Custom Ceramics for the Bleecker Coop Memorial Project

The Bleecker Coop Memorial Project features several custom fabrication processes including handmade  tiles produced in Bleecker Coop's own ceramics studio: Studio 85  founded by ceramic artist Henry Campos. 


On January 17,  Henry led the first of two ceramics workshops with more than 10 coop members.  It seems appropriate that  contributors are producing two special elements of the artwork -- the Great Bear and the blue orbs, which are an abstracted representation of the Great Bear constellation, most commonly known as Ursa Major.


The next ceramics workshop is taking place on Monday, January 30 at 7pm!

Henry describing clay particle structure.

A demonstration of how to test slab depth.

Eva, Noel, and Liliana rolling out their clay slabs. 

Liliana preparing canvas grounds.

Gary working on the wheel.

A demonstration of rolling technique to produce consistent slab depth.

Bleecker Coop Memorial Project: The Design is Unveiled

untitled, Anna Camilleri, 2012, 10" x 32", paper on birch bark

We had a great meeting on Thursday January 12, 2012. More than 30 community members came out to view and offer feedback to the design. It's an exciting moment in the life of a project. In a community engaged art context, design "unveiling" is the culmination of conceptual development and arts-based research with community members over several months. 


To briefly review our path, we met with community members, staff, and directors from October to December. Together, we told stories, brainstormed ideas, motivation, visual motif and themes, and then we moved beyond talking. Using simple materials and techniques, we explored visual expressions for our ideas.  We also looked at the space that the work will ultimately live in, and discussed function, space use, and other site-specific environmental and architectural elements. This development process was -- and is --anchored by our goal: to create a large-scale artwork through collaborative processes that memorializes our beloved founding manager Diane Frankling in this 20th year of Bleecker Coop's proud and inclusive community.

detail

As the artwork suggests, the mosaic we're about to begin building is more of installation than mural; the work is dimensional with high and low relief elements that we'll build in layers. The images below are technical drawings, presented here in their fabrication order: level 1 supports level 2, and level 3 is supported by levels 1 and 2. We viewed them on a light table (one on top of the other), which reveals the design and structural fabrication in its totality. 

Technical Drawing Level 1, (c) Anna Camilleri, 2012

Technical Drawing Level 2, (c) Anna Camilleri, 2012

Technical Drawing Level 3, (c) Anna Camilleri, 2012

Artwork Site, Bleecker Street Cooperative lobby

The mosaic installation will span the wall as pictured, on both sides of the opening. Actual artwork dimensions will be 10'x4' and 3'4"x4'.


We'd like to acknowledge the community members, staff, and directors who contributed to the conceptual development of this design. Thank you for your support, wisdom, openness, and creativity. 


We gratefully acknowledge the support of the citizens of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, and the Cooperative Housing Federation of Toronto.


Tristan and I would also want to recognize our stellar team:


Enrique Campos | Ceramic Artist
Katie Yealland | Photographer and Technician
Heidi Cho | Community Artist
Chantelle Gobeil | Associate Artist
Ryan Hayward | Coordinator
Andrew Henderson| Intern
Dominique Grant | Apprentice
Dorian Johnson | Youth Leader
Emily Jones | Youth Leader


We look forward to seeing you in the studio: the doors open on Sunday January 29, and the first of two ceramics workshops will be led by Enrique on Tuesday January 17. The complete schedule is posted here (and on the Bleecker Coop Memorial Project link at the top of this page)! 


Everyone is welcome. No experience is needed and all materials are provided. 


--Anna Camilleri, Lead Artist

      OPEN STUDIO SCHEDULE

DATE TIME Tuesday January 17 ceramics workshop 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Sunday, January 29 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, January 30 ceramics workshop 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Tuesday, January 31 5 p.m. – 9 pm. Saturday, February 4 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, February 6 LOBBY studio 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Thursday, February 9 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Sunday, February 12 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 15 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday, February 16 LOBBY studio 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday, February 18 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, February 20 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Wednesday, February 22 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb 26 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb 28 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Friday, March 2 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday, March 3 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, March 5 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday, March 8 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Sunday, March 11 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 13 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Thursday, March 15 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday, March 17 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Introducing Youth Apprentice Domanique Grant and Youth Leaders Dorian Johnson and Emily Jones!

We're pleased to introduce you to Domanique Grant, who will be apprenticing with Red Dress Productions on the Bleecker Coop Memorial Project.


While emerging as a singer-songwriter, Domanique Grant's additional work as an actress, dancer and advocate, combined with her studies as a double major in Theatre and International Development at York University,  has set her apart as a young multidisciplinary using her versatility in the arts to help mobilize young people across Canada by using art to promote social change. At the age of 21, Grant is the youngest ever President of Atkinson Housing Cooperative, the youngest Vice-President of the Coop Housing Federation of Toronto and the Fine Arts Director for The York Students Federation. She has been featured in The Toronto Star and the Toronto Metro, with commendations for her work in the community.


We're also delighted to introduce distinguished youth leaders Emily Jones and Dorian Johnson! 


Emily writes: "I was proudly born and raised into the Bleecker Street Coop. I am a musician/songwriter and spend majority of my time working towards making my beloved hobby into a career. I have always been involved with different projects in the co-op, but I have never taken a leadership role such as this one. Therefor, I am eagerly looking forward to being involved with this project. I feel that I have a lot to learn, yet also a lot to teach. I am so thrilled to be a helping hand in our co-op's beautiful mosaic piece, and I can already tell that it will be such a great representation of not only Bleecker Coop, but of all the amazing housing we have in our city."


Dorian writes: "I have been actively involved in my community through school teams and clubs such as the Heritage Club and Peer Leading, which aim to foster a positive space for all students. I have also been involved in cooperative housing as a youth representative in numerous national conferences as well as the recipient of the 2006 Youth Award from the Coop Housing Federation of Toronto, and I now serve as the Treasurer on the Bleecker Street Coop Board of Directors. Growing up in Bleecker Street Coop, I have been surrounded by a supportive community which positively influences our members to actively involve ourselves in our own social development. Community leaders such as Diane Frankling have instilled a feeling of pride in the community at large which has contributed to amazing improvements within the co-op and our community at large. It is these values that drive me to commemorate the great work Diane and the community has done, in creating such a wonderful place to raise our children. I believe it is critical that we continue to strive towards creating a positive community and this project as well as previous mosaics are amazing and creative representations of the possibilities of such community collaborations."

Creating Legacy: Designing for Past, Present, and Future

We've now had several community meetings with Bleecker Coop members, directors, and staff, and many  ideas have been generated through creative explorations of motif, movement, positive and negative space, colour, texture, and abstract and representational elements. 


What had been initially been conceived as a two-dimensional mosaic mural, has grown into an environmental site-specific installation that will include a large-scale mosaic mural, and modular sculptural weight-bearing works. The progression of not only the concept but also the expansion of form and disciplinary modalities are attributable to the creative and aesthetic capacities of the Bleecker Coop community. 


Legacy often refers to the tangible or material evidence or "product" of a project or combined effort. We've been thinking for several months now about the other stuff -- that which can't be measured; the residual or "soft" stuff in community engaged creative endeavours -- and how to understand and more deeply cultivate this. 


At Bleecker Coop, we have the tremendous opportunity and honour to directly experience the fruits of our labour over time. We worked with community members on two previous large-scale mosaic projects (in 2006 and 2007), and it is this history of creating together that engenders confidence and openness in contributors to bring a wealth of ideas to the table, and explore those ideas through various mediums. On this project, we've heard folks say i/we can and i/we will more often than we've heard i/we can't. The creative capacity of the community here is a great part of its legacy, and for this, we acknowledge and remember Bleecker Coop founding manager Diane Frankling who stewarded and nurtured this cooperative and its communities in ways both large and small; tangible and residual. 


We look forward to continuing in the New Year with ceramics workshops lead by Enrique Campos (where we'll fabricate some of our tiles), and to the design unveiling and vetting meeting on January 12, 2012. 


In the meantime, I've posted a few images that invite you into my process of stewarding the progression of a design that emerges from our arts-based research with community members. 


We've often been asked: How do you steward the progression of a design working with ideas, motif, and art experiments that community members bring to the table?  The short answer is this: if you scroll down (or search blog entries tagged Bleecker Coop Memorial Project) you'll see a direct relationship between the design and its path. You'll see abstract and representational elements of Dorian's trees, Ali's bear, Liliana's woven collage, Kate and Heidi's orbs, Tristan's constellation,  Enrique's lines flowing from a bear, Irene and Minda's vertical columns, Gary's ambers and golds, David's forest, Joe's waters, and Emily's gingham pattern.

Experiment 1, Anna Camilleri, paper mounted on birch bark, 14" x 8"

detail

I've chosen to experiment and think about relief elements in mosaic by weaving and layering paper.

Line and Colour

At our fourth Bleecker Coop Memorial Project community meeting last night, we focused on line and colour; movement and pattern. Here's some of what emerged from our inquiry. 

Photography by Katie Yealland.

WRTN/SPKN: a creative writing and zine project with Triangle Program

WRTN/SPKN is a short video (5 min 13 sec) that features creative work that emerged from a story writing and story telling project that took place at the Triangle Program—Canada's only high school for LGBTQ youth.  For several weeks, we explored creative writing (particularly memoir) through practices including free association, “cut-up,” word strings, found poetry, and collaborative writing. We experimented with voice and form, and the relationship between the written and spoken, and visually explored word. Throughout our creative process, students were encouraged to claim their place as storytellers and experts in their own experience. Our work together culminated in the production and presentation of individual zines.

Students gave me permission to photograph their work, and develop WRTN/SPKN, a video that anthologizes their zines. There was consensus amongst the students that the video should be  distributed and available online as an educational tool. Triangle students particularly want to reach out to other youth who have been or are being bullied at school—and those who can make a big difference: school boards and trustees, school administrators, educators, and guidance counselors.

Many students said that if it weren’t for the Triangle Program, they wouldn’t be in school. Triangle students recognize education as a right for all students, and that lack of safety reduces access to education for LGBTQ students, and many other students for a variety of systemic reasons. Triangle students would like their stories and creative work to contribute to change for all youth who are struggling with safety and acceptance.

—Anna Camilleri, artist educator

WRTN/SPKN is posted here on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMFrNjH1SSQ

What is a zine? Source: http://artmatters.ca/wp/2008/08/what-is-a-zine/

A zine is usually a non-commercial publication, kind of
 like a magazine but with a twist. The main difference between a magazine
and a zine is that zines are not out there to make a profit but, rather, to add
other, often unheard voices into the mix. Zines are usually made out of
interest and passion and are often self-published by the writer/artist/creator. 

The Triangle Program is one of three micro-schools that are part of Toronto District School Board’s OASIS Alternative School. Triangle classroom provides a safe educational environment for LGBTQ-identified youth. 

http://triangleprogram.ca/ 

Bleecker Coop Memorial Project

Welcome to our gallery of images from the Bleecker Coop Memorial Project.

We've begun meeting to tell stories, brainstorm, and explore visual representations of our ideas using oil pastel, mixed media, foam plate printing on fabric and paper, and collage. As you scroll down, you'll find a series of solo and multiple pieces produced by project contributors. This arts-based participatory research is what will lead us to identifying themes and visual motif, and ultimately, the mosaic design.

All Bleecker Coop members are invited to join in as we continue our creative exploration on Monday December 5, at 7:30 pm. All materials and refreshments will be provided.

Red Dress Productions is proud to lead this project in partnership with Bleecker Coop. Our team includes lead artist Anna Camilleri, co-lead artist Tristan R. Whiston, community artist Heidi Cho, ceramic artist Enrique Campos, photographer Katie Yealland, events and outreach coordinator Ryan Hayward, and intern Andrew Henderson.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the citizens of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, and the Cooperative Housing Federation of Toronto.

Foam plates, and prints on cotton and paper. 

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY for CHFT Youth

Community Art Apprentice Position
Project runs: December 2011 to March 2012
Flexible/variable hours: afternoons, evenings, weekends
Remuneration: up to a maximum of $1350.00 (based upon $15/hour for 90 hours)


Red Dress Productions is proud to lead the “Bleecker Co-op Memorial Project,” a new community engaged mosaic project. One equity-seeking youth will be hired as Community Art Apprentice to work directly with lead artists. The apprentice will be involved in every stage of project development, and will play a key role as part of the leadership team.


Roles and Responsibilities will include working with the lead artists to:
• Create a safe, fun, and welcoming project environment;
• Set up and maintain the studio;
• Support project contributors;
• Contribute to technical and artistic elements of mosaic making.


Applicants don’t need any prior experience/training/education in community art, visual arts, or facilitation, but must be interested in community art, be a reliable team member, and be prepared to learn and accept direction in an applied learning environment. Additionally, applicants must also:
• Be a member of any Coop Housing Federation of Toronto housing cooperative;
• Be under 25 years of age;
• Be interested in working in an anti-oppression framework;
• Have an ability to work with a diversity of community members;
• Be interested in learning about community engaged art, and particularly mosaic;
• Be comfortable working as part of a team;
• Have good work habits: punctual, reliable, and conscientious;
• Have a sense of humour.


TO APPLY:
Please submit an email application to with the following attachments:
1) a letter of interest outlining why you’d like to work on this project, and any relevant skills or experiences
2) your resume
3) the name and phone number of two employment or character references to:

The subject line should be titled “Hiring Committee – Community Art Apprentice”. Emails with a different subject line may be deleted without being considered.

NO EMAIL OR TELEPHONE INQUIRIES PLEASE.
The application deadline is Friday December 9, 2011.
Late applications will not be considered.

Red Dress Productions encourages applications from members of all equity seeking groups. Short listed applicants will be invited to interview during the week of December 12.

We acknowledge the support of the citizens of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, and the Cooperative Housing Federation of Toronto.

Introducing Andrew Henderson

We're pleased to welcome Andrew Henderson to Red Dress Productions. Andrew found us by way of the Community Arts Practice Certificate Program, Faculty of Fine Arts at York University, where he is currently enrolled.


Andrew Henderson is a multidisciplinary and multilingual artist living in the Church and Wellesley community of Toronto, Ontario. Being born and raised in a tiny rural prairie village called Clandeboye (MB), his experiences growing up, gay and in the breadbasket, have inspired him to use art in the community context. He is continually inspired by visual artists in the Americas and, with his training as a blacksmith, percussionist and theatre manager/creator, he hopes to bring all of these mediums together and create works that explore living in an occupied nation as a gay white male.


Currently Andrew is completing a series of paintings that document his journey of discovering a hidden heritage lost through migration to Canada.


Welcome Andrew! We look forward to shared adventures in community engaged art making.


And a few words from Andrew: "I would like to thank Anna and Tristan for all their support, now and in the future. I am very grateful and excited to be working with Red Dress Productions!"

Announcing the Bleecker Street Cooperative Memorial Project

Bleecker Coop Memorial Project is the creation of a large-scale mosaic artwork, created for and with community members who will act as contributing artists between November 2011 and March 2012.


WHY THIS PROJECT? WHY NOW?
Bleecker Coop is approaching its 20th Anniversary in spring 2012, and its impossible to celebrate Bleecker Coop and its accomplishments without recognizing Diane Frankling.


Prior to 1990, the rundown buildings on Bleecker Street were managed by City Home, and Diane Frankling was employed as the building manager. Diane worked with tenants to successfully campaign for conversion of the building into a housing cooperative, with Diane remaining as the co-op manager until her death in March 2011.


Diane’s involvement in cooperative housing movement spanned four decades, but it was here at Bleecker Coop that Diane’s best work was done as she set about working with the members to create an inclusive and vibrant community that offers safe and affordable housing, and much more. Diane didn’t just talk about diversity, she was fearless in taking a stand on issues of diversity and inclusion, and she insured that Bleecker set an example for the rest of the Canadian co-op housing movement. Under Diane’s leadership, Bleecker was the first cooperative in Canada to priority house people living with HIV/AIDS in the early 1990s, and Bleecker Coop has been recognized with more two dozen awards for excellence in management, social change, urban greening, diversity and inclusion, and youth leadership.


For more information on how to become involved please email Red Dress Productions at reddressproductions@gmail.com


We gratefully acknowledge the support of the citizens of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.