bring together each partner’s respective sphere of influence and to invite them to mingle in untraditional places not often visited by the general public.

• PUBLICity & In Transit
From March 17 to April 21, 2005, Spacing presented a photo gallery exhibit called PUBLICity that showcased the work of seven of Toronto’s top photobloggers. Organized and curated by Spacing, PUBLICity was the first exhibit in Canada to focus solely on the work of photographers documenting their daily interactions with the city through digital photography and personal websites. The show at the Toronto Free Gallery featured Sam Javanrouh, Matt O’Sullivan, Rannie Turingan, Gayla Trail, Adam Krawesky, Jonathan Day-Reiner, and Davin Risk, all of whom contribute regularly to Spacing and own some of North America’s most popular photoblogs. In Transit took place over a five week period January 19 and February 28, 2006. In Transit focused on images of Toronto’s transit system. With over 25 participants, the exhibit brought together paintings, photography, and film focusing on the life of Toronto’s subways, streetcars, and buses.

• 35 Years Without the Spadina Expressway
June 3rd, 2006 marked the 35th anniversary of the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway. The highway’s demise is one of the most seminal events to have shaped Toronto in the last 50 years. In partnership with the Humanitas Festival, Spacing brought together the neighbours, community activists and politicians who stopped the construction to celebrate life without the expressway. The garden party was held at the Spadina Museum, an architectural gem that would have been destroyed by the expressway’s path. The day’s speakers included Mayor David Miller and local TV journalist Adam Vaughan.

• Public Space Invaders
From 2005-2007, Spacing hosted Public Space Invaders at the Drake Hotel’s Underground. Each night attracted up to 200 people and showcased short films, documentaries, and videos about Toronto’s public spaces.

• Pedals and Paint
A workshop to help teach people how to beautify the abandoned bikes scattered around the city - June 5, 2005, Trinity Bellwoods Park.