Toronto startup turns homes and yards into concert spaces

The closing of some big name (and small time) music venues in the city have many in the creative community worried that we're running out of spaces for music, art, and cool events in general.

While we've still got an impressive number of venues, it's forcing some people to flex their innovation muscles and create new and exciting ways for the city to experience culture.

In comes Artery, a new startup from Toronto that enables hosts and organizers to present work by local performers in temporary DIY spaces like homes, apartments, offices, yards ... wherever.

Salimah Yvette Ebrahim and her co-founder Vladic Ravich started the site as a way of stopping people from clicking "like" or "interested" on Facebook and actually experience work by local artists.

"It's one of the most exciting times to be in Toronto," Ebrahim says. "This is one of the most creative places in the world right now where you have cultural density and collisions happening in a way they haven't happened in a long time.

"We're part of a sharing economy, and the way in which culture was created is breaking," she continues. "So the idea that Friday night I could listen to an opera singer on a roof is something people are craving.  It's not just about events; it's about reactions and intimacy."

Artery in Bushwick, for example, has thrown events in backyards, laundromats and living rooms. The Toronto page currently includes a living room concert, a hip hop showcase, a literary salon and a beer meet up. 

Artists use the online platform to showcase whatever their work is, hosts find projects they think will work in their spaces and partner up with them, and audiences browse the site by city and neighbourhood to check stuff out.

Once an audience member signs up for a show, the address is sent to them, so every experience kind of feels like a secret pop-up show. 

"You're walking into a welcoming space where we're brining the grassroots to the surface," Ebrahim says. "We guarantee you'll make at least one friend during intermission."

by Phil Villeneuve via blogTO