Last Chance to Submit to Bike Photo Exhibit

illustration by Lauren Pirie

The Toronto Cyclists Union is hosting a photography exhibit at the Centre For Social Innovation, Annex on Thursday, February 2nd. The open call for submissions closes tomorrow, so time to hustle! We know all you photog friends of ours have some lovely shots of so-and-so pedaling through the park last Summer (remember Summer??). So do a little digging and drop them off tomorrow at the front desk at CSI. Or dig a little less and pull out a Fall or Winter biking shot; the theme of the show is The Four Seasons of Cycling, which means you could also submit a cycling-focused shot taken in the Spring. And remind us all that it will eventually come around again...

365 Days of Cycling: An Evening of Art and Cycling.

Submission details here.

Facebook event here.

Jan 25: UPDATE!
Digital submissions will be accepted through Friday. ALSO, 100% of the selling price of any work sold goes directly to the artist. Wooh! Check the detes here.

Gary Taxali Makes Money! (Literally...)

Gary Taxali for the Royal Canadian Mint, via National Post

Good on the Royal Canadian Mint for this one: Today marks the release of a set of six special occasion coins designed by Toronto-based artist and illustrator, Gary Taxali (of whom we're big fans). In this CBC video, Alexander Reeves explains "the retro pop art look is cool and it's hip and that's what the Royal Canadian Mint wants to identify with." Who knew?

Of course, we love what Taxali made of the project. We're also pretty stoked on his view that "the best way to represent a wedding in Canada is to show the love between two people, regardless of gender". The product is "two rings intertwined and in love". Cute.

I mean, we're usually somewhat excited to get money, but especially today.

"Oh Canada" coin via Art Daily

New Design! | Squab

 

Remember these lovely and entertaining Wishlist posters from our Greenhouse Gallery show? They were printed locally on 100% Recycled paper using a waterless UV process and VOC-free inks and created by our friends at Squab.

Creative Director Tammy Yiu and crew have just moved into new digs in Liberty Village. In between setting up the new stude and feverishly designing away, they've found a bit of time to start posting some recent work on their lovely site. Check it out! (Challenge: hit refresh on their homepage a couple times and just tryyy not to get sucked in).

Packaging for soup and bread roll for Portaselo Fine Foods

Identity for new Canadian-made outerwear company

New Art! | Rose Broadbent

'By the Fire' | Rose Broadbent

Check out some new work from our Toronto homegirl and AFC supporting artist, Rose Broadbent. More of her watercolour and acrylic work here.

Tomorrow: Give Clothes, Get Fun!

Got some gently-used clothing to purge? Bring it by the Garrison tomorrow night and Vox Toronto will donate it to The Yonge Street Mission. Swap your excess sweaters for an eve of music and art. Check the Facebook event here. If you're not able to make the party tomorrow, you can drop your donation off on the main floor of the Centre For Social Innovation, Annex location today until 4pm.

Choose Your Own Info, T.O.

Okay, so I slept a little on posting about these guys, but I did wake up and get out biking at an obscenely early hour this past Saturday morning when I spotted them. What a delightfully rewarding experience biking around this city at nine (or... ten) o'clock in the morning can be! (One of the perks of participating in a January cleanse). Who knew that it's just like Spring in January in Toronto at that hour?

So, the sun's a-shining and the birds are a-chirping and I hit the corner of College and Bathurst and notice one of those lovely, gargantuan "info" pillars that seem to have fallen out of the sky sometime this past Fall, crushing any bike rings and obstructing any sidewalks in their way. But wait, as I rode in its direction, I could actually see the word "info" clearly across the top of the billboard! I mean, pillar!

Of course, the chalk boards hanging over the in-your-face ad space weren't placed there apologetically by the city. We're not sure who made the move, but it seems a few people noticed. When I arrived, the boards were still relatively nude, but by the time these photos were taken for the Torontoist, it looks like several Torontonians had some things to say.