Cinq à sept–your KW social connection

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On Thursday nights after work around 5’ish, I often head over to The Bauer Kitchen for a drink with an eclectic and dynamic social group of interesting people.  Cinq à sept (Québécois for “five to seven”) in its KW manifestation, is the brain-child of our very own Hilary Abel of RQ Magazine.  I dug up evidence of the first meetup on RQ, dated Jan 2010, so 5à7 (or CaS, or #cinqasept) is well into its second year of social success.

At #cinqasept, I’ve met: an artist, a doctor, a student, a train conductor, a photographer, a singer, a musician, a real estate agent, a graphic designer, a brand specialist, a software developer, a politician, a yoga instructor, an architect,…  you get the idea.

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t’art show at artery gallery + cabs of curiosity sneak preview

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Once again the magic collaboration of UW asst profs Rob Gorbet (Centre for Knowledge Integration) and Lois Andison (Dept of Fine Arts) + their engineer+artist mashup of students has culminated in a really unique show that you can check out down on King St. for the next few days.  t’art (== tech + art) is a course that pushes all my buttons and seems uniquely suited to Waterloo.

Pictured above, is a piece that seems uniquely suited to a gallery called Artery.  “Concordia” by Joe Wang, Katarina Veljovic, and Michael Jeong really blew my hair back.  Each tube as the progression of an idea and the mass as collaborative harmony.

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Setting the stage for a local jazz club

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Yes, literally setting the stage for a cool new jazz club called The Jazz Room, set to open in September right here in Waterloo.

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Open Studio with Melissa Doherty–April 29 & 30

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My very good friend and fabulously talented painter, Melissa Doherty is opening her new studio to the public on Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 from 10am-5pm – Studio 430B, The Tannery in Kitchener (use the entrance off Charles that is closest to Francis St).  This is a unique opportunity to see (and buy!) a collection of Melissa’s work for a very short time as it makes its way between shows in other cities.

Melissa’s work just blows my hair back and plugs right into me.  You just have to see it for yourself, in person.  Let me tell you about the first time I met Melissa and the painting that got away…

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Got BOX?–BOX artists exhibit at The Registry Theatre

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Some great pieces from six of last year’s BOX artists were hung in The Registry Theatre in Kitchener this past (chilly) Monday night.

Your remember the BOX10 show from last November, right?  Awesome venue + awesome art over on the Breithaupt Block.  BOX guru, Cathy Farwell, and her team connected with BOX’s charitable sponsor, The Registry Theatre, who have generously offered to give the artists an opportunity to show work for 6 weeks in the newly-refurbished [antechamber | foyer | lobby] of the theatre.  Doors will be open 1 hour before scheduled events so you can check out the art.  Lawrence McNaught, Director of Programming & Development, told me there are 37 booked dates through to May 15 (when the art comes down), so that’s lots of opportunity to see great acts and great art.  Check it out!

Cathy invited me to do a little storytellin’ around this year’s show, BOX11, and I’m happy to contribute with a few photos.

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David G. White in da house with Art Allies

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My brother from the very same mother, Dave White, joined Art Allies to contribute to the creative ecosystem and sell some paintings!  Thanks to Jacqui Murphy and Art Allies for the support.

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Heather Sinclair–our first CEO of the CEEO

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A super-exciting announcement early Thursday morning as Roger Farwell (left) and his team comprising the Creative Enterprise Enabling Organization (CEEO) welcomed Heather Sinclair as their first CEO.  This group is working double-time to support and extend the local creative ecosystem.  Welcome to the KW make-o-sphere, Heather!

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Engineering Makers at UW

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Today was the 11th Annual Design Project Symposium for students from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo to display their projects.  I’m fortunate that the Davis Centre at UW is on the walk to lunch.  Doubly fortunate that my good friend Rumeesa Khalid reminds me of cool upcoming events in and around campus.  Thanks R!

This project was really cool: a Kinect for tracking objects was mated to a servo-articulated pan and tilt mechanism that held a hyper-sonic sound speaker, which focuses a tight beam of sound.  The idea is that beam of sound could target and follow a user within a space.

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Authorized Urban Exploration in KW

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On Sunday, I had an amazing opportunity to shoot photos at a large, now-closed, industrial site on Glasgow Street.  My very good friend, Cathy Farwell, invited me to join 16 other photographers for a 3-hour tour.  A 3-hour tour (see what I did there?)

Before you delve into some portion of the remaining 83(!) photos, I want to say a massive thank you to the property owner, Bernie Nimer, head of Ridgewood Holdings Inc.  Bernie generously made this shoot possible.  Thanks to Cathy for thinking this up and arranging it all.  This was such a great let’s-try-this experiment, and it is contributions to the creative ecology like Cathy’s that make me so glad to be in KW (and friends with Cathy).

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The maker’s maker–Peter Moir of The Sign Depot

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I was super-fortunate to get an invite to tour The Sign Depot today and brought along three of my maker pals, James Bastow (with camera), Ben Brown (with beard), and Mark Pitcher (at right).  Our guide was none other than owner and head sign guru Peter Moir (with pirate).  We asked for, and got, a kick-ass, around-the-whole-shop tour, asking questions about everything from material science, to construction techniques, to the TOOLS!

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