Another year of Doors Open Toronto occurred over the past weekend and, again, I chose a couple buildings to volunteer at.
I spent Saturday afternoon at the Daniels Spectrum building. It’s a building funded by Daniels (the developer) and other donors and run by Artscape. I’ve been to the Wynchwood Barns space, another Artscape run building and a little bit familiar with they do and they spaces they create.
Artsacpe and the staff of the building were holding tours twice a day during the weekend and I had showed up for my shift a half before the second tour of the day started. It was a great walking tour through the building. Staff were super excited by the programming as they were once participants in the agencies and programs available to them and others growing up in the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood, typically low-income and immigrants, are through Artscape and the agencies housed in the Daniels Spectrum building are able to receive the encouragement they need to build their community, stay in school and receive higher education. I thought the staff were superb in giving back to their community for the services they received and adding they’re personal touches throughout the tour.
It was a interesting space and venue with a variety of programs going on, not only for the community, but for other organizations requiring space. On Saturday, a dance company was using the stage for their dance recital. They had used the space last year for their yearly dance recital and I was told they were so pleased with the space that they returned for a second year.Also, in the gallery space, there were two art displays were available to check out as part of the Scotiabank Contact 2014 festival. It was a very busy Saturday afternoon.
