Junction Design Crawl and Carnival x 2

It's been a while since I've played the role of opening-night herald, so forgive me as a chip the rust off the gears, but I did want to mention that the Junction Design Crawl starts tonight at 7 pm, and really, there are few better ways to get acquainted with this stretch of Dundas Street in terms of its growing significane to the art community.

The Junction has been the "next" place for creative types for what feel like a long time now -- I wrote about it some years ago -- but it's clearly now fulfilling that potential. Outwardly, it comes across mostly as a haven for rustic industrial decor -- Smash, once a companion outpost to Post and Beam, which it spun off from, has been joined by a good many others -- but reasonable rents and more-than-reasonably sized spaces have also made it a refuge for artists priced out of more central zones.

So while the Crawl is design-based, per se, dont' be surprised to see a good amount of art on your meanders as well. One of the most obvious will be at Narwhal Art Projects' new space at 2988 Dundas West (above). A refugee from Queen West near Trinity Bellwoods, Narwhat is offering a Carnival, a cluster of fun happenings that includes  psychics, a tarot reader, and marshmallows over an open fire. Officially, a window installation by Joele Walinga and Alicia Nauta serves notice that Narwhal 2.0 is officially open to the public. Nice move, folks. 

Anyway, in the languid days of summer -- for the art world, hot weather means group shows of as-yet unsold works from previous shows, or outright closures -- Carnival seems to be a popular theme, as Nicholas Metivier opened a show of the same name just last night. Featuring a long roster of gallery artists -- well-known quantities like Michael Awad, Shelly Adler, Ed Burtynsky and James Lahey -- this summer cluster will be better than most. Enjoy.