The American retailer Target is coming to the Junction and is probably already targeting you

As the NW of St Clair Ave west and Keele St. / Old Weston Rd is moving to bricks, mortar, and asphalt with a lot of green, an interesting article in this weeks New York Times magazines details how the retailer Target - one of the anchor retailers at the site targets its customers for greater sales.

The article uses a example of purchasing for unborn babies -

St Clair Avenue West Road Improvements recycle St Clair W. in the GJA

 



This stretch of St Clair Avenue West could have been called meat packing central 15 years ago. The Maple leaf meats research centre stood on the lot where the Pharma Plus store is now.  Ont the North side of the street was the distribution wing of Maple Leaf Meats, a business that dominated this part of the street.

Now with houses to the north and retail to the south this finalizing of the road widening will all but complete the public street changes to crate a walk-able and people friendly area.

 

 

Arts in eating shops... aka restaurants, cafes, coffee jails etc

[caption id="attachment_8782" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="Artist BenSlow (uk)"][/caption]

Many restaurants in the GJA and in the of city of  Toronto serve up works of art - usually surface pieces - paintings, and some collage, along with their food fare. Often the works are for sale.

The works often offer some degree of collective beauty and the restaurant proprietor often works to imbue some esthetics into the choices of what art to display.

Unforgettably it all comes down to a assemblage of commercial needs of the restaurant and the artist, mingled together in an mix that just does not work, creating  all to often a situation that does neither any real good.

The restaurant is allowed to not address the real aesthetic design needs required to address their own clients and offerings. The artist who may sell a few works, struggles with a secondary viewing experience for the work, and often reduces the efforts of other methods of showing and sales.

All this is not to say art in eating shops in not a good idea, it just isn't in the way its being done here. To make it work the artist must be allowed to view the restaurant as a canvas. This would of course need the normal discussions between artist and  businesses owner  who must also search for a body of work that attests with their own vision. Looking at the images posted with this post need I write more to give proof of the success of the method.

 

[caption id="attachment_8783" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="same guy as above, not named in this caption to assist is creating a memonic."][/caption]

Textiles in the form of screen printing at Wise Daughters Craft Market

BIG secret activity comes to Junction, , which is why the Junction is so luckily to have Wise Daughters running this project,

Textiles are the Big secret in Canadian Craft, outshining the other three craft areas taught in Ontario in this authors opinion. Surface work has traditionally been a large part of the work explored, taught and made at the two craft schools in Ontario. Students in the Fabrics [1. changed from textiles to fabrics in last few years] at Sheridan’s Crafts and Design program start early working with lino cut blocks. As well over the course of their training students receive a great amount of immersion into aspects of surface printing, much of it in the use of screen printing.

3 dimensional fabric work is also just well purported in these schools.

The greater GTA has two resident programs in well outfitted studios, one at Harbourfront in the cities core and the other in The Living Arts Centre in Mississsauga [2. Full discourse: me saying  the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga is great, can be read as self servicing as I and my studio team at the time designed, and build out the studio in 1996 though 1997] both which are great stepping stones into full time craft designer/maker. (which is not a profession in this decades long craft artists thoughts)

Groupings of makers in a learning, sharing and creation opportunity such as this one offered by Wise Daughters are terrific for the continual redevelopment of craft in the Junction [3. The junction was once a major Craft area in Toronto] and Ontario itself. After witnessing many such courses take place at various galleries and centers, you should know the atmosphere often takes  on the beauty of the teaching experiences at the educational settings at the full time schools - craft can do that, bring out everything in a person.

Interested in the deep unbounded nature and history of textile craft in Ontario and the world - read and view the works of Skye Morrison - the former studio head of the textiles studio at Sheridan’s Crafts and Design program and a Doctor of  folklore (Cornell University). Text 1 link  Text 2 link to Dr. Morrison's Red Threads project.

[caption id="attachment_9007" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Click image for texty textile story"][/caption]

 

One issue this author has, sure have fun with the creation of your own stencil graphic, as offered but explore the inter-connectivity of the craft process by studying and remaking images of historical and complementary textiles printers, it can make you float.

Oh and Men textile printing is simply not just for female craft-persons.

 

 

[caption id="attachment_8943" align="aligncenter" width="275" caption="3079B Dundas St. W. TO, crafts@wisedaughters.com - 761 1455m or click image to attend the WD site"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_8945" align="aligncenter" width="297" caption="3079B Dundas St. W. TO, crafts@wisedaughters.com - 761 1455m or click ikme to attend the WD site"][/caption]

Wise Full Nov calendar pdf 

Brooklyn street furniture for tree pits

 

One of the items especially troublesome in the in Junction is restaurant lineups that can occur sometimes in the Junction. Sunday mornings can be bad. The problem is much more insidious in  Brooklyn. Yet a local Brooklyn business booster group got a much of artists to come up with some designs and some such as the one above provide not only a great place to sit while waiting for table but just for chatting.

 

 

 

Venture just outside greater Junction area for lunch

Venture just outside greater Junction area for lunch or supper towards Etobicoke just before Royal York Rd. and you will find Magoos burger restaurant, a popular eatery, well known for its burgers and especially their application of cheese and mushrooms.

Plenty of parking as its in a strip mall.

MAGOO'S GOURMET HAMBURGERS & ICE-CREAM

4242 Dundas Street West , Etobicoke.