A crisis is a terrible thing to waste
By Meribeth Deen
Welcome to the Bloor St. Arts Corridor monthly Covid-events column number… 4? But who is counting anyways? With a virus in our midst, we are all doing the best we can to stay safe, keep others safe, and to keep enjoying life and the world as best we can. The artists in our midst have not stopped creating, so we offer to you just a few ways to keep connecting to their work, to the world and to be part of shaping it.
The library, or at least the online version of it, is as lively as ever. While schools may be fully closed for the summer, the TPL’s Summer Reading Club, Wonder Wall and Mini Wonder Workshops will keep your kiddo reading learning, discovering and creating all summer long. These online programs even give your kids the chance to ask questions, and make new friends. Digital Innovation Classes can get you programming, making electronic music, designing webpages and more. If it’s books you’re into… they still do that! Just google TPL Live & Online program.
Live music is clearly not a thing anymore, and sadly, like many other venues, Soundstreams has canceled its 2020/21 season. Soundstreams is a global leader in the presentation of innovative, carefully curated, and immersive musical experiences, and has been introducing Canadian audiences to groundbreaking composers since its founding in 1982. They’ve recently launched the Soundstreams Insider Program to help determine a course for the future of the organization and to create a roadmap for future, live concerts. By participating, you’ll get an invitation to town halls and access to concerts before they go on sale for the general public.
Head to Hot Docs Curious Minds at Home to escape to other worlds. Dr. Peter Harris, the former Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science of the University of Toronto, leads courses on The Age of Upheaval (between the wars) and The Age of Re-Invention (after the World War II). Music historian Dr. Mike Daley will guide you through Neil Young’s life and career with his course, Words and Music. All three courses are open for registration now, and begin July 30.
For a shorter journey, check out the Lavazza Drive-In Film Festival. A film from a different country will be featured each night at Ontario Place with a special “Focus on Italy” series, presented in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto. The festival is meant to offer families a safe and comfortable manner of re-integrating into social events. A portion of ticket sales will go directly to the Canadian Red Cross to assist with COVID-19 relief efforts.
Celebrate the gradual re-opening of the city with the official re-opening of the Gardiner Museum this month. If you pop by for a visit, you’ll have more space than ever to view Raw, an extended exhibition featuring works made with unfired clay. Artists Cassils, Magdolene Dykstra, Azza El Siddique, and Linda Swanson—invite you to discover new possibilities in an ancient medium. For a sneak peek, check out Cassils video “Up to and Including Their Limits,” on Youtube.
While you figure out how to re-shape the world you are re-entering, pop in to the re-opened A Different Booklist where you’ll find all the tools you need to re-shape your own mind. Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter, published in February 2020 is available in the store now. This book, “busts myths of Canadian politeness and niceness, myths that prevent Canadians from properly fulfilling its dream of multiculturalism and from challenging systemic racism, including the everyday assaults on black and brown bodies. This book needs to be read and put into practice by everyone,” says author Vershawn Young.
Get reading, get learning, get engaged: because a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.