The About Face Collective is working to create a community rooftop garden and learning space with a twist: the creative structural
elements of the garden will be designed and built by local artists and youth
using recycled and reclaimed materials. Together with Skate4Cancer's "You Are What You Eat" program, Sketch Working Arts for Street Involved and
Homeless Youth, and the Centre for Social Innovation, The About Face Collective
will create a unique, inspiring, visually exciting space to promote urban
farming, green lifestyles and integrated community engagement.
We
are seeking to create a 2200 square foot deck on the roof of the Centre
for Social Innovation, Annex location at 720 Bathurst St, Toronto. The
deck will hold
raised beds, vertical gardening structures, community lounge and
education area, all surrounded by green roof space. Our layout considers
plotting for food production while also providing adequate amount of
space for
community use, events and educational programming.
The Impact
Environmental Impact:
Converting black tar rooftop space into green space helps reduce storm
water runoff and also the "heat island" effect which contributes to smog
and poor air quality in urban spaces. Not to mention, more plants in
any situation equals more absorption of CO2, also leading to more
breathable air. We'll also be putting rain barrels on the roof which
will help conserve water. And, last but not least, we'll be growing
food, selling it in the building below and using it on-site in
educational programming, effectively ELIMINATING the emissions it
normally takes to transport produce into urban areas!
By
showcasing the creative and functional possibilities of materials often
thought of as disposable, we hope to inspire waste reduction. Not only
will we reduce landfill waste ourselves, but also to inspire others to
see the amazing aesthetic and practical potential that exists for
recycling and reusing.
Social Impact:
We'll be giving youth, artists and other community members unique
educational and employment opportunities throughout this project.
Educational programming will be offered in the initial
development process in the form of workshops, so that interested
community members learn about different stages of creating a rooftop
garden.
We're teaming with local artists including the crew at Sketch Working Arts for Street Involved and Homeless Youth. We'll
be offering paid residencies to youth who are passionate and artistic
but are encountering barriers to employment. These opportunities give
them unique and exciting job experience which can help launch them into
future careers in creative or environmental sectors.
Our
regular scheduled
programming, in partnership with Skate4Cancer, will take the
form of half-day educational sessions for school and community groups.
Programs will focus on agriculture and urban gardening education,
sustainable art and design, nutritional
information and simple, healthy food preparation. The programming will
seek to show the
food process in its full cycle, from seed to meal. We will take a
creative approach
to food education, integrating art, nutrition and sustainable
possibilities. Fun!
The space will also be open to the general public and available for
rental for special events, workshops and gatherings. It will serve as a unique
and artistically inspired space that will appeal to a wide variety of communities in the GTA.
What We Need
We've already hosted a successful fundraiser, gained the support of Live Green Toronto, The Big Carrot, and lots of support from our own community members. We're applying for grants and sponsorships like it's our job, but we still need support from you! We've got some dough to go to reach our full fundraising goals to cover our budget of $240,000.Where does that number come from? Well, not only are we creating the rooftop deck, but we also need to build all the necessary drainage equipment and underlying infrastructure to make sure the deck can support the weight of the garden and green roof elements. This requires not only quality equipment, but also services from sustainability specialists, including architects, engineers and contractors. We'll also need to construct appropriate access to the roof (right now there's only a ladder; eek!).
As mentioned, we also want to employ youth and local artists (with decent wages!) to help design, build and bring artistic sensibilities to the space. We believe in the value of creative work and in the potential for artists to bring important social and environmental issues to light, to make them exciting and attractive to the community.
We'll also need to buy tools, create educational resources, and of course seeds, plants, lightweight soil alternatives and other garden-related items. It all adds up fast!
Other Ways You Can Help
Please help us spread the word! Share our campaign with your friends who care about the environment, art, youth, culture, food, health, the Earth, and, well, EVERYTHING!
If you're in the Toronto area and would like to volunteer your skills to this project, holler! Add your passion to our growing group of diverse and passionate community members.
Perks will be sent at the close of the campaign.
Relevant perk links:
freshcityfarms.com
laurenpirie.com
