Although Spacing published its picks for Jane’s Walk 2012 yesterday, I wanted to add one more to the list. Finding Mabelle: A Walk Through the Gloaming revolves around a little-known but impressive park in Central Etobicoke called Mabelle Park. Imagine a shrunken Dufferin Grove Park surrounded by highrise apartment towers and you’re starting to get the picture.
Over the last few years, and with the help of a non-profit called Mabelle Arts, area residents have transformed Mabelle Park with new benches, a bake oven, and a community garden, among other things. They have also imagined new ways to inhabit the space – and, by extension, the city – through ceremony, ritual, camp fires, and sleepovers. The park has been gaining attention among park advocates as a model of how community engagement and art can lead to greater park stewardship and more creative spaces.
The walk begins at the northwest exit of Islington Subway Station at 4:30 pm on Saturday. If you’ve still got room in your walking schedule this weekend, you won’t regret adding this one to the list. Full details are available on the walk posting on the Jane’s Walk website.
Full disclosure: I’ve recently been added to Mabelle Arts Board of Directors
Photo by Katherine Fleitas
One comment
It’s really cool to see so much happening with that park. I lived on Mabelle for a few years, and that park was pretty much a dump the whole time. You can see how it looked in 2007 here (comparing it with the new Michael Power Park around the corner):
http://vic.gedris.org/pics/2007-03-22/
I’ll have to drop by there again someday. I’ve seen some cool stuff online, but it deserves a visit. Unfortunately, can’t make it to the Jane’s Walk.