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Volume 25 Winter 2006
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Liberty Village • King West • King West Central • Entertainment District • St. Lawrence Market Area • Queen Richmond East
Photo: Burtynsky
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New Edition Kid’s Publisher Scholastic Makes a Home on King Street West
3 Metivier Gallery Gathers Momentum
5 Make CONTACT: Photo Fest is Coming
8 Picture the Past: King & Spadina Then and Now
Plus: 11 Things to do Before Spring
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Are You Experienced? Bronskill designs all manner of experiences in the realm of marketing
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erging interactive experiences with marketing, The Bronskill Group at 662 King Street West is in the marketing communications business, but in a neighbourhood crowded with advertising companies, it’s entirely inaccurate to refer to this 20-year-old firm as an agency. The “Group” consists of three operating companies, namely Bronskill & Co., Olympic Spirit Toronto’s cycling exhibit. B.a.A.M. Productions and InViVo Communications Inc. All-Star Game graced Toronto. Since “We are a design communications then, the company has evolved to be company with three major areas of a leader in designing, developing and expertise,” explains Reg Bronskill, producing unique event and destination the Group’s president. concepts, engaging audiences and Working in event development, activating partnerships. experiential design, partnership marketing, entertainment production and multi-media development, the three Unparallelled Production Expertise: companies employ more than 40 staffers. B.a.A.M. Productions The Group’s B.a.A.M. Productions Creating Custom Experiences: is an entertainment and design Bronskill & Co industry resource that provides design development and project management An internationally recognized expertise not only to Bronskill & Co, experience design firm specializing in but to producers and designers who are creating custom sport, culture and looking for a team who can get it done. heritage facilities and partnership “B.a.A.M. is all about the “How” marketing programs throughout North [of producing an experience],” says America, Bronskill & Co. is credited Bronskill. “Its role will vary depending with the design and development of upon the project size and the design the first interactive fan event in 1991 team resources” he says, explaining that when the Major League Baseball
this may include design development, CAD services, base building or media integration as well as project management or production and construction services (local venue coordination, installation management, and turnkey construction management). B.a.A.M. is currently working with a Philadelphia landscaping firm as part of a project team redesigning attractions at the Metro Toronto Zoo.
Animating Science: InViVo Communications The biotech and medical device market is often challenged by its inability to express complex ideas simply in order to attract investors or inform institutional buyers. InViVo is a leader in the scientific visual communications market combining high quality medical animation with new media tools to develop premium communications for pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech firms as well as advertising agencies. This 15-person firm employs highly skilled medical illustrators and multimedia designers with scientific backgrounds to create customized animation sequences and media-rich programs. The team’s expertise enables it to accurately represent complicated biological and scientific processes with clarity and brand consistency.
100% of our recipients are under-nourished; 40% are under 18.
Join us at the Calphalon Culinary Center for lunch... and support:
When: Thursday, February 23rd, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Where: Calphalon Culinary Center, 425 King St. West at Spadina Ave. What: A delicious hot pasta dish, served with salad and fresh bread.
Why: To support Second Harvest, a charity whose mission is to help feed hungry people by picking up excess fresh food and delivering it daily to social service agencies in Toronto. How: R.S.V.P. to 416-847-2212
A minimum suggested donation of $5 is requested for the lunch. Charitable registration number 13386 5477 RR 0001
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Bricks, Beams and Bookshelves Publisher Scholastic’s move to King Street West gives staffers more collaborative space Scholastic Canada’s co-president Iole Lucchese.
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espite the whirr of cordless drills and a cluster of workers finishing the installation of the lobby’s massive bookshelves, the space on the second floor of 604 King Street West is becoming easy to recognize as a book publisher’s office. And while signage isn’t up yet, the giant bright red stuffed dog in the lobby, a.k.a. Clifford, can mean only one thing... this is Scholastic Canada’s territory. One of the country’s leading publishers and distributors of children’s books and educational materials, Scholastic Canada’s editorial, marketing and sales office at 602 King Street West is being built to accommodate as many bookshelves and work surfaces as is possible. “We have to be able to lay proofs out and we need easy access to tons of books,” explains Scholastic Canada’s co-president Iole Lucchese.
80 Canadian Titles a Year Incorporated in 1957, Scholastic Canada Ltd. evolved from the original Scholastic company founded in 1920 by
M.R. Robinson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, into a firm that now publishes more than 750 new hardcover, paperback and novelty books each year. Its list includes the phenomenally successful publishing properties Captain Underpants®, the beloved series Clifford The Big Red Dog®, I Spy™ and The Magic School Bus®, as well as licensed properties such as Barney®, Star Wars® and Scooby Doo™. The Canadian publishing division publishes 80 titles a year, including books by Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko, and
(an Allied Properties tenant), as well as close to suppliers and other publishers. The 604 King Street West locale, some 35,000 square feet of space over two floors, has more enclosed offices and slightly less space per person than the previous location, but its glass walls and Italian furniture let the natural light pour into the brick and beam environs from three sides of this former warehouse (located on a corner, it has lots of access to light). “It’s such spectacular space and it has a lot of character,” she says pointing to a
Barbara Reid as well as the successful Dear Canada series. With close to half a century in the Canadian market, the firm’s marketing, sales and editorial departments have come to outgrow their space in the 905.
lightly damaged brick accent wall she asked a work crew not to repair. “I really see this as a cleaned up version of an old brick and beam building,” she says, adding that the sleek lines of the ultramodern furniture act as a counterpoint to the rough edge of the warehouse aesthetic. Plans are in the works to paint larger-than-life portraits of some of the company’s most popular characters on the white partition walls. It’s a cast of personalities that stands to grow as Scholastic Inc. recently published all novelizations, coloring and activity books, picture and storybooks based on DreamWorks’ Shrek 2™ and Shark Tale™. Some of its other bestsellers include: How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, No, David!, Inkheart, Chasing Vermeer, and The Day My Butt Went Psycho.
Close to the Action Lucchese says the firm had always hoped to move its editorial and sales staff to a downtown location, given that most were Toronto residents doing a reverse commute to Markham. What’s more, this location puts them within blocks of one of their largest trade customers, Indigo Books
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THE ART OF CONVERGENCE An active art market and a burgeoning community helps King West gallery owner bring people together
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ast September Nicholas Metiver invited a few clients, friends, artists and acquaintances to celebrate the 3,500-square-foot gallery’s one-year anniversary. When 500 people showed up for the evening, Metivier knew his King Street West operation had generated some real excitement in an art market more alive than it has been in decades. “We just thought we’d have a good time,” he says of the event, “we didn’t know it would be like that. It was wonderful.” But the British-born Metivier’s enthusiasm is rooted in more than just a good party. A jovial and robust figure, Metivier seems genuinely fond of connecting people, a trait that is perhaps the essential ingredient to running a good gallery.
A Growing Talent Roster His program this year consists of about 30 percent photography and 70 percent painting, sculpture and drawing. Representing 30 artists, Metivier’s talent roster includes photographers Edward Burtynsky, Michael Awad and Robert Polidori, as well as painters James Lahey and John Scott, and sculptor Gord Peteran. “In the year since he came to King St., Nicholas has made a significant ripple in the art world and is now probably one of the most desirable galleries – both from an artist’s and an art buyer’s point of view,” says photographer Burtynsky who has worked with the gallery owner for 13 years. Art a Part of Life Metivier came to Toronto from England with his parents at the age of 17. His father, a veterinarian, dabbled a little in sculpture, but art was neither revered nor ignored in his household. “It was simply a part of life,” Metivier explains.
Community Chronicle • Winter 2006
The experience that held perhaps the greatest impact for him came when he took a year away from studying history and English literature to live in Paris. “I spent a lot of time in museums, saw a lot of exhibits like Modigliani, and Henri Cartier-Bresson – I must have gone to that show five times,” he recalls. After his studies, he worked as a teacher for a short time before taking a job at the Mira Godard Gallery building crates and making coffee. After 22 years there, much of it as director, he set out on his own and landed on King Street West.
A Gallery District While there are no other galleries on the block other than Metivier’s, there are still a number in the neighbourhood, at 80 Spadina Avenue, 401 Richmond Street West as well as on Tecumseh and on Niagara, not to mention Queen Street West. “It’s not that broad an area for people to walk it, and it’s becoming a very established gallery district,” says Metivier, who as a board member for the annual CONTACT photo festival, helped to establish King Street West as the event’s official headquarters. “CONTACT is a democratic celebration of photography in Toronto,” he
says. “It gives anybody the opportunity to put their stuff up in a garage, a laundromat or in a restaurant – but last year it was decided to give the festival a focus and really engage the community with CONTACT.”
Art for Heart Program Beyond his efforts with CONTACT, Metivier has also undertaken to help raise funds for an art school in Regent Park. The school, Art for Heart, operates out of a church basement and provides a place for neighbourhood kids to create art. It benefits from some association with the AGO, but could use more funding, that’s why Metivier is organizing a charity golf tournament at the Glencairn golf club in Caledon on May 8th. “If I wasn’t running a gallery, I’d be playing golf,” he confides with a laugh, adding that there has never been a golf tournament in the Toronto art world. “For my industry, it’s a first.” While there are plenty of reasons to enjoy a day out on the links for a good cause, Metivier also recognizes its importance as a place where philanthropists, artists, dealers and collectors can converge. “Really, it’s about getting folks together,” he says.
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Neighbourhood Watch
CONTACT 2006 Sets Sights on Globalization
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ow in its tenth year, the month-long photography festival beginning May 1st will once again house many of its feature exhibits in the King and Spadina area where banners, billboards and other public displays (plans are in the works to run nightly projections in the courtyard between Brassaii and Crush showing some of the festival’s highlights). But as is tradition, the festival is a citywide celebration of photographic arts and works will be exhibited throughout the downtown in galleries, restaurants and stores as well as in Queen Street bus shelters and in some subway stations. This year the fest sets its lens on globalization. “I think the still image has a role in defining what’s happening to society and the world at large through globalism as this force takes a greater footing in the world,” says Edward Burtynsky, a photographer and CONTACT board member discussing this year’s theme, Imaging a Global Culture. Through exhibitions, public installations, lectures, films and events, the festival will explore works from around the world that address environmental change, urbanization, social and cultural communications as well as technology and economic exchange. www.contactphoto.com.
Banners on King West to Chronicle Lives Working Women Exploring the lives and roles of working women from 1908 to 1979, each banner of Condé + Beveridge’s Work in Progress (1980) will represent various decades using a different woman posed in a kitchen in which the props change with each period. Each image has a window into which a documentary photo indicates the politics of the period, a calendar that indicates the predominant type of work in which women were employed and a family photo that indicates the family structure of the time (from extended family to a single mom).
1928 (Winnipeg General Strike) from the series ‘Work In Progress’, Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge, 1980.
1919 (Soviet Farm Collective) from the same series.
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11 Things to do Before Spring Poised to rival any other of the city’s “top ten thing to do” lists… this one goes up to 11. In case you haven’t noticed, we are in the dead of winter. Granted, spring conditions prevail, but as we’re still short on daylight, extracurricular activities tend towards the great indoors. So, if you’re biding you time before the budding season begins, here are a few suggested activities. 1. Get Wrapped. Exfoliate, detoxify and get deeply clean with a Serenity Body Wrap at Verity on Queen East. Then hop in the club’s energizing pool that uses ozone instead of chlorine to give you a “fountain of youth” type experience. Verity.ca 2. Have a Margarita. Hernando’s Hideaway on Wellington East offers a host of Mexi-Cali treats – but it’s best known as THE spot for the city’s best Margaritas.
3. Get Book Smart. Nicholas Hoare Books on Front Street East runs a Books & Brunch series Sundays at the King Edward Hotel. The February line-up includes a talk from Margaret Atwood as well as an event featuring all the Charles Taylor Prize nominees (for Canada’s best non-fiction) on the eve of announcing the winner. (James Chatto (The Greek For Love), J.B. MacKinnon (Dead Man in Paradise), Laura MacDonald (Curse of the Narrows), and John Terpstra (The Boys) will all be there) www.nicholashoare.com
4. Go Dancing. Swing jazz and jump blues are the bands’ specialties at the Reservoir Lounge at 52 Wellington St. East. Live music every night but Sunday.
Verity on Queen East
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TOTUM 5. Sweat your Yoga. Diesel Fitness at King and Spadina has its own brand of hot yoga is Hot Box Yoga, practiced in a studio heated to a sweaty 90ºF with three fireplaces. www.dieselfitness.ca 6. “Espress” Yourself. B espresso on Queen East has a true midday soul warmer with its Espresso Mochacino. Made with world-renowned Illy espresso beans, Italian cocoa powder and topped with thick foamed milk, it’s a quick pick-me-up on a dreary February day. 7. Improve your Golf. Totum’s new golf clinic takes advantage of that time winter represents between your last and first tee-offs to help you swing better. Services include golf-specific muscle testing, posture control as well as core and balance training. www.totum.ca 8. Inspire your Cooking. King West’s Calphalon Culinary Centre has a Chef ’s Tasting Menu class in March that will show you how to create the sort of posh meal normally enjoyed at only the finest restaurants. This stylish tasting menu includes Poached Oyster with Wilted Spinach and Side Bacon Crisps, Proscuitto-wrapped Monkfish with Swiss Chard Ragout, Maple-glazed Quail Breast Drizzled with Carrot Jus, and Oven-roasted Pear drenched in Toasted Pecan Sabayon. www.calphlaonculinarycenter.com 9. Test Drive a Mini in the Snow (or rain). Known for its able handling and rally-car heritage, the Mini sounds like it was built for winter driving (or at least for driving in Montreal). Request a test by dropping into the King Street West location, calling, or filling out an online request. www.downtown.mini.ca
10. Take a Turkish Bath. For $30, you can spend as much time as you want in a co-ed Turkish Bath at Hammam Spa on King West. Essentially a steam room, the Hammam, i.e., Turkish bath, pumps in steam infused with essential oils. www.hammamspa.ca 11. Break for Brunch. Whether you like sautéed bananas with your brioche French toast or you want smoked bacon on your BLT with fried egg and fries, Brassaii’s weekend brunch menu gives midday favourites a twist.
TIPS
BRING IT BACK DOWN TO THE BASICS with Intensity, Breathing and Good Technique Everyone reaches a fitness plateau at different times, he explains, but it’s a safe bet that if you’ve been doing the same workout for nine months, it’s time to increase the intensity. “Everybody thinks they’re working out hard, but they’re not. And you can only find this out by working with a trainer because a trainer will push you,” says Rolande Semprie, vice president of Totum Life Science. Not only should you perform every exercise using proper form, you should also use proper breathing technique. He suggests exhaling through the entire range of the movement rather than exhaling only as you exert force. Semprie uses the bench press to illustrate the importance of breathing and good technique:
• Good technique involves adopting structurally sound poses that don’t unnecessarily stress the wrong muscles, he explains. With the bench press, if you put your feet on the bench, you force your spine into a natural arch, its strongest position.
• Keep the weight above your chest and exhale as you bring the weight down to within one to two inches of your chest or until your elbows are at 90-degree angles. “In this position, the structural integrity of your shoulder position is best. If you bring it down too low, you start stress your shoulders,” he says, explaining that you should really be working your chest muscles. Exhale as you push the weight back up.
Sign up for a free one-on-one session Totum is offering a free personal training session to any Allied Properties tenant who wants to experience one-on-one fitness consulting and learn more about intensity, breathing and good technique.
www.totum.ca
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Picturing the Past and Present City of Toronto Archives
The Samuel Buildings at King and Spadina ‘linked’ to U of T and ROM
Corner of King and Spadina circa 1913.
Corner of King and Spadina January 2006.
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Published four times a year by: Allied Properties REIT 602 King Street West, Main floor Toronto, ON M5V 1M6
Editor: Yvan Marston yvan@gravitydesigninc.com
hile the city archives cannot confirm the exact date this historic photo was taken at the corner of Spadina and King looking West, we do know that the Samuel and Benjamin Building, at 468 King Street West, was built in 1913. It’s the second building turn-of-the-century clothing manufacturer Samuel Benjamin and Company commissioned in the area. The first was built in 1908 just across the street at 431 King Street West, whose ground floor houses the Calphalon Culinary Centre. A sixth storey was added in 1913. Both buildings are said to contribute contextually to the character of King West Central as it developed into an industrial area in the early 20th century. As it stands, these buildings have been recommended for inclusion on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties. Also noteworthy, Sigmund Samuel, the co-owner of the manufacturing firm, was a noted philanthropist who funded a library at the University of Toronto as well as the Canadiana Wing of the ROM.
Design/Layout: Gravity Design Inc. scott@gravitydesigninc.com
Community Chronicle • Winter 2006
www.alliedpropertiesreit.com