News & Updates

The Junction Forum for Art & Culture (JFAC), organizer of the 16th annual Junction Arts Festival, announces an attendance record of 200,000 visitors for 2008; an increase of more than 33 percent over last year's attendance numbers, and the largest to date.

Mayor David Miller stated on the opening night, September 3, "This festival captures the true grassroots spirit and true talent of Torontonians . . . and there's great talent right here in the Junction. I've heard about the festival all over Toronto, and great poster too!"

Councillor Bill Saundercook (Ward 13, City of Toronto) and JFAC Chair states, "Our goal this year was to showcase the amazing pool of talent and artistry that we have right here in the Junction. It is JFAC's honour to have presented a very successful Junction Arts Festival and the 2008 centennial celebrations, and on behalf of the Junction BIA and area residents we thank all the dedicated volunteers, participants and supporters and we look forward to 2009."

Please Note: Some of the indoor installations and Junction gallery showings along Dundas Street West remain open and will continue until further notice.

Words of Congratulations:

"It was a brilliant festival... I had a great time!
Next year I hope there is more jazz featured but aside from that, I loved all of it.
It felt like a street party in Philadelphia or Baltimore in the eighties... very surreal indeed."
Jaymz Bee, Producer & Host, Jazz Safari Bwana
JAZZ FM 91

"This is tremendous news! Congratulations!"
Kathleen Sharpe, Executive Director
Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund

"The Junction Arts Festival was fantastic! I had a grand time. You had fantastic music acts, great food, a wonderful vibe (so many babies!) and of course my friends Bain and Bernard were stellar! AND, it was well promoted! Congratulations."
Nancy White
Singer-Songwriter/Satirist

"I will be doing a huge spread with lots of photos (of course) in the October issue of SNAP. I also send BIG congrats for an excellent job with communicating all the festival and centennial events this year! Amazing job!!"
Peter Foy, Publisher & General Manager
SNAP - Bloor West

"Congratulations, looks like the festival was a great success. Would love to participate next year and have some of our artists on the bill!"
Geoff Kulawick, President
True North Records / Linus Entertainment

"Congratulations. You really worked hard on this one!"
Mary Mill, Publicity
MapleMusicRecordings

"Congrats!"
Peter Feniak
Freelance Journalist & Television Host

The 2008 Junction Arts Festival was generously supported by title sponsor the Junction Business Improvement Area, and the Department of Canadian Heritage Anniversary program, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Toronto Arts Council, NOW Magazine and The Villager. The festival successfully maintained its grass roots, community feel while attracting over 18 proud sponsors.

Thank you, and see you all in 2009!

The Junction Forum for Art and Culture, producing body for The Junction Arts Festival, is currently recruiting new board members. If you are interested in artistic and cultural development in the Junction, this is your chance to join JFAC and make a difference. All nominations for Directorships on JFAC are voted on by the existing board and it is our goal to make these decisions at the next scheduled board meeting. You will receive a response to your application once the decisions have been made. Thank you for your interest in joining JFAC; please download the application here.

The JFAC board is made up of a number of individuals dedicated to the artistic community in the Junction. Without their work throughout the year the Junction Arts Festival would not be possible. The current board executive is Councillor Bill Saundercook - chair, Carmen Victor - vice-chair, Pat Schnurr - treasurer; directors are Colleen Johnston, Rhonda Nolan and Louis Marrone. Thanks to each of you for all your help throughout the past year!

At the opening gala reception on Wednesday, September 3rd the winners to the 2008 Junction Arts Festival Juried Exhibition were announced. Because things were pretty busy during the heat of the festival this news didn't make it online right away, but we were all pretty excited about it anyway. Please accept our belated congratulations to the winners; we hope to have all the participants and more back for next year's show.

There were over 65 artists across three major categories (painting/drawing, sculpture and photography) that presented an incredibly rich and diverse selection of art. This made the job of our expert jurors — Mary Kainer, Juan Carlos Martinez and Persilia Caton — especially difficult. Thanks to all that submitted work, you were a part of what made this year's exhibition and festival a success.

The winners were:

• Gordon Leverton - 1st Place, 1 year scholarship, The Academy of Realist Art ($7500 value)
• Lisa Sanders - 2nd Place, $1000 gift gertificate, Picture It Framed
• David Gluck - 3rd Place, $1000 gift certificate, West End Offset Plates Service
• Linda Kieley - 4th Place, $500 gift certificate, Picture It Framed
• Martha Griffith - 5th Place, $500 gift certificate, Picture It Framed

Congratulations, and enjoy your prizes!

There was lots of great art and performance to see and experience at this year's Junction Arts Festival. No doubt many galleries will pop up online and come to our attention in the next few weeks. For starters, here are three great galleries of photos taken by Luke Tymowski.

• Larchaud Dance Project
• Véronique MacKenzie's "Citizens"
• Octamerous

After a day of sleep and tending to sore feet and muscles from the weekend, we've returned to the festival office and are beginning wrap-up for this year and thinking about next. We all had a fantastic time this weekend, and from all the wonderful comments you have shared with us, it seems that you did too. Over the next few days we will be posting bits and blurbs about the festival that we find online and in the press; below are a few to get you started. If in your web travels you find any photos, videos, articles or blogs, please let us know, and keep checking back here to see what's been found.

We'd like to extend a very big thanks to everybody that helped make this past week of festivities possible. This festival couldn't have happened without the great artists, performers and musicians; vendors, local businesses and community members; our incredibly dedicated volunteers; and of course our board chairs Councillor Bill Saundercook and Carmen Victor and the rest of our directors. Thank you all so much!

For continued events in The Junction, please visit thejunctioncity.com.

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"Just got off stage, that was the most fun TO show ever :-)" – David Usher, Sept. 6/08 - DavidUsher.com & Twitter.com

"The Junction Arts Festival is the best festival in Toronto." – Justin Rutledge, Sept. 6/08.

"Junction Arts Festival Betters All Other Street Festivals." - MartiniBoys.com, Sept. 3/08.

"The Junction Arts Festival Nails It ... The art goes on for ever" – James McCaul, Sept. 7/08 – myneighbourhood.ca

"Junction Arts Festival a big success" – Falsepositives.com, Sept. 7/08 (visit for photos)

"The arts festival expects to draw at least 150,000 people over its five day run, and indeed it is a destination event, but still retains a fiercely proud neighbourhood vibe." – Joshua (Blogto.com), Sept. 6/08

"This year's Junction Arts Festival is really great. It's an excellent showcase for all of the great new shops that have recently opened in the Junction area" – Malcolm Bastien (Blogto.com), Sept. 6/08