Celebrating art is the function at the Junction

LISA RAINFORD

July 31, 2008

The West Toronto Junction has always represented a marriage between business and the arts so it's only fitting that it is hosting a unique exhibit of community art as part of year long Centennial celebrations to recognize the period of time that the area was once an independent city.

Cara Reeves, coordinator of the Local Option Art Awards Tour along with sisters Janet and Mary Ann DiBernardo owners of Latitude 44 Gallery and the West Toronto Junction Historical Society (WTJHS) put out a three-week call in March for artists asking them to submit pieces of art with a Junction theme. Junction businesses enthusiastically agreed to exhibit their work, Reeves said.

The winners will be chosen by public vote. The voting will close on the last day of the Junction Arts Festival, Sept. 7. An awards gala will be held Oct. 23 at the gallery on Dundas Street West.

The Local Option Art Awards Tour was the brainchild of Mariposa County artist Michael Reeves, Reeves' father.

"One of the reasons Michael was interested in sponsoring the program is that he is the past-president of the Canadian Antique Dealers Association and understands the relationship between art and history," Reeves said. "This has been an amazing project in terms of the diversity and the cultural vignettes this project has produced."

The artists had to submit along with their paintings how their work related to the Junction.

"We were astonished by how many elements were brought together," Reeves said in an interview at Latitude 44 Gallery Tuesday afternoon.

Artist Vera Litynsky's painting pays tribute to the newly opened 'The Beat Goes On,' which she said "celebrates organics in the Junction."

She is one of the 27 artists who submitted work for the competition.

"We have an amazing snapshot of artists and art in the Junction," Reeves said. "The dynamic between the businesses and the artists has been great."

Some businesses have chosen to support one artist by displaying several of his or her pieces.

Martin Scott of Forever Interiors has created a souvenir for festival-goers, "a playful, portable representation of the Junction," Reeves calls the wooden trains he has created.

Nathan Stroud's painting is a work in progress. His Junction theme relates to rejuvenation and the process of giving back to the community. It took him about 80 hours to complete the bulk of the painting.

"I worked straight for a week," he said while attaching gold leaf to his canvas.

Twenty businesses along Dundas Street West just east of Keele Street and west to Quebec Avenue are hosting artists' work. As an historical society member, Reeves is particularly pleased the way the Junction's past is reflected in the imagery.

For further details and the list of venues, visit www.wtjhs.ca or www.latitude44gallery.ca