Toronto`s Fio Corp Fights Infectious Disease With A High Tech

SPRING 2008
Q U E B E C
C I T Y
•
M O N T R E A L
•
T O R O N T O
6
Toronto’s Fio Corp fights infectious
disease with a high tech solution
14
Montreal’s Drawn & Quarterly:
A graphic success
16
Elementary: Winnipeg motion
design firm breathes life into ads
PLUS:
• Quebec City boutique home to
the ‘Indiana Jones’ of tea
• Montreal’s Outbox
revolutionizes online tIcket buys
• Totum tells the truth about
Stretching
• Toronto’s Luminato Fest
11
FROM
BISTRO
TO BRITISH
New Décor and Menu for King
Street West’s Crush Wine Bar
•
W I N N I P E G
TORONTO
Lucien and Colborne Lane Take Top Spots in
Toronto Life’s 10 Best New Restaurants
Beyond Toronto Life’s list, the May issue
of Conde Nast Traveler voted Colborne
Lane (left) one of the most exciting new
restaurants in the world.
Lucien’s Chef Scot Woods has
garnered praise from some
of the country's top food critics
including Joanne Kates and
James Chatto.
ST. LAWRENCE MARKET AREA, TORONTO / Two of the city’s newest and most experimental restaurants
topping Toronto Life Magazine’s coveted Best New
Restaurant list are located in Allied Properties’ downtown
east buildings.
Lucien, at 36 Wellington Street East, and Colborne Lane,
nearby at 45 Colborne Street, have garnered rave reviews
since opening and now, both occupy top spots in the urban
magazine’s annual list of noteworthy newcomers.
“These days you don’t need a hushed gastronomic temple
in which to worship good food,” writes Toronto Life’s James
Chatto in his description of Lucien.
Indeed, with its casual brick and beam ambience, elegant
illumination, intimate dining nooks and tiled leather wall
treatment, Lucien offers bay-streeters and scenesters alike a
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 2
warm and casual atmosphere in which to indulge in Chef
Scot Woods’ (Habitat) exciting dishes like bincho-grilled
octopus sliced thinly with chorizo, fingerlings, black olive
“leather” and pimento caviar.
At Colborne Lane, much has been made of Chef Claudio
Aprile’s (Senses) molecular gastronomy, a technical cuisine
from which come concoctions like corn doused in liquid
nitrogen accompanying raw salmon, cauliflower purée and
saffron-infused potato.
Matched to a modern environment whose hip attitude
comes from the irony of presenting experimental, progressive
cuisine in a historical building, Colborne offers a comfortable
atmosphere in which to while away an evening working
your way through a seven, 10 or 15-course tasting menu –
an absolute must according to Chatto.
TORONTO
ALTERIORS AGAIN
King East Décor Source Reopens in Burgeoning Adelaide West Neighbourhood
ADELAIDE STREET WEST, TORONTO / - Anyone
interested in home décor in Toronto over the last decade
will recognize Alteriors, known for its eclectic selection of
innovative furniture and home accents. The company, which
closed its retail store in the King Street East design district
two years ago, has reopened this winter with a larger location
on Adelaide Street West.
“It’s being called Toronto’s Soho district,” says Alteriors
founder Wendie Cohen discussing the store’s new location.
“The gentrification of the whole King West district, with its
dynamic combination of creative industries, urban residents,
and entertainment venues, is perfectly suited to Alteriors’
design sensibility.”
A NEW PARTNERSHIP The synergy of a new partnership
team is what prompted the reopening of Alteriors, says Cohen.
After closing in 2005 to pursue other interests in the
décor industry, Cohen was encouraged by the continued
interest customers and suppliers showed in the store.
In discussions with longtime associate Diana Leveille, who
was running her own interior design business, and friend
Robert Geddes, a London realtor who had recently moved
to Toronto, Cohen realized there was an opportunity to
combine their skills to provide the best products and services
to clients. So, the three entered into a partnership and
started looking for space.
URBAN AMBIENCE “In researching possible locations, we
confirmed that this is the up-and-coming place to be,” says
Cohen, explaining that the Toronto International Film Festival
project and a wide range of other developments are attracting
the upscale urban dwellers the store targets.
“This loft-like showroom in a restored vintage building
offers the perfect setting to showcase our modern furnishings,”
she adds.
Many of the collections you will find at Alteriors are
designed and manufactured in Canada. “We work with small
boutique manufacturers and design studios who offer a wide
range of customization options for our clients,” says Cohen,
adding that the team’s focus is to help customers express
their personal style.
SPACE PLANNING EXPERTISE Some current suppliers
even come from Alteriors’ early Danforth days, says Cohen,
explaining that an artisan who used to make her candle
holders has gone on to form an acclaimed design studio that
supplies Alteriors with furniture made of industrial steel and
reclaimed wood.
Whatever the item, the Alteriors team adopts a friendly,
collaborative approach when serving customers. They are
pleased to assist clients with space planning and design
choices, and they’ll book consultations after store hours or
meet at a client’s home.
“The response to our new store has been wonderful,” says
Cohen. “Many of our previous clients are coming from across
the GTA, and we can also reach this vibrant neighbourhood
of people who were not familiar with our previous location.”
alteriors.com
3 • SPRING 2008
MONTRÉAL
Des billets en quelques clics
Outbox Technology révolutionne la vente de billets en ligne
BOUL. ST-LAURENT, MONTRÉAL - / Le nom d’Outbox
Technology ne vous dit probablement rien, mais si vous avez
récemment acheté un billet en ligne pour le Cirque du Soleil,
c’est probablement avec cette société que vous avez transigé.
Société de logiciels et de services développant des produits
avancés de vente de billets, notamment pour le Cirque du
Soleil (qui est associé de l’entreprise), Outbox occupe la
moitié d’un étage de l’immeuble du Balfour, sur le boulevard
St-Laurent, d’où l’équipe surveille, gère et traite la vente
de billets en multiples langues et devises. Selon l’un des
spécialistes de la technologie Web de CNET, il s’agit de la
meilleure interface d’achat de billets qui existe à ce jour.
VISIONNER SA PLACE Applaudie pour sa conception
intuitive, cette billetterie en ligne fonctionne au moyen d’un
calendrier relié à des images qui permettent à l’acheteur
de visualiser de manière précise la salle de spectacle et l’emplacement des sièges. Les places disponibles sont désignées
par des couleurs différentes selon leur prix, et il suffit de
quelques clics pour sélectionner précisément son billet et
l’acheter. La transaction s’effectue très rapidement grâce
aux importants moyens techniques déployés par Outbox
et à la surveillance constante assurée par son équipe.
« On est extrêmement présent pour contrôler toute
l’expérience [en ligne]. Nous ne nous contentons pas de
vendre un logiciel », déclare Jean-Françoys Brousseau,
co-fondateur de l’entreprise et artisan des innovations
apparues récemment dans l’industrie telles que les billets
électroniques imprimables et munis d’un code barre, utilisés
pour la première fois par le Cirque du Soleil en 1999.
DES BUREAUX QUI INVITENT À LA COLLABORATION
Outbox compte 20 employés et occupe des locaux aménagés
par Daoust Lestage. Ces bureaux à espace ouvert aux lignes
pures et aux parois de verre sont une réelle invitation à la
collaboration. Seule exception : le centre d’appel sécurisé qui
se consacre au service à la clientèle pour les billets vendus en
Amérique du Nord, et qui est installé dans un espace voisin
mais séparé.
Au cœur de cet espace de blancheur et de simplicité se
trouve nichée une zone centrale de surveillance, où une série
de bureaux a été placée devant quatre écrans plats géants
affichant différentes données sur l’état des systèmes et des
ventes de billets du Cirque du Soleil partout dans le monde.
UNE SURVEILLANCE ÉTROITE
C’est à partir de ces écrans que l’équipe d’Outbox surveille
sans relâche le réseau de vente, informée en temps réel des
moindres fluctuations des ventes dans le monde entier.
Des ratios complexes basés sur des moyennes mobiles sont
utilisés qui permettent à une alarme de se déclencher en
cas d’irrégularité.
« Si les gens achètent un peu moins qu’il y a quelques
minutes, par exemple, cela peut indiquer un problème
technique », explique Jean-Françoys Brousseau.
La mise au point d’innovations fait aussi partie intégrante
du travail de l’équipe et Jean-Françoys Brousseau prévoit
embaucher une dizaine d’employés supplémentaires d’ici la
fin de l’année. Il explique que l’industrie de la billetterie est
en constante évolution et qu’il recherche continuellement
des programmeurs-analystes et des spécialistes du soutien
d’applications.
« Il reste encore de bonnes
solutions à trouver »,
affirme-t-il en ajoutant que
d’ici l’année prochaine, la
billetterie du Cirque du
Soleil étant bien établie,
Outbox Technology élargira
sa clientèle.
outboxtechnology.com
CHRONIQUE COMMUNAUTAIRE • 4
Design Within Reach now
Within Shopping Distance
Montreal’s Outbox Technology is
changing online ticket buying
BLVD. ST. LAURENT, MONTREAL - / You probably don’t know Outbox
Technology, but if you’ve recently bought a ticket online for Cirque du Soleil
Tours, anywhere in the world in fact, then you’ve experienced it.
A software firm currently doing development exclusively for Cirque du
Soleil (a partner in the enterprise), Outbox occupies half a floor at the Balfour
building on St. Laurent where its team monitors, manages and processes
multi-language and multi-currency ticket sales for what one CNET web
technology columnist calls “the best ticket ordering interface ever.”
SEEING YOUR SEAT Praised for its intuitive design, the online box office
features a calendar linked to graphics giving users a realistic representation
of the venue and specifically where their seats are located. Colours indicate
available seating, and in just a few clicks buyers can order exactly what they
want. And it all happens quickly, thanks to Outbox’s extensive back end and
constant monitoring.
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - Fans of Design
Within Reach, a furniture source for fully licensed
classics, have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a
Canadian studio. And in March, they got their wish.
“It’s mostly destination shoppers,” says the studio’s
proprietor Clay Wright, explaining that weekends tend
to be busy with customers coming from around the
city to peruse the 5,000-square-foot showroom’s array
of design classics.
Best known for its wide selection of designer furniture, DWR has partnerships with Herman Miller, Fritz
Hansen and Knoll to bring the legendary work of
designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Arne
Jacobsen, and Eero Saarinen to the general public.
“Given the season, we’re seeing a lot of interest in
our outdoor furniture,” says Wright, a transplanted New
Yorker. He says most of what is on the floor can be
delivered to the customer within 10 days of purchase.
The company uses a central inventory to allow
customers around North America to access items
in a variety of styles and colours.
Beyond furniture, Wright says the Tools for Living
line focuses on items that have been thoughtfully
conceived. For the Toronto studio, that could mean a
clever folding bike or organic mattresses and bedding,
but DWR has been involved with projects ranging from
designing the interior of an Airstream trailer, to BBQs
to pillows and other accessories.
dwr.com
“We’re extremely present when it comes to controlling the online experience. It’s not just selling a piece of software,” says Jean-Françoys Brousseau,
the firm’s founding partner and the mind behind industry innovations like the
printable bar-coded e-tickets, first used by the Cirque in 1999.
A COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT Outbox has 20 employees and
occupies space designed by Daoust Lestage, employing clean white finishes
and glassed-in perimeter offices to give the central area’s open concept a
collaborative feel (with the exception of a secure North American customer
service call centre that sits in adjacent separate space).
At the heart of the space is a central monitoring area where a bank of
desks sits in front of four large flat screens, each displaying different
components of the Cirque du Soleil’s world wide ticket sales.
Development is also a large part of what the team does and Brousseau
expects to hire ten more employees before the end of the year. He says
the ticket industry is continually evolving and that he is always in need of
developers and support specialists.
5 • SPRING 2008
TORONTO
Semiconductor nanocrystals illuminated
with ultraviolet light. These vials hold
nanometer-sized particles (one billionth of a
meter wide) that have unique fluorescence
capabilities and are being developed for
medical diagnostic applications such as
Fio’s infectious disease detector.
DIAGNOSIS ON DEMAND
Queen-Richmond Centre’s Fio Corp aims to revolutionize global disease
detection with a new portable device
QUEEN STREET EAST, TORONTO / - The manner in
which infectious diseases are diagnosed hasn’t changed much
in a hundred years, says Michael Greenberg. Just like in high
school biology class, you get the sample, put it in a Petri
dish, add some culture media, and wait to see if you can
recognize what grows, he explains.
“Approaches like ours represent the end of this,” he says.
“We don’t do anything remotely like that. We don’t deal
with bugs themselves, we diagnose their molecules.”
Greenberg is CEO of Fio Corporation, a nano-biotechnology
startup in the Queen-Richmond Centre developing a toastersized device to diagnose infectious diseases on the spot.
READING MOLECULES Drawing a pin prick of blood, the
instrument scans it against a database of infectious disease
signature molecules (biological molecules found in the blood
that are a sign of a disease) to tell healthcare professionals
immediately what they’re dealing with.
But don’t worry. Working with signature molecules of
infectious diseases is not at all dangerous, Greenberg assures.
“It’s completely inactive,” he explains. “Our space creates
the molecular reader. For the real testing, the device goes to
a clinical lab where it undergoes diagnostic testing.”
ATTRACTING SCIENTISTS From its top floor space, the
Fio headquarters combines work stations, boardrooms, a
3,500-square-foot nano-bio research lab with 50 workbenches
and plenty of natural light to create a highly attractive
research and business environment for ‘Fioans’.
Normally labs tend to cluster in locations near the
University of Toronto and in the hospital district - or outside
the core entirely - but Fio wanted space that would attract
top research talent and show that it is intent on doing things
differently. And it does.
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 6
LAUNCHING IN AFRICA Rather than make a device
exclusively for the developed world’s medical marketplace,
Greenberg says Fio will launch the product in 2009,
simultaneously in both Africa and North America.
“To demonstrate that high tech can also be used to
create affordable solutions for the developing world,” says
Greenberg, adding that while the firm does have competitors
most aren’t looking to simultaneously address the needs of
the developing and developed worlds.
AFFORDABLE AND DEPLOYABLE But infectious diseases
often arise in the developing world, he explains, so it makes
sense to create an affordable and easily deployable solution
to bring us into dynamic partnerships with African
entrepreneurs.
“The difference between an outbreak and a pandemic is
knowing what you’re dealing with quickly - not only here
but in Guangdong [where the SARS outbreak originated],”
he says.
ADOPTING THE CELL PHONE MODEL Rather than NGOs
and local governments, Fio will distribute the device through
a network of local entrepreneurs, taking its cue from the
success of the cell phone in Africa to not only see the device
proliferate, but also participate in the benefits of local
economic development.
As for the developed world, Fio will follow the usual
medical distribution networks familiar to Greenberg.
Trained as a neurosurgeon, Greenberg made his mark
growing Cedara Software from a small, local contract engineering computer hardware company in the early 1990s to a
Nasdaq-traded, leading provider of global imaging software
for healthcare with annual revenues of $50 million.
fio.com
La Galerie Art Sélect : le savoir-faire artisanal français sur le marché
du meuble de Montréal
AVENUE DU PARC, MONTRÉAL / - La salle d’exposition de
1 500 pi2 que gère Johanne Therrien n’est que la partie visible de l’iceberg.
Importatrice de meubles français de qualité, La Galerie Art Sélect est
essentiellement un moyen d’accès à un vaste catalogue de penderies, de
lits, de tables à dîner, de fauteuils, d’armoires et de bahuts, autant de
reproductions de style français du plus pur raffinement.
Située au 5e étage du 6300 avenue du Parc, la galerie de Johanne
Therrien ne compte pas sur les passants pour ses affaires. Elle vit presque
exclusivement sur sa réputation. Elle est également bien connue des
collectionneurs et de ceux qui apprécient la qualité du travail artisanal du
vieux continent.
Longtemps réputée pour ses collections d’art québécois, la Galerie
Art Sélect a été créée en 1977 par le père de Johanne Therrien, rue
Saint-Denis. Elle proposait alors principalement des sculptures et des
peintures. En 2004, Johanne Therrien a repris l’affaire familiale après y
avoir travaillé périodiquement avec son père alors qu’elle se consacrait
encore à son métier d’infirmière. Puis les meubles prenant de plus en plus
d’importance, la galerie est devenue le distributeur exclusif de Brigitte
Forestier, d’Artcopi et des Meubles Richelieu.
Tout ce qu’elle propose aujourd’hui est fabriqué par des artisans. Les
reproductions des collections françaises telles que Louis XV, Louis XVI,
Louis Philippe et Directoire sont taillées dans le merisier de France, un
matériau de prédilection pour les maîtres artisans.
La plupart des meubles sont disponibles dans une variété de huit teintes
et deux patines. Une partie de la collection est affichée sur le site Web,
mais le mieux est d’aller voir ces meubles directement à la galerie, suggère
Johanne Therrien, « ainsi on se rend mieux compte des teintes qui sont
proposées. »
artselect.ca
Galerie Art Select brings exclusive French craftsmanship to the Montreal furniture market
AVE DU PARC, MONTREAL / - Johanne Therrien’s 1500-squarefoot show room on the fifth floor of 6300 Avenue du Parc is
just the tip of the iceberg. An exclusive importer of fine French
furniture, La Galerie Art Select is essentially a gateway to a
massive catalogue of wardrobes, bed frames, dining tables,
arm chairs, cabinets and sideboards, all finely crafted and
finished reproductions of French collections such as the Louis
XV, Louis XVI, Louis Philippe, and Directoire often made using
regional wild cherry, a favorite among master artisans.
Most pieces are available in a number of different stains
and finishes (often a wax finish). While you can see some of
the collection on the web site, the best thing to do is come
by in person, encourages Therrien, “then you can really get a
sense of some of the finishes we have available.”
7 • PRINTEMPS 2008
MONTRÉAL
L’Art du meuble
QUÉBEC
La route du thé
De jeunes aventuriers rapportent des saveurs d’Asie au cœur de St-Roch
NOUVO ST-ROCH, QUÉBEC/ - Ce n’est généralement
pas en rassemblant quatre passionnés de thé qu’on entame
un projet de carrière basé sur le commerce international et le
tourisme d’aventure. Mais c’est pourtant bien ainsi que Jasmin
Desharnais et ses trois associés se sont retrouvés à parcourir
l’Asie, allant des montagnes à la jungle, à la recherche des
grands thés.
Le thé est la boisson la plus consommée au monde après
l’eau. Les feuilles de thé poussent principalement dans des
climats tropicaux ou subtropicaux et nécessitent au moins 50
pouces d’eau de pluie par an. Les meilleures sortes prospèrent
aux alentours de 5 000 pieds d’altitude et pour en trouver
de diverses et variées, il faut donc se lever de bonne heure!
C’est pourquoi les quatre fondateurs des maisons de thé
Camellia Sinensis (Jasmin Desharnais, Kevin Gascoyne, Hugo
Americi et François Marchand) ont divisé les régions productrices de thé en plusieurs zones. Chacun s’est spécialisé
dans les variétés qui poussent dans sa zone et passe un mois
par an à rencontrer les fournisseurs locaux, à s’informer des
récoltes de l’année et nouer des contacts avec de nouveaux
artisans producteurs potentiels.
En dix ans, l’équipe s’est constitué un solide réseau de
producteurs, de petites exploitations pour la plupart. Jasmin
Desharnais affirme que l’équipe connaît personnellement
90 % de ses producteurs.
« Avant de travailler avec nous, nos producteurs chinois
n’avaient jamais exporté à l’étranger » ajoute-t-il en expliquant
qu’en Chine, la production de thé est très localisée et qu’une
grande part est destinée au marché domestique.
CHRONIQUE COMMUNAUTAIRE • 8
En 2004, après un salon de thé et une boutique bien établis
à Montréal, le magasin de St-Roch, baptisé du nom latin
de l’arbre à thé, a ouvert ses portes. Les maisons de thé sont
moins courantes que les boutiques de spécialités de café, qui
ont connu un grand succès ces derniers temps et il nous reste
beaucoup à apprendre sur le thé. C’est d’ailleurs la principale
mission de Camellia Sinensis que de nous le faire connaître.
« Nous essayons de faire apprécier le thé au plus grand
nombre », déclare Jasmin Desharnais. Avant toute dégustation,
les novices sont invités à humer plusieurs variétés de thé et
à discuter de leurs goûts avec l’équipe. Les dégustations, très
populaires en fin de semaine, ont lieu au fond du magasin,
transformé en une sorte de petit café avec son comptoir et
ses quatre tables.
La boutique de St-Roch propose 180 variétés de thé, mais
la sélection varie en fonction du mois de l’année et des récoltes
(la plupart d’entre elles ont lieu au printemps).
Le sachet moyen de 50 g coûte environ 10 $ et permet de
faire 20 tasses, mais les variétés de première qualité peuvent
coûter jusqu’à 75 $ pour la même quantité.
« Ces thés sont davantage destinés aux connaisseurs »,
explique Jasmin Desharnais. « On essaye de trouver à chaque
client le thé qui lui convient. »
C’est pourquoi le magasin organise fréquemment des
séances de dégustation et des conférences sur le thé. Pour
connaître l’horaire de ces événements, passez au 624 St-Joseph
Est ou visitez le site Web de la Maison de thé.
camellia-sinensis.com
TOTUM
TIPS
HEALTH
International team brings tastes
from the mountains of Asia to
the tea cups of Quebec
NOUVO ST. ROCH, QUEBEC CITY / - Four guys with a
shared passion for tea is not how a career involving
adventure travel and international trade usually starts,
but it’s pretty much how Jasmin Desharnais and his
three partners found themselves trekking through
mountain trails and jungle paths in remote regions of
Asia to make a living.
The most widely consumed drink in the world after
water is tea. It grows mainly in tropical and sub-tropical
climates, requires at least 50 inches of rainfall a year,
and a lot of the good stuff tends to grow at elevations of
up to 5,000 feet. So finding all the teas is a bit of a task.
That’s why the four founding partners of the Camellia
Sinensis tea houses (Desharnais along with Kevin
Gascoyne, Hugo Americi, and François Marchand) divided
the tea-producing world into regions, each becoming an
expert on the varieties available there, and each spending
a month a year connecting with local suppliers, checking
on the year’s crops and following up leads on new
sources of tea.
The St. Roch location carries 180 varieties of tea,
but selections will vary based on the time of year and
whether a crop has been harvested yet (much of the
harvesting is done in the spring).
An average 50g bag will run you about $10 and
makes 20 cups, but you could pay as much as $75 for
the same amount of a high grade first harvest variety.
“But that’s more for the connaisseurs,” says
Desharnais. “What we try to do is match the teas with
the customers.”
To that end, the store runs a full schedule of tastings
and lectures.
Camellia Sinensis co-owner Jasmin Desharnais with a
tea supplier in China.
The Truth about Stretching
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - The Vikings always knew the importance of stretching before battle, cartoonist Gary Larson once wrote. But
things were less complicated then. Today, the debate on stretching has
grown to include not only the stretchers and non-stretchers, but also
sub-groups like pre-stretchers, post-stretchers and stand-alone stretchers.
Mary-Catherine Fraser-Saxena, a physiotherapist and director of
Totum’s sports medicine clinic on King Street says studies still haven’t
proven conclusively whether stretching before or after prevents injury,
but some specific links have been made. Some research has found that
the amount of flexibility in your hamstring, for one, can predict whether
or not you will have an injury.
THINK ONGOING FLEXIBILITY So don’t think in terms of just
stretching for a single activity, she advises, think of it as an ongoing
flexibility program.
“One part of your weekly workout routine should be dedicated to
improving flexibility,” says Fraser-Saxena, adding that a runner, for
example, might join a yoga class. But you could also just do some
deep stretches with no running to follow.
USE WARM UPS AND COOL DOWNS Stretching and running do
go together in a certain combination, she says explaining you should use
warm ups and cool downs to do it right. If your muscle is cold, stretching
lengthens it and creates microscopic tears. Then you start running, so
it is contracting. “You’re basically asking it to be strong after you have
weakened it,” she explains.
START LIGHT AND FINISH DEEP Best is to do a slow jog for five
minutes before stopping to do some light stretching for two minutes
(work the hip flexors and calves, holding stretches for 10 to 30 seconds,
breathing normally and no bouncing).
After your run, walk for 10 minutes to bring your heart rate back down
to resting, then you can do some deeper stretching, spending a minute or
two per muscle.
totum.ca
9 • SPRING 2008
WINNIPEG
Manitoba Made
Downtown Winnipeg gallery features an eclectic collection
of work from local artists
was made here,” she says, noting that one clay mask artist
is from the Netherlands and another studied in Italy.
Very few are full-time artists, and most have day jobs,
she says. One potter, for example, is a band director and
another artist, who makes aboriginal medicine shields, is a
social worker.
EXTREME MIX Keepsake’s extreme mix of paintings, photographs, pottery, raku, writing, glass (fused, blown and stained),
chalk drawings, pen and ink art, silver and crystal jewelry
and soapstone carvings makes visiting the clean, white space
a kind of treasure hunt.
But it’s not a craft sale, she cautions, explaining that
most of the artists are not represented by other galleries
and that Keepsakes gives them a place to show their work
among contemporaries.
EXCHANGE DISTRICT, WINNIPEG / - Joyce WinterSchmidt is a spiritual person. So when a sudden gust blew
all her hand-painted greeting cards away during the city’s
Fringe Festival, she took it as a sign that she should get some
artist friends together and find some indoor space.
“Within three days, I had 12 people interested, so I started
looking at buildings,” says Winter-Schmidt, whose efforts
landed her in the Exchange District at 264 McDermot Ave.
where she volunteers as manager for Keepsakes Gallery of
Winnipeg, a registered non-profit art gallery. Also helping to
manage the cooperative are Fred Beardy and Takashi Iwasaki.
EVERYONE LENDS A HAND Opening in July of 2006, the
gallery’s concept is straightforward, says Winter-Schmidt a
full-time educational assistant who runs Keepsakes in her
spare time (when she isn’t working on theatre productions).
Artists displaying work at Keepsakes pay rent based
the amount of space they need, or they can choose to
contribute to running the gallery by volunteering their time
in lieu of paying rent. Others simply have their work sold
on consignment.
“We operate on a shoestring budget,” says Winter-Schmidt,
adding that the group will usually do two theatre productions
a year as fundraisers. The recent run of The Vagina Monologues
played to a sellout crowd, and in July they will premiere In
Someone Else’s Shoes, a series of true local stories.
MADE IN MANITOBA With deep ties to the Winnipeg
theatre and art communities, Winter-Schmidt has one main
criterion when it comes to bringing artists into the gallery:
they have to have made their art in Manitoba.
“It doesn’t matter where they’re from, as long as their work
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 10
CASUAL ATMOSPHERE Winter-Schmidt has worked hard
to keep the space from having a clinical art gallery feel, so
there’s no pretension here, she explains.
“There’s something really warm about this space,” she
says. “You walk in and you hear music, and there’s often
coffee brewing.”
Music is a big part of the space’s charm. A keyboard is a
permanent fixture in the gallery and every second Saturday
from 2 to 4 there’s live music and patrons are encouraged
to drop by anytime, bring a lunch from the neighbouring
Underground Café and enjoy the atmosphere.
keepsakesgallery.ca
Winnipeg artists and supporters (top) gather at the Keepsakes Gallery
opening in July 2006 at 264 McDermot Ave. Glass artist Kevin McKay
(above) shows the crowd his technique.
TORONTO
BRITISH INVASION
Crush Wine Bar leaves the bistro concept for a refreshing take on
traditional regional English fare
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - In a city bursting
with bistros, Jamieson Kerr has decided to change directions
and bring his six-year-old Crush Wine bar away from French
fare and over to something more British, changing the menu
and the restaurant’s design to reflect this new identity.
Here, amid the cherry-red bar stools, pinstripe-suited
banquets and white table cloths, you’ll find beef cheeks
and chips (slow-cooked tender braised beef on a bed of frites)
instead of steak frites as Chef Michael Wilson reinvents a
number of traditional English dishes with the use of farm
fresh local product.
But it’s not gastro pub food, explains Kerr.
“It’s traditional regional British cuisine,” says the ex-patriot
who, during trips home over the last few years, was continually
impressed with the caliber of food served at some of London’s
eclectic wine bars.
Last year, he and Wilson began planning a renovation and
reinvention that sought to bring a number of these refreshed
English classics to Toronto diners, combining the new menu
with renovated space designed by Ralph Giannone (Terroni on
Adelaide East and Le Select Bistro on Wellington West).
Having just reopened in April after four weeks of
construction, the new space is posh yet cosy and features a
larger bar area, paying tribute to the cool Britannia vibe of
London wine bars with details like an eight by 12-foot image
of a stadium filled with Manchester United fans, a 30-seat
cork bar, a floor to ceiling blackboard, and an inlaid fireplace
in the front area.
Patrons looking for a quick bite before or after a show can
choose from the new bar menu, which offers light fare at
modest prices and features items like pickled quails eggs, eccles
cake, pork scratchings and deep fried white bait.
Some of the main menu’s highlights include Lamb Saddle
with Woolwich goat cheese potatoes; Pork Chop with Bubble
and Squeak (pan-seared mashed potato, cabbage and leeks
in a Dijon cream), and Chicken breast with tarragon gravy.
Embracing the slow food movement while reducing the
carbon emissions involved in producing his menu, Kerr is
building a network of local producers to ensure a steady
stream of fresh ingredients.
Of course, the wine list is still as extensive as it has been
(150 labels), but what’s a pub atmosphere without a pint? To
this end, Kerr has tapped into three Canadian brewers for
steady access to some of the freshest beer on tap.
With 20 stools at the bar, two private dining rooms for
parties and its patio open for the season, Crush is expanding
its reputation as a stellar cellar to become an equally
comfortable place to drop in for a drink and a bite.
crushwinebar.com
11 • SPRING 2008
TORONTO
FROM RAG TRADE TO RICHES
Toronto west brokerage team’s tenant work helps make
King West Central a where-to-be office node
KING WEST CENTRAL, TORONTO / - “It
was tenants looking for value and an alternative to
contemporary office space. And also wanting to do
something unique culturally for their employees,
you know, bring a new or different energy to their
offices,” says Jeff Friedman contemplating the early
stages of the Allied Properties portfolio in Toronto.
The notion of Class I real estate - the renovated
brick and beam style that has become the trademark
Allied Properties space - was just beginning to catch
on when Friedman and his colleague Chris Vanexan
pitched the Allied Properties management team to
become the area’s leasing agents.
They started leasing space for Allied in 1999, and
since then, the duo has placed more than 100 tenants representing over 1 million square feet in their
buildings, shared in the company’s 2002 NAIOP
win for Office Development of the Year, and helped
to make King West Central one of the city’s most
sought after office nodes.
FULL FLOOR TENANCIES “Allied was the first landlord in
the renovated class marketplace to recognize the opportunity
to lease space to full floor tenancies, as most of these buildings
were split to multi-tenant floors,” says Friedman, Executive
Vice President in CB Richard Ellis’s Toronto downtown office
leasing group, explaining that this type of building 10 years
ago would have typically serviced the small tenant market.
But Allied’s management team saw these spaces as an
untapped market for larger tenants looking for alternatives to
the city’s financial core, tenants like Indigo Books & Music.
Friedman and Vanexan say that at the time, Indigo president
Heather Reisman’s decision to move from offices in the
financial core to 468 King Street West was a bold one. She
was one of the first tenants to recognize the Allied vision for
King and Spadina.
Toronto brokers Chris
Vanexan and Jeff
Friedman (right) have
worked to place over
100 tenants in Allied
Properties buildings at
King and Spadina.
12
INDIGO THE FIRST IMPACT DEAL “Some of the buildings
still housed the rag trade, and the area wasn’t even considered
a real office node,” recalls Vanexan, a senior sales associate for
CB Richard Ellis.
It was the first impact deal for Allied, and now Indigo
occupies the entire building. And that’s a theme that repeats
itself throughout the portfolio’s short history, he explains.
“PC Financial was a similar story. They moved into 439
King Street West taking a floor and a half and now they have
three floors,” he says.
Vanexan says that whenever space does become vacant, he
and Friedman usually know either of a company looking for
space in the area or of an existing tenant interested in taking
over the space as part of an expansion plan.
“They’re sold on the concept and they don’t want to move
away from the characteristics that these buildings bring,” says
Vanexan.
FUTURE EXPECTATIONS “Ten years ago the brick and beam
office inventory was approximately 4 million square feet, today
approximately 10 million square feet is tracked,” Vanexan says.
“This market is not about to grow again since you just can’t
build a historical building,” says Friedman. Instead, he expects
the market to grow as new A class buildings are built with
characteristics that mimic the brick and beam style to which
tenants have grown accustomed.
“It’s the obvious evolution to the area and it’ll be exciting
to watch where the market evolves over the next ten years,”
he says.
TORONTO
CONTACT TURNS THIS YEAR’S LENS
ON MEMORY AND HISTORY
Brassaii hosts opening party as month-long photo fest spreads to
street corners, expressways, cafés and museums.
Contact images (from top):
Greece, Athens, Acropolis, 1991
by Martin Parr (at Museum of
Contemporary Canadian Art);
The Entire City Project, 2008 by
Michael Awad (at the Nicholas
Metivier Gallery); and tree
portraits, 1980 by Rodney
Graham (along the Gardiner
Expressway).
TORONTO / - In the downtown, strange things can
happen to you in May. You could step onto a subway
car to find all the ads replaced with black and white
photos of underground transit scenes from around the
world. Images of bicycle lock posts can turn up pasted
on the sidewalk of Queen Street West to form an
illusion that is an allegory for the passage of time. And
you might even drive by 15 large format images of
upside down trees affixed to the columns of the
Gardiner Expressway near Spadina.
Celebrating the photographic image using a combination of public installations, galleries, cafés, stores and
museums, the month-long CONTACT photography
festival has become an enduring spring ritual.
King Street West’s Brassaii hosted the opening party
May 2nd and a number of Allied Properties tenants
continue to work with the festival, including King
Street West’s Nicholas Metivier Gallery, which features
Michael Awad’s The Entire City Project, large scale
panoramic images that form an objective visual inventory of places in cities like Toronto and Milan.
In the east end, at the Queen Richmond Centre,
B Espresso is showing Jason Ramsay’s series that
confronts the difference between memory and remembrance through images of Venice. But these are just a
smattering of the city-wide offerings.
There are over 200 venues across the GTA as the city
plays host to the work of more than 500 professional
photographers - both established and emerging talents.
This year’s theme examines the notion of memory
and history as the digitalization of photography has
made it increasingly easy to record any given moment
of our lives.
The main exhibition, Between Memory and History:
From the Epic to the Everyday, at the Museum of
Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), probes
relationships that exist between the intimate and the
public, between moments of personal significance to
events of global resonance that affect each one of us.
Ten artists from nine countries exhibit a wide range
of images - from the epic to the everyday - and look
beyond the headlines to explore private and social
histories.
For more on the festival, pick up a CONTACT
guide or visit www.contactphoto.com
13 • SPRING 2007
MONTREAL
Novel Approach
Focused editorial direction and a love of the genre build
an international graphic novel success
“Now, artists that started with us have four or five books
behind them and guys like Chester Brown are full-time
graphic novelists,” says Oliveros, referring to the author/artist
of the critically acclaimed historical biography Louis Riel.
As for what makes a great cartoonist, he says, it’s complex.
A book launch at Drawn and Quarterly’s Bernard Ouest store.
RUE ATLANTIC, MONTREAL / - Chris Oliveros is
known for his visual acumen and astute production values,
but if you ask him how he built a stable of top-notch graphic
novelists and parlayed an interest in comics into an international publishing concern, it’s pretty straightforward.
“We just publish what we think is good,” says the head
of Drawn and Quarterly at 400 Rue Atlantic. D+Q started
life as a periodical company but soon grew into a book
publisher with over 20 titles a year and an extraordinary
backlist of perennial best-selling graphic novels.
Although Oliveros has run the company since 1989, he
attributes Drawn & Quarterly's recent success to the work of
several key employees, notably Peggy Burns and Tom Devlin,
both of whom left New York City in 2003 to move to
Montreal to work for D+Q.
Under Burn's watch as the company's director of marketing,
Drawn & Quarterly's books have been lauded by publications
across the continent, from The New York Times to The Globe
& Mail. As creative director, Devlin has brought many key
projects to the company, including the best-selling Moomin
books by legendary Finnish author Tove Jansson.
COMPLEX STORIES AND MATURE THEMES Graphic
novels are essentially hard-bound comic books that explore
mature themes using lengthy complex story lines as would a
novel. They first appeared in the late 1970s and were further
popularized when Art Spiegelman’s won a Pulitzer Prize for
Maus in 1986.
Long a fan of the genre, Oliveros published the first edition
of Drawn and Quarterly, a hard-bound compilation featuring
original work from local, national and international artists,
in 1989.
There were various incarnations since then, and the company
has stopped producing the quarterly because the demand for
graphic novels has grown steadily in the last ten years.
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • 14
LIKE DIRECTING A FILM “You have to be a very good
artist and know how to tell a story,” he says, explaining that
choosing between using visuals and dialogue to advance the
plot is akin to being a film director.
Some of the works include war comics-journalism from
Joe Sacco, travelogues by Guy Delisle, a charming teenage
memoir by Michel Rabagliatti as well as translations of
European masters Dupuy & Berberian and the French best
seller Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie.
Always with an eye to the international (many of its
customers in fact are in the U.S.) Oliveros is publishing
translations from authors like Japan’s Yoshihiro Tatsumi,
and Israel’s Rutu Modan.
RETAIL STORE OPEN Beyond the graphic novels, the
firm also publishes an ongoing comic series and sketchbooks
from iconic luminaries like R. Crumb and Chris Ware. And
it has even gotten into the distribution game opening its own
store at 211 Bernard Ouest in the Mile End neighbourhood.
Initially it was just a showroom for its products and to
host book launches and other events, but to Oliveros’
surprise, it took off. Now the space sells graphic novels
from other publishers, graphic design books, and there’s
even a fiction section.
drawnandquarterly.com
TORONTO
Luminato to Shine Again in June
Dancing in the streets, world premieres and stirring
theatre events mark this year’s line up
QUEEN STREET EAST, TORONTO - / Building on last
year’s success, Luminato, whose offices are located in the Queen
Richmond Centre, is shaping up to be as varied and spectacular
an event as it was last June. For ten days, the city is given a taste
of international arts and creativity with world premieres and
large-scale public events fast becoming the hallmark of this
culture-to-the-city initiative.
There’s a lot happening from June 6 to 15, but look to the
opening and closing weekends for some great free events. The
opening night concert at Yonge-Dundas Square also marks the
start of the dance series where live bands celebrate different
musical genres each night combining early-evening lessons
to make these the ultimate outdoor dance parties for all ages
and skill levels. Things kick off with a live swing orchestra
Friday night.
A little west of there on Saturday, you’ll find McCaul Street
closed from OCAD to Queen Street as the area hosts a retrospective on 70s and 80s Punk and New Wave, both in music and
in art. In the afternoon, head to Nathan Philips Square to funk
down with bands like the James Brown Soul Generals.
Paid events include a South Asian production of Shakespeare’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring 23 dancers, street
acrobats, martial arts experts, musicians, actors and performers
from across India and Sri Lanka; the National Theatre of
Scotland’s critically acclaimed Black Watch, about the legendary
Scottish regiment and its role in Iraq; and the Alberta Ballet’s
The Fiddle and the Drum, which features paintings by
Joni Mitchell.
PHOTO: Tristram Kenton
PHOTO: Manuel Harlan
Clockwise from top: A south
pacific version of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream; Morris Day at
Nathan Philips Square’s Funk
Fest; and Emun Elliott in the
Award-winning Scottish play
Black Watch.
luminato.com
CORPORATE MASSAGE Therapy Service Offers Employees Onsite Stress Busting
TORONTO / - With employee stress levels on the rise and energy drink sales going through the roof, it’s
hardly surprising companies are seeking new ways to ensure productivity without increasing worker
burn out. On-site massage therapy services have been a popular solution to this problem and a growing
component of attraction and retention programs for a lot of firms, but finding the right provider can be tricky.
“Touch is a very particular thing,” agrees Daphne Jacobs, a massage therapist with 15 years experience
whose service is expanding to work with downtown Toronto businesses.
Offering reflexology (the massaging of pressure points in the feet, hands and ears to improve overall
health) and aromatherapy treatments, in addition to regular shiatsu massages, healing massages and
deep-tissue body work, Jacobs is taking her practice to downtown workers in the form of an on-site service
offered on a scheduled basis.
“It’s not just one type of massage, or just aromatherapy, it’s a combination of healing techniques that
I’ve refined over the years,” she explains, adding that a short relaxation massage releases tension and
calms the nervous system, leaving employees feeling recharged and refreshed.
Connecting directly with business owners and human resources departments, Jacobs is consulting with
firms to learn more about their employees’ needs and how best to manage stress levels.
For more information email [email protected]
15 • SPRING 2008
WINNIPEG
MOTION AND EMOTION
Winnipeg media firm specializes in creating brands that move
EXCHANGE DISTRICT, WINNIPEG / - While the
notion of media convergence has many of us scratching our
heads, wondering whether to get a plasma TV or just a large
flat-screen monitor, Simon Burgess and Lori Dyck saw it as
an opportunity in motion graphics.
Both left their jobs at CanWest Global in 2005, Burgess a
producer and Dyck a graphic designer on the interactive side,
and later teamed up with a motion graphics expert from
Corus Entertainment, Adam Duguay, to form Elemental
Motion Media.
“When we started, our focus was broadcast television
and websites since we saw those two worlds merging,” says
Burgess who worked as a copywriter, web designer as well as
in television commercial production and long form video.
Elemental also does print advertising, but motion graphics
in both web and broadcast are what form the bulk of its work.
“You’re basically creating emotion by using motion,”
says Burgess. “That’s the strength of motion graphics over,
say print.”
A traditional ad agency will start with print, he explains,
but Elemental thinks in terms of movement, so the team
will conceive of how a message – usually an emotion or
WHAT ARE MOTION GRAPHICS?
Motion graphics use video and/or animation technology to
create a sense of motion or of transforming appearance.
Typically, it’s seen as elements such as an advertiser’s logo
jumping onto the TV screen to flip around in three dimensional
form, or at the start of a television show when the program title
drops into focus and swirls out of the frame. Motion graphics
are as much a part of broadcast as they are web these days
and are designed to give vitality to what would otherwise be
a very static few broadcast seconds.
how you are supposed to feel about a product or service –
can best be conveyed using video and graphic elements.
Telling a story without words is how Burgess describes it.
And often a campaign will work back to a print concept later.
A recent campaign for local radio station HOT 103’s
The Ace Burpee Show began with a series of short TV spots
documenting ‘behind-the-scenes’ at a photo shoot. An
accompanying billboard campaign shows the resultant
photos. The viewer has a sense of story, of knowing that
the photo is part of a larger narrative, explains Burgess.
Based out of a 2,000-square-foot loft at 250 McDermot
Avenue, Elemental Motion Media has also animated
petroglyphs for the motion graphics packaging of the
inaugural Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards;
developed the trailer and graphics for a Geminiaward-winning documentary on hockey brawls;
and regularly produces motion graphics for
The Brick’s national television campaigns.
The television work is designed to make the
viewer feel a certain way towards the product
while the web component provides the information and further detail, says Burgess. And with
the technology to produce high quality broadcast
content becoming increasingly more accessible to
smaller enterprises, he says it comes down to the
creativity of the people involved.
“It’s something we take pride in,” he says. “We’re
creating ads and special effects that are powerful and
emotional and that have a national level caliber
to them.”
FSC LOGO HERE
www.alliedpropertiesreit.com
COMMUNITY CHRONICLE • SPRING 2008 • 16
Send your company info, events and story ideas to [email protected]