May 7, 2008
I am now the designer for The BIG Festival which also means I'm involved in all the bits and pieces of the puzzle, working with programming coordinator Dougal Bichan and production coordinator Sid Bruyn along with dozens of incredible people making this event happen. It's a big challenge but it's the most incredible thing I've ever fell into, simply out of a classroom project that started off with the brief of "make a change". Ideas were generated and now I live in this community. I moved here. TheStoreFront is now a collaboration with ThinkTankToronto and soon to be a 4 month lease (possibly extended to 6) with a reduced rent given by Robert Markovitz the landowner of 957 Bloor West who has been generous enough to collaborate with OCAD and ThinkTankToronto and Rafael Gomez. I am soon to be Reasearch Director and Designer for ThinkTankToronto working out of our office on Bloor Street. Lots of exciting things to come and I'm on autopilot.
March, 2008
It began in my Think Tank 3 classroom in September 2007 at OCAD, with professor Burce Hinds. Think Tank is an interdisciplinary design course encouraging students to re-think their role as designers in society and collaborate to make a difference. It is part of OCAD's Design for Humanity mandate implemented in 2005 by former dean Lenore Richards and directed by Lewis Nicholson and Bruce Hinds.
The project turned from a classroom discussion for 'how to make change' in the underdeveloped business district on Bloor Street (from Christie to Dufferin/Lansdowne) to a presentation for the Bloorcourt BIA and City, now my Independent Study with Bruce Hinds very close to establishing TheStoreFront as an OCAD lab in the community. Hopefully within the next few weeks we'll have our space. I am also collaborating with BIG on Bloor for the inaugural BIG Festival on June 21.
Along my path, I've established a strong connection with Rafael Gomez (Think Tank Toronto) and interviewed Lorraine Gauthier and Alex Quinto (Work Worth Doing).
Did I mention I love this project so much that I'm planning on moving to the area soon?
