About Face Everywhere Gardens Project on the SKETCH Blog

The (RE)Cycle Tree at Evergreen Brickworks - one of four locations of the Everywhere Gardens installations

Eek! We've clearly neglected our blog for quite some time. Thankfully, our lovely friends and collaborators at SKETCH have a post up about the project we've been working on over this and last Summer — the Everywhere Gardens. 

Check it out here and stay posted with (much more frequent!) news, photos and event announcements by following us on our Facebook and Twitter. We'll have more photos of this project as the pieces are finalized, and a launch event coming up this Fall!

Art (Tonight!) And A Big Month of Announcements

A sneak preview of Junk Food our installation at Gladstone Grow Op / sample of Everywhere Gardens project

Spring is finally here! Nature is coming out of hibernation, and we at the AFC are crawling out of our grant-writing dungeons and into the sunshine. It's been a VERY busy month and we have so much to catch you up on. Here's an update on what's happening with the collective, and what's to come: 

OTF Announces Funding for our Pilot Project!

We are proud to announce that the Ontario Trillium Foundation has granted us funding to support our satellite project the Everywhere Gardens. The Everywhere Gardens is a pilot project based on concepts developed for the Everything Roof, but to take place at several major urban agriculture sites across Toronto.

In collaboration with artists from SKETCH Working Arts, we'll be using salvaged and recycled materials to showcase the artistic possibilities that exist within garden spaces, to spark conversation about creative approaches to food growing and sustainability in our city, and growing fresh organic produce for and with Toronto's communities. These functional sculptures will also be used as educational tools for learning about vertical and organic gardening. We'll be posting a lot more information on this project over the next month, and you can see an example of one of these creations tonight at the Gladstone hotel; read on, friend!

Tonight | Gladstone Grow Op

The AFC is very excited to be participating in the inaugural year of Gladstone Grow Op, a "four-day event to celebrate innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape and place across a broad range of creative practices. Grow Op 2013 will facilitate a cross-disciplinary forum for landscape, garden design, art and place making within the vibrant setting of Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood".  

Our installation, Junk Food, is a collaboration between illustrator, artist and About Face art director, Lauren Pirie, multi-disciplinary artist and designer, Mahmood Popal, and About Face garden coordinator, Natalie Boustead. The piece is inspired by themes of urban food production, food security, sustainable design and Toronto heritage and identity. The "urban foodscape" was built using salvaged wood and home-made milk paint, and houses a variety of Toronto-grown heirloom vegetables and herbs. The exhibit opens tonight, with a reception from 6 - 11pm, and runs through Sunday April 28th.

Mahmood Popal, putting it all together

The team surveying progress

Late night drawing at HUNTCLUB photos by Darlene Huynh

Thanks for EVERYTHING! To all of our Amazing Supporters:

It has been a year since our Indiegogo campaign hit its goal, thanks to you, our incredibly supportive community of friends, family and believers in art; sustainability; good, local, accessible, nutritious food and the Everything Roof. Your support has allowed us to bring on the right people to help coordinate funding (the amazing Shawna Caspi), to draw up proper landscape and architectural designs (the amazing Phillip Collins), to plan exciting creative projects and fundraising events (the amazing Rodrigo Marti, Mahmood Popal and the whole amazing crew at SKETCH) and to get through another year of planning and grant-writing. It has now helped to launch our pilot project, the Everywhere Gardens!

While the Everything Roof may still be waiting for the moment, five stories high in the future, we are getting closer to it every day. But we didn't wait to wait to acknowledge our wonderful supporters, so we've made plans with Centre for Social Innovation to design and install dedicated planter sculptures on the soon-to-launch CSI Annex courtyard patio! This installation has been designed to honor our gold level supporters and our community of contributors. Supporters and team members are also acknowledged on the team page of the first stage of our new website, check it out here. And keep watching our blog and newsletter for more news on when you can come join us for an iced-tea amid produce-growing, artist-designed, planters and moss murals. It might be on ground level for now, but it's going to be awesome, and a great foresight of what's to come. 

Junk Food | About Face Installation at Gladstone Grow Op

First rendering of Junk Food: An Urban Foodscape

 In an email exchange last week, one of our project partners appropriately opened with the sentiment that she'd "usually say something about the awesome spring weather and the beginning of garden prep" but that she would refrain, sad face. On that cold, windy, grey day, we felt a little sad face-y too. Looking out the window, it was hard to imagine containers overflowing with ripe veggies any time soon.

We've got our happy faces on with this sunshine today, but we've actually been prepping to plant for weeks (well, for months really, but seedlings are in at the greenhouse!). We've got all sorts of exciting plans for this season to tell you about soon enough (one big exciting one in particular!) but let's start with the first: Gladstone Grow Op.

We're really, very excited to be working with the Gladstone on an installation piece for their inaugural four-day show, Grow Op: Exploring landscape and place. If you've ever been to the Gladstone's amazing, annual Come Up to My Room event, you'll have a rough idea of what to expect. Grow Op follows a similar format, inviting artists and designers to realize their visions within the walls of the historic hotel. The show "will facilitate a cross-disciplinary forum for landscape, garden design, art and place making within the vibrant setting of Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood".

The Gladstone's contribution to local art and their commitment to sustainability made fans of us long ago. Now that we've had a few planning sessions with the Grow Op crew, we're even more smitten.

Our installation, Junk Food is a collaboration between illustrator, artist and About Face art director, Lauren Pirie, multi-disciplinary artist and designer, Mahmood Popal, our own garden coordinator, Natalie Boustead, and SKETCH. It touches on themes of urban food production, food security, sustainable design and Toronto heritage and identity. The "urban foodscape"  is being built using salvaged materials, and home-made milk paint and will grow crops like lettuce and peas.

Watch our blog and the Gladstone Bag for more progress shots and join us from April 25 - 28 at the Grow Op!

Natalie and Mahmood disassembling salvaged materials at HUNTCLUB Studio

Translating the design digitally

Natalie whipping up some milk paint

Happy Women's Day! Everyone Should Be This Lucky

We shared this video from Miss Representation last year on International Women's Day and we think it's worthy of showing again... and again and again. Notwithstanding all the achievements and progresses we have made — we're much closer to parity in education and workforce — there is still a major disparity in the number of women we see in leadership roles. Because of this, we here at About Face are especially thankful for our situation.


Cause and Effect: How the Media You Consume Can Change Your Life from Miss Representation on Vimeo.


Though the numbers in the Non-profit sector are slightly more favorable (sadly, we're calling 21% more favorable [based on US stats]) there's still a long, long way to go to achieve equal representation. So, we'd like to take a moment to call out and thank our mentors at SKETCH and Centre For Social Innovation, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of whom happen to be women. How 'bout them stats?

Tonya Surman, CEO and Karine Jaouich, Director of Operations at CSI; and Phyllis Novack, Artistic Director and Founder, Rudy Ruttiman, Executive Director and Rose Gutierrez, Program Director at SKETCH, and a shout-out to Jessica Hazen, former Director of Stakeholder Engagements at CSI: you are awesome. Thank you for believing in and supporting us, for being amazing role models and all-round powerhouses, and for doing good and important things. We only wish that our situation were more common. The positive impact of seeing more women in leadership ripples out in so many ways. Check this report by FEMinc and Take The Lead.

We'd also like to thank every other incredible, talented and hard-working woman and girl who has supported us over the years, but we'll call out a couple of particularly influential ones: our strong and loving moms. One last, important thank-you: to all the men who support women. We sure have a lot of great ones in our lives. They know that empowering women makes life better for us all.

Via missrepresentation.org

MONARCHIE | New Works by Virgil Baruchel Opening Tomorrow

We’ve followed Virgil Baruchel from drawing on napkins to drawing on paper, painting on paper to scratching layers of oil stick off canvasses to globbing paint on carpet padding, and from hauling wood and metal from the streets to hand-building beautiful, reclaimed furniture. We’ve followed him from Toronto to Paris to New York, and we’re really, very happy to have him back here again. And we’re really, very excited to see what he’s come up with now.

Virgil has shown his work with us and supported About Face since our very first show. We wouldn't miss his Toronto solo show opening, tomorrow at Stussy Toronto, 1000 Queen St W (at Ossington), and you shouldn't either!

Facebook event here.

See more of Virgil's work here.

Last Weekend for Local Goods at Mutts Fall Shop

Hey T.O! Go check the Fall installment of the Mutts & Co pop-up. Lots of great local clothing, jewelry, goodies and art from the likes of Muttonhead, OSC Cross, Kathryn Macnaughton and more, including canned pies from Nat and cards and prints from Lauren of AFC! This weekend is the last chance to scoop Canadian-made goods like honey, hot sauce and down-filled coats from local creatives and brands. Check the Facebook event for a full list of what's being stocked and, (eek!) it's not too early to start checking off your holiday gift list!

A Workshop for (New)Bees!

Join local beekeepers, Gurushabd and Zack at the Carrot Commons Green Roof this weekend for an intro to urban beekeeping! Fun! Bees are an integral part of our eco-system. These experts will fill you in on the whys and hows and help you get some honey out of it. They know what's up!

For more info contact Gurushabd at gurushabd@hogtownhoney.com

Mutts & Co. Variety Store Ft. All Your Local Faves, On Today through Sunday!

If you follow our happenings on the reg, you've most certainly heard us profess our love for the crew at Toronto-based clothing line, Muttonhead. Not only do they produce their goods right here in the city, using sustainable materials, but they also have a real knack for bringing together the best of local goodness from other creative Canadians.

This week the Mutts prove this yet again with what might be the best and most diverse Muttonhead pop-up shop yet, the Mutts & Co. Variety Store. Parked at Paramour at 94 Ossington (between Queen & Dundas) Paige and crew have curated an awesome little market full of local, reclaimed and fair trade food stuffs, housewares, accessories, magazines, art and, of course, clothing.

Display at Mutts & Co. ft. Stasis Preserves and TwoRibka wooden utensils

Custom 'Real-cycled' wood shelving by Jamie Miller,
upcycled glassware by Artech Studios and Lauren Pirie print

Muttonhead's latest line, designed by Meg Sinclair, is for sale alongside more than ten other local labels and scores like Dumptown's Worm Condos, the side project of the other half of Muttonhead, graphic designer Mel Sinclair.

And we'll be there too! Our pals from Reunion Island Coffee have generously supplied the beans (yet again) for iced americanos, proceeds from which will go toward the Everything Roof. We'll be whipping them up through the weekend. I've been practicing, and I must say, I'm getting good.... and pretty wired, as made obvious by the sign below, made after a couple tester coffees.

Everything Roof illustrated prints will also be sold to benefit the project. Other prints and cards from AFC co-founder, Lauren Pirie will be available as well as prints from AFC supporting artists Kathryn Macnaughton and Talia Shipman, records from the amazing Shad and a back room photo gallery featuring the work of Matthew Crisp and Beau Partlow. 


Okay, enough of the caffeine induced yammering, just come by between now and Sunday. There's even more to see (and taste) there, including (if anyone is down for MORE coffee) Sam James coffee-infused ice cream bars created by Brandon Olsen of Black Hoof (!!!).


Or if you prefer some gin-induced yammering (and shopping!) swing by the launch party on Thursday evening. 


See you there!

Art: This Long Weekend is Your Best (And Last) Chance To See Broadbent Sisters' Spectacular Show

Rose Broadbent with 'Untitled'

Joy Broadbent with 'Crush-Endo'

The Broadbent sisters, whose individual art works you'll remember from our gallery events, have joined forces on a new series. If you missed the June 28th opening, of Boom by Boom make sure you catch the show today or tomorrow. Not only are the mixed-media pieces depicting fireworks and rainbow staircases (coincidentally?) perfect visual additions to this Canada Day and Pride weekend (in more ways than two, depending on your imagination) buuuut, the show also closes tomorrow at 6pm! 

The pieces, which from afar are sometimes reminiscent of delicate, beautiful, intricate textile or ceramic patterns or ethereal fantasy landscapes, can look up-close like pen scribbles on a diary. You need to see them in real life to really appreciate the duality. Get there! Expect explosions.

Boom by Boom recommended in National Post's Things to Do

On today and tomorrow until 6pm at Studio 835, 
835 Bloor St West

Broadbent Sisters' Boom by Boom website 

Boom by Boom in Torontoist

Cheers to the Everything Roof and a couple Tauruses | Tomorrow!

Explore Toronto's best Green Roofs for Jane's Walk this Saturday with Natalie!

If you're looking for a great Jane's Walk Tour this Saturday, look no further! Join Natalie Amber from AFC at 2pm at Roy Thompson Hall to get a tour of some of the best Green Roof initiatives in the city. She regularly leads this tour on behalf of WalkTO, a great walking tour organization in the city. If you miss out this Saturday, contact WalkTO to book a private group tour (3 or more).

Happy Walking!


the AFC

Earth Day DIY Hanging Dip-Dye Planters | Step One Video

Earth Day DIY Hanging Planters from The About Face Collective on Vimeo.

This past Sunday was Earth Day and we spent it hanging out at Muttonhead's Traveling Market at Huntclub Studio. The market was full of goods from local clothing and jewelry designers, food makers and worm condo builders! We parked out front at our sidewalk macrame station making hanging planters using cotton "yarn string" and some mason jars, bowls and mugs we found around the house. Follow along (if you can) with our instructional video here and check back tomorrow for step two, when we dip-dye the hangers using blueberry and blackberry dye!

Everything Roof Donor Perks Roll Out

If you contributed to our IndieGoGo campaign and chose a card pack perk, you'll be seeing this illustration by Lauren Pirie in the mail soon!

A few weeks ago, we surpassed our IndieGoGo fundraising goal, thanks to you, our friends and supporters, spreading the word and contributing to the project. Since then, we’ve been busy with more fundraising, meetings, volunteer coordination, media (check last week’s Metro article here !), grant applications, some fun Earth Day activities and getting your great perks together. This week’s the week that we start to roll them out!

If you made a contribution to our IndieGoGo campaign, you’ll be getting emails with codes for your Fresh City boxes, instructions to pick up your Reunion Island Coffee or mail to your door with your greeting cards or art prints, depending on what perks you chose. Fun! We appreciate your patience as we coordinate deliveries, and we really, really appreciate your contribution to, and belief in, the Everything Roof. Keep an eye on your inbox and your mail box over the next couple weeks and feel free to email us with any questions. We’re constantly posting updates on our Blog, Twitter and Facebook page, so make sure you’re following us to get the latest everything!

Keep watching right here for our Earth Day DIY dip-dye hanging planters video and instructions, coming later today!

All the best,

Love love love,

The About Face Collective

High Fives to Mumbai's Flyover Farm

We really miss our girl Mriga, but at least while she's in Mumbai (doing amazing things at Norblack Norwhite) she can keep us informed about awesome projects like this rooftop farm project by Adrienne Thadani's Urban Farming initiative, Fresh & Local. The Flyover Farm will grow fresh produce on the roof with the goal of distributing it straight to the building's residents. They're also planning to host a composting program for the building's kitchen waste, communal dining time, and urban farming workshops for city dwellers. Sound familiar? High fives to Flyover Farm from the Everything Roof! Make sure to check out their Kickstarter campaign. Best of luck comrades!

Earth Day DIY! Come Hang!

We're at the Muttonhead Traveling Market at Huntclub studio today making and teaching DIY hanging veggie dip-dye planters. Come hang plants and hang with us, the Mutts and plenty of other amazing local food, clothing and crafty folks. We'll be there staring at 2pm and the market is open until 7pm. Last day! Earth day! Come play!

709 College St West at Montrose.

The Everything Roof In Metro News

A big thanks to Metro News and Lia Grainger for featuring the Everything Roof in yesterday's Urban Compass column. If you didn't scoop a Metro before your Monday subway ride, thanks to the Internet, you can still check it out on the web, here!

$10K On The Internet and $5 On The Wall | Thank You!

 

We did it! With the deadline for our IndieGoGo campaign on the horizon, our friends and family and community supporters, YOU collectively pushed us across the finish line. Yesterday, Facebook and Twitter erupted with support for the project and support rolled in; over $1500 of it in the last two days of our campaign! For this we can only say:

THANK YOU!

This community support will bring us one big step closer to matching granted funds and getting this garden a rollin'! We do still have more work to do, and you can still contribute—and get great perks like art and coffee and organic produce—until midnight tonight! We're still working away on grants and other fundraising initiatives and we can use all the support we can get.

Mike Layton, AFC's Natalie Boustead, CSI's Tonya Surman and Lauren Pirie (excited!) in front of the Everything Roof's wall of 5s!

And so much support we did get from our amazing community right at the home of the Everything Roof: the Centre for Social Innovation, Annex on Tuesday. Even before the Great Lakes Brewery beers were cracked, you could feel the love for the project in the Annex Lounge... and see it on the wall! Throughout the day, CSI and other community members flowed through—including ever-supportive Councillor Mike Layton—and taped five dollar bills on a projection of the Everything Roof drawing on the wall. By the end of the day, the contributions totaled $700!

And today, we got some extra love on the internet from our friends at Pure Green Magazine. Their new issue is focused on the urban farm, and to coincide, an interview with About Face on the Everything Roof is featured on their blog. Check it out here. And keep watching this space, our Facebook and Twitter for volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, news and more!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

All the best EVERYTHING,
The About Face Collective

Claire Hall Painting Up For Grabs for One Lucky Donor

Poppies by Claire Hall, 36 x 48" Oil on Canvas

You've been meaning to donate to our online fundraising campaign, haven't you? You're so excited to see the Everything Roof come to fruition and you want to help make sure this unique roof top project has a chance to help make Toronto the more sustainable city we know it can be. You've just been trying to decide whether to choose the donor perk of a Fresh City produce box delivered to your door or a collection of cute, illustrated cards... maybe even dedicate a garden container to your Mom (mother's day does come quickly). And while you sit and stare blankly at your blank wall trying to decide, you think, I need some art.      

(Insert sparkle explosion here).      

(Also, it’s a bit creepy that we can read your mind, right?).      

We're so excited to offer this one shot chance for you to make a difference by doing something we know you already want to: purchasing a lovely piece of artwork by Toronto-based artist, Claire Hall.

Claire has been a long time supporter of this project and has generously donated Poppies, the 36 x 48” oil painting pictured above. The gallery price for this piece is $600, but for a $450 donation, to the Everything Roof it’s yours! This is a one-time special offer, so click through now to grab this piece while it’s available, it’s sure to go quickly.      

You can also click through here to see more of Claire’s work and learn more about her unique approach to painting, custom options, and her great story.      

With only three weeks left in our IndieGoGo campaign, we've got some work to do to meet our fundraising goal of $10,000. By hitting this goal, we’ll be one step closer to matching the funds granted to us by Live Green Toronto and getting the Everything Roof, um, off the ground. Help us make this happen by donating any amount today. And maybe even get yourself a great piece of art while you’re at it!

Everything Roof on Frame Magazine

We've been so happy to have a bunch of great local media support lately, but how 'bout this? The Everything Roof featured on Frame Magazine; a shout-out all the way from Amsterdam! Check it out for a great slideshow with some behind-the-scenes shots from our Everything Roof video shoot!

International Women's Weekend and Beyond

Happy (belated) International Women's Day! We posted this on our Twitter and Facebook page yesterday, but thought it was pretty important and wanted to get it up here as well. We also hope that no one will mind us extending such an important occasion just a day; we hope you'll continue to celebrate all year. 

We're so thankful to have great female leaders and role models in our lives, including our incredible mentors at Centre for Social Innovation. We wish this situation were far more common; representation of women in leadership positions is still so minimal and the media's misrepresentation of women continues to hinder great potential to change this. It can change, and you can help. Start by watching this video from Miss Representation. Then encourage the women in your life to go for it! The world needs them!

Happy Friday! Bring on ladies' night.