CSI Turns Three

On February 29 the Centre for Social Innovation celebrated three years of operation and we can say without a doubt that this was the best third birthday party we’ve ever been to!
The centre was a buzz with folks from the social innovation community and a roster of esteemed guests including Mayor David Miller, Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, and City Councillor for Trinity-Spadina Adam Vaughan.

There was a palpable energy and excitement filling the fourth floor space fuelled in part by the fact that the centre was celebrating this landmark at such a successful point in it’s evolution. As CSI Executive Director Tonya Surman mentioned in her speech, when the project got going there was a lot of skepticism that it could work. Just look at them now!

CSI has consistently put great efforts into looking forward and finding unique ways to support and instigate new social innovation opportunities. In keeping with this, the Centre announced the launch of a brand new program Enterprising Non-Profits Toronto (ENP) an initiative to seed and support social enterprise in the Greater Toronto Area.
To add to the hype, hot desk tenant rabble.ca filimed the whole shindig for their first ever live television broadcast on rabbletv.
www.socialinnovation.ca
www.socialinnovation.ca/enp    

Photo Caption: The Centre for Social Innovation's Re-Launch event speaker line-up (left to right) City Councillor Adam Vaughan, Mayor David Miller, CSI Executive Director Tonya Surman, and the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin. Photo: Jen Arron.

Photo Caption: The Centre for Social Innovation's Program Manager Eli Malinsky being interviewed by rabble.tv's Wayne MacPhail for rabbletv, the site's new live television project. Photo: Jen Arron.

Green Corner: Green Listers

While simple in concept, lists can be very powerful in execution. A good list can provide a really succinct overview of the movers and shakers in any given field and tell us something about who is doing what.
This spring Green Living Magazine took on the task of creating what they called a Green List. Folks were recognized for their green initiatives in various categories and 215 Spadina was represented with four tenants making the cut. We found Corporate Knights magazine’s (Suite 121) Toby Heaps and Karen Kun under the Media Greens category; Michael Jantzi and Jantzi Research (Suite 300) popped up under Green Business; Forest Ethics (Suite 425) were named a Green Player; and last, but not least, CarbonZero’s How-Sen Chong (Suite 410) appeared as a Baby Green.
www.corporateknights.ca
www.jantziresearch.com
www.forestethics.org
www.carbonzero.ca

Profile: Canadian Art

If you have spent any time leafing through the pages of a major newspaper lately you have probably encountered some of the buzz surrounding art collecting in Canada. Fine art is increasingly becoming a popular investment with those who have something to invest and the Canadian Art Foundation’s (Suite 320) Executive Director Ann Webb has kept her eye on this shift in the art market seeing some interesting new possibilities for exposure. When we met in the roof garden on a sunny day in April, a huge painting had just appeared on the front page of The Globe and Mail newspaper. As Ann explained, “granted the article was about the financial and investment side of art, but it was still amazing to find a piece of contemporary art on the front page of a major newspaper.” These shifts in the market are indicative of new wave of public enthusiasm for the art being found in their own backyards and Canadian Art has been instrumental in influencing this transformation in awareness.
 
Canadian Art is all about creating opportunities for exposure and education about, appropriately, Canadian art. One of the primary ways they do this is through a successful magazine now boasts the highest circulation of a visual arts magazine in Canada. With  A circulation of 21,000 going out quarterly in some ways, the magazine is the most public arm of the foundation but they have a lot more on their plate. They operate as a non-profit foundation that was founded in 1991 facilitating an annual fundraising gala, education outreach with schools, collaboration with organizations across the country, and a partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada Canadian Painting Competition. They also recently launched a new website that took a year of development to perfect that provides yet another platform to spotlight and critically comment on creative endeavours from coast to coast.

“We are really like any other charitable, not-for-profit arts organization as far as our funding and operating budget. The production values of the magazine are high quality with full colour images - it is about the visual arts so it can’t be black and white. As a charitable organization, we pull together public and private funding as well as subsription and ad sales to mount our programs and publish the magazine. Everything we do is about finding a way to educate people about art in Canada and the programs and magazine are both ways of achieving this.”

Canadian Art works to cultivate a connection with artists and the visual arts early on by organizing an annual School Hop for high-school students that gives them access to local galleries and artists. A regular feature for seven years, groups of students moving from one gallery to the next at 401 Richmond St. W. lets us know that spring has arrived.

Canadian Art doesn’t just work to cultivate an appreciation for the arts, but an understanding of what a vital role artists play in the vibrancy of culture and the life of a healthy city.

The foundation is always seeking new ways to get people talking about art.  “We have lots of amazing friends in the art world that we collaborate with on different projects. It is really about figuring out the best way to do what we need to do and pulling in the right people to do that.” These projects include the Reel Artists Film Festival, the International Lecture Series in collaboration with art institutions across Canada, Room with a View, and International Art Tours to some of the major art fairs worldwide. And we can’t forget the Gallery Hop fundraiser, two days of celebrations that include a gala dinner and art talks across the city from September 18 and 20 this year.

The organization has already experienced some significant growth. Their move to 215 Spadina last year was in part to manage an increase in staff and provide more physical working space. The role of Executive Director and Publisher has been divided between Melony Ward as Publisher and Ann as the Executive Director. With Editor Richard Rhodes still driving the magazine’s editorial vision there are big plans to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2009, but it’s all still hush, hush!

“I think Canadian Art can just keep growing. There is a new interest in the visual arts and for those of us that have been working in the arts for many years, it seems like people are catching up to what we have been doing for a long time. There is an increased general interest in art and Canadian Artists and I feel like we are just at the tip of what is possible.” www.canadianart.ca

Photo caption: Canadian Art Staff (left to right) Art Director Barbara Solowan, Editorial Intern Gabrielle Moser, Associate Editor Lorissa Sengara, Publisher Melony Ward, Executive Director Ann Webb, Production Manager Rachelle Saevil, Online Copy Editor Leah Sandals, Administrative Assistant Liz Knox, Development and Administrative Coordinator Sara Graham, Gallery Hop Gala Coordinator Popsy Johnstone, Managing Editor Bryne McLaughlin, and Online Production Manager Sasha Havlik.

Vital Ideas

215 Spadina is overflowing with vital ideas! This June 24 the Toronto Community Foundation (TCF) awarded the Centre for City Ecology / Jane’s Walk (Suite 400) a Vital Ideas grant to the tune of $20,0000. Fellow Centre for Social Innovation (Suite 120 + 400) tenant Mammalian Diving Reflex (Suite 400) was recognized with a Growing Active Kids Award for the second phase of their interactive arts event Parkdale Public School vs. Queen Street West.

This May, Jane’s Walk paid a visit to 215 Spadina as part of the events city-wide programming. Jane’s Walk is about engaging citizens in their urban environment and local communities and celebrates the legacy and ideas of the late Jane Jacobs, an urban activist and writer who championed a fresh, community-based approach to city building. This year free neighbourhood walking tours took place in eight Canadian cities with over sixty happening in Toronto alone.
Last year the Toronto Community Foundation recognized the Centre for Social Innovation and Creative Trust (Suite 129) for their work in
the sector. 
www.tcf.ca
www.janeswalk.net
www.mammalian.ca

Photo caption: Toronto Community Foundation's Vital Ideas grant recipients (left to right) Mammalian Diving Reflex's Producer Natalie DeVito, and the Centre for City Ecology and Jane's Walk Director Jane Farrow. Photo: Yvonne Bambrick.

Photo caption: Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests in the roof garden at 215 Spadina doing a Toronto Tree Tour for Jane's Walk. (back left) Toronto Tree Tours Coordinator Susan Gulley and (centre) Arborist Todd Irvine.

Welcome: Playwrights Guild of Canada

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new tenant the Playwrights Guild of Canada who moved in at the end of May. They took over a space in Suite 210, which was formerly home to the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) who have moved to the fifth floor. They will be sharing the space with existing tenants the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts and Theatre Ontario.

The Playwrights Guild of Canada is a national association representing the interests of and promoting professional playwrights. On June 21 the Guild launched Uth Ink a community arts project. They partnered with Lakeshore Arts and 215 neighbour [murmur] (Suite 416) to present short plays performed by youth that can be accessed by cell phone. You can also listen to the plays online at: www.uthinkers.ca www.playwrightsguild.ca

 

Welcome: Visual Arts Ontario

We are pleased to welcome another new tenant to the Robertson Building community - Visual Arts Ontario (VAO). They have set up shop in Suite 225, the former home of Customized Training Wheels. Visual Arts Ontario is a non-profit organization that addresses the interests of artists of all career levels, as well as arts organizations, and the art-interested public. They provide workshops and programs for their members and a fantastic art rental program for companies and organizations that draws from a collection of contemporary art. If you are looking for some artwork to add to a reception space or boardroom, or to jazz up your office, you can contact VAO to discuss options.

VAO's new space will also serve double duty as an office and gallery space. They will have rotating exhibitions of their members work that will be open to public viewing.
www.vao.org