Nuit Blanche

Workman Arts has participated in the Nuit Blanche arts festival since its inception in 2006.

From sunset to sunrise in October festival-goers encounter the city in a unique way. They explore Toronto by moonlight through public art commissions, all-night exhibitions, live performances and creative programmes featured throughout the city. This cultural rendezvous opens the doors to hundreds of museums, galleries, institutions and unusual spaces, each featuring free art programmes all night long.

In 2006 Workman Arts participated in this exciting event with an exhibition of film clips and pictures from the annual Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival. This outdoor screening opened the doors and turned the walls inside out. In 2007, Workman Arts presented Off The Wall, a reality-TV inspired event where the public projected themselves onto the big screen questioning the shapes and borders of stereotypes, stigmatization and identity. In 2008 Workman Arts presented On The Hour, an talk-show styled event where local artists interviewed and performed together with audience interaction. The 2007 and 2008 events were co-presented with Trinity Square Video. In 2009, Workman Arts presented inSANITY, an interactive installation that includes a central participation from our members and the inclusion of our mandate: to promote a greater understanding of mental illness and addiction through the creation, presentation and discussion of the artistic media.

In 2010, Workman Arts will presents FACE it HEAD on - Saturday October 2

This project is designed to highlight the complex fabric and daily interactions of Toronto’s Queen Street West/Ossington community. The artistic community at Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts in collaboration with Workman Arts will explore the relationship between artistic expression and self-identity, through tackling the artistic possibilities of redefining self-portraiture through non-literal representations of self. The exhibition will feature 25 Propeller members and 25 Workman artists. By contrasting the non-literal portraits within the gallery space, with a media work that melds and merges individuals together into a homogenous communal portrait we are able to explore the themes of identity, psyche, and the mind.