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On the evening for September 19, 2008, the LOFT Youth organized an art show and BBQ to celebrate the achievements of A.R.T.E.R.Y. and LOFT Music.

The show took place at the Storefront on Bloor, a new initiative organized by the Ontario College of Art and Design and various community partners. Below: LOFT Program Manager Robert Bailey.

Over 200 community members came out to support the youth, donating to help out our programs and recieving posters and CDs in exchange.

Much love to our friends at Dufferin Mall Youth Services that came to support the show! (Behind: artwork by IAH)

The LOFT Music crew in full effect! (Behind: artwork by Colin Bloom)

People flooded onto the streets, reaching out to community members and spreading the word about LOFTMusic! We got a tremendous response from the community as people took in the music for the first time...

The show was titled "Freedom of Piece" to create awareness about the necessity for appreciating graffiti as ART instead of vandalism.  Given the recent "buffing" of a graffiti art mural in our community, we felt the pressure to inform community members that graffiti art is not limited to vandalism and should not be confused with "tagging."  The word "piece" means to make a graffiti art work - a mural painting created with aerosol paint that stylizes an image or letters.  (Below: Viviana Astudillo, with her artwork, using airbrush and aerosol paint)

In order to cultivate this appreciation, ARTERY artists Colin and Troy created live pieces in the back of the Storefront.

ARTERY Mentor Javid and his art.

To take a tour of the gallery space, check out the youtube video below (the tour is about 1:30 into the video). Words: Ghazaleh of Storefront on Bloor, footage by Scott Mills, Graffiti Art for Toronto Police.