The Brain Project is a new city-wide public art project that calls to mind another famous public art project: the polarizing Moose in the City<\/a>\u00a0project, completed in 2000. This time around, though, it\u2019ll be a far cry from the imposing moose of Y2K. Brains \u2014\u00a0over one hundred of them! \u2014 will be on display in various locations throughout Toronto this summer, each designed by different artists, community members, celebrities, and athletes.<\/p>\n The Brain Project\u00a0is supporting Baycrest Health Sciences<\/a>, a medical centre focused on research into Alzheimer\u2019s, dementia, and other diseases that affect the brain as it ages. Co-founder Erica Godfrey (the daughter-in-law of Postmedia\u2019s Paul Godfrey) was inspired to give back after watching her husband and co-founder Noah Godfrey\u2019s grandmother living with dementia at Baycrest. \u201cThis is my crazy idea,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have such a great culture here, and tons of talented people \u2014 why don\u2019t we do something interesting for the public?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The brains are both visually striking \u2014 who could miss Pachter\u2019s brain (literally, a cluster of butter tarts on top of a big blue brain) in the street? \u2014 and a clear symbol for the cause of brain health. \u201cIt was really important for us to connect the shape of the sculpture to the cause,\u201d says Godfrey. That there is a charitable cause underwriting the entire campaign is a major distinction \u2014 and, arguably, an improvement \u2014 upon the Moose in the City campaign (whose main beneficiary, financially, may have been the Benjamin Moore paint company<\/a>, since artists were given coupons to buy paint and supplies). The overarching artistic conceit to the project is simple: all brains are different, and all brains are beautiful. And its message has an almost universal outlook \u2014 \u201c100% of people have an aging brain,\u201d notes Godfrey. \u201cAlmost everyone you speak to knows someone who has been affected [by aging brain disease].\u201d<\/p>\n Populism aside, the Brain Project has garnered significant attention and involvement from A-list celebrities \u2014 which the organizers hope will help generate more fundraising dollars (the project\u2019s expressed goal is to raise $1.5 million). Celebrities like Michael Bubl\u00e9, Sarah Rafferty (Donna from Suits<\/em>), and North West (yes, the daughter of Kim and Kanye) are all involved, either contributing a brain or, in the case of Rafferty, serving as the project\u2019s Global Ambassador. Rafferty, a friend of Godfrey\u2019s and part-time resident of Toronto, where Suits <\/em>is filmed, was quick to jump on board with the project. \u201cIt\u2019s a topic near and dear to me,\u201d says Rafferty, whose grandmother had Alzheimer\u2019s. \u201cWhen [Erica] mentioned it to me, I said I wanted to do anything I can to help.\u201d (She is also close friends with Mr. Brainwash<\/a>,\u00a0one of the higher-profile, Los Angeles-based artists contributing to the project.) In fact, the entire project has high-society Toronto connections: the founders of the project include Ben Mulroney, etalk <\/em>host and son of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and Noah Godfrey, son of Postmedia\u2019s Paul Godfrey. (In the interest of disclosure, Spacing <\/em>is a media sponsor for the project.) It\u2019s attracted large names in the art world as well \u2014 including the confusing character of Mr. Brainwash, the star of the Bansky-directed Exit Through the Gift Shop, <\/em>who some have suspected<\/a>\u00a0is at the centre of a complex hoax orchestrated by Banksy, the infamous British street artist. (This has never been proven nor disproven.)<\/p>\n The Brain Project has big, moose-shaped public art shoes to fill, shoes that have not always been especially popular in Toronto. The project\u2019s founders hope that the collection of brains will inspire people to seek them out, imagining a scavenger hunt-esque response to the brains that will increase awareness around Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia. The project\u2019s organizers and artists behind the brains that toe the fine line that public art projects \u2014 especially those with larger goals of conversation and awareness \u2014 must be weary of: they need to make their point, but not so much that they become (like the moose) something of an imposition on public space.<\/p>\n To do so requires a certain level of co-operation between the city and the project\u2019s organizers. The City of Toronto, for their part, have been fully supportive of the Brain Project, and have helped coordinate the locations of the brains. As a result, the Brain Project will see art installations placed in high-profile locations \u2014 there will be a brain, for example, in the pond in front of the Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square. The only other art project<\/a> to be installed in the pool was Ai Wei Wei\u2019s 2013 Circle of Animals\/Zodiac Heads: Bronze.\u00a0<\/em>In addition to high-traffic locations like Nathan Phillips Square or Union Station, there will be brains on display at unique locations \u2014 including Billy Bishop Airport, and the Evergreen Brick Works \u201cI wanted locations that had high traffic,\u201d says Godfrey, \u201cbut also that have a mix of different types <\/em>of people.\u201d<\/p>\n Larger public art projects, like the Brain Project, can be difficult to pull off from an administrative standpoint. Since some of the more prominent brains (like the one slated to be installed in Nathan Phillips Square) will be displayed on city property, the city became heavily involved \u2014 and supportive \u2014 of the plan.”Often times at the city, ideas can be a little bit challenging to express,” says Jordana Novak, director of events at the Baycrest Foundation. “But we’ve had a group of people who are very interested in helping.” Specifically, the team at Baycrest has singled out the help of Coun. Josh Cole for his role in the project. “Without Josh’s guidance, we wouldn’t have been able to get as far as we did, as quickly as we did,” says Novak. The Brain Project is unique, and as such took some bureaucratic gymnastics to move forward. When it came to getting permits for city parks, the City “made kind of a custom arrangement,” says Novak, whereby the fees were waived. “For us, it was just about clearly and transparently relaying our vision that didn’t necessarily fit in a checkbox.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The organizers hope, ultimately, that the Brain Project will be both an effective communicator of the message of awareness, and an effective fundraiser. The brains themselves are praised by those involved \u2014 Rafferty was particularly struck by the brain designed by Mr. Brainwash,\u00a0which depicts tiny painters scrubbing the memories off a brightly coloured brain. \u201cAt the same that they\u2019re beautiful and amazing, and full of hope for the future,\u201d says Rafferty, \u201cthey\u2019re also really sad. It\u2019s both whimsical and funny, and heart breaking.\u201d<\/p>\n For art fans, the project will offer plenty to appreciate, with over 100 different interpretations of the human brain. The brains will be on display in Toronto throughout the summer, after which they will be collected into one display (and then auctioned off) at Yorkdale Mall in October. In the meantime, however, brains will start to appear throughout the city this week.<\/p>\n For Pachter, who says he gets eighty to one hundred requests for charity art every year (partly, he says, because word must\u2019ve gotten out that he\u2019s an \u201ceasy hit\u201d), getting involved with the Brain Project was a no-brainer. \u201cThis one pushed some buttons for me. [\u2026] Baycrest is a terrific organization,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve been looking after people in their twilight years for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/The-Brain-Project_Gina-Godfrey-600x569.jpg\")
![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/The-Brain-Project_Jordan-Clayton-600x594.jpg\")