The Storefront for Art and Architecture has announced the selection of DTAH’s proposal entitled “The Portal” as one of 10 international projects comprising their inaugural WorldWide Storefront – “a new initiative to provide a simultaneous, multi-locus of alternative spaces around the globe and a digital platform for the expression and exchange of latent desires within contemporary art and architecture practices.”
From September 19 to November 21, 2014, the 10 selected entries will simultaneously open and have a two-month program of exhibitions and events. All events will be recorded and broadcast through the WorldWide Storefront’s online platform, and presented at the Storefront for Art and Architecture Gallery in New York City.
Situated on the threshold of downtown Toronto and the city’s 26,000-acre ravine system, The Portal is proposed as an exhibition space, event venue and platform for artistic and architectural discourse and collaboration, demonstrating how art and design can enrich our increasingly urbanized world.
Located at 50 Park Road, a critically acclaimed landmark Modernist building designed by John B. Parkin in 1954 as the first permanent headquarters for the Ontario Association of Architects, The Portal will transform the building’s street face into a dynamic visual display using rear-projection technology, exploiting the building’s broad street frontage and exposure to a spectrum of viewers from across the city.
The Portal’s inaugural exhibition, RavinePortal, proposes to present architectural, landscape and artistic investigations/interventions that address the disjunction between Toronto’s urban character and this vast landscape resource, sparking a dialogue about how to better connect all citizens of Toronto to the ravines in a way that is sustainable and mutually beneficial.
Particular focus will be given to initiatives that engage youth and new immigrant populations living in priority neighbourhoods adjacent to the ravines who, for a number of reasons, currently do not take advantage of the vast ravine network at their doorstep.
Over the course of the two months of the WorldWide Storefront, RavinePortal will explore the past and present role the ravines have played in the life of the city, and the future potential of the ravine system as a defining, interconnected and accessible open space and cultural network. The exhibition program includes site-specific installations, tours, lectures and collaborations between artists and the general public that demonstrate how the creative sector can catalyze and inspire new populations to explore and enjoy the ravines.
Curated by Megan Torza of DTAH, key participants in the RavinePortal include: artists Dan Bergeron, Aaron Vincent Elkaim and Michelle Gay; author and academic Amy Lavender Harris; local arts and environmental organizations Well and Good, No. 9 Contemporary Art and the Environment, and Evergreen; public sector partners Toronto Region Conservation and the City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation division; community outreach partners North York Arts and UforChange; the Etobicoke School for the Arts and the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.
For more information, please visit www.storefrontnews.org/programming/events?preview=true&e=620 and http://dtah.com/category/news/