Donate for Art! : The Most Tangible and Easiest Way to Support the Arts Ever Created

I was shocked and appalled at my out-of-the-loop-ness with regards to the popularity of a new amazing way to support the arts by contributing a small (sometimes minuscule) amount toward a variety of projects, projected by artists of all media.  These DonateforArt sites have been tremendously successful, and for good reason.  Are you a person who would just looove to support the arts but WHO has the TIME in this crazy world we live in??  Well honey, this concept was made for you.  

Kickstarter, Indiegogo, RocketHub and PledgeMusic are a only a few examples of the most successful of these types of websites.  

How does it work?  You're an artist and you have an idea that you think is amazing, but like most artists - you can't fund it.  So you go on any one of these websites (some are music specific, such as PledgeMusic, but others like Indiegogo cover a wide variety of projects,) and you create a page.  There is some variation between sites at this point, but the general idea is: you tell you tale, you explain your business plan, or project idea and you set a goal.  Your goal is an amount of money that you will require for your project and you ask for amounts as small as $1 with rewards to the contributors at each level of donation.  

What ends up happening in those cases that are successful (and they claim that 70-90% of pages do recieve their goal amounts,) is that thousands to tens of thousands of people donate small $1-$5 amounts, and the goals as high as $25,000 and higher have been reached.  

And what's a couple dollars for you?  You art-loving, hard working, culture-supporting hipster?  Have one less soy latte and donate that five bucks to an artist who really needs it and who's dreams will only come true with your support.  

DO it!!  

Thanks for reading and check out this guy!!
http://www.indiegogo.com/p/197193

Who Loves Picasso??: Rare Works Presented by the Art Gallery of Ontario

This exhibit has been going on for months.  The Masterpieces of the Great Pablo Picasso's from the Musee Nationale de Paris have been on display at the AGO and features 147 of the paintings Picasso kept for himself.  

















“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.” —Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)










The website for the Art Gallery of Ontario goes into great detail about the life and work of Picasso during the times when these paintings were created.  Their historical overview of Western Europe in the first half of the 20th century is not overly detailed, but concisely provides context to the viewer.  

It's almost like you're listening to a best-of album where all the songs were selected by the artist himself with no input from fans, critics or record companies.   These were Picasso's paintings for his own enjoyment, not meant for the eyes of the outside world.   This really is an exhibit you should check out before it's gone - it's a once in a lifetime experience - and it's only on until August 26th!!

Thanks for reading!!

Toronto Arts Exploration and Gallery Hunting

Now that the Play Me I'm Yours Exhibit is finished, I want to move onto searching and exploring galleries and arts performances around the city of Toronto.  Don't be alarmed!  I still plan on posting about each of the artists involved in the project over the next few weeks - I'm just going to include a few non-piano posts in between.  K?

Let's talk about TorontoArtist.  TorontoArtist is an all inclusive, interdisciplinary, experimentative, creative umbrella organization for, but not limited to Toronto's variety of artists.  The Umbrella is a partner blog, designed to spread the word about the purpose of TorontoArtist, display the work of the group's growing membership and seek out and promote the work and events of the hundreds of thousands of artists in Toronto who are trying to get recognized.  


This is my mission - I will find, see, meet, experience and write about new artists, events, small businesses etc and you'll be the first to see.  

So stay tuned!  LOTS more to come.  


Thanks for reading!!


-MVP

Play Me I'm Yours: Piano for the Bahamas at Union Station

A prime location!  Which among the artists was fortunate enough to get Union friggin' Station as the location for their piano?  The place where 200,000 Torontonians and tourists pass by every day was ultimately won by artist Ward Minnis, creator of the piano for the Bahamas.  

Bright blue and turquoise, the piano sits among the columns, a welcome bit of colour to the stone walls and the city scape surrounding Front Street.  

The artist, Ward Minnis is a professional graphic designer and fine artist born in the Bahamas.  Between the island and Canada, he's got loads of education and experience and offers a variety design and arts related services.






The Play Me I'm Yours project is unfortunately over now, but stay tuned for more information about the artists behind these works of art around Toronto.


Also stay tuned for my ongoing search for local galleries, new artists and arts and cultural events around Toronto.  

Bon soir, 


MVP

Play Me I'm Yours: An Evening With Artists and Organizers At the Close of the Street Piano Exhibit

A few weeks ago I posted about my interest in conducting a full scale research project centered around the public art installation Play Me I'm Yours for the 2015 PanAm Games.

Since then I've traveled around the city, searching for pianos, meeting fascinating people and learning a lot about artists from around Toronto and all over North America.  In parks and on street corners, inside and outside of public buildings and placed under the most important monuments the city can claim, these pianos have won the hearts of Torontonians.  Today, July 31st is the last day of the public exhibition, and as a result of this blog, The Umbrella, and the connection it helped me make with artist Karen Miranda Augustine, I was invited to attend the closing reception of the Play Me I'm Yours Exhibit. 

I knew I was extremely fortunate to find myself in such a position, and I thus decided to take advantage of it.  I walked about the room with my phone and held a few short interviews with many of the artists. I was intrigued to hear their stories about how it all got started, what their experiences had been thus far and what they felt the overall reception was of the project.  To my delight, they were equally as happy to meet me and were more than willing to discuss their art, their lives and their overall contribution to the Play Me I'm Yours project.  

There was wine and there were hors d'oeuvres and the artists reminisced about the period of time they spent working on the pianos in the workshop together, their anxiety prior to going in and the lasting friendships they made as a result.  

Another wonderful connection I made was with the admirers of the project, the ones who are never thanked enough for their time - the volunteer "piano buddies."  I spoke to a few people of this designation tonight, and they had some interesting stories of their own from a unique perspective.  For example, one woman told me about her running out before the storms to quickly cover the pianos, or another man who told me about his confrontations with shady individuals who may or may not have been trying to deface the instruments.  


But the main, overriding trend of the evening was no doubt the absolute love ad admiration everyone there felt for the project, and for what its done for this city.  In his address to the group that this was the most successful manifestation of the street piano project - a world wide exhibit which has traveled through some major cities like Los Angeles and New York.  And what have the people of Toronto had to say about it?  The most common response I've had from the countless people I've encountered playing and enjoying the pianos is that they'll be sad to see them go.  


Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks for my individual posts on the artists involved in Play Me I'm Yours and their pianos.  


Thanks for reading!

Play Me I'm Yours: Trinidad and Tobago at Yonge and Eg

Okay so I am aware that the map I chose for this collection of posts is not the most sufficient in terms of geography.  There is nothing north of Bloor until the 401 (and though this is the reality of the lives of some Torontonians..........) it leaves out some pretty important streets in my opinion.  One of course, is Eglinton Avenue.

  

This piano, representing Trinidad and Tobago, was created by Trinidad born artist Brian Wong Won.  

The artist is: "known for his bright colors, expressionistic compressions of space and distortions of architectural space." 

This quote from his website, describing his style is plainly seen and represented in the many examples of his work that I've seen as well as on this beautiful piano.  This one was one of my top favorites simply because it was painted with such crisp, clear colours, featuring  a branch of cherry blossoms across the top.  I loved this specifically because it is both representative of Trinidad and Tobago, home of the beautiful, rich colours he depicts, but also a connection with Toronto, which itself has many beautiful parks and hidden bluffs for flowers to grow.  Who hasn't seen the cherry blossoms at High Park in the Spring?  

If you're interested in the work of Brian Wong Won, he's currently showing at BAND Art Gallery in Toronto at 823-A Bloor Street West.  The showing of his works including a reception which took place July 25th is in conjunction with the upcoming ScotiaBank Carribean Carnival.

I seriously recommend getting out and seeing these pianos!  The exhibit is so close to being finished, (2 days!) so get out to the parks and street corners around Toronto and play!!   

Thanks for reading and keep reading for the rest of my piano posts after the end of the exhibition and full coverage of the Closing Reception with guide/ artist Karen Miranda Augustine on Monday, July 31st!

Until then, go LIKE TorontoArtist on Facebook!!!!

Play Me I'm Yours - Las Abejas de Costa Rica - Bees at the TIFF Lightbox

The funny thing I've noticed about the artists chosen for the Toronto Street Piano Project is that they are from a very wide range a backgrounds and have experienced a varied level of success as artists prior to participating in the project.  Some of the artists I wasn't able to find any information on at all - and it's sad when you can stump Google.  But some of the artists,. such as Francisco Castro Lostalo of Puntarenas, Costa Rica - creator of the piano at the TIFF Lightbox.


The piano, covered in bees and honey comb patterns represents the necessity of bees in Costa Rica to the continuing development and growth of their agricultural society. 

 "My goal for this event was to create a work of art that would be inviting to look at and fun to play, but my piano also has a serious message." 




He explains his full meaning further on his website http://castrolostalo.com.  He also explains it quite well on a small plaque he included 


Costa Rica is one of the 41 countries participating in the 2015 PanAm Games here in Toronto, and I work right next door, so I get to see it every day. :)


Until the next!