A mile of cultural treasures in the heart of Toronto
Toronto’s Bloor Street is a vibrant corridor with a dozen permanent world-class arts organizations presenting professional arts and cultural events for the public year-round in destination venues – all in almost exactly one mile (1.6 kms) – between Bathurst and Bay Streets. These twelve arts and culture organizations have formed a partnership to create the Bloor Street Culture Corridor.
From west to east, there is the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, a historic century-old cinema and one of the world’s only documentary-focused theatres; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir and The Toronto Consort, both located in the revitalized Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre with the newly renovated Jeanne Lamon Hall; the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre; the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto; Alliance Française de Toronto who will be launching their newly renovated building with theatre and gallery space this spring; the Istituto Italiano di Cultura; Koerner Hall, one of North America’s best concert halls, at The Royal Conservatory; three exceptional museums including the Royal Ontario Museum, the Gardiner Museum, and the Bata Shoe Museum; as well as the Japan Foundation. The cultural organizations along Bloor Street represent a wide range of arts genres, from concerts to exhibitions to documentary films, and diverse cultures including Aboriginal, Francophone, Jewish, Italian, and Japanese communities. The organizations themselves are among the most dynamic in Canada.
Torontonians and visitors to the city can easily take in three or four or more top-quality arts and culture experiences, eat, and shop; all in one day on the Bloor Street Culture Corridor.
By working collaboratively and cooperatively, the cultural organizations intend to attract more Torontonians, tourists, and attention to the Bloor Street Culture Corridor. Helping visitors connect the dots, the initiative will increase awareness of how close together and easy to access these arts and entertainment experiences really are. The partnering organizations hope to entice people to stay in the area longer and ultimately include more destinations in their visit.
The Bloor Street Culture Corridor is working with Tourism Toronto, the Bloor-Yorkville BIA, the Bloor Annex BIA, the City of Toronto, The Ontario Arts Council (located in the Bloor Street Culture Corridor for 50 years), local residents associations, and many others.
The Bloor Street Culture Corridor can be found on Twitter and Facebook, and will officially launch www.bloorstculturecorridor.com in early April 2014.
