Design Groups Toronto

Figure & Form w/ Harley

Making the case for service design

How do you communicate the value of service design at your workplace? Where does your team stand, **and** what is your role within it? We all know service design creates value, but pinpointing exactly *where* your org stands, and what role you should be playing to move it forward, is a different skill entirely. This session is about getting clearer on that. **Format:** Design jam **What to expect:** * A quick icebreaker * Opening context — a fast recap of the article and why it matters * A spotlight share — one person walks us through where their own org sits on the model, and what that's actually looked like in practice * Main activity — working solo, then in pairs, then as a full table * A quick close — one small thing to try shifting this month **To get ahead:** Read the [Service Design Maturity Model article;](https://service-design-network.org/community_article/the-service-design-maturity-model-a-strategic-framework-to-embed-service-design-into-an-organisation) it's a quick one, and it'll give us a shared language for the night. The model breaks organizational SD maturity into five stages Explore, Prove, Scale, Integrate, Thrive) and tracks how a service designer's role shifts through each: from scout > doer > trainer > facilitator > leader. No need to have it all figured out before you arrive. Just come ready to think out loud with a few new people. See you there!

Figure & Form w/ Harley - 2nd Session

Water Lantern Festival — Wishes on the Water

THROUGH Opening Reception

New paintings by Mark Viola explore layered identity, movement, and perception through translucent, process-driven works. Through explores translucence, movement, and the layered nature of perception. Figures emerge and recede within surfaces that reveal the process of their making, inviting viewers to look beyond the immediate image toward what lies beneath. In this way, the act of painting becomes inseparable from the subject itself. The accumulation of layers echoes the psychological and emotional weight carried by each figure, suggesting that identity is not static, but continuously constructed, obscured, and revealed over time. Rather than offering resolution, the works remain open—holding space for ambiguity, motion, and multiple readings. Through ultimately asks not only what we see, but how we see, and what might be uncovered when we choose to look beyond the surface. [ENROLL NOW](https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/through-opening-reception-tickets-1989021637260?aff=ebdssbdestsearch)

Historic Churches of Toronto (NEW SERIES FOR 2026)

**The Toronto History Walks Yearly Pass is available. Get it now for $125.00 for 1 year of unlimited tours, email** [torontohistorywalks@gmail.com](http://torontohistorywalks@gmail.com%2A%2A/) **for more information or for signing up!** **Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket amount when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:** [torontohistorywalks@gmail.com](http://torontohistorywalks@gmail.com%2A%2A/) **This new series of 10 walks explores Toronto and its historic churches. It is re-designed and ready to go! And we start with Parkdale.** The history of any modern city is fascinating, but the history of religion and the individual churches tell a gripping story that runs parallel to the rise of the city. Toronto and its churches tell that story in great detail, and what society valued most, and how it changed, and how we evolved. Each church was at the core of the district and the history of the neighbourhood reflected that. The church was the gathering spot in times of trouble and in times of celebration. But what did these churches play in the history of "Toronto the Good?" On this walk 1 of the series, let's take a walk around Parkdale and explore some of the old existing churches and discuss the roles they played in the development of the Floral Suburb. Some churches are gone, but not forgotten. Others have been lovingly renovated and restored, and they still grace our streets today. Our next walk in the series will explore the Junction area to the west. The tour begins outside Toronto Public Library - Parkdale Branch. We end the tour at St. Vincent de Paul Church on Roncesvalles Avenue. This tour has a ticket price of $15.00 per person! \*\* **Please note: Please e-transfer the ticket price when booking your space for this tour! You can e-transfer to the following email at:** **torontohistorywalks@gmail.com**

Indoor Draw & Sketch Hangout - MaRS Discovery District

Hi everyone! We're doing an afternoon sketching hangout at the MaRS Building food court tables- Enter MaRS from Collage Street where the statue of two men are sitting by the glass doors. Turn left and head down the escalator. Turn left at the bottom of the escalator and head down the hall past another escalator and Foosball table the event will be held at the far end of the food court. **First time meeting us and still not sure about the vibe?** Check out photos from **[past in-person events of 2023](https://www.meetup.com/artsrecto/photos/34212927/)** Please bring your art supplies. Digital tablet, dry mediums, watercolour set, really anything that doesn't smell and is non toxic and easy to clean up. Please be considerate and leave the space as clean as it was before. Feel free to grab a drink or snack if you'd like. *Note the food court is closed but there are a couple of coffee shops in the area at street level. **Where to meet exactly?** MaRS Discovery District at 2pm **How to get there?** \- Public transit \- get off at Queens Park subway station\, walk East along Collage you should see glass doors with a statue of two men sitting at a table outside\. Instructions stated above Looking forward to meeting you all :) ================ **Support This Group 🥰🤩** We hope you're enjoying the Arts & Rec events! If you'd like to give support, please consider making a small Ko-fi donation of $5-10 USD at [https://www.ko-fi.com/artsnrectoronto](https://www.ko-fi.com/artsnrectoronto.) . This helps cover meetup and miscellaneous expenses with hosting events! For more inquiries, please PM me for more info! Thank you all so much!

Grow Your Art Career • Conversation with KEVPOP

You know how to make things. Maybe you've always known. Maybe you figured it out over years of practice, failure, and starting over. Either way — the making part? You've got that. But there's another part. The part that happens after the work is finished. How it finds an audience. How it finds a home. How you keep going long enough to make the next thing and the thing after that. Nobody really teaches that part. I'm KEVPOP. I've taught community education courses and workshops at public and private universities. I've received thousands in grant funding. I've shown work around the country. I've spoken globally from the US to Indonesia. And the thing I kept hearing from artists everywhere, at every stage, in every room? *Nobody told me how any of this actually worked.* So let's talk about it. This is a free, candid conversation for working artists, emerging artists, and anyone who makes things and wonders what a sustainable creative life actually looks like — not in theory, but in practice, right now, in the real world. **We'll cover:** 🎨 How artists are building lasting careers right now — the paths, the models, and the ones most people overlook 📋 Grants, open calls, and residencies — where they live, how to find them, and why most artists never apply even when they qualify 👥 What artist communities actually offer — peer support, accountability, access, and whether the paid ones are worth it 🌍 Public art activations — how showing up in the world builds an audience over time 💬 Your questions — bring them. This is a conversation, not a lecture. I've been in those rooms and I'll tell you what I actually know. **This event is free and open to all 10,000+ members**. It's also the first glimpse of something larger we're building. More on that at the event. Come curious. Come with questions. Come ready to talk about the part nobody talks about. **Reserve your spot today.** *KEVPOP • 10,000+ artists, collectors, and art lovers across North America.*

Fashion Implied/Lingerie/Fine Art w/ Katie Marie from LA (#2)

Rooftop dining at Queen's Harbour - Queen's Garden Table 2

Rooftop dining at Queen's Harbour - Queen's Garden Table 1

Fashion Implied/Lingerie/Fine Art w/ Katie Marie from LA