making room

Last week we met in front of PARC for our next adventure and Joshua was acting pretty secretive about his plans. “We’ll walk down a few blocks to Lansdowne and then we’ll get a cab” he told us cryptically. Once we all gathered, we made our down Queen St. until we got to the corner of Lansdowne and Queen.

Josh reached into his bag and pulled out two wigs, a large scarf and a few glasses. “These are the rules” he told us. “You need always to keep on your disguise. You need to try to stay focused on the task at hand. And you need to have fun.” From the chatter in the cab, it was clear that the last rule was not going to be a problem, but the first two …

We stopped at the Value Village. Just a few days before Halloween, the store was filled with customers searching for costumes, but people walking in with costumes? Not so much. But as promised, we kept on our disguises. We went to the corner of the store where we did a quick check-in and a fast meditation as usual, despite the noise and the bright lights.

We then began to look for material for our seats. The week before, we were asked to describe how it felt to be held and comforted – and now we were looking for materials that fit that description. While we did our best to attend to the task at hand, much fun was also had!

A few weeks ago we had our first meeting of the Silly Dreamers Collaborative. The purpose of the club is to spend the next few months gathering both the materials and inspiration to create seats for the raft. Our first meeting began with a short meditation, a go-around and then Joshua handed out a typewritten (yes typewritten) invitation to a new invitation.
The invitation promised “a wild series of ad hoc adventures into collaboration the likes of Parkdale has never yet seen”. It was an invitation we all heartily accepted. Josh then led us all on a walk through Parkdale, across the Jameson bridge then to the lake and a patch of trees where Josh’s raft (affectionately named Danger, was hidden.) Once everyone had safely boarded the craft, we moved out a few feet into the lake. Its surprising how close you can be to land while feeling as though you entered a new world.
Josh had asked us each to bring an item that “we had once cherished but was ready to let go”. While on the raft, we traded items and stories. We talked about how, in the process of collaboration, we have to let go of something we hold dear, but often we gain something much greater in return!

The greatest gift that day, for me, was to enjoy the last few warm days of summer with some of my Parkdale friends in a place that felt so far away from the concrete noise of Parkdale while only being a short walk away.

A few hours later, we took a leisurely walk back to PARC looking forward to next week’s adventure.

Our Health and Wholeness project came to an exciting close at the end of June with the mounting of seven large-scale images of members in postures of meditation around Parkdale, we call “Portraits of Silence”.

Another aspect of the project is “Sparks that Fly” a series of five lightboxes mounted in the basement of PARC (Parkdale Activity Recreatiion Centre) across from the Sorauren Food Bank. While the Portraits reflect an attitude of inner peace and wholeness, the lightboxes downstairs reflect the outer manifestations of hunger and satisfaction.

We celebrated with a launch that took place in the basement of PARC with more than 75 people attending. We also attracted media attention from CBC’s “Here and Now”, the Neighbourhood Arts Network Newsletter, and Inside Toronto.

This is a film I’ve been thinking about since I watched it a few weeks ago. The challenge of being attentive while making bread described in the video is similar to the way we try to make art.

The PARC lantern

Although the Light in Mid-Winter Parade was weeks ago, the PARC contingent that brought our giant lantern are still talking about it. A wonderful night was had by all. One highlight was seeing our lantern glow brightly from on top of the hill behind Montgomery’s Inn.

In order to frame what we are up to over the next few months, we made this nifty vid. Thanks to Joshua Barndt for putting it together for us.

Back in September, I was fortunate enough to participate on a panel discussing “What is Good Design”. The event was organized by the good folks at Public Displays of Affection and it coincided with the exhibition of furniture designed and produced for the newly opened Edmond Place. Although I have no formal training in design, over the past few years I have learned a great deal of what is possible when the people affected are let in on the design process. Congratulations to PDA.

Watch a video from the exhbition. Here is more on the building.