Call for Artists
Earth Month Temporary Public Art Installation

Deadline
5pm, March 9th, 2018

Project
Yonge + St. Clair is seeking proposals for a temporary public art installation that will animate the lobby of 2 St. Clair W in the Yonge + St. Clair community. Yonge + St. Clair welcomes photographers, designers, visual artists, sculptors, performing artists, and others to submit proposals of all mediums. Yonge + St. Clair is seeking unique environmentally-conscious projects of all forms that celebrates Earth Month. Proposals that welcome visitor interaction/participation are encouraged.

Programming
Yonge + St. Clair will select one artist to exhibit their work in the lobby of 2 St. Clair West. The completed work will be exhibited to the public for the last two weeks in April 2018 – starting April 16th.

Grant
Artists will receive a $3,500 grant (includes the cost of supplies/materials) to support their installation and are encouraged to use recycled goods.

Criteria
• Ability for the work to engage all audiences and the general public with elements of design and sustainability
• Projects relevance to Earth Month
• Use of reused/salvaged goods and materials
• Originality (large scale installations are encouraged)

Eligibility
This program is only open to artists in the Toronto and Greater Toronto Area.

Site & Audience
Applicants are encouraged to visit the location and learn about the history and context of the location and neighbourhood. Artworks will be on display free of charge to visitors. Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm & Earth Day: Sunday, April 22, 2018.

Timeline
March 9, 2018 – Proposals Due
March 14, 2018 – Artist is selected
March 14, 2018 – Production period begins
April 16, 2018 – Installation prior to

Proposal Package
1. Cover Letter: including your name, telephone number, email, project title, and 100-word summary of the proposed project.
2. Proposal and Budget: renderings/sketches of the proposed project with a detailed description of the project’s relevance to Earth Month.
3. Current Resume: include prior relevant education, work experience, exhibition history, and awards.

* To be delivered via DropBox or USB drive to jessica@yongestclair.ca // Subject line: Earth Month 2018 Submission

2 St. Clair W Lobby

Previous Installation: #ohdeer for Toronto Design Offsite Festival

CNIB, in partnership with Slate Asset Management, is pleased to announce that ShopTalk beacon installations are nearly complete in Slate properties in the Yonge and St. Clair neighbourhood.

The beacons – which are funded by the Rick Hansen Foundation – are used by people who are blind or partially sighted to navigate areas independently and with confidence.

Once a beacon is placed in a business, it connects to a smartphone GPS app called BlindSquare. When the app user is in a beacons range, a verbal navigation message from the beacon is relayed to the user’s phone using Bluetooth. The beacons provide directions and accessible navigation indoors and outdoors including a description of the business, the layout or floor plan of the shop, and the goods for sale or on display.

Slate has been a strong supporter of CNIB’s Shoptalk project from the very beginning.

“Embracing the Shoptalk project at Yonge and St. Clair was important to us because everyone should be able to navigate independently through our community. We want everyone to be able to enjoy and experience the exciting changes happening in this neighbourhood,” said Katie Fong, Director at Slate Asset Management.

With almost 80 beacons installed in communal areas of their buildings, Slate has also encouraged their business tenants to install them.

Small businesses in the community also jumped at the opportunity to install free beacons. “JJ Bean is really happy to be part of the ShopTalk project. As a company, we are always looking for ways to honour our customers, and this project does exactly that by facilitating inclusion and accessibility in our space. We are thrilled that the Yonge, St Clair community is changing the game in the city and creating spaces in which anyone can feel welcomed and taken care of,” said Manuel Cuevas, Retail Manager at JJ Bean.

The ShopTalk: BlindSquare Enabled project wraps up in late February 2018 and is made possible by The Rick Hansen Foundation Access4All Canada 150 Signature Project, supported by the Government of Canada.

If you are a business owner in the Yonge and St. Clair neighbourhood and would like a free beacon, please contact shoptalk@cnib.ca, or email us here at jessica@yongstclair.ca