Press-Release: Best Selling Author Don Thompson to Speak at Local Option Gala Celebrating Art and History in Toronto Junction

The Toronto Junction Local Option Gala,
(Thursday, October 23, 7-10 pm,
at Latitude 44 Gallery, 2900 Dundas Street West, Toronto)
celebrates the best in art in support of the Junction Historical Society.
Bring your loonies and toonies for the Centennial Train Races.

For Immediate Release

Best Selling Author Don Thompson to Speak at Local Option Gala Celebrating Art and History in Toronto Junction

Toronto, ON, October 19, 2008 – The West Toronto Junction Historical Society is hosting The Local Option Art Awards Gala and Silent Auction on Thursday Oct 23rd, 7 -10pm at Latitude 44 Gallery 2900 Dundas St, W. Toronto as part of our Centennial year celebrations. This event commemorates the dynamic relationship between the Arts and Business unique to the Junction established 100 years ago and successfully revived over the last few years putting the Junction back on the map as "as an up and coming funky arts community".

Our guest speaker is Don Thompson author of "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art" (published by Doubleday Canada). His book is currently on the best seller list in Toronto, New York and London. Drawing on exclusive interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a surprising journey of discovery.

Local Option Art Awards sponsor, artist Michael Reeves, is very familiar with the market Thompson describes and has postulated a unique alternative based on the principles of The Bloomsbury Group recognized the role artists play in fostering culture through community participation.

The Junction Centennial Train Races inspired by Martin Scott of “Forever Interiors” has involved young artist using pieces of our past to create our future. Between April and September 20 businesses have hosted 27 artists of all ages and the winners have been chosen by public vote. The prizes to be presented at the Awards Gala include a sculpture called "The Spirit of the Junction" by local artist Reid English which will be given to a member of the public who participated in this experiment in the Art of Democracy.

There are many interesting and unique items dating from 1900 to the present up for auction including 13 framed reproduction photos from the Junction archives. Please come out and support this vital and vibrant organization to ensure it is part of Junction history for the next 100 years.

Contact: Janet DiBernardo
Phone: 416-769-2900
Web site: www.wtjhs.ca

links:
Press-Release: Local Option Art in the Junction: The Local Option Art Awards Gala
The Local Option Art Awards Gala / WTJHS Fundraiser. Be there and you’re history!
by Neil Ross, writer/comedian/historian
Invitation to the Gala: Celebration of the Toronto Junction Local Option Art Awards
by Cara Reeves, WTJHSCC
artjunction: Invitation to the Local Option Art Awards in the Junction

Soviet Cult Films at Margret: The White Sun of the Desert

Poster: The Arts Junction’s Soviet Cult Films Night at Margret: The White Sun of the Desert
Credit: Margret Bar / Lounge for the Junction

The Arts Junction presents
Soviet Cult Films at Margret 2008/09 Season
Second Movie Night with the Red Western

Saturday, October 25, 2008
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

The White Sun of The Desert (Белое Солнце Пустыни in Russian, pronounced 'Beloye solntse pustyni')

director: Vladimir Motyl
year: 1979
genre: Action / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Romance / War / Western
country: Soviet Union
language: Russian with English sub-titles
company: Lenfilm Studio

Margret Bar / Lounge for the Junction
2952 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON

*Admission: Free

The second film is 'The White Sun of the Desert' (1969). Director Vladimir Motyl. This Central Asian action film has become not only a cult movie, but also among the favourites of several generations. With Russian cosmonauts, it is the tradition spanning many years to view this film the night before launch to outer space.
Must see for guys visiting Afghanistan for whatever business. The Orient is a delicate matter...

The Arts Junction
http://www.artjunction.blogspot.com

** The AJ (artjunction) is an independent, local blog dedicated to arts and culture events in the Junction area of Toronto West, and Russian cultural events coming up in Toronto.

link:
eventful: Soviet Cult Movies at Margret
toronto.com: New in Bars: Margret
Story and photography by Stacey McLeod
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: Opening Night
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: The White Sun of the Desert
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: Ashik-Kerib

Press-Release: Local Option Art in the Junction: The Local Option Art Awards Gala

Press-Release: The Local Option Art in the Junction:

The Local Option Art Awards Gala
Thursday, October 23rd
Time: 7 pm - 10 pm
Latitude 44 Gallery
2900 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario M6P 1Y8

For Immediate Release

Local Option Art in the Junction: The Local Option Art Awards Gala

Toronto, ON, October 15, 2008 - Best selling author Don Thompson (The 12 Million Dollar Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art) will speak at an event honouring the winning artists in the Local Option Art Awards and in support of the West Toronto Junction Historical Society at Latitude 44 Gallery, 2900 Dundas St. W. on Thursday October 23rd between seven and ten pm. The event, celebrating the Centennial of the Junction, will feature the first ever Centennial Train Races and the massive collectively created installation, Community Spirit of the Junction.

The gala will feature a silent auction of items of historical and artistic value. Sneak preview begins on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at Latitude 44 Gallery.

"The event is being sponsored by artists and the local community who recognize the cultural value of the Junction Historical Society," says gala coordinator and Junction Historical Society volunteer Cara Reeves. "Please help us raise funds to keep this vital organization alive and well."

Thursday October 23rd, 7pm
Contact: Janet DiBernardo
Latitude 44 Gallery, 2900 Dundas St. W.
Phone: (416) 769-2900
Email: latitude44gallery@bellnet.ca
Junction Historical Society website: www.wtjhs.ca

links:
The Local Option Art Awards Gala / WTJHS Fundraiser. Be there and you’re history!
by Neil Ross, writer/comedian/historian
Invitation to the Gala: Celebration of the Toronto Junction Local Option Art Awards
by Cara Reeves, WTJHSCC
artjunction: Invitation to the Local Option Art Awards in the Junction

technorati tags:
1,877 posts tagged local art
9 posts tagged local option art
5 posts tagged local option art awards
1 posts tagged west toronto junction historical society
529 posts tagged canadian art
6 posts tagged canadian local art
20 posts tagged junction local art
114 posts tagged Don Thompson

Posts that contain Local Art per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

Posts that contain $12 Million Stuffed Shark per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

Meet Local Junction Poet Glen Downie - 2008 Toronto Book Award Finalist

Screenshot: Toronto Public Library: 2008 Toronto Book Awards
Credit: torontopubliclibrary.ca

"Undeniably Torontonian, Downie's poems travel nimbly through our old Victorian homes, up the trees in our yards, down our streets and into other lands. This book evokes vibrant images of objects and relationships, filtered through layers of immense kindness, a shrewd eye for deceit, and an established technical skill. These poems are richly textured and utterly readable."
Committee's comments on this book

ANNETTE STREET PUBLIC Library is hosting Junction resident / poet Glen Downie for a free author reading on Thursday, October 16 at 7 pm.

Glen's book Loyalty Management is nominated for this year's City of Toronto Book Award.

The event is taking place the evening before the winner will be announced.

Annette Street Branch
145 Annette Street, Toronto, ON M6P 1P3
Phone: 416-393-7692

Congratulations to Glen Downie on the nomination of Loyalty Management (W&W 2007) for the 2008 City of Toronto Book Award. Downie has been shortlisted as a finalist for this year's award. The winner will be announced October 17th at the Toronto Reference Library.

Come and meet Glen Downie, author of "Loyalty Management" - a Toronto Book Awards nominee.

Screenshot: Toronto Public Library: 2008 Toronto Book Awards Joint the Celebration!
Credit: torontopubliclibrary.ca

2008 Toronto Book Award Finalist

Loyalty Management, poetry by Glen Downie nominated for Toronto Book Award

Loyalty Management
Glen Downie
published by Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd.

Corporations connive to "manage" our loyalty; repressive governments try to compel it. Opposing these notions, Glen Downie explores the bonds we freely forge to people and to places. His sixth book declares its loyalties by uncommon attention to lives lived, whose traces may be as evident as brickwork or as hidden as signatures under old wallpaper. Sensitive to meaning in the humblest object - a spoon, a doll, a pocket watch - these poems testify that loyalty bears the weight of tangible personal reality, whether of a newborn hefted into its cradle or a father's ashes lowered into the ground.

Glen Downie
Glen Downie was born in Winnipeg, worked in cancer care for many years in Vancouver, and currently lives in Toronto. He served as Writer-in-residence at the Medical Humanities Program of Dollhouse University's Faculty of Medicine in 1999. He has published fiction, non-fiction, reviews, and six books of poetry. His latest collection is Loyalty Management (Wolsak & Wynn, 2007).

Excerpt from Loyalty Management

The little engine of my days un-
nests the nesting cups yellow
red blue yellow red blue
smaller to bigger so fast
Doesn't need me
for this I winnow

the mail: letter with surreal poem
plane tickets consumer survey
asking if we suffer

dandruff & what is the family
income?

Lunch Peas
in her hair occasionally
her mouth In the poem
Stalin's brain gets fed
to a large snake Sated
she naps

while we stroller to the store for more
milk Have we ever bought
Head & Shoulders? Home again

check the ticket fine print insurance
declined Father's birthday
unmissable Those once-in-a-blue-moon
heart-tug visits will be
leaky-heart-valve visits now sped up
like a racing pulse

to every few octogenarian/baby-months But
the family income? These
tickets paid for with years

of shrink-the-world Air Miles Woe
the world is tiny in the brochures

& mailed (return address says) from the
Loyalty Management Group She
wakes demands her share
of mail starts shredding the questionnaire

There are no edges to my loving now
as torn questions & forced-choice answers
come snowing from her hands
to dandruff her dark hair

Loyalty Management by Glen Downie. Published by Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
_______________________________
2008 shortlist:

Elspeth Cameron - And Beauty Answers
David Chariandy - Soucouyant
Glen Downie - Loyalty Management
Elyse Friedman - Long Story Short
Barbara Gowdy - Helpless
Photo gallery

Credit: Toronto Public Library

Margaret Maye and Zanna Bichevskaya: Benefit UofT Epilepsy Research Program

Screenshot: StLC: What's On: Intimately Two Hearts

StLC: What's On

Intimately Two Hearts

Bravo International / Singers on Stage

October 11, 2008 - 3 pm & 8 pm

Jane Mallett Theatre at StLC

$65-$45

The Annual Gala Benefit concert for the University of Toronto Epilepsy Research Program will feature Zanna Bichevskaya, an international star, legendary icon and bard of song. The famed "Russian Joan Baez" will sing romances and her best hits. With Gennady Ponomarev and Margaret Maye accompanied by the Music Ensemble, this night is sure to inspire and delight.

For more information, call StLC Box Office
Credit: The St Lawrence Centre for the Arts - Toronto Ontario

links:
S.A.C.E.C: "Absolute Sensation! First time in Toronto. A star from Russia, Zanna (Jeanne) Bichevska - legendary icon of Russian music, bard of song with unusual beauty of the voice, master of original style, winner of many prestigious international awards will perform for epilepsy causes. An evening of ballads, Russian romances - this magical evening will bring an eclectic collage of ballads, romances, and folk songs that will celebrate "songs of the heart" from Poland, America, France and Russia, including songs by the legendary Bulat Okudzhava, V. Visotski, Edith Piaf and others.
We will expand traditional boundaries - elements of classical and jazz, traditional and modern, folk, country and rock will all blend into an exquisite fusion of styles. The voices of exceptional singers will be supported by a group of truly outstanding musicians."

Russia-InfoCentre: Bichevskaya Zhanna bard and folk musician
"For over thirty years Zhanna Bichevskaya has been singing songs that gained love of millions of people of all nationalities. Her repertoire is rich and diverse, with several hundreds of songs, ranging from long-forgotten Russian folk songs ("Village and Town Songs and Ballads," Vols. I and II), to wartime songs of the 1920s ("Lyubo, Bratsy, Lyubo"), and to contemporary prayer-like pieces ("Pyesni Ieromonacha Romana"). In the 1980s, Bichevskaya's selections also included her own versions of songs written by her mentor and friend Bulat Okoudjava, songs after the verses by Silver Age poets, as well as songs by Sergei Nikitin, Andrei Makarevich, Alexander Dolski and others. "

Toronto Exclusive Magazine: Interview with Margaret Maye
"My next big project ... is going to feature a star of international calibre, a legendary icon and bard of song, Zhanna Bichevskaya and myself accompanied by the Jazz Trio. It will be an Evening of songs of the heart, Russian Romances, Folk Songs and Jazz Ballads with music by Bulat Okudzhava and others."

Added February 23, 2010

YouTube: Жана Бичевскаја у Торонту, 11. октобар 2008.by SvetlostVostoka
Снимак са концерта руске певачице Жане Бичевскаје, који је одржан 11.-ог октобра 2008.-ме године у Торонту.

Invitation to the Local Option Art Awards in the Junction

The Local Option Art Awards, (Thursday, October 23, 7-10 pm, at Latitude 44
Gallery, 2900 Dundas Street West, Toronto)
celebrates the best in local art in support of the Junction Historical Society.
Bring your loonies and toonies for the Centennial Train Races.

Dear Friend,

You are cordially invited to attend
The Local Option Art Awards Gala in the Junction
Help ensure the Junction Historical Society is around for the Junction's next hundred years.

Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008
Time: 7 pm - 10 pm
Venue: Latitude 44 Gallery
Address:2900 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario M6P 1Y8
(West of Keele Street)

The Local Option Art Awards Gala in the Junction
Presented by: West Toronto Junction Historical Society

The gala will raise funds for the WTJHS in the Junction City's Centennial year and honour the winners and participants in the Local Option Art Awards.
Historical, artistic and antique items will be available in a silent auction. The specially commissioned sculpture "Spirit of the Junction" will be presented to a member of the voting public who participated in the Art of Democracy.
Wine and cheese will be served. Cash bar.
Payments for auction items can be made by Interac and all major credit cards.
Bring your loonies and toonies for the Centennial Train Races!

For more information contact: Janet DiBernardo, 416-769-2900
Web-site: www.wtjhs.ca

Please feel free to pass along this invite to anyone you think might be interested.

links:
Press-Release: Best Selling Author Don Thompson to Speak at Local Option Gala Celebrating Art and History in Toronto Junction
Press-Release: Local Option Art in the Junction: The Local Option Art Awards Gala
The Local Option Art Awards Gala / WTJHS Fundraiser. Be there and you’re history!
by Neil Ross, writer/comedian/historian
Invitation to the Gala: Celebration of the Toronto Junction Local Option Art Awards
by Cara Reeves, WTJHSCC
artjunction: Invitation to the Local Option Art Awards in the Junction

The Local Option Art Awards Gala / WTJHS Fundraiser. Be there and you’re history!

Invitation: The Local Option Art Awards Gala / WTJHS Fundraiser
You are cordially invited to attend
The Local Option Art Awards Gala in the Junction.
Help ensure the WTJHS is around for the Junction's next hundred years.
Thursday, October 23rd
Time: 7 pm - 10 pm
Latitude 44 Gallery
2900 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario M6P 1Y8

Over the Centennial year we have developed a number of programs that have made an impact here in the Junction. None more so that the Local Option Art Awards which will hold its first annual gala on October 23 at Latitude 44 Gallery (2900 Dundas Street West).

The gala will raise funds for the West Toronto Junction Historical Society, a vital force in the Junction, working to preserve the history and heritage of this unique neighbourhood. Artists, historians, patrons of art and lovers of history will come together to celebrate the Spirit of the Junction. As the evening unfolds, speakers tell the wondrous tales of art as a vital link in Junction history and the historic marriage between art and business in the community.

Items of historical and artistic value will be on display to be purchased at silent auction, an array of treasures from gold and silver leaf to vintage brass fire extinguishers manufactured in the Junction will be auctioned off. Vintage photographs from the Junction’s past have been exquisitely framed and will be offered as mementos of the railway town that became a city.

Original art work by the winners and participants in the Local Option Art Awards will be on display. The grand prize winners Peter LIU Gang (shown at High Park Martial Arts) and Emmanuel Mifsud (Super Submarine) will receive their rewards from the business owners who sponsored their work over the course of the Centennial summer. Also honoured will be second prize winner Brian Anderson (Triple Z Roti) and third prize to Olga Sadowy (alsoTriple Z). Every artist who participated will be awarded a special certificate to commemorate their contribution to the history of art in the Junction and the Art of the Democracy.

A highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the original sculpture "Spirit of the Junction" specially commissioned by Junction artist Reid English and won by a member of the voting public.

It will be an evening of sparkle, wit, art and history, a chance to support one of the most active Historical Societies in the city as it faces the challenge of staying alive in these days of global financial crisis.

The Local Option Art Awards Gala / WTJHS Fundraiser.
Be there and you’re history!

Also in attendance: Junction journalist AB Rice who will narrate the historical development of art and business in the Junction story. He’ll be there and so will I.

Please join us!

Neil Ross, writer/comedian/historian

link:
Invitation to the Gala: Celebration of the Toronto Junction Local Option Art Awards
by Cara Reeves, WTJHSCC

technorati tags:
1,838 posts tagged local art
10 posts tagged local option art
6 posts tagged local option art awards
1 posts tagged west toronto junction historical society
34,398 posts tagged toronto
71 posts tagged toronto junction
526 posts tagged canadian art
5 posts tagged canadian local art
20 posts tagged junction local art

Posts that contain Local Art per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

nuitblanche08: Russian Sauna, Snow and Arts in the heart of Liberty Village

Poster: scotiabank nuitblance08: Steam Up in the Steam Banya
Credit: kinoartfestival.com

Nuit Blanche: a free all-night contemporary art thing
Experience Toronto transformed by 750 artists.

Saturday, October 4, 2008
6:52 pm to sunrise

Art Into Life / Kino Art Festival
Steam Up In the Steam Banya

Zone C Independent Project 18
Group Exhibition
Venue: Warehouse Grill
70 Fraser Avenue, Toronto, ON M6K 3E1 (at Liberty St.)
Map
Phone: 647-344-6599

Visual Art, Video Installation, Banya experience & laser show

Steam up in the Banya and relax to Russian Art videos + Music + Refreshments = Cool Russian Culture in the end-of-summer night.

Suitable for all ages
kinoartfestival.com

A fabulous way to start this fall - just make sure you get your beauty sleep in preparation for Toronto's third all-night contemporary art thing called Nuit Blanche.

From 6.52 p.m. on October 4th until sunrise the next morning, the city will be transformed into an extravaganza of art.

Art Into Life / Kino Art Festival invite You to join us and relax at

Steam Up in the Steam Banya stationed now at the Liberty Village, Warehouse Grill.

Check us out and have an adventure with us. One night only. All night long.

You can actually experience Russian steam sauna, dip into the snow and relax to Russian Art videos + Music + Refreshments

Cool Russian Culture in the end-of-summer night.

Bring your swimsuits, sandals and towels for the Banya experience.

You will find us in Zone C: Warehouse Grill - 70 Fraser Avenue

With Best Wishes,

ART INTO LIFE / KINO ART FESTIVAL
http://kinoartfestival.com
http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca

Please check other events happening right in the Liberty Village:

MEDIA RELEASE
Toronto, Ontario, (September 15, 2008)

Bridge the Gap during Nuit Blanche

Follow the searchlights and take a stroll across the Queen/Dufferin Bridge where you'll be lead straight into a flurry of excitement happening right in the middle of Parkdale. Taking place on Saturday October 4, 2008 - the third annual Nuit Blanche is setting up shop all across the city of Toronto and the Parkdale Village BIA is pleased to announce their initiatives as part of Zone C.

With twenty rousing installations exploring the different realms of modern art including fashion, dancing, music, metalsmithing, film and more. This all-night arts festival and the installations within Parkdale are sure to tickle just about anyone's fancy.

Hop aboard the historic TTC streetcar at King and Shaw Street where you'll be looped around the majestic that is Parkdale. Be greeted by a model on the streetcar strutting the latest fashions from the finalists at the Art of Fashion installation (taking place in the Parkdale Library Parking Lot). Hop off at Close Avenue to take part in the Community Art Wall where everyone will be asked to create their own work of art. With paints and pastels - the creativity will be endless. Stop by at the Rhino Bar & Grill to grab some food and drink, but while you're waiting, you can watch one of the short films playing in their Independent Animation Film Festival. If film is not your thing - check out the Parkdale Drink. The Baro Dununba African Drum Group will be performing and sharing their knowledge of the tribal rhythm instruments and music.

Then afterwards, take part in the Play Day of the Dead parade happening in the Milky Way alleyway, closest to Gwynne Avenue.

With just a taste of what Parkdale can offer during Nuit Blanche, why not come and check it out for yourself? Visit our website: http://www.parkdalevillagebia.com to find out more about these and other installations.

To set up a media interview with the any of the artists taking part in Parkdale's Nuit Blanche installations, please contact Amanda Scriver in the offices of Parkdale Village B.I.A.

Contact: Amanda Scriver
Email: amanda.parkdalebia@gmail.com

link:
Art and Culture Night in Russian Banya (a Russian steam bath): Nuit Blanche Toronto

Soviet Cult Films Opening Night at Margret

Poster: The Arts Junction’s Opening Night and Reception for our 'Soviet Cult Films'

Movie Nights at Margret, September 27, 2008
Credit: Margret Bar / Lounge for the Junction

The Arts Junction presents
Soviet Cult Films at Margret 2008/09 Season
Opening Movie Night

Saturday, September 27, 2008
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Kin-dza-dza! (Кин-дза-дза! in Russian, pronounced 'Kin-dzah-dzah')
director: Georgi Daneliya
year: 1986
country: Soviet Union
language: Georgian | Russian with English sub-titles
company: Mosfilm

Margret Bar / Lounge for the Junction
2952 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON

*Admission: Free

The Arts Junction is proud to present, as our opening night of the 2008/09 Soviet Cult Films Season, the Oscar non-winning director Georgi Daneliya 1986 sci-fi-comedy Kin-dza-dza!, starring Yuri Yakovlev (The Idiot, Anna Karenina) and Yevgeny Leonov (famous comedian).

The film is masterfully filmed by Daneliya with outstanding creativity and given scarcity of technical means; with amazing insight showing the culture clash of socialist and market societies, East and West mentalities in the disguise of intergalactic encounters just before "Perestroika" happened.

This is an 'all-men movie'; women play a little part in it which is one of the characteristics of Daneliya's movies.

After the action settles down, please join us for an all Russian "zakuski" reception after the film. It's a great chance to get to know the Margret bar and the Margret's amazing host Chris as well as talk about the film and mingle with other movie lovers!

Please RSVP if you are planning to attend: olga.artjunction@gmail.com

Olga Goubar
The Arts Junction
http://www.artjunction.blogspot.com

** The AJ (artjunction) is an independent, local blog dedicated to arts and culture events in the Junction area of Toronto West, and Russian cultural events coming up in Toronto.

links:
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: Opening Night: Kin-dza-dza!
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: The White Sun of the Desert
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: Ashik-Kerib
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: Seasonal Classic and Masterpieces of Animated Shorts
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: Ivan's Childhood
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: Dersu Uzala by Akira Kurosawa
Soviet Cult Films at Margret: The Dawns Here Are Quiet by Stanislav Rostosky

Invitation to the Gala: Celebration of the Toronto Junction Local Option Art Awards

Junction Local Option Art Awards Gala
Thursday October 23rd, 7pm
Latitude 44 Gallery

West Toronto Junction Historical Society

100 FLAGS CAMPAIGN and LOCAL OPTION ART AWARDS
The West Toronto Junction Historical Society Centennial Committee is launching the 100 Flags Campaign. It is our goal to have at least one hundred flags flying on the day of the Centennial, April 14, 2008: any flag you like. Or create your own Junction Flag. We’ll keep the campaign rolling through the summer with the hope of 1,000 flags up throughout the community for the Arts Festival in September. The 100 Flags Campaign was designed to promote the Local Option Art Awards and to bring the community together for the Centennial. At this point we have 16 Junction Business Improvement Area venues lined up to host artwork for the Local Option Art Awards which are sponsored by Mariposa County artist Michael Reeves. More than 40 artists who have responded to a public call will vie for $1,000 first prize, $500 second prize and $250 third prize which will be awarded to winners determined by public vote throughout the Junction between the Centennial weekend and the Arts Festival in September. A winning voter will receive Reid English’s sculpture, "Spirit of the Junction," specially commissioned by the Institute of Canadian Popular Culture. All winners to be announced on the last day of the Arts Festival and awards will be presented at a WTJHS fundraiser in October. WTJHS is launching this campaign in the memory of Enoch Ward, who flew a solitary flag to commemorate the birth of “Junction City,” so that we might celebrate the independent spirit in all of us and participate in the Art of Democracy.
www.wtjhs.ca
Credit: thejunctioncity.com

Press-Release West Toronto Junction Local Option Art Awards GALA
Credit: wtjhs.ca

From April 12th – September 7th 20 Junction businesses have hosted the works of 20 artists and the winners have been chosen by public vote in this West Toronto Junction Historical Society Centennial initiative.

We have a tie for First prize. Emmanuel Mifsud whose work is showing at The Super Sub ( Dundas West and Keele) and Peter LIU Gang showing at High Park Martial Arts ( Dundas West of McMurray). Second prize goes to Brian Anderson showing at Triple Z Roti and Third prize to Olga Sadowy also showing at Triple Z (Dundas and Medland).

The prizes will be presented at The Local Option Art Awards Gala and silent auction fundraiser for the WTJHS on Thursday October 23rd, 7pm at the Latitude 44 Gallery, 2900 Dundas Street West (ph 416- 769-2900)

Framed reproductions of historic photographs from the WTJHS archives will be among the evening’s most sought after works including silver and gold leaf, historic artifacts from the Junction Fire Hall, Station #423 and original works by contemporary artists. A lucky member of the voting public will be presented with the specially commissioned sculpture 'The Spirit of the Junction' by Reid English.

There have been wonderful spin off’s from this project. Several of the artists have sold their work, some have had work commissioned through their participation in the Local Option Art Awards, and children have been seen running through the Junction ballots in hand following the map. Artists have been offered more space to continue to show their works in the businesses. The feedback has been tremendously positive— this project has been a joy from start to finish and the Gala will be a wonderful celebration of this dynamic Centennial initiative.

Local Option Art Awards GALA
Thursday October 23rd, 7pm
Latitude 44 Gallery
2900 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON
phone: 416 – 769 – 2900

Cara Reeves, WTJHSCC.

links:
Toronto Junction Local Option Art Awards: Self Guided Walking Tours
Junction Art Tour: The White Goddess Graces Pandemonium
The AJO: Toronto Art Junction Option + Guided Walking Tours
Toronto Junction's Rich Living Exposition of Art: the Local Option
Vital Links Between Arts and Business: Toronto Junction Local Option
Explore the Local Toronto Art Scene and Vote for Your Favourite Artist
insidetoronto.com: Celebrating art is the function at the Junction
by Lisa Rainford, July 31, 2008