Local artists expressing in diverse ways

I always pictured artists living in some dark, high-ceiling loft apartment overlooking flickering neon signs, with a freight elevator as an entrance foyer and cool musicians as neighbours. Have you ever thought there might be artistic talent living on your own street, right here in your own North Toronto neighbourhood?

Six years ago, a group of artists wanted to show that North Toronto was home to a lot of great and diverse talent. To show off this creativity they formed the North Toronto Group of Artists, staging the first-ever North Toronto studio art tour. These 20 artists came from different economic and cultural backgrounds, and ranged in age from 27 to 85. Their styles were very different, but they all had a similar passion: to express themselves on canvas, wood, metal and paper.

They made a few rules. First and foremost, the artwork had to be original and of a professional standard. Secondly, members had to reside in the area bounded by York Mills to Eglinton and Mt. Pleasant to Avenue Road.

There were lots of other art groups to join, but these artists wanted to belong to a group that celebrated their own neighbourhood.

I am proud to say that I am a founding member of the NTGA. We have grown into a self-sufficient organization. We encourage each other and love to share ideas. We collectively volunteer our time and energy to organize a fall art show and a spring studio tour, while maintaining an active web site, ntga.ca, Facebook page and Twitter account.

We produce original one-of-a-kind pieces, and photography is numbered and signed.

On May 3–4, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., we will be welcoming visitors to our homes/studios.

Check out our brochure, online or at local businesses, to see our neighbourhood’s creativity. Modern, classic, traditional, experimental … Small, medium, large and extra large … Styles from realism to abstraction, in watercolour, acrylic, oil, encaustic, mixed media and photography.

Come out, meet the artists and support your local art scene. You might even find something to add to your own collection.