Cynthia Myk y tyshyn

Richmond

update

Summer 2016 Volume 23, Issue 2

The 401 Richmond Update is a community-building

initiative of Urbanspace Property Group. The newsletter
began in June 1994 and over the years has documented
the eclectic activities and fascinating people who make
a home in our historic factory in downtown Toronto.
If you would like to be added to the 401 Update
mailing list please email: update@401richmond.net

401 Richmond Ltd. Staff

Bob Chandler, Security
Nestor Diona, Maintenance
Bogale Gebreyes, Security & Maintenance
Rebecca Hubert, Executive Assistant
Pamela Lampkin, Janitorial Services
Ashlee Marcus, Building Maintenance Manager
Cynthia Mykytyshyn, Events & Exhibitions Manager
Redentor Paragas, Maintenance
Mel Patenaude, Office Administrator
Vicki Rodgers, Chief Executive Officer
Ronel Ruiz, Maintenance
Luisa Scofano, Office Manager
Brian Silliphant, Maintenance
Greg Spooner, Parking Attendant & Security
Renato Villanueva, Maintenance
Margaret Zeidler, Founder

Newsletter
Printer is ISO 14001 certified.
Cynthia Mykytyshyn,
Editor
Lisa Kiss Design (Studio 435)
Warrens Waterless Printing

COVER IMAGE
Image of Jane Jacobs Typewriter
by Cynthia Mykytyshyn

Published by:
Urbanspace Property Group
401 Richmond St. W., Studio 111
Toronto, ON Canada M5V 3A8
tel 416-595-5900 fax 416-595-5904
Printer is carbonzero certified.
www.401richmond.net

Printer is ISO 14001 certified.

Printer is carbonzero certified.

Printed on Rolland Enviro 100.

Richmond

update
Summer 2016 Volume 23, Issue 2

MOVING ON
Musideum (Studio 133) has closed its
doors as owner Donald Quan sets out
on new creative adventures.

Richmond

Sign up for monthly Whats On updates

to your inbox at www.401richmond.net
Big Soul Productions presents The Guilt
Free Zone with Derek Miller (far left)

news

on the cover

tenant profile

spotted &
applauded

listings

press check

THE BACK PAGE

Alison Rose with

Stephen Hawking

when alison met stephen

Alison Rose of Inigo Films (Studio 213) met famed
theoretical physicist, and fan, Stephen Hawking,
just after the opening of her recently acclaimed film
STARMEN, a documentary centered around the
extraordinary friendship forged between a group of
influential astronomers.

open studio welcomes

cape dorset artist

Tanja-Tiziana, NOW Magazine

news

Donald Quan

cond and beveridge

takeover 401
Numerous tenant galleries at 401, including Urbanspace
Gallery, Trinity Square Video (Studio 121), Prefix
Institute of Contemporary Art (Studio 124), A Space
Gallery (Studio 110), and YYZ Artists Outlet (Studio
140), recently collaborated with curator Jim Miller to
showcase a career retrospective for famed Canadian
artist-activists Karl Beveridge and Carol Cond.

Open Studio (Studio 104), in partnership with Dorset

Fine Arts, recently hosted Inuit artist Tim Pitsiulak for
a print-making residency. Pitsiulak created 2 beautiful
drawings-turned screenprints, and hopes to bring his
new knowledge to share with the artist community in
Cape Dorset, Nunavut.

well miss musideum

After 12 successful years, Musideum has closed its
doors at 401 Richmond. Owner Donald Quan, explains,
Although I am very sad to announce this, and after giving
it much consideration and thought, it is a decision that
heralds a new positive, healthful, personal, and creative
direction for me. We wish you all the best, Donald!

Tim Pitsiulak

Carol Cond and Karl Beveridge, Overtime

Cynthia Myk y t yshyn

on the
cover
The ideas and influence of celebrated urban thinker Jane Jacobs are at the core of 401 Richmond. In
honour of what would have been her 100th birthday, Janes son, Jim Jacobs, lovingly curated a special
exhibition in Urbanspace Gallery that offered an intimate look into the personal history of this beloved author,
writer, and activist. The exhibition featured never-before-seen items from Janes home, including furniture,
her typewriter, original manuscripts, objects from Janes personal museum, and newly rediscovered
photographs. We are thrilled to have shared in such a wonderful celebration of Janes life!
Above: Jim Jacobs and his wife Pat at Urbanspace Gallery

401 restoration
As part of our ongoing efforts
to prepare the north east lower
level for new occupants, our
maintenance team has been hard
at work carefully restoring the
original windows that line our
eastern laneway and parking lot.
We want to give a special shout
out to Reden Paragas for his care
and skill in bringing the windows
back to their former glory in
addition to stripping and
refinishing a beautiful antique
door in the new studio for
The Station (LL01)!!
Thanks, Reden!

tenant profile

Left to right:
James Kinistino, Jay Brant, Emma Givera,
Laura Milliken, Melissa Jim, PJ Thornton

BIG SOUL Studio B106

Laura Milliken and Jennifer Podemski recognized early
on the significant need for better representation of
indigenous people and stories in popular media. Driven
by their passion and youthful optimism, in 1999 the two
co-founded Big Soul Productions (Studio B106), an
award-winning television and film production company
committed to creating opportunities for aboriginal people
at all levels of the Canadian film and television industry.
Laura Milliken, now President of Big Soul Productions
since Jennifer moved on to other projects, took some time
to chat with us about Big Soul and the role it plays in the
industry today. Given that aboriginal people are greatly
underrepresented in the field, one of Big Souls aims is to
create both technical and creative capacity in the Canadian
film and television industry for indigenous people through
training programs and strategic hiring practices. Laura
explains, If we want our stories told accurately and want
our people represented accurately, then we need to be
involvedI feel very strongly about hiring and training
Indigenous people in all roles on our productions. I would
have little interest in operating otherwise.
Laura recalls the challenges of starting her own company.
Of course, we had no idea what we were doing, Laura
muses, we had no office or staff or cash. Honestly I look
back and marvel at what we did. We ended up making 39
episodes of [our first series, The Seventh Generation] in
one tiny little studio on Duncan Street, with only a couple
of first and second generation Macs. She says there
4

was much to learn, but passion mixed with youth and a

bit of naivety, made all the difference. Its like starting
to ski when youre very young, she explains, its easier
because you dont really know what you have to fear so
you just careen down that hill full speed and take the
tumbles with the triumphs.
Since then, Big Soul has had an impressive seventeen
years of successful projects ranging from television series,
to feature films, to music videos, to animated series, making
it a leader in aboriginal content programming. One of their
first productions, Moccasin Flats (featuring an original
score by 401 tenant Donald Quan) was nominated for
3 Gemini Awards, and Laura credits that project with
launching them into serious contention in the Canadian
film and television landscape. Big Soul takes pride in
the quality of their productions and offers a wide range
of services for all levels of production, like specialized
equipment and creative support including editing, filming,
design, graphics, digital media management, photography,
marketing and events, writing, and producing.
Big Soul is currently preparing for their second season
of The Guilt Free Zone, a variety series starring two-time
Juno award winner, Derek Miller. Filming begins very soon,
complete with 39 music, dance and comedy performances
the week of June 6 to 10 at Revival Studios. Anyone
interested in viewing a taping of the performers can email
bigsoulproductions@gmail.com to be put on the list.
Visit www.bigsoul.net for more information.

spotted & applauded

Leah Garnett at
Red Head Gallery

Urbanspace Gallery

meetup Tours
led by William Huffman and Izik Levy

Astrid Ho at Open Studio

William Huffman at YYZ

Prefix ICA

Darren Rigo
Gallery 44s (Studio 120) Head of
Membership and Facilities, was recently
spotlighted in the popular arts blog
booooooom for his recent photographic
series titled A Funny Thing.

Myseum of Toronto
(Studio 384) hosted its inaugural
festival Myseum Intersections this past
March. The festival is hosted in venues
all over Toronto and presents a mix
of historic and contemporary issues
through exhibits, events, and interactive community experiences aimed at
inspiring a deeper appreciation of the
richness of the city.

Emma Donoghue
The award-winning Irish-Canadian
playwright, literary historian, novelist,

and screenwriter, donated her Golden

Box Office Award from Telefilm Canada,
a prize of $20,000, to imagineNATIVE
Film & Media Arts Festival (Studio 349)
crediting their crucial work promoting
Indigenous cultural production in a
range of media not only in Canada but
worldwide.

Vtape
(Studio 452) recently won the Project
Support Award of $20,000 from the
Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts
which will assist in the renovation of their
fourth floor space, to create a climate
controlled, barrier-free arts space. At
its heart will be a newly built Media-Arts
Research and Exhibition common.
top to bottom (left): Selfie by Darren Rigo; Jason Ryle,
Emma Donoghue and Audrey Rochette at the Golden
Box Office Awards

listings

June to August 2016

The Listings Board is your opportunity to communicate

with other tenants and keep them informed about what is
happening in your organization. If you are having a sale,
exhibition, or event you would like advertised, email details
to update@401richmond.net. Listings are open to all tenants.
DEADLINEFORNEXTISSUE: Friday, July 15, 2016

GALLERY DIRECTORY
A Space Gallery (Studio 110)
Contact 416-979-9633 www.aspacegallery.org
Abbozzo Gallery (Studio 128)
Contact 416-260-2220 www.abbozzogallery.com
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Studio 120)
Contact 416-979-3941 www.gallery44.org
Open Studio (Studio 104)
Contact 416-504-8238 www.openstudio.on.ca
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art (Studio 124)
Contact 416-591-0357 www.prefix.ca
Red Head Gallery (Studio 115)
Contact 416-504-5654 www.redheadgallery.org
TAG (Tangled Art Gallery) (Studio 122)
Contact: 647-725-5064 www.tangledarts.org
Trinity Square Video (Studio 121)
Contact 416-593-1332 www.trinitysquarevideo.com
Urbanspace Gallery (Studio 117)
Contact 416-595-5900 www.urbanspacegallery.ca
Vtape Video Gallery (Studio 452)
Contact 416-351-1317 www.vtape.org
yumart Gallery (Studio B-20)
Contact 647-447-9274 www.yumart.ca
YYZ Artists Outlet (Studio 140)
Contact 416-598-4546 www.yyzartistsoutlet.org

continues to JUNE 25
A Space Gallery
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
Trinity Square Video
Urbanspace Gallery
YYZ Artists Outlet
401 Richmond Front Lounge
Public Exposures: the art-activism of cond + beveridge
(19762016)
continues to JULY 8
TAG (Tangled Art Gallery)
Persimmon Blackbridge: Constructed Identities
continues to JULY 16
YYZ Artists Outlet
Cindy Ji Hye Kim: The Cops and Robbers Task
Maggie Groat: Functionals Also Wonderings
continues to JULY 30
Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art
Rodney Graham: Jack of All Trades
Presented as a primary exhibition of
the Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival.

JUNE 4 25
yumart gallery
Deirdre Tara Whelan: Leviathan
JUNE 9 JULY 2
Abbozzo Gallery
Erin Rothstein: Amuse Bouche
Opening: Thursday June 9, 58 pm
JUNE 17 JULY 16
Open Studio
Mario Doucette and Liza Eurich:
Visiting Artists Residency Exhibition
Jae Lee: Discourse
Beyond Paper: Group Exhibition
Artist Talks: Friday June 17, 67 pm
Opening Reception: Friday June 17, 79 pm
JUNE 24 JULY 16
The Red Head Gallery
Nancy Anne McPhee: Moon Space Satellite
JULY 2 23
yumart gallery
Lee Lamothe: We Are Mad Collages of Each Other

Ian Mackay
at The Red
Head Gallery
to June 18

EXHIBITIONS
continues to June 11
Open Studio
Stephanie Cormier: Toolbox in the Head
Jacob Whibley: Imperfect Aspect
Karen Curry: The Edge
Book | Print: Group Exhibition
continues to JUNE 18
The Red Head Gallery
Ian Mackay: A Form of Remembering

JULY 8 SEPTEMBER 3
Urbanspace Gallery
Park People: Making Connections
JULY 9 AUGUST 6
Abbozzo Gallery
Project + Feature Galleries: Elaine Clarfield Gitalis:
Patterning Nature
Main Gallery: Rotating Group Exhibition
JULY 30 AUGUST 13
yumart gallery
Group Exhibition: 4th Annual Summer Salon
AUGUST 5 19
Open Studio
Summer Group Exhibition

Clockwise from top: Catherine Lane at Open Studio, August 5 to 19; Persimmon Blackbridge at TAG to July 8;
Lee Lamothe at yumart gallery, July 2 to 23

press check

Solar Share
talks about the benefits of investing in green
technologies in this article on Canada.com

Trinity Square Video s

recent show by Morehshin Allahyari stirred
up plenty of excitement in the city, having
been featured in numerous publications
including this one in NOW Magazine
Tangled Arts + Disability
talks about barriers that still exist for
disability arts and how they can be overcome
in this article in Canadian Art

The Stratford Festival

(studio 203) talks about whether the clothes
make the man in this episode of CBCs Ideas

Urbanspace Gallery
and the Ontario Jewish Archives presented
Benjamin Brown: Architect which this article
from The Globe and Mail translated into a
neighbourhood walking tour

THE back page TIM PITSiULAK

Produced during an Artist Residency at Open Studio (Studio 104)

If youd like to be onTHEBACKPAGE, please submit your drawing, painting, illustration, photograph or architectural plans at
300 dpi as a photoshop or illustrator file on cd or dvd disk. Please include a word file with your name, the title of the project, your
website, your studio address and a brief description of 50 words (maximum) on the disk. The best entry will be chosen for each
issue. Disks will not be returned. This space is to showcase the talent in the building. It is not for advertising an event or sale.

Richmond

401 Richmond Street West, Studio 111

Toronto, ON Canada M5V 3A8
www.401richmond.net

update