Artmap 2009

Here's a sample of my finished piece that will be a part of the Artmap project, which will be exhibited at City Hall as part of this year's Manifesto Festival.  Here's a snippet from my proposal to the project organizers:

I live in Ward 19, work in Ward 14, and was born in Ward 38.  I would be particularly interested in working with Ward 38: Scarborough Centre.  It is an amazing and unique area of Toronto in terms of it's diversity and the changes it's gone through since lived there as a child and young adult.  For my contribution, I would be particularly interested in depicting the children of Ward 38 by revisiting my elementary school and arranging to gain access to school photo archives in which I would use as source material to create a finished work which incorporates serial portraits of children (generated with paint and permanent marker) illustrating the wide range of ethnicities which call Ward 38 home. 

Making this piece was definitely a learning experience.  In reading about Ward 38, I learned that the year I was in fifth grade marked the first year of a period of nine years (1991-2000) in which the ward's immigrant population doubled.  I also found out that 50% of all the ward's private dwellings are in high rise apartments...which is funny considering the shape of the ward and the arrangement of portraits on my piece make it look a bit like an apartment building! 

More about Artmap 2009: 

Artmap is a collaborative art piece by artists from each of Toronto's 44 wards.  The work has been commissioned for Manifesto Festival of Community and Culture and will be unveiled on September 17th at 5:30 in the Rotunda at City Hall. City Councillors and participating artists will be in attendance.

 

Much like a giant puzzle, each artist or arts organization was given a ward shaped piece of an 8x17' wooden map of Toronto. Artists were then free to paint or rework the map piece to their desire. After being put back together and displayed, the work will be disassembled and given to each corresponding councillor's office as a reminder of the vibrancy and unity of artists across Toronto.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Ward 1 -  Angel Carrillo 
Ward 2 -  Shara Mohamed 
Ward 3 -  Nik Dudukovic 
Ward 4 -  Austin Clarkson / The Milkweed Collective 
Ward 5 -  Will Gaydos / Funktion Gallery
Ward 6 -  Jim Mckinley 
Ward 7 -  Network of Community Based Organizations 
Ward 8 -  Network of Community Based Organizations
Ward 9 -  Elle Alconcel, / Sketch, Womynation, Cue Collective 
Ward 10 - Angela Ming Yi Schneider 
Ward 11 - UrbanArts 
Ward 12 - Balu Kanagalingam / Arts for Children and Youth &  Rochelle Stephens / Boys' and Girls' Club of Weston-Mount Dennis
Ward 13 - Alexa Hatanaka 
Ward 14 - Che Kothari / Manifesto Festival 
Ward 15 - Katherine Earl, Liz Forsberg, Rosie Mohammed, Andrea Roberts / Artstarts 
Ward 16 - Carlos Weisz 
Ward 17 - Teresa Aversa 
Ward 18 - Javid Alibhai / LOFT Youth Program 
Ward 19 - Adam Hilborn 
Ward 20 - Marisol D'Andrea / The Martin Prosperity Institute
Ward 21 - Dan Chan 
Ward 22 - Maryam Siddiqi 
Ward 23 - Tom Decena
Ward 24 - Zanette Singh / Sketch & Womynation 
Ward 25 - Andres Musta 
Ward 26 - Evergreen Brickworks / Sketch 
Ward 27 - Judi Michelle, SunMi Jung, Gordon Becker / The Sculptors Society of Canada (SSC) / Canadian Sculpture Centre 
Ward 28 - Adrian Hayles 
Ward 29 - Gabrielle Lasporte 
Ward 30 - Billie Jo Tabobondung 
Ward 31 - Gordon Becker 
Ward 32 - Stephen Carroll 
Ward 33 - Art Starts Villaways / Yvette Martin
Ward 34 - Lisa Mansfield / Lease 
Ward 35 - Andrenne Finnikin / Arts for Children and Youth (AFCY) 
Ward 36 - Tim Whalley / Scarborough Arts Council
Ward 37 - Rob Matejka / Mural Routes
Ward 38 - Tara Bursey 
Ward 39 - Art Starts Glendower / Paulina O'Kieffe
Ward 40 - Tammy Yiu & Junichi Zacks 
Ward 41 - Catherine Hernandez
Ward 42 - Benedict Lopes / Scarbough Arts Council 
Ward 43 - Lindsay Bess / Elevated Grounds 
Ward 44 - Tharmila Rajasingam   

"Artmap is an opportunity for artists from across Toronto to connect with each other through the process and outcome. It has also been a political learning experience for many - lots of people did not know which ward they lived in or who their city councillor was before this project started" says Devon Ostrom, Visual Arts Director of Manifesto.

 

The work is supported by Live with Culture and the Toronto Arts Council and has been produced with assistance from the AGO, Polyteck, Scarborough Arts Council, Lakeshore Arts and UrbanArts.               

http://www.themanifesto.ca

http://www.themanifesto.ca/artmap/