DECADE: 10 Years of Creation at Youngplace

Ruth Adler / Barbara Astman / Shabnam K. Ghazi / Vid Ingelevics

Gillian Iles / Carolyn Murphy / Midi Onodera / Matthew Schofield

Curated by David Liss

In a building designed by architect C. H. Bishop, the Shaw Street Public School opened in 1914 and was closed by the Toronto District School Board in 2000. After a transformation of the interior by Teeple Architects, the building re-opened in 2014 as Artscape Youngplace, named in honour of a lead donation from The Michael Young Family Foundation. Over the past 10 years 180 Shaw St. has become a crucial community hub for artists, arts groups, and engaged audiences.

To acknowledge and celebrate the role the building and its tenants have played within the cultural ecology of Toronto over these past 10 years, Koffler Arts is excited to present DECADE, a group exhibition by eight contemporary artists currently or recently working in the building.

While the building itself is significant to Toronto’s architectural heritage, it is ultimately the human activity that is the heart and soul of a place. Over the past 10 years, 180 Shaw St. has had nearly 100 artists and cultural groups practicing a diverse range of media and forms, solidifying its purpose and value.

The exhibition also comes at a time of economic challenges in Toronto that demands consideration of how artists and cultural groups can inhabit the city, contribute to its growth and vitality, and achieve greater security for the future of this and other cultural spaces across Toronto.

DECADE opens on February 22nd and runs until May 12th.

For media inquiries please contact Laura Chapnick-Klein lchapnick@kofflerarts.org.