Arts and Culture…the Rx for Great Communities…

Soon after I graduated from Medical School at U of T, I realized that somehow I had had Job Corps Training in body mechanics but not a real education! I had done the 2 years of Pre Meds that included a little philosophy and anthropology but I had graduated as a doctor at 23 years of age without the broad exposure that a university education is supposed to deliver. I signed up for a U of T Continuing Education course on Canadian Art. I bought the textbook and began my fascination with Art – the only C’s I got in school. I remember being so proud when I first met Peter – a filmmaker and his brother John O’Brian who was then a professor of Art History at York- that I wasn’t quite as ignorant about Canadian Art and Art History as I would have been the year before! But I think that I was still pretty unaware of the essential role that art and culture play in building great communities.

For the past number of years, we have delighted in the research of Richard Florida who is best known for his work on the creative class, and its effect on urban regeneration. Florida's theory asserts that metropolitan regions with high concentrations of high-tech workers, artists, musicians, gay men, and a group he describes as high bohemians, correlate with a higher level of economic development. This summer we were thrilled to learn that Professor Florida will be coming to Toronto to the Rotman School and the MaRS Discovery district to continue his work on how human creativity drives a city's economic success. Welcome to Toronto, Richard!

From Salsa on St. Clair to ArtWalk and the new Wychwood Barns project, to the recent success with Luminato, we have a great dealt to be proud of here in Toronto. I am proud to be part of a small effort to make up for the misguided cancellation of the Public Diplomacy Program which used to help fund artists to show their works abroad. On October 11th, Roberto Martella at Grano’s will host a reception to help Susan Makin raise the necessary fund to take her amazing installation buono appetito to the Florence Biennalle. Our community has really pitched in. Hope to see you there!

< Other News