Fashion & Style
Toronto Fashion and Design Festival - Preview
Bridging the divide between the sidewalk and the catwalk, the Toronto Fashion and Design Festival promises to be the fashion event of the summer. It is happening on stage at Dundas Square August 23-25, open to the city and free to all.
What happens when you cross a fashion show and a street festival? Check out what the blogTO fashion contingent is anticipating after the jump...
Arts
Toronto Comic Arts Festival - In Progress
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is happening this weekend, there is still one more day, and it is free! I was there today and I fully recommend checking it out tomorrow.There is a lot more to see than just so much virtuoso art like this poster image by Toronto artist Darwyn Cooke. A festival with a flair for the independent and emerging, the TCAF hosts a diverse community of artists, writers, publishers and fans.
Stately Victoria College is transformed into Toronto's most awesome comic book store. You can watch artists sketch before your eyes, shake their hands and ask them questions. Best of all, there are also lots of panels and workshops available.
I checked out the web comics panel today - featuring among others Toronto's own Ryan North. Being an outsider to the comic arts world but also quite fascinated with this internet thing, it was interesting to get a sense of how web comics are at the vanguard of a changing industry.
Fashion & Style
The Other Shop Crawl
The fashion writers on blogTO are not the only ones who love a good shop crawl... some chicks in Toronto are starting a shop crawl party that is a like a treasure hunt on heels. Businesses all along Queen Street West pitch into the festivities with deals for crawlers and even a post-crawl pizza party... and of course, prizes for dedicated shoppers.
Arts
The Portrait Gallery of Canada... is in a Garage in Toronto
Did you know that there is a collection of portraits by and of Canadians... a collection that belongs to all Canadians? Probably not, because this wealth of images is locked away in storage, unseen.
Since 2001, this collection of Canadian faces has been waiting for a home. At first it seemed that it might have been in the old US embassy in Ottawa, then Prime Minister Harper suggested it might be good idea to share the art with his constituents in Calgary. Last week it was announced without fanfare that no decisions have been made regarding a home for the portrait collection. While the current leaders of our nation may not care whether Canadians can see their portraits, Toronto artist Sarah Lazarovic does.
