Project

Location:

OWN Co-operative, 115 The Esplanade, Toronto, ON M5E (located on the exterior east facing wall)

Disciplines:

Interdisciplinary Arts, Storytelling, Visual Arts

The St. Lawrence Co-ops Public Artwork

by Red Dress Productions

About:

More than 50 children and elders joined together over several months in 2009 to create this community engaged public artwork. We told stories, brainstormed, and talked about the environment, migrations, values of co-operative housing, and urban development and changes in St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood, and how this might be visually expressed. We produced individual and group sketches. With this arts-based research material, Anna Camilleri produced a design based upon a shared vision. The artistic leadership team included lead artists Anna Camilleri and Tristan R. Whiston, apprentices Kelsey Desmond and Angelica Batalla, and community outreach worker Randy Padmore.

The St. Lawrence Co-ops Community Mosaic, a project of the Co-op Housing Federation of Toronto in partnership with Red Dress Productions, thanks the citizens of Toronto and Ontario for their support through the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council, St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre, and the OWN Housing Co-operative. Special thanks to Tom Clement, Maria LaVida, Esther Forde, Frank Roias, Dave Hains, Rob Haas, and the OWN Housing Co-operative Board of Directors.

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The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT) is a member-supported organization representing more than 45,000 people living in more than 160 non-profit housing co-operatives located in Toronto and York Region.

http://www.coophousing.com