After 2+ years of being open on Queen Street West, the owners of galleryDK have decided to close the doors on the storefront gallery. In the last 2 years, the non-gallery priorities for the owners have changed quite dramatically (children born, homes bought, and other major life milestones).

galleryDK is closing

And to a no small extent, we have found it increasingly difficult to actually remain photographers ourselves! Something had to give… and that something is our storefront space. Going forward, galleryDK will be an online only gallery.

While we had hoped that we could transition the space into a larger membership-based gallery, there doesn’t appear to be enough demand for the model to make it work. While we are disappointed that we couldn’t keep the sticky door open longer, we’re happy with what we have achieved with the space.

Thank you to all of the many artists who have exhibited with us (too many to list), and thank you very much to all of the friends and supporters of the gallery who have visited us and attended opening receptions (and such). Thanks for your support of local emerging artists!

Between now and the end of June we will be sporadically open (hopefully at least a couple times a week). If you’re in the neighbourhood, please be sure to stop by and say hi.

June 5 & 6 2010

The Riverdale Art Walk is a 2-day, juried fine art show, with over 100 artists exhibiting along Queen St. E. from the DVP to Leslie and between Eastern and Dundas St. E.

The Food

Checking out the art in the park making you a little hungry? This year you’ll be able to purchase food from Pulp Kitchen (wraps & smoothies), La Fiesta (kebabs), and La Limonada (fresh lemonade) right in the park – or head out into the neighbourhood and check out all the wonderful restaurants Riverdale has to offer.

And of you want to sit and relax with a cool one – Steam Whistle Brewery will be setting up their beer tent in the northwest corner of the park and offering their brew from noon-6pm both Saturday and Sunday (ID required).

The Music

Mood Swings, a jazz quarter, will be serenading our artists and attendees in the park on Sunday from noon-4pm.

How to Get There By Streetcar:

* Take the Queen St. E. streetcar to Broadview. You can begin your art walk here.
* Take the King St. E streetcar to Broadview. You can begin you art walk here.

How to Get There By Subway:

* Get off at Broadview station and take the King streetcar down to Broadview – you will be at the W end of the walk.
* Get off at Pape station and take the southbound bus to Carlaw and Queen E. – you will be halfway through the walk and the park will be W of you.
* Get off at Donlands station and take the Jones bus south to Queen E. – you will be at the E end of the walk.

Joanna Lavoie – InsideToronto.com

For a dozen years now, thousands of art lovers have made a mass exodus to the city’s east end for a weekend in June to enjoy the Riverdale Art Walk (RAW).

The juried original fine art show and sale, put on by the Artists’ Network, a Riverdale-based organization dedicated to supporting visual artists in their professional business practice through the promotion of their professional development and entrepreneurship, takes place Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

More than 90 artists are set to exhibit their work at Jimmie Simpson Park (near Queen Street East and Logan Avenue), while dozens more will showcase their art inside retail spaces, studios and galleries in south Riverdale’s Riverside and Leslieville communities from Broadview Avenue all the way to Leslie Street.

Olena Sullivan, the free event’s administrator, said the RAW has been growing year after year and the 2010 edition offers a range of art for people to enjoy.

Sullivan said this year visitors can check out the RAW’s expanded 12-page guide, which includes details about two new self-guided art tours.

“It’s a chance for people to explore the neighbourhood. It’s a great stroll,” she said, noting the first walk includes artist exhibits along Queen Street East, Carlaw Avenue and at Jimmie Simpson Park, while the second brings people more into the south Riverdale community where they are more than welcome to do a little shopping, stop for lunch or a coffee break.

“We’re highlighting the full Riverdale neighbourhood. The area has been changing and improving so much in the last several years,” said the Leslieville resident, who will have three of her photographs featured in the Artists’ Network’s members show at the Hang Man Gallery, 756 Queen St. E.

“In this end it’s all about supporting our local artists. That’s what the Artists’ Network is all about.”