Driftwood @ Parkwood

At Parkwood 7:30 p.m. this evening –>

St George's Recital

The ARC floats on

City staff's suggestion to relocate Municipal Bylaw Enforcement to the Arts Resource Centre and the current residents including the Durham Shoestring Performers relocate to... well no one really thought that part through. Anyway Council voted it down today so the ARC sails on.

THIS WEEK story here –>

Downtown Art Crawl

pictured by Marina Osmond

Tonight Imaginarium D will take over three locations in Downtown Oshawa. This is an one night Art Crawl featuring several of Oshawa's Alt-Artists. Outsider art inside was the theme of last Wednesday's Parlour of Rejects show at Lost Anchor Tattoo shop. The recent Oshawa Art Association Juried Show had rejected several submissions as is the norm. Ryan Henderson decided to host an exhibition of that work and it was a great night. Great buzz, lots of folks out, overall a runaway success. Brenda Virtue won Best In Show that night (pictured above).

DETAILS ON IMAGIMARUIM D –> 

Bola Arts craft class

Bola on Simcoe Street is offering a wire ring making class this afternoon. It will run from 2pm to 5pm.

FACEBOOK INVITE –>

Creative Space?

What do you see here? This is Wall 'n' Floor Decor And More on Athol St. Some folks including Economic Development for the Downtown officer David Tuley and award winning artist Dani Crosby see a centre for social and cultural innovation, a series of art studios, a gallery, an event space, a community space and more, lots more. On the evening of June 21 Tuley and Crosby gave powerpoint presentations on their visions to a full house at Fazio's Restaurant. Investors, artists, city official, NFP organisation reps and downtown business owners convened, chatted, enjoyed the food and beverages and discussed their own visions. Afterwards folk toured the building. It is big, lots of potential but maybe too big for independent artists even collectively to afford. A serious longterm client, perhaps via UOIT, would need to be found to anchor the space first.

Fiesta! Fiesta!

Fiesta occurs this week in Oshawa. The annual celebration of all things multicultural continues at a variety of venues throughout the City. The Oshawa Portuguese Pavilion is set up in the Masonic Hall on Centre Street bringing a piece of that wonderful country's spirit to the Downtown core.

The Oshawa Association Juried Art Show is in exhibit at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery until July 4th. Marissa Sweet has been judged 3rd in the Acrylic category for her painting - Fiesta, by jurors Gabby Peacock and Greg Murphy. Sweet is from the Philipines and her work is influenced by her background in Feng Shui. 

"My painting "Fiesta", says Sweet, shows a community in celebration, one that is vibrant and alive. The predominant colour is Orange, which for me symbolizes warmth and energy. These feelings are exactly what I feel about Fiestas The stars in the painting represent lanterns that people usually turn on at night to indicate that their home is open to friends".
MARISSA SWEET WEBSITE –>  

Richard Gagat exhibit at Rossco's

Oshawa photographer Richard Gagat is showing a selection of his work at Rossco's. Inspired by the work of Thomas Bouckley (whose collection is housed at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery) the 50 year old came to photography late in life. For ten years he has been portraying the street life and architecture of Oshawa. His stark perceptive work is of a wistful nature. He balances the seeming permanence of the structures with Time's fickle palate. 
Oshawa, as a city, is changing. On June 12 Durham Region's first-ever Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered Pride parade curved its multi-coloured way through the downtown. Hundreds of people lined the route and participated in the procession that included groups such as the Durham Regional Police and Club 717.
On June 11 and 12 Oshawa held its annual Peony Festival. Organised by the Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens Task Force the celebration is now in its sixth year and partnered with Parkwood for its festival package which includes a tour of the historical home and gardens and lunch in the teahouse restaurant. While the celebration has passed the peonies will continue to flower and perfume the air. The gardens are there to wander through at anytime of course.
Each step forward leaves something behind. The LGBT community has put down roots here. The OVBG are now in full bloom. All along Gagat has been competently documenting the steps taken by this City in transition. Rossco's is located at 27 Simcoe Street S.


SEE RICHARD GAGAT'S FLIKR STREAM –>  

Julie Doiron Day June 7

Fusion at Bola June 4

•FUSION•

An exhibition of multi-media prints by Jeff Morrison

Opening reception 7-9pm

refreshments and entertainment by Morrison Hawkes
Bola, 20 Simcoe St. N.

Forty years of peace, love and understanding at Star Records

Morgan Self has left the building

Arts downtown

While there is no free standing commercial art gallery in the downtown there are locations available for visual artists to display their work. The Simple Bodega continues to display the Day In The Life of the Second Marsh photo exhibit but is always seeking new work to hang. Isabella's Chocolate Cafe regularly hosts exhibits and is currently showing a series of photographs by Renee Duckworth.

Bola under the management of artist Monique Brent also offers its wall space for artworks. The Vault is just that, an actual bank vault at the back of the store and is housing an appropriate exhibit, Money Etc by Margaret Rodgers (artist, author, educator and founder of the IRIS group). Rodgers has produced one hundred small paintings on reused Styrofoam food trays as her comment on the widening gap between rich and poor, and on collapses and bailouts. Collectively it is an impactful statement. I have my eye on one piece in particular. Bola is also reaching out to local musicians by offering to sell their CDs. The store will dedicate an area exclusively for this purpose and this too is a most welcome development. 

RadioFreeClash tonight at Murphys

Money etc Art Show at Bola

Money, Etc.,
an exhibit by artist Margaret Rodgers continues in The Vault at
Bola, 20 Simcoe St. N.
The show opened May 1 and closes May 31.

WEBSITE –>  

Adele at Star Records

Adele on vinyl available at Star Records.

Diemonds at The Atria tonight

WEBSITE –>

Duckworth Photography at Isabella's

Renée Duckworth has an exhibition of her photography now on at Isabella's Chocolate Cafe.

Burton Burger at the Patty Shack

WEBSITE –>  

Burton Cummings at the GM Centre

Burton Cummings is The Voice of Canadian Rock, simple as that. He plays Oshawa Wednesday night.

GENERAL MOTORS CENTRE WEBSITE –>

Stereos at The Regent May 6

WEBSITE –> 

Taste the Rainbow

First Fridays with Gordon Monahan

Coconut Chai Lat-tea is the weekly special at the Simple Bodega

WEBSITE –>

Great Canadian Popcorn debate

2 out of 3 McGuirk boys prefer it hot and spicy!!

WEBSITE –>

McLaughlin and the King's Speech

NEWS LINK HERE –> 

Book Sale

While waiting for Morgan Self to come from "Under New Management" there is the option of the Summer Reads Book Sale at the McLaughlin Library. I scored some First Edition Cancon and all for $2 each. Are you kidding me!!!

DETAILS HERE –> 

Lunch at Avanti's

I had a pre-Mothers Day lunch with my Mom today. We decided to go downtown and pub fare wasn't on the books because well it's my Mom and sportsy/pub food isn't a Mom thing. The choice was between fancy and fancy... Fazios, Arthurs on the 4th and Avanti's. Avanti's then. It was my Mum's first time there.  We both ordered the Panino PLT... excellent. Then we went to the Simple Bodega for some Oolong tea. As some like to say, Result!

New Foo at Star Records

I dropped by Star Records today to check whats new... New Foo Fighters vinyl in stock.

DO IT NOW

Murphys Pub and Grill on Simcoe Street celebrated William Shakespeare’s 449 birthday by bringing in Lowest Of The Low who are celebrating the china anniversary of their smash hit debut disc Shakespeare My Butt.

While down in Star Records a while back I spotted this 7” on the wall. The B-side is a cover, the original is by The Cleavers, a Whitby punk band. Anagram will have an  official 7” release party on April 29th at the Atria.  Also on the bill are UltimateMostHigh and Teenanger.

This frothy face appeared on a latte ordered by a customer at Isabella’s Chocolate Cafe. Owner Rosanna Bruno had given the coffee a swirl and the visage miracously emerged. Interesting enough. However this happened in the store on Holy Thursday of Easter Week at a birthday party. Moments later the young celebrant cracked open a fortune cookie and on the piece of paper inside were the words... You will  witness a miracle.

Larry The Cable Guy performed at the General Motors Centre April 20th. In his opening lines he noted that Oshawa was hard to find. He noted that he had learned that locals called Oshawa, The Shwa!... He noted that the audience were fine looking folks. He noted that they must be super fans or else there ain’t sh*t to do in the Shwa on a Wednesday.

L-R: Brendan Lawless, Dan Liscio, Patrick Dorie, Dan Brooks

Patrick Dorie & Band play Saturday April 30th at The Thirsty Monk, 21 Celina Street South. Better Off Broke plus Brian Hamilton open. This is a free show. Representatives from The Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research will be accepting donations to help with AIDS research.

While out postering for a show one time I chatted with a chap who was coeliac (gluten intolerent). He informed me that he would like to go out to gigs more but knew of nowhere downtown that sold a gluten-free beer. The gig was actually at Murphy’s Pub & Grill so when I returned I mentioned the guy to James Booth, one of the owners and it turned out they had New Grist in stock, a gluten free beer brewed in Milwaukee. Of course a taste test was in order and while it started out as a beer it ended like a lemonade. Ayway now you know the option is there.

On April 18th UOIT delivered its vision for an expanded Downtown campus presence. The 200 plus page document traces the projected growth of the University throughout the downtown core over the next twenty years. Projects include greater access for students to housing, a student centre and a new faculty for IT and business. While the plan is most welcome the implementation must also include clearly defined limits on what constitutes campus and what is public realm. Good fences make good neighbours etc.

Get 'er done at the General Motor Centre Tonight

BUY TICKETS HERE –>