Toronto Free Gallery and the dangers of maple syrup. 21st May 2008

Utterly dedicated to the end, we decided to cram in one more research visit on our way to the airport. This was the Toronto Free Gallery, which had been recommended to us by many of the people we had met throughout the trip.

Disguised as a hardware store, the gallery was initially difficult to find. However, undeterred, we managed to accost the director, Heather Haynes with our wheelie suitcases, which were bulging with our Honest Ed goodies.

The Toronto Free Gallery was one of the newest projects that we have visited. Having recently moved into the former hardware store, the gallery is still in its development stage and has the potential for studio and performance spaces. Heather, who moved from San Francisco after George Dubya was first elected, set up the gallery as a space to show socio-political artworks which relate to the local environment (Toronto Public Space Committee have previously shown in the space).

After a hurried goodbye to Heather and Toronto in general, we legged it to the airport, where we arrived flustered and sweaty, only to be frisked and stripped of our contraband maple syrup (every terrorist’s weapon of choice).

And so ends a wonderful trip. Everyone we met was friendly, generous and hospitable and all the projects we visited were inspiring. The food wasn’t bad either (have we mentioned that?). So thank you to everyone who took the time to talk to us and if you’re ever passing Preston, there’s a sofa with your name on it.

Laying it on the dude from Niagra. 20th May, 2008

Having finished the picnic before leaving Toronto city limits, we set off on the bus for St Catherine’s, near Niagara.

Being British made it more acceptable to interrupt 30 sociologists mid feast at the Niagara Artist Centre where we were expected for a meeting with the aforementioned 'dude' and director of the centre, Stephen Remus. (Elaine, having bagsied first dibs at 'laying on', was slightly disappointed to find this was only a figure of local speech).

Niagra Artist Centre

Joking aside, this is a great space where members of the gallery can apply to show their work alongside a changing programme of national and international artists. Set up in 1969, it is one of the oldest artist-led spaces in Canada (and possibly the world!) and has a membership of over 300. The basement, which holds many treasures, from a stuffed trout to a darkroom and mac computer suite, is used as a resource for members and wandering sociologists...... (there's a 3 month waiting list for the trout).

We really liked this space as it felt connected with the local community and, above all, provided us with our only fresh fruit of the holiday - sorry, research trip - blatantly pilfered from under the noses of the disapproving sociologists.

After a hard half day of taxing research we indulged in a well deserved trip to Niagara Falls where we spent $14 to dress up as giant blue condoms and get drenched as part of the Maid o' t'Mist experience.

Victoria day (whoooooooo?) 19th May 2008

As it was an official public holiday, we felt that it would be rude to do any work whatsoever. Well you have to respect the culture, don't you? Instead, in homage to Canadian culture, we re-visited China town - the scene of one of our previous misdemeanours (we checked the lift but no trace of the old lady was found; only the walking stick remained - so we got away with that one...)

Armed with local knowledge (otherwise known as Iain Bailey, so suspicion should have been instantly aroused), we sought out the best Chinese restaurant in town. Unfortunately, we ended up at ‘Wok You Lookin’ At’, (well, it would have been called that if it was in Preston), where the tables were covered in 25-deep white plastic table clothes, (no re-cycling necessary) and the waitress asked us twice whether we really wanted to order ‘2’ of the beef chow mein, before arriving at the table with what can only be described as half a cow. Not to everyone’s taste, but yum anyway!

After wrestling with the longest noodles known to man, we speedily returned to the apartment to prepare ourselves for the highlight of the Canadian calendar – the fireworks on the beach of Lake Ontario. After a good feed and raiding Elizabeth’s wardrobe for warm clothes (travelling more than 10 miles from Preston, we assumed that we only need bring vest tops, flip-flops and factor 30), we left to catch the bus. Just as Elaine was getting used to the stares that skinny jeans and clown-scale shoes (Elizabeth’s size 8s on her size 6 feet) were receiving from fellow bus passengers, and Robina's and Rebecca’s excitement had reached fever pitch, the fireworks climaxed in a display that was almost visible from the steamy bus windows. It was all over before we’d arrived and not for the first time.

Oh well, back to the Sportster bar on Coxwell where Rebecca sweet-talked her way to a Canadian pint glass , (she was having it any way).

Guerilla Gardening in the rain, Sunday 18th May

In what can only be described as a miracle, Rebecca managed to refrain from waking us up until about 8.30. The relaxed tone of the morning continued with Elizabeth's home-made ginger cookies and a mesmerizing8-month old omnibus of Coronation St ( apparently the Canadians love it).

In another step closer to a collective heart attack, we indulged in Sunday Brunch at the Sunset Grill, where we managed to ingest a coup-full of eggs, despite only asking for 'side orders' of French toast and pancakes.

More stuffed than a turkey on Christmas day, we managed to waddle into town, where we had arranged to meet up with members of the Toronto Public Space Committee. This is a loose collective of artists and activists from all backgrounds who are interested in the reclamation of urban spaces form commercial interests. Liam O'Doherty, one of the artists in the group had invited us to take part in some guerilla gardening in the downtown area of the city. At the time this had sounded like a nice way to continue our relaxing Sunday. However, little did we know that it would end up raining more than Preston on a bank holiday, something which we had obviously never considered as we arrived in ballet pumps and light summer jackets with only 1 and 1/2 umbrellas between us (Elaine's Pound Shop umbrella proved particularly ineffectual against the downpour.)

Having correctly presumed that the bloke outside the subway, clutching a lilly, was one of the guerillas, we ended up representing the UK in what turned out to be the highest concentration of nations on a 2 foot square of mud. After digging through layers of chewing gum and fag ends, in what was fast becoming a brown puddle, we successfully created 2 miniture gardens that could rival any of the show gardens at Chelsea.

The whole event was document(at)ed by a New Yorker called Beth, who had been sent to photograph it for the American Airlines in-flight magazine. So next time you take a transatlantic flight, you'll be able to see our bedraggled, mud-splattered faces staring back from the seat pocket in-front.

After less than an hour of gardening in the rain, we spend an intensive 2 1/2 hours networking over a few well deserved pitchers of beer in the Imperial Pub ('where anti-imperial plans are hatched' and where we clogged up the sink with the tonne of earth from under our nails).

Back home we dried out with Iain's 'pasta spesh' and the season finale of Desperate Housewives. Another day of hard graft come to an end.

Saturday 17th - Well Deserved Day Off

Ponitless trip to bus station (couldn't buy tickets - have to go back)
Hotdog, (chicken & veggie suspiciously similar)
CN Tower, (photo & frisking)
Travelling to 4 different museums and not looking round any of them.
Tea and Cake.
Vegetarian Thai food (yummy)
Canadian Beer & Legally Blonde 1&2 ( Pink overload)
well deserved sleep (managed to stay up later than 10pm for first time all week!)
:) :) :)

YYZ Artist Outlet and an introduction to Dim sum , Friday 16th May

In what is becoming a relentless pattern, today began with a rude awakening by Rebecca clattering around the kitchen in an attempt to make a cup of tea. Shortly after, Rebecca and Robina managed to dumbfound an entire doughnut store (both staff and customers) by having the audacity to ask for only 3 doughnuts, rather than an 'eat till you explode' box of 24.

Our first and only meeting of the day (well, we have been working hard up until now), was with Ana Barajas, Programming Coordinator at YYZ. Alongside Mercer Union, this organisation is one of the oldest and most established artist-run spaces in Toronto and they are due to begin celebrating their 30th anniversary at the end of year.


Work as part of 'I_wanna_see_YOU_[Y.Y.Z.ca_DE_overslag.nl]', a collaboration between artists from Toronto and Holland

With so many well-established organisations, it seems that Toronto's artist-run community is currently at a point of reflection and galleries such as YYZ are questioning their future role and direction. YYZ, was set up in 1979 by a group of artists without commercial representation, as a way for them to show their work in the city. This system ran alongside the more established artworld in Tornoto, and was known as the 'parallel gallery' scene. Since then, the focus of YYZ has shifted from simply benefiting the collective, to showing the work of and providing a resource for artists in the city and, lately, internationally.

In what is becoming an all too familiar story in the Toronto artist-led scene, regeneration of previously run-down areas has led to an increase in rent, forcing venues such as YYZ to consider how they can generate enough income to survive where they are, or to look at relocating to a more affordable location.

Unlike galleries such as Mercer Union, who have already begun to relocate, YYZ are questioning their need for a gallery space at all. In the last few years, the organisation, which also produces 4 publications a year, has been working predominately with artists who take a process-based approach to their practice, and recent shows have been more concerned with collaboration and process rather than an end product. In this way, the organisation could develop to work within the public domain, rather than be tied to a venue.

And so to the Dim sum saga. With no knowledge of Chinese, or the etiquette of traditional Dim sum, we bravely decided to visit a restaurant that Elizabeth had pointed out to us a few days previously. Once seated, we spent a few bemused minutes looking blankly at one another as women with trollies full of unidentifiable dishes, tried to ply their wares. After much to-ing and fro-ing of the phrase 'no meat' (with neither side sure whether it was a statement or question), we ended up with a steaming mound of green 'stuff', alongside some more recognisable fare. Being adaptable young women, it didn't take long before we were demanding additional dishes in the traditional English way of talking loudly and jabbing at things with chopsticks. The food was actually delicious and very cheap, and so, by way of 'giving something back' to the Chinese community , we helped an elderly Chinese woman into the lift, which subsequently got stuck halfway down, (she may well still be there). With the act of charity glowing in our hearts, we indulged in a well deserved Mayan hot chocolate at a tiny chocolate factory in the distillery district.

The day ended with gourmet Macaroni Cheese a la Iain Bailey and a trip to the Sportster pub, where the barman insisted on telling us how expensive the UK is and the exact price of 24 cans of Coca-cola worldwide.

Mercer Union, Fly Gallery and live racoon sighting, Thursday 15th.

The racoon features at the end of the day, so you have to read this bit first, sorry.

Artwork by Liz Miller at Mercer Union

We started today with a visit to Mercer Union, one of the most established and well respected artist-led galleries in Toronto. Here we met with Dave Dyment, Elaine Gaito and Aileen Burns to chat about the history of the space and their future move to new premises. The gallery was founded in 1979 (almost as old as Canada!) to address the needs of artists who found it difficult to break into the dominant art establishment. Since then the gallery has evolved and now shows the work of international artists, as well as providing resources for emerging artists in the city, which include a programme for recent graduates. Although the gallery is having to relocate in response to the creeping gentrification of the area, the staff see this as a positive step in the development of the gallery and its role in the Toronto art scene.

Chatting with the Mercer Union team

In a freak act of karma (in response to all the hard work we've been doing these past few days), as we strolled in the sunshine on our way to another good lunch, we happened across $70, gently blowing along the street in our direction. In one swift movement the money was ours, allowing us to generously treat our hosts to a sandwich.

Apart from the squashed raccoon, one of the sights which will stick in our memories is that of the most bizarre department store any of us have ever visited - Honest Ed's. This shop is full of everything you never knew you needed, from inflatable aeroplanes to immigration services, discount haircuts to hats and maple syrup to low-cost dentistry. Needless to say, we came out with as much Canadian tat as a small Chinese child can produce in a day (and that's a lot!).

A unique shopping experience

Loaded down with our plastic goods, we arrived at Fly Gallery. Like Convenience Gallery, this is a former shop, which is now the home of 2 artists; Tanya Read and Scott Carruthers, who use their front window as a gallery space. Set up in 1999, the gallery has hosted the work of over 100 artists from Toronto and the surrounding areas, including students, emerging artists and more established practitioners. The gallery is probably the most prolific, but lo-fi venue which we have visited so far. Unfunded and without a website, Fly Gallery still manages to attract a large amount of media attention and respect from the city. Despite hosting the work of a different artist each month, the gallery has a constant stream of submissions from artists wishing to be included in their programme.

Fly Gallery

And finally, here's the grand finale that you've been waiting for.....We saw a racoon (a live one this time). It was the cutest vermin we've ever seen!

Pest's new mascot!