"Quilt" created by the Gathering Space:
The women of Evangeline's Residence and collective members from the community (Nancy Halifax and Liz Forsberg). Exhibited as an interactive sculpture at Dundas and Heintzman.
The Quilt is a product of weekly three-hour workshops facilitated by the Gathering Space, that take place each Monday afternoon at Evangeline's. The form and content of the workshops emerge from the desires of the women who attend and the materials we are able to gather. Currently those interests include collage, painting, knitting, crocheting and drawing.
Themes that have emerged as points of departure for the content of creative works are: the refugee experience, violence, acculturation, regaining custody of children, managing addictions, home and support.
The Quilt is comprised of individually created crochet and knitted pieces, some by women with advanced skills and others by women just learning. The Quilt represents the time we have spent together heads bent, sometimes in silence and at other times deep in conversation, or laughter.
It represents our learning and teaching. The Quilt will be presented as a sculptural denotation of the home of our souls despite external conditions of homelessness.
The method of exhibiting the work mimes the way in which it was produced. The quilt is laid out on a table circled by chairs.
At each chair is a bit of wool, some needles and hooks. On the backs of the chair we hang quotes from research on women's lives as it relates to homelessness, disability and health. On the fronts of the chair we hang quotes that are from the intimate experiences of these women - thus bridging the personal, the public and the political.
These quotes are printed on the left over bits of fabric that we have used in order to make yarn…. As an installation visitors are asked to join us and chat about the project, the conditions of women lives, and perhaps contribute to the quilt...
The Evangeline Residence has served the women of Toronto for more than 100 years, in various locations. It can shelter as many as 77 women who are homeless for a variety of reasons.
Abused women, refugees, women with disabilities, and mothers who need help reuniting and providing for their children come to the Evangeline Residence for help.
SOUTH OF DUNDAS ST. WEST ON QUEBEC AVE
CURATED BY WISE DAUGHTERS
Community Car Cosy
Quebec and Dundas
Sept 11 & 12, 10:00 - 6:00
Help cover an entire Nissan Cube with a knitted cosy! Volunteers will be on hand to tutor and to assemble the pieces contributed by the public. Once the car cosy is finished, it will be dismantled and turned into blankets for Streetknit (www.streetknit.ca). Many thanks to AutoShare for the loan of a car, and Estelle Design for the donation of yarn.
Inspirations Studio Ceramic Show and Sale
Wise Daughters, Quebec and Dundas
Sept 11 & 12, 12:00 – 5:00
Enjoy a special ceramic show and sale by Inspirations Studio, a project of Sistering (www.inspirationsstudio.ca). Inspirations Studio helps women affected by homelessness, poverty and trauma to develop their craft and entrepreneurial skills.
Junction Retrospective
Wise Daughters, Quebec and Dundas
Through Sept 12
Festival weekend is your last chance to see this black and white photography exhibit by Emmanuel Mifsud (www.studiomanomanu.com), celebrating the Junction’s unique architecture and streetscape.
21 Pink Leaves, Junction Arts Festival
by Diana Brugos
Sponsored by Wise Daughters
This art installation on Dundas St., is intended to bring a smile to passersby while bringing awareness to the connections between cancer, community and craft. Each of us has been impacted by cancer. This unnatural invasion is represented by the unnatural pink leaves; pink is also the colour associated with breast cancer awareness. Community is crucial when anyone is dealing with this disease. Craft offers a creative and emotional outlet, fostering healing.