Kensington Market BIA

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Location: Centre for Social Innovation
215 Spadina Ave. Suite 400, Alterna Boardroom
Date:       Monday February 11, 2013
Time:       10am – 1:00pm

AGENDA:

1. Call to Order by Chair
2. Approval of Consent Agenda
3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest
4. Treasurer’s Report – January
5. Vermin control in the Market
6. Marketing – website; social media; cloth bags
7. Street Events – Pedestrian Sunday – who will run it; survey; permits
8. 297 College St – response from developer
9. Mural/graffiti update
10. General membership meeting update
11. Mural grant applications
12. Coordinator – office arrangement; Indesign computer program
13. Other business
14. Adjournment

KENSINGTON MARKET WINTER SOLSTICE PARADE
(Festival of Lights)

       FRIDAY DECEMBER 21^st 6:00PM

Thanks to the support of the Kensington Market community, the 23^rd annual Kensington Market Winter Solstice Parade will take place on December 21^st, the longest night of the year, and will continue throughout what will surely be a very busy & festive weekend in the market!!

Fun for all ages!    Bring a lantern to help light the parade!!

Parade Route & Schedule 

6:00PM:  Gather at Oxford/Augusta for parade assembly & First light

6:30PM:  Parade starts, and moves southbound on Augusta Ave., turns eastbound along Baldwin St., then soutbound on Kensington Ave. to Dundas. The parade will then proceed along Dundas St. to Alexandra Park behind Scadding Court.* The fire sculpture closing ceremony will take place in the baseball diamond.

8:00PM:  Event concludes, and all guests and participants will be welcomed back to Kensington Market.

* Please note that although it would be nice to end the parade in the market at Bellevue Sq. Park, there is simply not enough room because of the number of people, as well as safety concerns.  Visitors are encouraged to come back to the market following the fire sculpture finale.

For more information, please contact Gabriella Caruso at 416.598.3729  http://www.redpepperspectaclearts.org

Happy Solstice!!

The Kensington Market Winter Solstice Parade is produced by Red Pepper Spectacle Arts,
and proudly supported by the Kensington Market BIA, and the Kensington Market Action Committee.

What: Walking Tour & Mural launch

When: Thursday December 6, 11am to 11:30am

Where: Meet at 11am at Louie’s Coffee Shop at the North East corner of Baldwin St. & Augusta Ave.

Contact: Yvonne Bambrick, Kensington Market BIA Coordinator. 416 826 2964 (mobile)

Present at the tour will be: Artists, Project Curator, BIA representative, StART representative.

The Kensington Market BIA welcomes members of the media to join us for a short walking tour of the community’s three new murals.  Although fairly well known for abundant street art, Kensington Market merchants are in a near constant struggle with illegal graffiti vandalism.  Each of these murals has been placed on a wall that is both high visibility, and that was regularly tagged. They serve to showcase the talent of our local artists while improving the streetscape and growing our collection of mural art.

The project was cost-shared between the BIA and the StART program, and all artists were paid for their work.

About the StART program:

StreetARToronto (StART) is a new, pro-active City of Toronto program that aims to develop, support, promote and increase awareness of street art and its indispensable role in adding beauty and character to neighbourhoods across Toronto, while counteracting graffiti vandalism and its harmful effect on communities.

About the Curator: Rafi Ghanaghounian (Keep Six Exhibits)

Rafi Ghanaghounian has been a staple in the Toronto visual arts and design community as an artist and independent curator for the last fifteen years. He has exhibited and organized events that represent emerging local and international talent, many of whom have moved on to become represented in international exhibitions and fairs through respected galleries and museums.

About the artists: Mike Parsons, Pascal Paquette, JAVID

Mike Parsons – Laneway at 71 Kensington Ave. -  Neighbourhood Streetscape: Since 2005 Parsons has completed 5 major solo exhibitions and over 300 outdoor performances as well as prestigious projects for the A.G.O. (Art Gallery of Ontario), The Hudson’s Bay Company, Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, as well as the Drake Hotel. In addition to annual drawing exhibitions, Parsons has produced graphic novels, fashion designs, print editions and animated artworks. The primary goal of his projects are to create artworks that are simultaneously intellectually provocative as well as accessible to viewers of all ages

Pascal Paquette – Laneway at 192 Augusta Ave. -  Reflection of the vibrancy of Kensington Market through shapes & colours : A recognizable figure in two distinctive art worlds,Pascal Paquette has spent the last decade traversing the contemporary art scene, while learning and expanding on his graffiti writing practice under the pseudonym Mon Petit Chou. Paquette’s thematic interests interrogate the transformation of culture that occurs when two or more economic, social or cultural realities collide. He works primarily through painting but also employs street art, graffiti and photography in projects that are often site-specific or geographically dependent. Paquette is a graduate of the Graphic Arts program at La Cite Collegiale in Ottawa, Canada.

JAVID – Rooftop at 225 Augusta Ave. -  Raft of Medusa – survivors: JAVID is an Arabic name that means eternal. His work as a painter, graphic designer and muralist is dedicated to revealing the architectural spirit of letters and faces, inspired by the principles of Arabic calligraphy, graffiti art, and portraiture. He also manages Under the Radar(undertheradarto.com), a youth-led social enterprise specializing in graphic design, mural painting and screen printing, located at the LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation (loftycsei.org) in Downtown Toronto.

The Kensington Market BIA Chair Mike Shepherd, and Coordinator Yvonne Bambrick, were very pleased to join other BIAs, City staff, Consultants, and TABIA staff at the 2nd Annual Toronto BIAs Recognition Awards on Tuesday Nov 13th.

This celebration, in recognition of the excellent work undertaken by local BIAs, is produced by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas.  Only in it’s second year, it has already become a must attend event!

This year, the Kensington Market BIA was given the ‘Creative Solutions Award’ for our partnership with the City’s Public Realm Office on the creation and implementation of the new planters/swing-gates. Mike and Yvonne were on-hand to accept the award on behalf of the BIA board, and the Public Realm office.

Please see below details received via email regarding proposed changes to Holiday Shopping Regulations.

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Changes to Holiday Shopping Regulations

On October 16, 2012, in Committee Room 1, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, at1:30 p.m., or as soon as possible after, the City of Toronto Economic Development Committee will consider a report recommending changes to the Holiday Shopping Regulation (City of Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 510).

The report recommends that existing regulations requiring retail stores to close on New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day remain in place and that all retail stores be permitted to open on the following four days: Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day and Thanksgiving Day from 10 a.m. to 6 pm.

The report and the current regulations can be viewed at www.toronto.ca/council

A copy of the staff report is attached to this email.

Information about how to make written submissions or to address the Economic Development Committee can be found at http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/tmmis/have-your-say.htm.

To make a written submission or address the Economic Development Committee, please notify the Merle MacDonald, Committee Administrator, by 12 noon on October 15, 2012 by phone at416-392-1032 or 416-392-8485, by email at edc@toronto.ca or by fax at 416-392-1879.

We thought this event might be of interest to some of our BIA members.

Please see details below and register via the link provided.

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Enterprise Toronto, Small Business Forum 2012

Tuesday, October 16, 9am – 5pm

14 days left!!!

Join 2,000+ entrepreneurs at the 12th Annual Small Business Forum, to be held Tuesday, October 16th at the Metro Toronto

Convention Centre. This is your opportunity to gather information and learn from veteran business owners, marketers, and

various service providers. To register online visit: www.toronto.ca/SBF2012

Our keynote speaker this year is Dani Reiss, President and CEO of Toronto’s own Canada Goose! Dani will be sharing how he

grew a family business from 40 to 1000 employees and established an internationally-recognized brand.

Other presenters will include, Drew Green from Shop.ca; Mike Brcic of Project Wildfire; Rob Lanni & Eric Lawrence of Coalition

Music; Erica Ehm, creator/publisher of YummyMummyClub.ca and many more.

Kensington’s first season of Market Sundays began on August 5^th and runs weekly, on Sunday afternoons from 12 to 6pm, until September 23^rd.

Sunday August 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th + Sunday September 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd – 12 to 6pm
Our final event of the year is Pedestrian Sunday on September 30th – 12 to 7pm

Market Sundays are like a regular Sunday in Kensington, but without any new motor vehicles coming through the main commercial streets of the market.  Those who are parked can stay and exit safely as needed.

Where Pedestrian Sunday festivals are ‘car-free’ and have programmed entertainment, Market Sundays are ‘car-lite’ and have no programming.  This is a new BIA initiative that aims to bring more business to the area by providing pedestrians a unique environment with more room to spill off the sidewalks while shopping & strolling throughout most of the market.

Info for Locals: Please remember that timely access can be granted, as needed, to local residents or business owners who require vehicular access during a Market Sunday.  BIA Coordinator, Yvonne Bambrick, will always be on-call and on-site during all street events – call 416 826 2964 anytime for assistance, or in case of emergency.