Housepaint

Round-up: A Completed Hug-Me Tree, a Home-A-Thon and Talking Street Art

   
Elicser Elliot's completed "Hug Me Tree"
click the image above or view:
http://housepaint.typepad.com/photos/elicsers_hug_me_tree_comp/
Check out the Torontoist feature too:
http://torontoist.com/2009/03/from_the_sidewalk_to_the_institution.php


 
Images from the Habitat For Humanity 2009 Home-A-Thon
Held on the ROM front plaza by The Habitat Campus Coalition.
"...to raise awareness about poverty housing in Toronto. Together, 40 students will experience overcrowding and sub-standard housing on a personal level by attempting to ‘live’ in small cabins for a period of 24 hrs." For more info and to support please visit:
http://www.torontohabitat.on.ca/Web/ShowEvent.aspx?EventID=1804 
For more images view: http://housepaint.typepad.com/photos/homeathon/


 
Alana Armstrong, 'Talking (not Tackling) Street Art at Housepaint,' BlogTo
Click the image above or read the article here:
http://www.blogto.com/arts/2009/03/talking_not_tackling_street_art_at_housepaint/
(blogTo Images by: http://www.rogercullman.com/ )

Talking Street Art, March 25th at the ROM

Wednesday, March 25th
6:30pm - FREE

An artist, a city councillor, a curator, and an artistic director all weigh in on the subject of Street Art in Toronto, exploring the interplay between street artists and institutions. Join us for this lively evening of discussion and debate, followed by a Q & A session.

Panelists include:
- Adam Vaughan (Councillor, City of Toronto)
- Dan Bergeron - aka fauxreel (artist)
- David Liss (artistic director, MOCCA)
- Devon Ostrom (curator, Housepaint)
For details on the panelists, please see below.

Location: Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre
Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

Please enter via the Loblaws Group Entrance, located at Museum Station. 
Join the facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=54447634644&ref=mf
 

Elicser Elliot's Hug Me Tree - Install: Day 4

Elicser Elliot working at the ROM, day 4.
Please click the image above to view the album or visit:
http://housepaint.typepad.com/photos/elicsers_tree_day_4/

Elicser Elliot's 'Hug Me Tree' - Install: Day 2

 

Elicser Elliot working at the ROM, Day 2 - Please click the image above to view the album or visit:
http://housepaint.typepad.com/photos/elicsers_hug_me_tree/

Elicser Elliot's 'Hug Me Tree' in the ROM

 

Starting tomorrow and over March break Elicser Elliot, arguably Toronto’s best loved street / graffiti artists, will paint a mural and relief assemblage around and on the Hug Me Tree.

Before it was painted, the Hug Me Tree was a dead tree -- one with stubby branches, no leaves and soon to be pulled down.  It was first painted and thus rescued by Elicser in the summer of 1998 (or 1999) and quickly became a symbol of spontaneous creation, benign neglect and an icon of Queen West culture. The work was recognized not only by the art community but most importantly appreciated by and accessible to anyone passing by.

Elicser anonymously maintained the tree for almost ten years, giving it six major incarnations with the occasional collaboration of others he never met. Over the years, the Hug Me Tree has received a considerable amount attention and press, documented by photographers, locals, tourists and art lovers.  It has transformed that corner of Queen West into a focal point, a meeting place, a photo-op and part of the social fabric of one of our cities most famous and vibrant streets. When the Hug Me Tree was hit by a car and fell in August 2008, there was unprecedented reaction and outreach from the community: it narrowly avoided the city wood chipper before being rescued by citizen protest and a woman in a truck – who amazingly enough, was proposed to under the painted tree. (She was also accompanied by the child of this marriage who acted as foreman in safely relocating it.) 

Check out more info about the tree here:
http://spacing.ca/wire/2008/08/12/queen-west-hug-me-tree-finds-a-new-home/