Sunday Round-Up February 3

And with that, it’s February.

Plays and tots and language and acronyms

Who Are Your A Clients?

A Night of Celebration and How to Hail A Cab

It was a really – thick – week of art last week. I started it by going to the reading of Brad Fraser’s new play Kill Me Now and still haven’t quite found the right words to explain it, so I’m stealing Martin Julien’s: Tonight’s reading of Brad Fraser‘s new play KILL ME NOW restored to me some faith in the power of the traditionally well-made realist drama. Brad does this by placing important and contradictory human issues and impulses on an accessible stage and demands that they be visible as part of our public discourse, not just as pathologised and politicized talking points, but as moving, flesh-and-blood provocations. Bravo.

Thursday was the opening of Kardionic – absolutely wonderful work. An amazing split between a very organic free flowing feeling and a much more precise, “scientific” look. Like two shows in one. go and see.

Friday – grant grants grants. It may be words and budgets, but it’s still art.

In between all this we managed to create a new page called current clients that will list everything about shows I’m working on all in one spot, for my sake as well as yours. It will go up this week.  Also made a fun little page/slideshow called twitter-monials. I figure if folks are kudo-ing you on twitter, might as well put them all in one spot and use it. I also think it’s a good way to keep the social in social media and share back some info about the tweeting folks.

Absolutely fun day with Dahlia Katz yesterday with new headshots and Nina Simone. I was there longer than I anticipated, so I didn’t make it to Totsapalooza, but based on this photo, I don’t know there was room for a latecomer. Congrats one and all.

Little bit of Nina for your morning coffee or tea.

Plays and tots and language and acronyms

from Kardionic TA Gambarotto

Let’s start right off with the fact that Totsapalooza is sold completely out. From the email I got: There won’t be any more tickets at the door, or anywhere else for that matter. We’ve simply hit venue capacity. Period.
500 tickets is a remarkable and fitting gift for the 5th anniversary of our annual DIY Kid Culture festival. Thank you, all, for your ongoing support. Much appreciated.

THRILLED for them. How wonderful. Looks like it’s going to be a great day for all involved and attending.

Attended a reading last night of Brad Fraser’s new play Kill Me Now. It’s funny and thought provoking and sad and has a lot to say about any number of topics. Here’s to its future. I think people were tweeting under #killmenow.

Of course you’re bound to run into people at an event like that, and I was delighted to see one of my favourite artists Geoff Simpson and make plans for lunch and an art chat next week, and run into another new friend (shared a cab? you’re friends) who as it turns out is the artist being featured at Pentimento this week. I was going to the opening of Kardionic to begin with, now I have to go, and it sounds extremely interesting:  Kardionic (2010-11) is a hybrid media work exploring various scientific and cultural expressions of the human heart. Views into the work include a multi-player audiovisual performance; a series of large-format, high resolution c prints; a fixed video program; and a fixed audio program.

TAPA. TAC. OAC. Freelance. show going up. These are some of the everyday phrases I use that I forget are acronyms and jargon. Had a great time yesterday speaking with the students in the first year of arts management at U of T Scarborough, and we realized there were a lot of phrases I use that others might not know. Considering I profess to hate jargon…We almost turned it into a game of buzzword bingo, with Anne (their professor) catching me on jargon and we’d stop to explain what it meant – after the first few I started catching myself. Something to think about. In one sense, it’s a commonality of language, in another sense it’s exclusionary.  I think we had a good time, I liked talking with them, they had good questions of the thoughtful variety and I wished I could have spent more time there as they are bright and smart and heading into our field.

Om that same subject – A User’s Guide to Artspeak – Why do so many galleries use such pompous, overblown prose to describe their exhibits? Well, there’s now a name for it: International Art English. And you have to speak it to get on. Andy Beckett enters the world of waffle.

Read these five tips and make sure you aren’t guilty of any of them.

5 Social Media Mistakes That Make You Look Dumb

I know, I know, you’re probably thinking I KNOW, and how can people not get this yet, it’s so BASIC. Well, every year in December there are articles on how to beat holiday stress, and every July there are articles on frizz-free hair and beating the heat, so it’s a reminder in a similar vein.

Sunday Roundup – January 27

And there goes January.

Before I forget,  a reminder to all working towards that Toronto Arts Council February 1 deadline that grant apps need to go to their new place of residence at Toronto Arts Council 200-26 Grand Trunk Crescent Toronto, ON  M5J 3A9.

You see where my mind is at these days. Don’t forget the Ontario Arts Council February 1 deadline as well.

Last week? Last week.

Documenting Your Show – the incomparable Dahlia Katz explains why show photograph is wildly important

Three Articles on Social Media. Two Artists Doing it Right

A Room Full of Participants

I mentioned last week I’d be tag-team teaching a course at Ryerson – the Chang School, to be precise – here are the details – I’m doing CDAM 101 Communication and Promotion for the Arts.

Totsapalooza is in less than a week and I’m sensing a sold out event. Small Print Toronto does amazing work in the realm of kid-lit, and this one is no exception, with the talents of Oliver Jeffers being a major part of the day.

He’s lovely.

 

Sunday Roundup January 20

Busy week of work and meetings and rehearsal hall and celebrations. What’s up?

Why This Holiday Card is Awesome – go look. it really is.

Totsapalooza is Turning Five! – most read post last week! Hope we’ll see you there!

b[ART]er workshop last night and upcoming teachings

Dogs and Mailmen, Grandma and The Bank flip the problem to find the solution.

Bit of a celebration last night with Friends of the Arts, to toast the funding coming towards arts and culture.

The city’s executive committee has already overwhelmingly endorsed a motion by Councillor Gary Crawford to release $6 million of billboard loot and use it to increase the 2013 budget for the city’s cultural operation from $47.6 million.

Under Crawford’s plan, another $17 million would be phased in gradually over the next four years until Toronto reaches its oft-stated goal of increasing its per capita spending on the arts from $18.30 to $25.

Congratulations to all on a heck of a lot of work and a long haul.

Meetings, Grants, Meetings, A New City

It’s absolutely Monday around here, I have two grants I need to get under my belt (March 1 deadline) so I can do the 12 hour Arts Marathon with impunity. I’d like to point out that today the day I’m inside writing is a gorgeous day out, and that weather for Marathon Day is looking rainy and weird. I am Canadian. I will be prepared for anything, anytime.

Reminder to my Equity Friends – you have an important meeting tonight.

Reminder to me – I have a Board meeting tonight, so two grants and a scope of work for a social media plan had best be done by then.

I mentioned yesterday I was at Totsapalooza: Mouse City Calling. What a great event. We all know my child to recovery time ratio is 1:1.5  – but so much fun – bands and story telling and a fantastic city built by smalls, presided over by Mayor Adam Vaughan. Pics below is my usual not so great blackberry phone documentary style. I call it Gist Style – you get the gist of it.

Congratulations Small Print Toronto.

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