As Canada’s largest cultural celebration of design, it is our duty to keep our ears to the ground searching for the latest news making waves, whether big or small, in the art and design community. Through our series Design News, readers will have the chance to learn about the things happening in our networks.

Nuit Blanche 2018 Spreads its Wings

This year’s Nuit Blanche was the first time the festival had locations extending into North York and Scarborough. “Taking over the Line 3 Scarborough subway stations, Scarborough Civic Centre, public library, Coliseum Cinema, and Scarborough Town Centre, there was art, performances, and talks operating under the event-wide curatorial theme: ‘You Are Here.’ Exhibits drew attention to themes like immigration and black Canadian culture.” If you missed the event this year, this article summarizes some of the main highlights from multiple locations in the city.

See full article on BlogTO

Central Talks Social Justice in Toronto at The Bentway

On October 8, 2018, Central hosted a series of three talks at The Bentway, on the topic of social justice in Toronto. The topics asked the questions: “What If City Builders Looked At Accessibility As A Right?”, “What If Public Consultation Was Always Meaningful?”, and “What If Public Transit Was Free For Everyone?”. The talks were lead by Jennifer Hiseler (Accessibility Specialist, Human Space), Nicole Swerhun (Principal, Swerhun Inc.), and Taraneh Zarin (Volunteer Organizer, Free Transit Toronto) respectively. For more on the topics and other Central speaker series, head over to their website below.  

See more information on Central

OCAD U Research Projects Awarded Grant Support

OCAD University researchers were awarded 3 out of the 10 grants “…funded by Sidewalk Labs, Waterfront Toronto and the Toronto Foundation, [and] is tied to Sidewalk’s proposal for a “smart city” that would be built on a 12-acre site known as Quayside.” Three topics that OCAD U will focus on include: Smart Communities as Platform Co-operatives (led by Dr. Jutta Treviranus), Housing Typology Innovations (Jeremy Bowes, Maya Desai, Neal Prabhu), and Cultura Creates Bonds (Dr. Sara Diamond, Dr. Alia Weston, Marcus Gordon). “One of the projects that received funding, Culture Creates Bonds, is being led by President Sara Diamond and Dr. Alia Weston. The project, which studies how people build community bonds in neighbourhoods. was featured in the Toronto Star.”

See full articles on the OCAD U and Toronto Star wesbsites