AHTV is essentially ArtHouseTO Instagram  X1000!

 

Think MuchMusic in it’s heyday. Think Zed TV. Think Hilarious House Of Frightenstein. A variety show of sorts that showcases and celebrates artists, musicians, performers, from the GTA while profiling incredible humans doing the real work in and around food equity, housing, social justice, healthcare, harm reduction, decarceration, the solidarity economy, and more! 

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AHTV imagines an infinite Creative Universe on the other side of a modest storefront facade nestled in a residential neighbourhood in Riverdale, Toronto, on Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas Of The Credit’s land. 

 

Each episode begins the same way:

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Intro Music:  Place In The Sun (Instrumental)  (written and produced by Geoff Doner Music)

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Evening, sun about to set. Drone shot of the Toronto city skyline, facing west, over Riverdale. As our view turns downward towards the community below, we descend to just above the rooftops, hovering in front and above a small building with a storefront, set amongst a residential neighbourhood. Multi coloured light beams shoot out from the window of the storefront as we fly down through the window into the world of AHTV where we are greeted by a host/hosts, their surroundings physical, not so physical, animated, abstracted, sometimes inside an idealized version of the ArtHouseTO building concept itself. 

 

“Hello Everyone! On todays episode, we are broadcasting from the Community Garden!”

The Host/Hosts stand in a 3D version of ArtHouseTO’s Community Garden.

“Stay tuned as we speak to Rav and Cheyenne, 2 amazing urban farmers in the GTA! Then we will head inside to the gallery and check out new work by Peachmelt, watch a performance by Made In Exile, head to the printing studio for a 101 with Inprint Studios But first, lets have a closer look at this garden we are standing in….”

 

Much like ArtHouseTO on Instagram, AHTV strives to act as a convergence centre itself, to share, not only the harsh realities of the effects of corporate/colonial violence and the respective calls to action, but also, and more importantly, the incredible work people are doing on the ground on a daily basis to make this world a better, more equitable place for all and everyone. A place to cultivate hope and envision possible futures.

 

Much like ArtHouseTO on Instagram, AHTV is a place for the displaced, a space of convergence, cross-pollination, cross-cultivation, mutual solidarity, to highlight the incredible work people are doing on the ground to make this city more equitable and just, to showcase innovative community-building projects and ideas that exist right here in the GTA, to challenge, confront, uproot and dismantle the colonial/corporate system that actively fights against any real growth. 

 

Much like ArtHouseTO, AHTV will continue and expand our Insta Live Series into live in-person interviews in our AHTV Studios. Our past interviews include Chemi Lhamo, Glowz, Shon Williams, John F. Gerrard, Kym Hines. Our first in-person, in-studio interview with the unstoppable Khaleel Seivwright of Tiny Homes and Fat Drop Trailers.

 

Much like ArtHouseTO, AHTV celebrates Artists, Creatives, Musicians, Performers, Dancers from the GTA! To date we have reposted over 300 artists on our ArtHouseTO Instagram feed, with the artists’ blessings of course! 

 

We want to take that energy and showcase GTA talent through live, in-house performances, live streams, pre-recorded material, films, videos, on location shoots and interviews in artists studios, galleries, etc. 

To move ArtHouseTV forward, some essential ingredients are already in place: 

 

A Following

We have a solid following on Instagram of over 6300 beautiful people! And we have spreadsheets of people who have reached out to volunteer, that we have met with, had coffee with, strategized and brainstormed with, and we have also been gathering testimonials from our followers too. 

 

Artists Connections

Over the last 3 years, we have connected with and reposted over 300 artists in the GTA through our @arthouseto Instagram account! This has been such an incredibly enriching experience for us! We are artists too:) 

 

By showcasing the incredible artists, profile and promote the creative humans in the GTA, and beyond, to demonstrate the fact that Artists create impactful magnetic centres, points of engagement, offering up infinite opportunities for us to rethink, de-think, refocus, consider something else, feel something differently. 

 

Community Connections

As artists do, we turn to our artistic practice to process our lives, to express ourselves and in this particular case we found solace in imagining and designing ArtHouseTO. The original inspiration was to create visually engaging designs of ArtHouseTO, colour-coded to represent each particular section, graphic artwork, floorplans, elevation views, very infographic. We intended to then engage people with these designs to explore, not only the possibility of such hubs, but also create space for important conversations to emerge around ideas such as displacement, who gets displaced and why? Foster discussions around food equity, social justice, mutual aid, the need for safe, affordable, accessible spaces in the city to cultivate thriving communities and the willful neglect of our municipal and provincial governments in addressing people's needs in a meaningful way.

As our community connections broadened and deepened, our following on Instagram grew, we became connected with so many incredible artists, community groups, social justice orgs, encampment support networks, urban farmers, people working in harm reduction, healthcare, housing advocacy, food programs, accessibility. 

This led us to move ArtHouseTO to the background so to speak, and, rather than put our idea forward, focus on using our platform to amplify, promote, highlight and showcase the incredible work being done on the ground to make this city a better place for all. And, especially, celebrate Artists! 

 

So @arthouseto evolved into a “virtual convergence centre”, a node of sorts for various community events, artwork, social justice calls to action, mutual aid requests, etc. A place for folks to meet, connect and cross pollinate, share stories, promote an event, a performance, a clothing drive, a fundraiser, etc.

Now, with COVID restrictions easing, we have started evolving ArtHouseTO into a series of live events, performances, interviews, installations, Pop Ups, etc, showcasing the incredible humans we have had the absolute pleasure of connecting with on our Instagram journey! Happening in our sweet storefront space in east end Toronto, this is essentially the seed, the micro version of ArtHouseTO in physical form where we are emulating on a smaller scale what ArtHouseTO is all about. Stay tuned for more ! Oh and there are also plans for an online 3D immersive environment for a whole other experience…