We like their new sign and storefront on the street, although we haven’t yet found their website or other social media to keep us in the loop on what’s coming up. Let us know if you come across them.

G Gallery has been open at least a month, and will be open Friday-Sunday from 12-5pm. This is a not a new gallery, having moved from Queen and Sherbourne to Ossington in October. According to their website, G Gallery is a collaboration between John Goodwin, the School of Fine Art and Music at the University of Guelph.  The gallery is run by Guelph alumni, with assistance from advisors from Guelph faculty and SOFAM.

The current exhibition, called Calculus of Forms, is an examination of urban forms, with a look at architecture, history and politics through models of 7 public housing sites on The Great Lakes. The next exhibit launches Nov. 18 and features work by Miles Collyer.

Their website had indicated that they were leaving to pursue other goals as of a month or so ago.

As of January 2011 C1 art space will be taking an indefinite hiatus on all adult classes, kids classes and parties, as we pursue other teaching and art related projects. We thank everyone for your interest and attending our little school over the last 6 years.

It has been an incredibly rewarding experience. If you need any suggestions on where to take classes just send us a quick email and we will forward you a list of places to possibly check out.

Happy creating!
With warmest regards,
Sandra Tarantino and Ross Bonfanti Co-Directors

This is what is on the front door of the space as of last night:

We’re looking forward to our new Ossington tenant.

This year brought a lot of new businesses and faces to Ossington, all of which we welcomed, and many of which we covered. We look forward to frequenting many new shops, galleries, restaurants and more to the strip in the year ahead.

Let’s start with February 2010 – Angell Gallery moved from Queen Street West onto Dundas. Angell took over the space of Lennox Contemporary in February 2010, and has hosted a plethora of exhibits ever since.

There was a bustle of activity and then Bohmer launched in March 2010. The beautiful space and delicious food has led more people to Toronto’s new “Restaurant Row.”  March also saw the opening of “Oz Boutique,” an art and design hub which has housed Evan Biddell’s clothing line, but focuses on photographer Joe Fuda’s work and curated exhibits.

We started April with City Store Grocery opening on Dundas, and Crepes and More on Ossington. 8 months later, both are still open and catering to the daytime crowd in our area. That month’s other opening was the weekend-only bar, OurHouse.

May brought pop-ups to Ossington with the short-lived but fun launch of 1st Run Art Gallery, which featured the work of it’s creators. In June, LAB Consignment opened with a splash, sharing space with Silver Falls Vintage on Ossington near Queen. In other just as popular fashion news, TOPSHOP came to Toronto by way of London, and opened within Jonathan + Olivia’s space.

The lazy days of summer were anything but for entrepreneurs on Ossington when several businesses opened their doors, starting with Crafted by Te Aro, a coffee shop from Leslieville branching out. Another import from within Toronto was Goed Eten, which started serving coffee, waffles, poutine and more this July.

For a very short time this summer, Salt opened, then closed. Now it is finally open again for good, serving Portuguese wines and tapas.

This fall we supported the opening of Beau Lieu Bistro at 59 Ossington and also Telegramme Prints and Framing at 194 Ossington. O’born Contemporary is also a new gallery to the strip.

We don’t want to forget all the new openings on Dundas (part of that “Ossington triangle” mentioned earlier) that we covered a couple of months ago about Dundas’ evolution: Bunda Lounge, Churchill, Brockton General, Academy of Lions, Port, and Enoteca Sociale.

Finally, let’s look forward to the continuing growth with new places set to open soon: Pasta and More, Fish Bar, Lakeview Convenience and The Saint are the ones we know about, but we’re sure there’ll be more. Here’s to a happy and healthy Ossington Village in 2011.

What was once a mixture of Portuguese sports bars, hair salons and video stores is now a booming strip of fine dining restaurants, hipster bars, and a new gym. Let’s explore Dundas just east and west of Ossington.

While some of the better known spaces have been around for years, such as The Communist’s Daughter and The Lakeview, many of the go-to places opened less than 2 years ago: The Red Light, Show and Tell Gallery and Opera Bob’s come to mind. Continuing that trend, The Garrison took over a huge sports bar and turned it into one of the better live music venues in the city, with on-the-verge acts playing most every night. Enoteca Sociale is an expansion of Ossington’s Pizzeria Libretto family, and the rustic Italian wine bar is packing them in after approximately 6 months in business. Loop Gallery opened a year ago just west of Dovercourt, adding to Dundas West’s cachet in the arts’ community.

One of the more recent newcomers is Brockton General, which is getting rave reviews for it’s small menu of daily specials on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.  Academy of Lions, a cross-fit gym, just opened in a former auto service station on Dundas a block east of Dovercourt. Churchill, a lounge-bar, opened last month at Dundas and Lakeview, and Bunda Lounge is opening soon just east of Ossington.

Since Dundas doesn’t have a moratorium, it is much easier to open a restaurant or bar there than on Ossington. We’re not going to get into the fact that maybe they should be revising some bylaws so there are different licenses for bars as opposed to restaurants, and that we don’t need to force bars to serve food because we are all adults and smart enough to know when we need to eat. Ok, maybe I did go into that. Seriously, it’s 2010, can our government treat us like grownups? Anyway, the point is, we assume the tough restrictions on Ossington have caused some of the spill-over onto Dundas, and we see so many “for lease” and “for sale” signs that this will probably continue for some time. We’ll be here to cover it.

Nuit Blanche

Here is a partial list of some of the displays you will be able to see during Nuit Blanche 2010:

InterAccess Gallery is teaming up with the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) with “Close Encounters,” a variety of interactive projects.

Levack Block hosts Brad Blucher and Kyle Clements, Take a Picture, which will require audience participation as viewers are invited to reveal a mystery behind a blank canvas.

Oz Studios is showcasing a sound installation from David Wickland – Toronto, Canada, Christian Joakim – Toronto, and Steven Beites – Sudbury, Canada, called ParaSOUND.

We have also learned that Christian McLeod Gallery will be open all night for Nuit Blanche with an exhibition of new works.

Plus, at least two restaurants will be fueling the revellers with their specialties: Delux is offering their Cuban sandwiches, and Goed Eten will be serving up fries and poutine.

There are also several installations, including dance and sculpture, planned within Trinity Bellwoods Park, MOCCA will stay open all night, and galleries on Queen West are participating in the fun. Enjoy! See something new, but you can still stay in the neighborhood.

As expressed on their site, the grand opening will be on Saturday, September 25,  from 1-6p. I quote:

131

131 features works from Robert Canali, Liam Crockard, Alex Fischer, Rafael Goldchain, Kate McQuillen, John Monteith, Dominic Nahr, Ed Ou and Noel Rodo-Vankeulen.

131 brings together this diverse group of artists to inaugurate our new space, to introduce our new curatorial team and foremost, to announce our broadened approach to medium-specific programming.

For the remaining days of the show, visit 100A Ossington, just steps away from AWOL’s normal gallery. It is open Thurs. – Sat. 12-8pm & Sun. 12-5pm.

As a reminder, we have added a feature to our site with event listings. If you have a business on the strip, please send us an email and we will be happy to feature your events in our calendar.

Many of the exhibits will be presented at the new Bell Lightbox, but galleries in our neighborhood will participate. Gallery TPW will feature South African artist William Kentridge’s “Journey to the Moon,” in which he pays homage to French director Georges Méliès’ classic Voyage dans la Lune (1902), also on view at the gallery and widely considered cinema’s first science fiction film. Combining live action and stop motion animation, Journey to the Moon in part pictures the creative process as Kentridge performs for the camera, playing the scientist/artist who dreams of worlds afar but ultimately cannot escape.The exhibit is open September 7 – 19, Tuesday to Sunday 12 to 5 PM.

MOCCA on Queen West will feature Chris Chong Chan Fui and Yasuhiro Morinaga: HEAVENHELL Sep 10, 2010 – Sep 19, 2010, and, also on Queen Street West is Stephen Bulger Gallery/Camera Cinema with Stan Douglas and “Klatsassin,” a film inspired by Kurosawa’s Rashomon, September 9 – 19, Tuesday to Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM.

We know the main point for many is at TIFF is spotting celebrities, and we’re sure they’ll even venture over to Ossington now that we’ve got some of the best nightlife and restaurants in town, but don’t forget the art too!

When: May 14, 15, 16, 2010

Hours: 12:00 to 8:00 PM daily

Admission: $5.00 students, seniors, artists. $8.00 general public.

Refreshments: An on site café will serve lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks.