Opening Reception: July 6th, 2007
The Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M6J 1J6

Genius Loves Company visual art project is about creating and incorporating all facets of the arts, to give Visual Art a voice. The theme Genius Loves Company came about by exploring how the arts compliment and often give birth to one another.

The philosophy behind Genius Loves Company is to release individual capacities of artists, by providing a stage or space for expression to be viewed and shared. The artists will create visual images through music, films and poetry, storytelling, real or imagined.

The concept Genius Loves Company is to show that any given communities are composed of the strands of history, experiences and tradition that knit specific community into a distinct entity. Henceforth, artists are weavers whose skills help to keep this communal fabric intact. Also artists have the ability to create new patterns within it in response to current demands.

To learn more about Six Ah Wi and the project, visit: SixAhWi.com

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Thanks to everyone who showed their support at the opening of the Genius Loves Company project on October 14th at Arta Gallery. The show opening was a tremendous success in the community and feedback was positive.

As a result the Six Ah Wi art collective will be holding phase 2 of this project in 2007 which will encompass collaborative works between the artists and members of the community. The collaborative pieces will then be auctioned and its proceeds will be donated to a charity.

For more information about the project please visit Genius Loves Company

Photos from this year’s exhibition opening can be found here

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October 14-October 26, 2006, Toronto CAN

The Six Ah Wi art collective in association with AfroToronto.com invites you to the Genius Loves Company art exhibition located at Arta Gallery in the trendy Distillery District in Toronto (CAN).

The project Genius Loves Company is an exploration of how the arts compliment and often give birth to one another .

Meet artists Ato Seitu, Abye Kifle, Georgia Fullerton, Michelle Montague, Sonia Farquharson and Tafewa Turner and be a part of this uplifting and inspirational event.

Opening reception is Saturday October 14 from 5-8pm, exhibition continues to October 26, 2006

Arta Gallery
The Distillery District
55 Mill Street, bldg 9, Suite 102
Toronto, CANADA
M5A 3C4
(416) 364-2782

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Calling For All Geniuses

Giving visual art a voice — beginning this April 2006

Toronto, Ont. – April 5th, 2006 Are you one of those people who had a great idea for a painting and dreamed of collaborating with an artist to develop your idea? Well, this is your chance …

Introducing the truly ground-breaking concept of using modern technology to give visual art a voice. The Genius Loves Company art project uses the Internet to engage the general public in the co-creation of art inspired by art. Have you ever been moved by a song, taken into a fantasy journey by a great movie, or left spellbound by a wonderful book? Now imagine transferring that sense of wonderment onto a painting!

During the month of April 2006, artists from the SIX AH WI Collective will be accepting creative ideas from the general public for the creation of a total of six public paintings which will be displayed during the Genius Loves Company exhibition. The exhibition will take place from October 14th to 28th, 2006 at the Arta Gallery in the trendy Distillery district. Following the two-week run at Arta Gallery, the exhibition will move to Ellington’s Café (805 St. Clair Ave W).

But we need your participation immediately as the goal of the project is to foster the active participation of the general public with the artists during the creative process. Please e- mail the artists to share your ideas, encourage them in their creative process, or simply to lend your support in a few words.

How to get involved?
We invite you to visit the exhibition’s site today at www.geniuslovescompany.ca — where you will virtually meet the six talented artists of the Genius Loves Company exhibition. With the theme of the exhibition being “art inspired by art”, the nature of this project is to promote all facets of the arts so as to give Visual Art a more interactive and entertaining voice. The Genius Loves Company concept came about by exploring how the arts compliment and often give birth to one another. Each member of our collective will produce numerous works of art inspired by musicians, writers, poets, instrumentalists and filmmakers. Our intention is to inspire our audience to embrace visual arts by enticing them with art forms that are readily accessible to them; be it online, at bookstores or video and music outlets.
Each artist (Ato Seitu, Georgia Fullerton-Morgan, Sonia Farquharson, Michelle Montague, Abye Kifle, and Tafewa Turner) has chosen a particular piece from another artistic discipline (song, movie or book) which you will help them render into a painting. Take the opportunity now to visit the website and find out which original artistic expression they chose!

PRESS INFO
The SIX AH WI Collective is available for interviews. Members of the media are encouraged to contact Ato Seitu or Melvin Bakandika below to facilitate coverage of the artists and the exhibition.

See AfroToronto.com article on the SIX AH WI Collective http://www.afrotoronto.com/Articles/Mar06/Genius.html

Come out and make art history with our geniuses!

SIX AH WI Artist Collective
Ato Seitu
email: [email protected]
phone: 416-667-8200
AfroToronto.com
Melvin Bakandika
email: [email protected]
phone: 416-929-3769

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Ashanti Room, 836 Bloor St. West, July 15-30 , 2005, Toronto CAN

ARTISTS CELEBRATE TROPICANA COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR A QUARTER CENTURY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE WITH A COMPELLING EXHIBITION AT THE ASHANTI ROOM JULY 15 TO JULY 30

Tropicana Community Services will be honoured with an exhibition entitled “Much Silence Makes a Loud Noise” presented by the Six Ah Wi Artist Collective and made possible because of the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council. The community is invited to enjoy a free exhibition at the Ashanti Room, located at 836 Bloor St. West (a block and a half east of Ossington). The exhibition will open on July 15 at 7pm.

Tropicana Community Services is being recognized because it has become a beacon for the Caribbean and Black communities, harnessing the creative energies, talents, and resources of the community to enhance lives and build better communities. The exhibition will feature portraiture work celebrating Toronto’s diversity.

This event is also the inaugural exhibition by the Six Ah Wi Artist Collective. The artists in the collective are Sonja Farquharson-Jeans, Michael Gibson, Michelle Montague, and Ato Seitu. Six Ah Wi is committed to exposing new audiences to visual art through innovative and compelling exhibitions
and collaborations. The collective is based on six principles that promote growth and renewal.

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