And the Juno Goes to...
Our homie Shad talks about his recent Juno win for 2011 Canadian Rap Recording of the Year and much more!
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Drake Hotel will host a Toronto Graffiti Summit Town Hall on May 31st to discuss and present ideas to address the city’s recent stand on the subject under Rob Ford’s campaign promise to “clean up our city’s streets.”
The town hall meeting will address both sides of the issue and feature presentations from people involved in the world of graf as well as people negatively affected by the ‘vandalism’ of public spaces, in order to find a balance between freedom of expression through street art and preservation of private property.
Syrus Ware, Program Coordinator of Youth Programs at the Art Gallery of Ontario will provide credence to the art form & its importance to modern art. Paula “La Bomba” Gonzalez-Ossa, Graffiti Artist will provide a street artist perspective and how marginalized youth can find positive outlets through the art form. Panelists will include Shawn “Zion” Jones, Graffiti legend and Owner of The Bomb Shelter and Jeff Melanson, Special Advisor on the Arts to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford amongst several others.
This will be an important step in defining how Toronto really views this issue and how we can proceed with this impending crackdown on street art. I personally think that graffiti is just as important an art form as any other and that freedom of expression through public forums should not be silenced. It adds character to our lack luster and otherwise bland structures however, I believe there are certain lines that should not be crossed such as the defacement of historical and heritage buildings. Where do YOU stand on this issue?
The Summit begins at 7pm inside The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St. West) with seating on a first-come, first-serve basis and is FREE for all to attend. If this is a topic of discussion that is important to you (which I sure many of our readers would say, is) then this may be something worth checking out.
Article Written up by @1loveto
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