Volunteer at the Junction Arts Festival

Festival Weavers Wanted!

The theme of the 2009 Junction Arts Festival is "Weaving Mosaics" and we are looking for a creative and dedicated team of volunteers to help bring together all the magical elements of this year's event into one seamless art extravaganza. Each volunteer brings a special gift to weave into the fabric of the festival and be sure your piece will be seen and heard by all that come to experience the excitement and magic of the street. It is our aim to make these experiences as enjoyable, memorable, and fulfilling as possible, and we cannot do this without the help of our brilliant volunteers.

Volunteer & Board Testimonials

We are also looking for charismatic members to lead and usher our exciting "green team" as part of this year's Green Village at the festival. Join us as we answer the call and endeavour to make this a greener and more environmentally friendly festival than any we've had before.

Coveted Festival Weaver positions available:

  • Reception and Opening Night Gala Hosts!
  • Kid zone Handlers!
  • Gallery Guides!
  • Green Team!
  • Know-it-all Info Staff and Access Gatekeepers!
  • Technical Support (Roadies)!

Skill Requirements:

  • Enjoys creating excitement and fun for self and others
  • Would like to smile, laugh and play all day
  • Mosaic weaving experience not required, will train
  • Dynamic
  • Passionate about Art and Culture
  • Available for at least a five hour shift (hopefully more!) between Sept 9-13
  • Be at one of our happening orientation sessions: To be announced (tentative Thursday August 27th, or Monday August 31st at 7pm)

Register by email at volunteer@junctionartsfest.com or phone us at 416-767-5036 and let us know if you would like to be involved in this great community event. If you have services or expertise that fit outside of our listed needs please contact us.

Additional Information:

We invite you to come and be part of this visually stimulating, environmentally friendly, street festival. This year's festivities starts September 9th with an opening nights at all participating galleries followed by the Opening Night Party, Live music starting Friday night, headlined by Justin Rutledge on Saturday, and full street closure featuring our sensational street performers on Saturday and Sunday September 12th to the 13th

Volunteer & Board Testimonials

Bill Saundercook - Chair

So what's great about being Chair of J.F.A.C.? One of the principal benefits and privileges is collaborating with the Festival Committee, a hard-working and dedicated group consisting of local artists and business owners, and Junction residents. The latter body, comprised of a professor, a grant writer, a business school graduate, a visual artist of art installation, and others is highly representative of the fabric of the present day Junction community.

The Junction derives its name from four railway lines in the neighbourhood. Junction*s rich and storied 100-year history began with a train station where CN and CP rail lines came together to create the foundation of this bustling community. I distinctly recall a time when as a boy, my father, an employee of CP, took me into the world of the people who made the Junction a thriving place to live and work.

In recognition of Junction's historic connection to the railway, I was pleased to spearhead the construction of the train platform situated at the corner of Dundas Street West and Pacific Avenue. Since its inception in the spring of 2008, the Junction City Square has become both a focal point in the area and a place for community events such as the 2009 Winter Carnival.

As City Councillor for Ward 13 and a life-long High Park resident, I have had the opportunity to observe the evolution of the Junction Arts Festival from a relatively simple neighbourhood party to a large scale annual community festival which includes the partial closure of Dundas Street West spanning one kilometre between Quebec Avenue and Keele Street.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that JFAC has raised the profile and the quality of the Festival to a whole new level. Now in my 4th year as Chair of J.FA.C., I am tremendously proud of the Board's achievements. Every year, the Festival Committee has reached new milestones.

In 2006 and 2007, the Festival was honoured to host Justin Rutledge, and Alex Cuba in 2007, as lead performers whereas in 2008, the Junction Arts Festival was the venue for a David Usher concert, the latter performance attracting thousands of people. Furthermore, last year, J.F.A.C. was entrusted with a very significant task, namely, with the creation of a series of popular and well-received Junction Centennial celebratory events.

The fruits and labour of the J.F.A.C. Festival Committee have certainly not gone unnoticed and I am delighted to report that the Junction Arts Festival was featured in a recent New York Times article. So, come on down and see our '09 extravaganza of art exhibits and installations, street performances, music, the new and improved kidszone, not to mention movies under the stars. Last but certainly not least, don't forget to drop by our Green Village, an information zone on issues confronting the environment.

See you at the Junction Arts Festival!

Pat Schnurr - Treasurer

Volunteering for the Junction Art Festival for the past four years has been a most challenging and rewarding experience! One of the activities that I have had the pleasure of being involved with is to close my picture framing shop for the weekend (which for anyone that knows me is unbelievable) and turn my home into a hospitality area for the various artists, volunteers and workers of the event. Starting Saturday morning; it is my pleasure to serve the meals and snacks thru to Sunday afternoon. I do my best to ensure that there is a resting, feeding, and quiet refuge for the people involved in the making of the festival. Preparing the crew for their involvement is my role; seeing and hearing the inside stories of the various persons practicing or unwinding from the street activities is my incentive. I will be back as long as I'm needed because... I like it!

Carmen Victor - Vice Chair

Carmen Victor is a Junction community resident with over 15 years of professional experience in multi-disciplinary art practices, administration and advocacy. She has been involved with the Junction Arts Festival since 2005, she joined the Junction Forum for Art and Culture in 2006 and was elected Vice-Chair in 2007. She has a B.A. from the University of Guelph, and an M.F.A. from the University of Victoria, BC. Currently she is a staff member at the University of Toronto and a part-time faculty member of the Ontario College of Art and Design. In addition to JFAC, she is also a board member of the Revue Film Society and in the recent past she has served on the ROM Advisory Board for the Gallery of Africa, Americas and Asia-Pacific as well as the City of Toronto, Culture Division, West Toronto Railpath, Art and Landscape collaboration project.