The Life, and Slow Death, of the Toronto Arts Critic
Toronto once had a thriving ecosystem of cultural critics who prodded, inspired and annoyed both readers and artists. As the media sheds its arts writers, what does a city lose?
Toronto’s Arts Institutions Are Crumbling and it’s Always the Same Story
The trouble at Hot Docs, TIFF, Artscape and the AGO are part of a larger failure in a country that doesn’t take art seriously.
Building Your Own Art Scene
These four young queer artists couldn’t see a space for themselves in the mainstream Toronto art world. At Hearth, a thriving alternative gallery started in a downtown garage, they created their own.
How to Make a Toronto Indie Movie
Kazik Radwanski is part of a cohort of local filmmakers changing Toronto’s cinematic identity. With his latest film, Matt and Mara, he’s trying to reach an international audience.
Not ‘Indigenous’ Enough
I’ve been told my paintings aren’t really “Indigenous art.” How the commercial demand for one specific version of the Indigenous experience pigeon-holes today’s artists.
Can Artists Be Parents?
For many Toronto artists, choosing a career in the arts and choosing to have a family can feel mutually exclusive.
From International Student to Popstar
Harkirat Sangha came to Canada to study and ended up driving trucks. He’s now finding fame and fortune singing about it.
Why Aren’t Arts Workers Unionized?
Behind every piece of art is a community of underpaid, idealistic gallery installers, box office staff, and technicians. Why arts work needs to be seen as real work.
The Value of Art and the Cost of Losing it
Toronto’s cultural institutions are reeling and its artists are struggling. What’s lost when a city no longer supports the arts?
Everybody’s Got to Eat
Decadent chicken sandwiches, steaming bowls of pho ga, classic jerk chicken, and pillowy pupusas worth the commute—eating our way across Jane and Finch.
Leaving the Party
Walking late at night, free from the noise of the day and the demands and threats of men, I can finally hear my own thoughts.
Building Fun in a Notoriously Unfun City
With artists getting international recognition and partygoers eager to make up for lost time, the only thing standing between Toronto and a vibrant nightlife scene is Toronto.
How I Went Broke Succeeding in Theatre
As curtains rise on Toronto theatres after years of disruption, a generation of creators are wondering if there’s still a place for them on the stage.
FAITH/VOID Was a Thriving DIY Venue. Then Came the Noise Complaint
Fights around Toronto’s unofficial music venues reveal a stark reality—there is noise this city values, and noise it doesn’t.
A Summer Without Tourists
We don't usually think of Toronto as a travel destination. But when the tourism industry imploded overnight, the effects rippled across the city.
A Small Town on Copeland Avenue
For years, I’d been craving the community and intimacy of small-town life. Then the pandemic hit and I found that it had been around me the whole time.
The Picture Man
Thirty years ago, Rodrigo Moreno photographed neighbourhood kids for a school project. He's come back ever since, tracing the changing lives of people in a corner of the city few find worthy of documenting.
The Toronto Basketball Powerhouse Nobody’s Ever Heard Of
The kids don’t get free sneakers. The team has to haggle for gym time. The coaches are unpaid. So what makes Toronto Basketball Academy so good?
Children’s Village Forever
Ontario Place designer Eric McMillan invented the ball pit, built the epicentre of kid-life for a generation of Torontonians and, for a brief moment, promised to revolutionize the way we play.
How We Eat Now
A quiet dinner while watching Netflix. A sit-down meal with a chosen family. Portraits of dinnertime across the city.