Artscape Wychwood Barns

I’ve visited this space for 2 consecutive Sundays. I visited the EcoFair and the Gluten Free Garage shows.
They use the main hall to set up the exhibitors. Thus far, that has been large enough to allow visitors and exhibitors alike to walk around and peruse the stands at their pace. The Gluten Free Garage was far busier than the EcoFair and was still manageable.
The other spaces available host community workshops, local arts and non-​profit associations. There is a clean washroom available and your generic ATM machine. It’s a nice, amenable building.

Joe Mehevic and the neighbourhood have much to be proud of.

I’m not sure what to make of the Artscape Wychwood Barns. Hippie collective? Municipal land reclaimation project? Spawning ground for hipsters? A safe place for home canners and ovrly confident smal-​batch bakers?
It’s a neat space, A former waystation for streetcars just off St. Clair, TAWB has been repurposed to house a number of small artists, some community and kids’ programming, a playground and a local farmer’s market. For those who like to eat local, seasonal produce and food that is better described as «artisanal» or «expensive» than «tasty», it’s to die for. Neighbourhood residents who just want a great loaf of bed are better off walking a few blocks to Tre Mari, which offers less ambiance but better value.
Truth be told, I like the space but can’t get past the smug urbane vibe. I visit every once in a while, but rarely buy. For all the hype about it’s urban location, I’d still rather hit St. Jacobs up north. If only because I loved «Breaking Amish» on TLC.

Only been here once or twice, but it’s a really neat space. Check out what’s happening here before you go online or wherever and it will make for a better experience. Greenhouse and kitchen is really cool, and they have the artists live in workspace. Neat.

Great space, indoors and out. Good playground for kids, big and spacious on the inside… I haven’t really explored it much. The only thing I know about this place is the farmers’ market, whose name I can never get right: The Stop’s, Green Barns, Wychwood Barns, etc. I wrote a detailed review about all I love about the market, which is held in this great space.

I have been eager to check out the Brewery Market event that’s been happening at the Wynchwood Barns on select Sundays (1pm — 5pm) over the summer —
.
Each Sunday features a different microbrewery and their beers. The feature beers on this particular Sunday were from IndieAle House, which is a new brew pub set to open soon in the Junction area.
By the time we arrived around 2:30pm, they only had the porter left so we grabbed a few of those to try. The beers come in 12 oz. plastic cups and cost $ 5 each or $ 7 for glass mug that can be kept as a souvenir. We also got a personal sized pizza to share ($ 8). It’s grilled in an oven on the premises so it was hot and fresh.
The Brewery Market is cash only and beer/​food tickets can be purchased from a small desk by the entrance. We checked out the event space, greenhouse and surrounding garden areas to see what was growing. The area around the Barns features a nice grassy lawn, a off-​leash dog park and a big playground with a splash pad. Very family friendly indeed.
Free street parking is readily available on the residential streets. Just make sure to have a designated driver if sampling a lot of beer.
The Barns and the Brewery Market makes for a fun day trip on a Sunday afternoon. I have heard that the Farmers Market on Saturdays is also worth checking out.

It’s an exciting spot. It has history behind it, and yet it’s fresh, bright, colourful — a refreshing sight in a city with so many rundown, dilapidated community spaces. In the summer, I used to come by this place on my way from work, climb on top of the little hill and watch the people play beach volleyball and the dogs in the new off-​leash area play… um, just ball. And I used to frequent the farmer’s market here on Saturday mornings, though eventually the one at Brickworks won me over (but then Brickworks is an exciting recent project in its own right — and on a bigger scale than this). Come by here on a happy Saturday morning at some point. It’ll be worth it, I promise.

In addition to the non-​profit, artist-​friendly, culture-​regenerating, neighbo (u)rhood-building, eco-​sustainable, and some-​dogooder-​gold-​star winning public awesomeness that this place already touts, it also holds court in the sweet spot of the hearts of two of my favorite people. To wit: my mom keeps her studio here; my sister got married here.
I don’t think I could do it justice as a studio-​reviewer, but I will say that, for a wedding venue, this place is tops. The space has a large, industrial Grand-​Central-​Station kind of feel, with daylight pouring in in sheets. The acoustics are what you would expect, but problem solved with a few mikes. Ray and Miranda run a tight ship: the staff is efficient, friendly, and incredibly on top of things (chairs from the ceremony quickly put away, the food n’ booze excellently served and maintained.) A pre-​programmed ipod in Jim the Sound Guy’s hands and you’re swept away in effortless aural bliss. When the sun went down, the space was romantically lit with dim, warm white lights and candles. And if you’re in the wedding party, you can adorn veils and cool your jets in the Community Gallery, just a few paces from the main barns.
The only down side is that you’ll have to be out by 10pm, in accordance with the Good Neighbo (u)r law or somesuch… plan an afterparty.
All the single ladies: take my advice and book it now; this place is going to get discovered faster than you can say «hora».

This is probably one of the best things to happen to the neighbourhood in recent history. Grand opening was November 2008 and it hasn’t looked back since.
The space is a reclaimed TTC barn and has five ‘barns’ each labeled with giant steel numbers. First is the artist live-​work space, 2 is the event space where you will find the market on Saturdays in the winter and various other community events, 3 is the community theatre, 4 is The Stop greenhouse and kitchen, and 5 is the open air barn. There is also a children’s playground on the east side of the building, an open field that becomes an ice rink in the winter on the south end, an off-​leash dog park at the south-​west corner, beach volleyball court on the west side, and plenty of benches and picnic tables scattered throughout.
I find that their website is not as informative as it could be, perhaps because it is administered by the umbrella Artscape organization:
So it’s better to go directly to the Stop’s website to find out about the market and the many very interesting fund– and awareness-​raising events they have:
I find that being on the mailing lists for The Stop and our local city councillor Joe Mihevc (
) keeps me informed of upcoming events like the solar energy info session this Sunday.
Some additional notes:
** The Market **
During the cold months it is indoors and runs 8 a.m. — noon. It gets crowded by 11 and goodies like cinnamon buns don’t last until then. Bring cash, your own bags and if you’re really good, your own travel-​mug for the wonderful Kurtis coffee. Interesting vendors include the venison guy, sweet potato man, Mennonite meat lady, knife sharpening guy, tofu dude, the fungi, and the freshwater fish people.
In the warmer months it is outdoors and runs a bit later until 1 I think (it is still indoors as I write this so I’m not sure). The vendors are spread out over the walkways under their tents. Half the fun is stopping to chat with neighbours so check your usual Toronto sidewalk pace as you might get stuck behind a stroller and wagon jam.
There are several vegetable vendors that also sell organic and heirloom variety seeds and seedlings in the spring. Too bad last summer was so cold and rainy — even so the purple tomatoes I planted were wonderful!
** The Dogpark **
It has weird hours and no commercial dog walkers are allowed. It is closed everyday between noon-​3 p.m. and opens later in the morning on Sunday. I’ll take a picture of the sign next time I’m there because it’s confusing.
There is a human + dog drinking fountain but the city doesn’t turn on the water until mid-​May so bring water for your pooches.
Best doggy party times (as with most parks I’m sure) are from 5 — 7 p.m. There might be a morning party but I’m never up early enough to find out.

operating from my philosophy of you are a five star until youre not, wychwood barns holds its rank at present.
i have been here a couple times, once for an event run by The Stop Community Food Centre who leases a large portion of the Barns and the other time has been for a little party.
what has captivated me about this space, is the space itself. it houses an enormous green house that is run by The Stop, which is home to a vast array of common and uncommon vegetables and fruits in various stages of growth from seedlings to towering stalks. it is lovely to get some sense of what the early stages of life are like for foods we commonly eat; in fact, most often youd never recognize what the plant was if not for it being labelled.
more importantly, all this food is used by The Stop for community education and charitable events. There are also sections where school children have their own growing experiments. i think in a world where most people never give thought to the source of our food, and especially so in an urban environment, this is a welcome facility and endeavour.
as far as the grounds itself, there is a large playground for children, housed in former barns and factory buildings and it appears to be a lovely, familial environment that that community is lucky to have.

One of the FRESHEST spots in the Toronto — The Artscape Wychwood Barns is a space that makes me extremely proud of my city.
I snagged this from their press kit:
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Artscape is a not-​for-​profit enterprise dedicated to
culture-​led regeneration and city-​building through
the arts. Artscape’s work includes developing and
managing creative buildings, building creative
neighbourhoods, and designing strategies and
tools to advance creative cities.
Artscape Wychwood Barns houses 13 not-​for-​profit
organizations, 15 artist studios and 26 artist live/​work
spaces. A community gallery also provides public
access to arts and culture. Artscape Wychwood
Barns officially opened in November 2008.
I haven’t spent as much time as I would have liked to in Wychwood yet, but back in December I was privy to an amazing reading by Cara Eastcott and Araya Mengesha (who I just saw on the BIG SCREEN in a great film called «nurse.fighter.boy»).
The room packed in a solid 50 – 75 attendees, Cara and Araya slayed the piece. After a heated and extremely entertaining reading, the audience and lead acts took part in what became a two-​hour discussion on race, identity, local culture, pop culture and beyond.
I recommend that every Torontonian, at the very minimum, take a quick stroll around The Artscape Wychwood Barns. Find out what’s going on, and if something peeks your interested, delve into it a bit more.
Enjoy!