Title: Decade; Koffler Gallery, Toronto, ON.
closed by the Toronto District School Board in 2000. After a transformation of the interior by Teeple
Architects, the building re-opened in 2014 as Artscape Youngplace, named in honour of a lead donation
from The Michael Young Family Foundation. Over the past 10 years 180 Shaw St. has become a crucial
community hub for artists, arts groups, and engaged audiences.
To acknowledge and celebrate the role the building and its tenants have played within the cultural ecology
of Toronto over these past 10 years, Koffler Arts is excited to present DECADE, a group exhibition by eight
contemporary artists currently or recently working in the building. While the building itself is significant
to Toronto’s architectural heritage, it is ultimately the human activity that is the heart and soul of a
place. Over the past 10 years, 180 Shaw St. has had nearly 100 artists and cultural groups practicing a diverse
range of media and forms, solidifying its purpose and value.
The exhibition also comes at a time of economic challenges in Toronto that demands consideration of how artists
and cultural groups can inhabit the city, contribute to its growth and vitality, and achieve greater security
for the future of this and other cultural spaces across Toronto.