Where do artists live in Toronto?
The highest concentration of galleries is in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood - north of Bloor Street between Bay Street and Avenue Road. Now, artists used to live in that neighbourhood too. In the 1960s, Yorkdale was the center of Toronto’s counter-culture movement, the equivalent of Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco.Alas, your typical “starving artist” can’t afford to live in that neighbourhood anymore. Old warehouses that once made great work spaces are rapidly being torn down to build condos. Yorkdale, which used to be a cheap but interesting neighbourhood, is now an expensive neighbourhood full of high end shops. It’s home to both Toronto’s most expensive grocery store and it’s most expensive hair salon.As such, artists tend to live in the lower income housing you find in neighbourhoods further south and east, like St. Jamestown and Regent Park. I live in a Co-op in Toronto’s Gay Village, at the western end of St. Jamestown. I know one fellow who exhibits in both Toronto and his native Pakistan and teaches university courses as well. Another of my neighbours is a photographer.Another hot spot is Parkdale. There are a number of galleries around Queen Street West west of Bathurst - a formerly very depressed area that’s up and coming - perfect for artists. There’s also a lot of old warehouse space as the area used to be a very busy industrial area. In addition, Parkdale has a lot of low income housing as well, although it has a very bad reputation and much of the housing is old and sub-standard. However, it’s under pressure as well - taxes in the area are rising steeply and since the area is so close to the city centre, there’s demand to build condos there too.
Is moving to Paris to work as an artist overrated?
Paris art scene is very bad. Mindset is conservative and closed on itself. I know cos I lived there and I know quite a few artists working there. There is close to none artist run space there and the mindset is not very international. I know a few good places there though, like Air de Paris, Shanaynay, but mostly it suck balls and lot of important, influencial people there are retarded, feels like the city got stuck in the XVIII century for ever, seriously. I know cos I exhibited there, and friends did. And it's depressing. So many galleries with shitty art for middle aged men living room. Paris was great in the 80's, now it is definitely dead. From what I know Brussels, Gent and Rotterdam are really good, especially for conceptual based practices. Glasgow seems also great while a bit more sculpture oriented but that doesnt mean anything. These places have very good community with opportunites and are not overhyped like London or Berlin. May be a good places to start. London is expensive as hell, you'll end up having two jobs to barely pay your rent and your studio with no time for your own. Berlin, everyone goes there, if you are the new guy in town, people will yawn even before you start to open your mouth. You'll end up working in a call center and fuck your mind every weekend at some obscure night club. Avoid for you own sanity. I'm may be exagerrating a bit but believe me, try out the middle size city I mentionned, you'll see it is so much nicer.
Name one gay club/bar for each of these global cities? And a little description of the place!?
New York City Boston Los Angeles Chicago Philadelphia Washington DC Baltimore Miami Atlanta Dallas Houston San Diego San Francisco Seattle Minneapolis-St. Paul Detroit London Rome Athens St. Petersburg Moscow Berlin Paris Madrid BArcelona London Dublin Istanbul Sao Paulo Rio De Janeiro Beunos Aires Monte Video Barcelona Sydney Beijing Tokyo Shanghai HongKong Auckland Vancouver Montreal Toronto Vienna Zurich Johannesburg Lisbon Mexico City
What are some cheap things to do in New York City?
One of the advantages of having a NYC ID is the complimentary access you get to museums and cultural institutions.Here’s a list of all the venues you get access to with the IDNYC:American Museum of Natural HistoryBRICBronx County Historical SocietyBronx Museum of the ArtsBAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music)Brooklyn Children’s MuseumCarnegie HallCenter for Performance ResearchCentral Park Zoo (enrollment is only available at the Bronx Zoo)China InstituteThe Drawing CenterFilm ForumFlushing Town HallJamaica Center for Arts & LearningJacques Marchais Center for Tibetan ArtLincoln Center for the Performing ArtsMetropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan OperaMuseum at Eldridge StreetMuseum of Arts and DesignMuseum of Chinese in AmericaMuseum of Jewish HeritageMuseum of Modern ArtMuseum of the City of New YorkNew York Aquarium (enrollment is only available at the Bronx Zoo)New York Botanical GardenNew York City BalletNew York City CenterMoMA PS1Park Avenue ArmoryPregones TheaterProspect Park Zoo (enrollment is only available at the Bronx Zoo)The Public TheaterQueens MuseumQueens TheatreSnug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical GardenSt. George TheatreStaten Island MuseumStudio Museum in HarlemSugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & StorytellingSymphony SpaceWave HillWildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo+ more being added yearly.
What are some of the things to keep in mind, and the pros and cons of renting a studio or 1 bed flat in Marshalltown, Johannesburg?
I have bad experience with the area and here are some notable examples:Because the area is an industrial area there's lots of noise emanating from the business activity. Not so bad if you are into that sort of thing.A fight broke out last year and shots were fired. One bullet came through my neighbour's window and was lodged under her wooden floor (loft apartment)Red Ants are abuzz removing illegal or building hijackers in the surrounding areas around Von WeillighToo close to the "Red Light District" of the CBD. In any area where there's prostitution, bad characters lurk.If you are street smart you survive just fine and can blend in nicely.