SPRING 2008
Q U E B E C
C I T Y
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M O N T R E A L
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T O R O N T O
6 Toronto’s Fio Corp fights infectious disease with a high tech solution
14 Montreal’s Drawn & Quarterly: A graphic success
16 Elementary: Winnipeg motion design firm breathes life into ads
PLUS: • Quebec City boutique home to the ‘Indiana Jones’ of tea • Montreal’s Outbox revolutionizes online tIcket buys • Totum tells the truth about Stretching • Toronto’s Luminato Fest
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FROM BISTRO TO BRITISH New Décor and Menu for King Street West’s Crush Wine Bar
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W I N N I P E G
TORONTO
Lucien and Colborne Lane Take Top Spots in Toronto Life’s 10 Best New Restaurants Beyond Toronto Life’s list, the May issue of Conde Nast Traveler voted Colborne Lane (left) one of the most exciting new restaurants in the world.
Lucien’s Chef Scot Woods has garnered praise from some of the country's top food critics including Joanne Kates and James Chatto.
ST. LAWRENCE MARKET AREA, TORONTO / Two of the city’s newest and most experimental restaurants topping Toronto Life Magazine’s coveted Best New Restaurant list are located in Allied Properties’ downtown east buildings. Lucien, at 36 Wellington Street East, and Colborne Lane, nearby at 45 Colborne Street, have garnered rave reviews since opening and now, both occupy top spots in the urban magazine’s annual list of noteworthy newcomers. “These days you don’t need a hushed gastronomic temple in which to worship good food,” writes Toronto Life’s James Chatto in his description of Lucien. Indeed, with its casual brick and beam ambience, elegant illumination, intimate dining nooks and tiled leather wall treatment, Lucien offers bay-streeters and scenesters alike a
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 2
warm and casual atmosphere in which to indulge in Chef Scot Woods’ (Habitat) exciting dishes like bincho-grilled octopus sliced thinly with chorizo, fingerlings, black olive “leather” and pimento caviar. At Colborne Lane, much has been made of Chef Claudio Aprile’s (Senses) molecular gastronomy, a technical cuisine from which come concoctions like corn doused in liquid nitrogen accompanying raw salmon, cauliflower purée and saffron-infused potato. Matched to a modern environment whose hip attitude comes from the irony of presenting experimental, progressive cuisine in a historical building, Colborne offers a comfortable atmosphere in which to while away an evening working your way through a seven, 10 or 15-course tasting menu – an absolute must according to Chatto.
TORONTO
ALTERIORS AGAIN King East Décor Source Reopens in Burgeoning Adelaide West Neighbourhood ADELAIDE STREET WEST, TORONTO / - Anyone interested in home décor in Toronto over the last decade will recognize Alteriors, known for its eclectic selection of innovative furniture and home accents. The company, which closed its retail store in the King Street East design district two years ago, has reopened this winter with a larger location on Adelaide Street West. “It’s being called Toronto’s Soho district,” says Alteriors founder Wendie Cohen discussing the store’s new location. “The gentrification of the whole King West district, with its dynamic combination of creative industries, urban residents, and entertainment venues, is perfectly suited to Alteriors’ design sensibility.”
A NEW PARTNERSHIP The synergy of a new partnership team is what prompted the reopening of Alteriors, says Cohen. After closing in 2005 to pursue other interests in the décor industry, Cohen was encouraged by the continued interest customers and suppliers showed in the store. In discussions with longtime associate Diana Leveille, who was running her own interior design business, and friend Robert Geddes, a London realtor who had recently moved to Toronto, Cohen realized there was an opportunity to combine their skills to provide the best products and services to clients. So, the three entered into a partnership and started looking for space. URBAN AMBIENCE “In researching possible locations, we confirmed that this is the up-and-coming place to be,” says
Cohen, explaining that the Toronto International Film Festival project and a wide range of other developments are attracting the upscale urban dwellers the store targets. “This loft-like showroom in a restored vintage building offers the perfect setting to showcase our modern furnishings,” she adds. Many of the collections you will find at Alteriors are designed and manufactured in Canada. “We work with small boutique manufacturers and design studios who offer a wide range of customization options for our clients,” says Cohen, adding that the team’s focus is to help customers express their personal style.
SPACE PLANNING EXPERTISE Some current suppliers even come from Alteriors’ early Danforth days, says Cohen, explaining that an artisan who used to make her candle holders has gone on to form an acclaimed design studio that supplies Alteriors with furniture made of industrial steel and reclaimed wood. Whatever the item, the Alteriors team adopts a friendly, collaborative approach when serving customers. They are pleased to assist clients with space planning and design choices, and they’ll book consultations after store hours or meet at a client’s home. “The response to our new store has been wonderful,” says Cohen. “Many of our previous clients are coming from across the GTA, and we can also reach this vibrant neighbourhood of people who were not familiar with our previous location.”
alteriors.com 3 • SPRING 2008
MONTRÉAL
Des billets en quelques clics Outbox Technology révolutionne la vente de billets en ligne BOUL. ST-LAURENT, MONTRÉAL - / Le nom d’Outbox Technology ne vous dit probablement rien, mais si vous avez récemment acheté un billet en ligne pour le Cirque du Soleil, c’est probablement avec cette société que vous avez transigé. Société de logiciels et de services développant des produits avancés de vente de billets, notamment pour le Cirque du Soleil (qui est associé de l’entreprise), Outbox occupe la moitié d’un étage de l’immeuble du Balfour, sur le boulevard St-Laurent, d’où l’équipe surveille, gère et traite la vente de billets en multiples langues et devises. Selon l’un des spécialistes de la technologie Web de CNET, il s’agit de la meilleure interface d’achat de billets qui existe à ce jour.
VISIONNER SA PLACE Applaudie pour sa conception intuitive, cette billetterie en ligne fonctionne au moyen d’un calendrier relié à des images qui permettent à l’acheteur de visualiser de manière précise la salle de spectacle et l’emplacement des sièges. Les places disponibles sont désignées par des couleurs différentes selon leur prix, et il suffit de quelques clics pour sélectionner précisément son billet et l’acheter. La transaction s’effectue très rapidement grâce aux importants moyens techniques déployés par Outbox et à la surveillance constante assurée par son équipe. « On est extrêmement présent pour contrôler toute l’expérience [en ligne]. Nous ne nous contentons pas de vendre un logiciel », déclare Jean-Françoys Brousseau, co-fondateur de l’entreprise et artisan des innovations apparues récemment dans l’industrie telles que les billets électroniques imprimables et munis d’un code barre, utilisés pour la première fois par le Cirque du Soleil en 1999.
DES BUREAUX QUI INVITENT À LA COLLABORATION Outbox compte 20 employés et occupe des locaux aménagés par Daoust Lestage. Ces bureaux à espace ouvert aux lignes pures et aux parois de verre sont une réelle invitation à la collaboration. Seule exception : le centre d’appel sécurisé qui se consacre au service à la clientèle pour les billets vendus en Amérique du Nord, et qui est installé dans un espace voisin mais séparé. Au cœur de cet espace de blancheur et de simplicité se trouve nichée une zone centrale de surveillance, où une série de bureaux a été placée devant quatre écrans plats géants affichant différentes données sur l’état des systèmes et des ventes de billets du Cirque du Soleil partout dans le monde. UNE SURVEILLANCE ÉTROITE C’est à partir de ces écrans que l’équipe d’Outbox surveille sans relâche le réseau de vente, informée en temps réel des moindres fluctuations des ventes dans le monde entier. Des ratios complexes basés sur des moyennes mobiles sont utilisés qui permettent à une alarme de se déclencher en cas d’irrégularité. « Si les gens achètent un peu moins qu’il y a quelques minutes, par exemple, cela peut indiquer un problème technique », explique Jean-Françoys Brousseau. La mise au point d’innovations fait aussi partie intégrante du travail de l’équipe et Jean-Françoys Brousseau prévoit embaucher une dizaine d’employés supplémentaires d’ici la fin de l’année. Il explique que l’industrie de la billetterie est en constante évolution et qu’il recherche continuellement des programmeurs-analystes et des spécialistes du soutien d’applications. « Il reste encore de bonnes solutions à trouver », affirme-t-il en ajoutant que d’ici l’année prochaine, la billetterie du Cirque du Soleil étant bien établie, Outbox Technology élargira sa clientèle.
outboxtechnology.com
CHRONIQUE COMMUNAUTAIRE • 4
Design Within Reach now Within Shopping Distance
Montreal’s Outbox Technology is changing online ticket buying BLVD. ST. LAURENT, MONTREAL - / You probably don’t know Outbox Technology, but if you’ve recently bought a ticket online for Cirque du Soleil Tours, anywhere in the world in fact, then you’ve experienced it. A software firm currently doing development exclusively for Cirque du Soleil (a partner in the enterprise), Outbox occupies half a floor at the Balfour building on St. Laurent where its team monitors, manages and processes multi-language and multi-currency ticket sales for what one CNET web technology columnist calls “the best ticket ordering interface ever.”
SEEING YOUR SEAT Praised for its intuitive design, the online box office features a calendar linked to graphics giving users a realistic representation of the venue and specifically where their seats are located. Colours indicate available seating, and in just a few clicks buyers can order exactly what they want. And it all happens quickly, thanks to Outbox’s extensive back end and constant monitoring.
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - Fans of Design Within Reach, a furniture source for fully licensed classics, have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Canadian studio. And in March, they got their wish. “It’s mostly destination shoppers,” says the studio’s proprietor Clay Wright, explaining that weekends tend to be busy with customers coming from around the city to peruse the 5,000-square-foot showroom’s array of design classics. Best known for its wide selection of designer furniture, DWR has partnerships with Herman Miller, Fritz Hansen and Knoll to bring the legendary work of designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, and Eero Saarinen to the general public. “Given the season, we’re seeing a lot of interest in our outdoor furniture,” says Wright, a transplanted New Yorker. He says most of what is on the floor can be delivered to the customer within 10 days of purchase. The company uses a central inventory to allow customers around North America to access items in a variety of styles and colours. Beyond furniture, Wright says the Tools for Living line focuses on items that have been thoughtfully conceived. For the Toronto studio, that could mean a clever folding bike or organic mattresses and bedding, but DWR has been involved with projects ranging from designing the interior of an Airstream trailer, to BBQs to pillows and other accessories.
dwr.com
“We’re extremely present when it comes to controlling the online experience. It’s not just selling a piece of software,” says Jean-Françoys Brousseau, the firm’s founding partner and the mind behind industry innovations like the printable bar-coded e-tickets, first used by the Cirque in 1999.
A COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT Outbox has 20 employees and occupies space designed by Daoust Lestage, employing clean white finishes and glassed-in perimeter offices to give the central area’s open concept a collaborative feel (with the exception of a secure North American customer service call centre that sits in adjacent separate space). At the heart of the space is a central monitoring area where a bank of desks sits in front of four large flat screens, each displaying different components of the Cirque du Soleil’s world wide ticket sales. Development is also a large part of what the team does and Brousseau expects to hire ten more employees before the end of the year. He says the ticket industry is continually evolving and that he is always in need of developers and support specialists.
5 • SPRING 2008
TORONTO Semiconductor nanocrystals illuminated with ultraviolet light. These vials hold nanometer-sized particles (one billionth of a meter wide) that have unique fluorescence capabilities and are being developed for medical diagnostic applications such as Fio’s infectious disease detector.
DIAGNOSIS ON DEMAND Queen-Richmond Centre’s Fio Corp aims to revolutionize global disease detection with a new portable device QUEEN STREET EAST, TORONTO / - The manner in which infectious diseases are diagnosed hasn’t changed much in a hundred years, says Michael Greenberg. Just like in high school biology class, you get the sample, put it in a Petri dish, add some culture media, and wait to see if you can recognize what grows, he explains. “Approaches like ours represent the end of this,” he says. “We don’t do anything remotely like that. We don’t deal with bugs themselves, we diagnose their molecules.” Greenberg is CEO of Fio Corporation, a nano-biotechnology startup in the Queen-Richmond Centre developing a toastersized device to diagnose infectious diseases on the spot.
READING MOLECULES Drawing a pin prick of blood, the instrument scans it against a database of infectious disease signature molecules (biological molecules found in the blood that are a sign of a disease) to tell healthcare professionals immediately what they’re dealing with. But don’t worry. Working with signature molecules of infectious diseases is not at all dangerous, Greenberg assures. “It’s completely inactive,” he explains. “Our space creates the molecular reader. For the real testing, the device goes to a clinical lab where it undergoes diagnostic testing.” ATTRACTING SCIENTISTS From its top floor space, the Fio headquarters combines work stations, boardrooms, a 3,500-square-foot nano-bio research lab with 50 workbenches and plenty of natural light to create a highly attractive research and business environment for ‘Fioans’. Normally labs tend to cluster in locations near the University of Toronto and in the hospital district - or outside the core entirely - but Fio wanted space that would attract top research talent and show that it is intent on doing things differently. And it does.
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 6
LAUNCHING IN AFRICA Rather than make a device exclusively for the developed world’s medical marketplace, Greenberg says Fio will launch the product in 2009, simultaneously in both Africa and North America. “To demonstrate that high tech can also be used to create affordable solutions for the developing world,” says Greenberg, adding that while the firm does have competitors most aren’t looking to simultaneously address the needs of the developing and developed worlds. AFFORDABLE AND DEPLOYABLE But infectious diseases often arise in the developing world, he explains, so it makes sense to create an affordable and easily deployable solution to bring us into dynamic partnerships with African entrepreneurs. “The difference between an outbreak and a pandemic is knowing what you’re dealing with quickly - not only here but in Guangdong [where the SARS outbreak originated],” he says. ADOPTING THE CELL PHONE MODEL Rather than NGOs and local governments, Fio will distribute the device through a network of local entrepreneurs, taking its cue from the success of the cell phone in Africa to not only see the device proliferate, but also participate in the benefits of local economic development. As for the developed world, Fio will follow the usual medical distribution networks familiar to Greenberg. Trained as a neurosurgeon, Greenberg made his mark growing Cedara Software from a small, local contract engineering computer hardware company in the early 1990s to a Nasdaq-traded, leading provider of global imaging software for healthcare with annual revenues of $50 million.
fio.com
La Galerie Art Sélect : le savoir-faire artisanal français sur le marché du meuble de Montréal AVENUE DU PARC, MONTRÉAL / - La salle d’exposition de 1 500 pi2 que gère Johanne Therrien n’est que la partie visible de l’iceberg. Importatrice de meubles français de qualité, La Galerie Art Sélect est essentiellement un moyen d’accès à un vaste catalogue de penderies, de lits, de tables à dîner, de fauteuils, d’armoires et de bahuts, autant de reproductions de style français du plus pur raffinement. Située au 5e étage du 6300 avenue du Parc, la galerie de Johanne Therrien ne compte pas sur les passants pour ses affaires. Elle vit presque exclusivement sur sa réputation. Elle est également bien connue des collectionneurs et de ceux qui apprécient la qualité du travail artisanal du vieux continent. Longtemps réputée pour ses collections d’art québécois, la Galerie Art Sélect a été créée en 1977 par le père de Johanne Therrien, rue Saint-Denis. Elle proposait alors principalement des sculptures et des peintures. En 2004, Johanne Therrien a repris l’affaire familiale après y avoir travaillé périodiquement avec son père alors qu’elle se consacrait encore à son métier d’infirmière. Puis les meubles prenant de plus en plus d’importance, la galerie est devenue le distributeur exclusif de Brigitte Forestier, d’Artcopi et des Meubles Richelieu. Tout ce qu’elle propose aujourd’hui est fabriqué par des artisans. Les reproductions des collections françaises telles que Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis Philippe et Directoire sont taillées dans le merisier de France, un matériau de prédilection pour les maîtres artisans. La plupart des meubles sont disponibles dans une variété de huit teintes et deux patines. Une partie de la collection est affichée sur le site Web, mais le mieux est d’aller voir ces meubles directement à la galerie, suggère Johanne Therrien, « ainsi on se rend mieux compte des teintes qui sont proposées. »
artselect.ca
Galerie Art Select brings exclusive French craftsmanship to the Montreal furniture market AVE DU PARC, MONTREAL / - Johanne Therrien’s 1500-squarefoot show room on the fifth floor of 6300 Avenue du Parc is just the tip of the iceberg. An exclusive importer of fine French furniture, La Galerie Art Select is essentially a gateway to a massive catalogue of wardrobes, bed frames, dining tables, arm chairs, cabinets and sideboards, all finely crafted and finished reproductions of French collections such as the Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis Philippe, and Directoire often made using regional wild cherry, a favorite among master artisans. Most pieces are available in a number of different stains and finishes (often a wax finish). While you can see some of the collection on the web site, the best thing to do is come by in person, encourages Therrien, “then you can really get a sense of some of the finishes we have available.”
7 • PRINTEMPS 2008
MONTRÉAL
L’Art du meuble
QUÉBEC
La route du thé De jeunes aventuriers rapportent des saveurs d’Asie au cœur de St-Roch NOUVO ST-ROCH, QUÉBEC/ - Ce n’est généralement pas en rassemblant quatre passionnés de thé qu’on entame un projet de carrière basé sur le commerce international et le tourisme d’aventure. Mais c’est pourtant bien ainsi que Jasmin Desharnais et ses trois associés se sont retrouvés à parcourir l’Asie, allant des montagnes à la jungle, à la recherche des grands thés. Le thé est la boisson la plus consommée au monde après l’eau. Les feuilles de thé poussent principalement dans des climats tropicaux ou subtropicaux et nécessitent au moins 50 pouces d’eau de pluie par an. Les meilleures sortes prospèrent aux alentours de 5 000 pieds d’altitude et pour en trouver de diverses et variées, il faut donc se lever de bonne heure! C’est pourquoi les quatre fondateurs des maisons de thé Camellia Sinensis (Jasmin Desharnais, Kevin Gascoyne, Hugo Americi et François Marchand) ont divisé les régions productrices de thé en plusieurs zones. Chacun s’est spécialisé dans les variétés qui poussent dans sa zone et passe un mois par an à rencontrer les fournisseurs locaux, à s’informer des récoltes de l’année et nouer des contacts avec de nouveaux artisans producteurs potentiels. En dix ans, l’équipe s’est constitué un solide réseau de producteurs, de petites exploitations pour la plupart. Jasmin Desharnais affirme que l’équipe connaît personnellement 90 % de ses producteurs. « Avant de travailler avec nous, nos producteurs chinois n’avaient jamais exporté à l’étranger » ajoute-t-il en expliquant qu’en Chine, la production de thé est très localisée et qu’une grande part est destinée au marché domestique.
CHRONIQUE COMMUNAUTAIRE • 8
En 2004, après un salon de thé et une boutique bien établis à Montréal, le magasin de St-Roch, baptisé du nom latin de l’arbre à thé, a ouvert ses portes. Les maisons de thé sont moins courantes que les boutiques de spécialités de café, qui ont connu un grand succès ces derniers temps et il nous reste beaucoup à apprendre sur le thé. C’est d’ailleurs la principale mission de Camellia Sinensis que de nous le faire connaître. « Nous essayons de faire apprécier le thé au plus grand nombre », déclare Jasmin Desharnais. Avant toute dégustation, les novices sont invités à humer plusieurs variétés de thé et à discuter de leurs goûts avec l’équipe. Les dégustations, très populaires en fin de semaine, ont lieu au fond du magasin, transformé en une sorte de petit café avec son comptoir et ses quatre tables. La boutique de St-Roch propose 180 variétés de thé, mais la sélection varie en fonction du mois de l’année et des récoltes (la plupart d’entre elles ont lieu au printemps). Le sachet moyen de 50 g coûte environ 10 $ et permet de faire 20 tasses, mais les variétés de première qualité peuvent coûter jusqu’à 75 $ pour la même quantité. « Ces thés sont davantage destinés aux connaisseurs », explique Jasmin Desharnais. « On essaye de trouver à chaque client le thé qui lui convient. » C’est pourquoi le magasin organise fréquemment des séances de dégustation et des conférences sur le thé. Pour connaître l’horaire de ces événements, passez au 624 St-Joseph Est ou visitez le site Web de la Maison de thé.
camellia-sinensis.com
TOTUM
TIPS
HEALTH
International team brings tastes from the mountains of Asia to the tea cups of Quebec NOUVO ST. ROCH, QUEBEC CITY / - Four guys with a shared passion for tea is not how a career involving adventure travel and international trade usually starts, but it’s pretty much how Jasmin Desharnais and his three partners found themselves trekking through mountain trails and jungle paths in remote regions of Asia to make a living. The most widely consumed drink in the world after water is tea. It grows mainly in tropical and sub-tropical climates, requires at least 50 inches of rainfall a year, and a lot of the good stuff tends to grow at elevations of up to 5,000 feet. So finding all the teas is a bit of a task. That’s why the four founding partners of the Camellia Sinensis tea houses (Desharnais along with Kevin Gascoyne, Hugo Americi, and François Marchand) divided the tea-producing world into regions, each becoming an expert on the varieties available there, and each spending a month a year connecting with local suppliers, checking on the year’s crops and following up leads on new sources of tea. The St. Roch location carries 180 varieties of tea, but selections will vary based on the time of year and whether a crop has been harvested yet (much of the harvesting is done in the spring). An average 50g bag will run you about $10 and makes 20 cups, but you could pay as much as $75 for the same amount of a high grade first harvest variety. “But that’s more for the connaisseurs,” says Desharnais. “What we try to do is match the teas with the customers.” To that end, the store runs a full schedule of tastings and lectures.
Camellia Sinensis co-owner Jasmin Desharnais with a tea supplier in China.
The Truth about Stretching KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - The Vikings always knew the importance of stretching before battle, cartoonist Gary Larson once wrote. But things were less complicated then. Today, the debate on stretching has grown to include not only the stretchers and non-stretchers, but also sub-groups like pre-stretchers, post-stretchers and stand-alone stretchers. Mary-Catherine Fraser-Saxena, a physiotherapist and director of Totum’s sports medicine clinic on King Street says studies still haven’t proven conclusively whether stretching before or after prevents injury, but some specific links have been made. Some research has found that the amount of flexibility in your hamstring, for one, can predict whether or not you will have an injury.
THINK ONGOING FLEXIBILITY So don’t think in terms of just stretching for a single activity, she advises, think of it as an ongoing flexibility program. “One part of your weekly workout routine should be dedicated to improving flexibility,” says Fraser-Saxena, adding that a runner, for example, might join a yoga class. But you could also just do some deep stretches with no running to follow.
USE WARM UPS AND COOL DOWNS Stretching and running do go together in a certain combination, she says explaining you should use warm ups and cool downs to do it right. If your muscle is cold, stretching lengthens it and creates microscopic tears. Then you start running, so it is contracting. “You’re basically asking it to be strong after you have weakened it,” she explains.
START LIGHT AND FINISH DEEP Best is to do a slow jog for five minutes before stopping to do some light stretching for two minutes (work the hip flexors and calves, holding stretches for 10 to 30 seconds, breathing normally and no bouncing). After your run, walk for 10 minutes to bring your heart rate back down to resting, then you can do some deeper stretching, spending a minute or two per muscle.
totum.ca
9 • SPRING 2008
WINNIPEG
Manitoba Made Downtown Winnipeg gallery features an eclectic collection of work from local artists was made here,” she says, noting that one clay mask artist is from the Netherlands and another studied in Italy. Very few are full-time artists, and most have day jobs, she says. One potter, for example, is a band director and another artist, who makes aboriginal medicine shields, is a social worker.
EXTREME MIX Keepsake’s extreme mix of paintings, photographs, pottery, raku, writing, glass (fused, blown and stained), chalk drawings, pen and ink art, silver and crystal jewelry and soapstone carvings makes visiting the clean, white space a kind of treasure hunt. But it’s not a craft sale, she cautions, explaining that most of the artists are not represented by other galleries and that Keepsakes gives them a place to show their work among contemporaries. EXCHANGE DISTRICT, WINNIPEG / - Joyce WinterSchmidt is a spiritual person. So when a sudden gust blew all her hand-painted greeting cards away during the city’s Fringe Festival, she took it as a sign that she should get some artist friends together and find some indoor space. “Within three days, I had 12 people interested, so I started looking at buildings,” says Winter-Schmidt, whose efforts landed her in the Exchange District at 264 McDermot Ave. where she volunteers as manager for Keepsakes Gallery of Winnipeg, a registered non-profit art gallery. Also helping to manage the cooperative are Fred Beardy and Takashi Iwasaki.
EVERYONE LENDS A HAND Opening in July of 2006, the gallery’s concept is straightforward, says Winter-Schmidt a full-time educational assistant who runs Keepsakes in her spare time (when she isn’t working on theatre productions). Artists displaying work at Keepsakes pay rent based the amount of space they need, or they can choose to contribute to running the gallery by volunteering their time in lieu of paying rent. Others simply have their work sold on consignment. “We operate on a shoestring budget,” says Winter-Schmidt, adding that the group will usually do two theatre productions a year as fundraisers. The recent run of The Vagina Monologues played to a sellout crowd, and in July they will premiere In Someone Else’s Shoes, a series of true local stories. MADE IN MANITOBA With deep ties to the Winnipeg theatre and art communities, Winter-Schmidt has one main criterion when it comes to bringing artists into the gallery: they have to have made their art in Manitoba. “It doesn’t matter where they’re from, as long as their work
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 10
CASUAL ATMOSPHERE Winter-Schmidt has worked hard to keep the space from having a clinical art gallery feel, so there’s no pretension here, she explains. “There’s something really warm about this space,” she says. “You walk in and you hear music, and there’s often coffee brewing.” Music is a big part of the space’s charm. A keyboard is a permanent fixture in the gallery and every second Saturday from 2 to 4 there’s live music and patrons are encouraged to drop by anytime, bring a lunch from the neighbouring Underground Café and enjoy the atmosphere.
keepsakesgallery.ca
Winnipeg artists and supporters (top) gather at the Keepsakes Gallery opening in July 2006 at 264 McDermot Ave. Glass artist Kevin McKay (above) shows the crowd his technique.
TORONTO
BRITISH INVASION Crush Wine Bar leaves the bistro concept for a refreshing take on traditional regional English fare
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - In a city bursting with bistros, Jamieson Kerr has decided to change directions and bring his six-year-old Crush Wine bar away from French fare and over to something more British, changing the menu and the restaurant’s design to reflect this new identity. Here, amid the cherry-red bar stools, pinstripe-suited banquets and white table cloths, you’ll find beef cheeks and chips (slow-cooked tender braised beef on a bed of frites) instead of steak frites as Chef Michael Wilson reinvents a number of traditional English dishes with the use of farm fresh local product. But it’s not gastro pub food, explains Kerr. “It’s traditional regional British cuisine,” says the ex-patriot who, during trips home over the last few years, was continually impressed with the caliber of food served at some of London’s eclectic wine bars. Last year, he and Wilson began planning a renovation and reinvention that sought to bring a number of these refreshed English classics to Toronto diners, combining the new menu with renovated space designed by Ralph Giannone (Terroni on Adelaide East and Le Select Bistro on Wellington West). Having just reopened in April after four weeks of construction, the new space is posh yet cosy and features a larger bar area, paying tribute to the cool Britannia vibe of London wine bars with details like an eight by 12-foot image
of a stadium filled with Manchester United fans, a 30-seat cork bar, a floor to ceiling blackboard, and an inlaid fireplace in the front area. Patrons looking for a quick bite before or after a show can choose from the new bar menu, which offers light fare at modest prices and features items like pickled quails eggs, eccles cake, pork scratchings and deep fried white bait. Some of the main menu’s highlights include Lamb Saddle with Woolwich goat cheese potatoes; Pork Chop with Bubble and Squeak (pan-seared mashed potato, cabbage and leeks in a Dijon cream), and Chicken breast with tarragon gravy. Embracing the slow food movement while reducing the carbon emissions involved in producing his menu, Kerr is building a network of local producers to ensure a steady stream of fresh ingredients. Of course, the wine list is still as extensive as it has been (150 labels), but what’s a pub atmosphere without a pint? To this end, Kerr has tapped into three Canadian brewers for steady access to some of the freshest beer on tap. With 20 stools at the bar, two private dining rooms for parties and its patio open for the season, Crush is expanding its reputation as a stellar cellar to become an equally comfortable place to drop in for a drink and a bite.
crushwinebar.com 11 • SPRING 2008
TORONTO
FROM RAG TRADE TO RICHES Toronto west brokerage team’s tenant work helps make King West Central a where-to-be office node KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - “It was tenants looking for value and an alternative to contemporary office space. And also wanting to do something unique culturally for their employees, you know, bring a new or different energy to their offices,” says Jeff Friedman contemplating the early stages of the Allied Properties portfolio in Toronto. The notion of Class I real estate - the renovated brick and beam style that has become the trademark Allied Properties space - was just beginning to catch on when Friedman and his colleague Chris Vanexan pitched the Allied Properties management team to become the area’s leasing agents. They started leasing space for Allied in 1999, and since then, the duo has placed more than 100 tenants representing over 1 million square feet in their buildings, shared in the company’s 2002 NAIOP win for Office Development of the Year, and helped to make King West Central one of the city’s most sought after office nodes.
FULL FLOOR TENANCIES “Allied was the first landlord in the renovated class marketplace to recognize the opportunity to lease space to full floor tenancies, as most of these buildings were split to multi-tenant floors,” says Friedman, Executive Vice President in CB Richard Ellis’s Toronto downtown office leasing group, explaining that this type of building 10 years ago would have typically serviced the small tenant market. But Allied’s management team saw these spaces as an untapped market for larger tenants looking for alternatives to the city’s financial core, tenants like Indigo Books & Music. Friedman and Vanexan say that at the time, Indigo president Heather Reisman’s decision to move from offices in the financial core to 468 King Street West was a bold one. She was one of the first tenants to recognize the Allied vision for King and Spadina. Toronto brokers Chris Vanexan and Jeff Friedman (right) have worked to place over 100 tenants in Allied Properties buildings at King and Spadina.
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INDIGO THE FIRST IMPACT DEAL “Some of the buildings still housed the rag trade, and the area wasn’t even considered a real office node,” recalls Vanexan, a senior sales associate for CB Richard Ellis. It was the first impact deal for Allied, and now Indigo occupies the entire building. And that’s a theme that repeats itself throughout the portfolio’s short history, he explains. “PC Financial was a similar story. They moved into 439 King Street West taking a floor and a half and now they have three floors,” he says. Vanexan says that whenever space does become vacant, he and Friedman usually know either of a company looking for space in the area or of an existing tenant interested in taking over the space as part of an expansion plan. “They’re sold on the concept and they don’t want to move away from the characteristics that these buildings bring,” says Vanexan. FUTURE EXPECTATIONS “Ten years ago the brick and beam office inventory was approximately 4 million square feet, today approximately 10 million square feet is tracked,” Vanexan says. “This market is not about to grow again since you just can’t build a historical building,” says Friedman. Instead, he expects the market to grow as new A class buildings are built with characteristics that mimic the brick and beam style to which tenants have grown accustomed. “It’s the obvious evolution to the area and it’ll be exciting to watch where the market evolves over the next ten years,” he says.
TORONTO
CONTACT TURNS THIS YEAR’S LENS ON MEMORY AND HISTORY Brassaii hosts opening party as month-long photo fest spreads to street corners, expressways, cafés and museums.
Contact images (from top): Greece, Athens, Acropolis, 1991 by Martin Parr (at Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art); The Entire City Project, 2008 by Michael Awad (at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery); and tree portraits, 1980 by Rodney Graham (along the Gardiner Expressway).
TORONTO / - In the downtown, strange things can happen to you in May. You could step onto a subway car to find all the ads replaced with black and white photos of underground transit scenes from around the world. Images of bicycle lock posts can turn up pasted on the sidewalk of Queen Street West to form an illusion that is an allegory for the passage of time. And you might even drive by 15 large format images of upside down trees affixed to the columns of the Gardiner Expressway near Spadina. Celebrating the photographic image using a combination of public installations, galleries, cafés, stores and museums, the month-long CONTACT photography festival has become an enduring spring ritual. King Street West’s Brassaii hosted the opening party May 2nd and a number of Allied Properties tenants continue to work with the festival, including King Street West’s Nicholas Metivier Gallery, which features Michael Awad’s The Entire City Project, large scale panoramic images that form an objective visual inventory of places in cities like Toronto and Milan. In the east end, at the Queen Richmond Centre, B Espresso is showing Jason Ramsay’s series that confronts the difference between memory and remembrance through images of Venice. But these are just a smattering of the city-wide offerings. There are over 200 venues across the GTA as the city plays host to the work of more than 500 professional photographers - both established and emerging talents. This year’s theme examines the notion of memory and history as the digitalization of photography has made it increasingly easy to record any given moment of our lives. The main exhibition, Between Memory and History: From the Epic to the Everyday, at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), probes relationships that exist between the intimate and the public, between moments of personal significance to events of global resonance that affect each one of us. Ten artists from nine countries exhibit a wide range of images - from the epic to the everyday - and look beyond the headlines to explore private and social histories. For more on the festival, pick up a CONTACT guide or visit www.contactphoto.com
13 • SPRING 2007
MONTREAL
Novel Approach Focused editorial direction and a love of the genre build an international graphic novel success “Now, artists that started with us have four or five books behind them and guys like Chester Brown are full-time graphic novelists,” says Oliveros, referring to the author/artist of the critically acclaimed historical biography Louis Riel. As for what makes a great cartoonist, he says, it’s complex.
A book launch at Drawn and Quarterly’s Bernard Ouest store.
RUE ATLANTIC, MONTREAL / - Chris Oliveros is known for his visual acumen and astute production values, but if you ask him how he built a stable of top-notch graphic novelists and parlayed an interest in comics into an international publishing concern, it’s pretty straightforward. “We just publish what we think is good,” says the head of Drawn and Quarterly at 400 Rue Atlantic. D+Q started life as a periodical company but soon grew into a book publisher with over 20 titles a year and an extraordinary backlist of perennial best-selling graphic novels. Although Oliveros has run the company since 1989, he attributes Drawn & Quarterly's recent success to the work of several key employees, notably Peggy Burns and Tom Devlin, both of whom left New York City in 2003 to move to Montreal to work for D+Q. Under Burn's watch as the company's director of marketing, Drawn & Quarterly's books have been lauded by publications across the continent, from The New York Times to The Globe & Mail. As creative director, Devlin has brought many key projects to the company, including the best-selling Moomin books by legendary Finnish author Tove Jansson.
COMPLEX STORIES AND MATURE THEMES Graphic novels are essentially hard-bound comic books that explore mature themes using lengthy complex story lines as would a novel. They first appeared in the late 1970s and were further popularized when Art Spiegelman’s won a Pulitzer Prize for Maus in 1986. Long a fan of the genre, Oliveros published the first edition of Drawn and Quarterly, a hard-bound compilation featuring original work from local, national and international artists, in 1989. There were various incarnations since then, and the company has stopped producing the quarterly because the demand for graphic novels has grown steadily in the last ten years. COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 14
LIKE DIRECTING A FILM “You have to be a very good artist and know how to tell a story,” he says, explaining that choosing between using visuals and dialogue to advance the plot is akin to being a film director. Some of the works include war comics-journalism from Joe Sacco, travelogues by Guy Delisle, a charming teenage memoir by Michel Rabagliatti as well as translations of European masters Dupuy & Berberian and the French best seller Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie. Always with an eye to the international (many of its customers in fact are in the U.S.) Oliveros is publishing translations from authors like Japan’s Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Israel’s Rutu Modan. RETAIL STORE OPEN Beyond the graphic novels, the firm also publishes an ongoing comic series and sketchbooks from iconic luminaries like R. Crumb and Chris Ware. And it has even gotten into the distribution game opening its own store at 211 Bernard Ouest in the Mile End neighbourhood. Initially it was just a showroom for its products and to host book launches and other events, but to Oliveros’ surprise, it took off. Now the space sells graphic novels from other publishers, graphic design books, and there’s even a fiction section.
drawnandquarterly.com
TORONTO
Luminato to Shine Again in June Dancing in the streets, world premieres and stirring theatre events mark this year’s line up QUEEN STREET EAST, TORONTO - / Building on last year’s success, Luminato, whose offices are located in the Queen Richmond Centre, is shaping up to be as varied and spectacular an event as it was last June. For ten days, the city is given a taste of international arts and creativity with world premieres and large-scale public events fast becoming the hallmark of this culture-to-the-city initiative. There’s a lot happening from June 6 to 15, but look to the opening and closing weekends for some great free events. The opening night concert at Yonge-Dundas Square also marks the start of the dance series where live bands celebrate different musical genres each night combining early-evening lessons to make these the ultimate outdoor dance parties for all ages and skill levels. Things kick off with a live swing orchestra Friday night. A little west of there on Saturday, you’ll find McCaul Street closed from OCAD to Queen Street as the area hosts a retrospective on 70s and 80s Punk and New Wave, both in music and in art. In the afternoon, head to Nathan Philips Square to funk down with bands like the James Brown Soul Generals. Paid events include a South Asian production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring 23 dancers, street acrobats, martial arts experts, musicians, actors and performers from across India and Sri Lanka; the National Theatre of Scotland’s critically acclaimed Black Watch, about the legendary Scottish regiment and its role in Iraq; and the Alberta Ballet’s The Fiddle and the Drum, which features paintings by Joni Mitchell.
PHOTO: Tristram Kenton
PHOTO: Manuel Harlan
Clockwise from top: A south pacific version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Morris Day at Nathan Philips Square’s Funk Fest; and Emun Elliott in the Award-winning Scottish play Black Watch.
luminato.com
CORPORATE MASSAGE Therapy Service Offers Employees Onsite Stress Busting TORONTO / - With employee stress levels on the rise and energy drink sales going through the roof, it’s hardly surprising companies are seeking new ways to ensure productivity without increasing worker burn out. On-site massage therapy services have been a popular solution to this problem and a growing component of attraction and retention programs for a lot of firms, but finding the right provider can be tricky. “Touch is a very particular thing,” agrees Daphne Jacobs, a massage therapist with 15 years experience whose service is expanding to work with downtown Toronto businesses. Offering reflexology (the massaging of pressure points in the feet, hands and ears to improve overall health) and aromatherapy treatments, in addition to regular shiatsu massages, healing massages and deep-tissue body work, Jacobs is taking her practice to downtown workers in the form of an on-site service offered on a scheduled basis. “It’s not just one type of massage, or just aromatherapy, it’s a combination of healing techniques that I’ve refined over the years,” she explains, adding that a short relaxation massage releases tension and calms the nervous system, leaving employees feeling recharged and refreshed. Connecting directly with business owners and human resources departments, Jacobs is consulting with firms to learn more about their employees’ needs and how best to manage stress levels. For more information email daphnejacobs@rogers.com
15 • SPRING 2008
WINNIPEG
MOTION AND EMOTION Winnipeg media firm specializes in creating brands that move EXCHANGE DISTRICT, WINNIPEG / - While the notion of media convergence has many of us scratching our heads, wondering whether to get a plasma TV or just a large flat-screen monitor, Simon Burgess and Lori Dyck saw it as an opportunity in motion graphics. Both left their jobs at CanWest Global in 2005, Burgess a producer and Dyck a graphic designer on the interactive side, and later teamed up with a motion graphics expert from Corus Entertainment, Adam Duguay, to form Elemental Motion Media. “When we started, our focus was broadcast television and websites since we saw those two worlds merging,” says Burgess who worked as a copywriter, web designer as well as in television commercial production and long form video. Elemental also does print advertising, but motion graphics in both web and broadcast are what form the bulk of its work. “You’re basically creating emotion by using motion,” says Burgess. “That’s the strength of motion graphics over, say print.” A traditional ad agency will start with print, he explains, but Elemental thinks in terms of movement, so the team will conceive of how a message – usually an emotion or
WHAT ARE MOTION GRAPHICS? Motion graphics use video and/or animation technology to create a sense of motion or of transforming appearance. Typically, it’s seen as elements such as an advertiser’s logo jumping onto the TV screen to flip around in three dimensional form, or at the start of a television show when the program title drops into focus and swirls out of the frame. Motion graphics are as much a part of broadcast as they are web these days and are designed to give vitality to what would otherwise be a very static few broadcast seconds.
how you are supposed to feel about a product or service – can best be conveyed using video and graphic elements. Telling a story without words is how Burgess describes it. And often a campaign will work back to a print concept later. A recent campaign for local radio station HOT 103’s The Ace Burpee Show began with a series of short TV spots documenting ‘behind-the-scenes’ at a photo shoot. An accompanying billboard campaign shows the resultant photos. The viewer has a sense of story, of knowing that the photo is part of a larger narrative, explains Burgess. Based out of a 2,000-square-foot loft at 250 McDermot Avenue, Elemental Motion Media has also animated petroglyphs for the motion graphics packaging of the inaugural Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards; developed the trailer and graphics for a Geminiaward-winning documentary on hockey brawls; and regularly produces motion graphics for The Brick’s national television campaigns. The television work is designed to make the viewer feel a certain way towards the product while the web component provides the information and further detail, says Burgess. And with the technology to produce high quality broadcast content becoming increasingly more accessible to smaller enterprises, he says it comes down to the creativity of the people involved. “It’s something we take pride in,” he says. “We’re creating ads and special effects that are powerful and emotional and that have a national level caliber to them.”
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