Edgewater Hotel Sign Comes Down
The Art of Not Knowing
If You Tweet It, He Will Come
Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
The Daily Photoist: November 20, 2009
Image by Marc Lostracco/Torontoist.
Aha! we thought, when news of the TTC's long-anticipated project to put art on our beloved Metropasses landed in our inbox: they get it! By issuing a public call for submissions of interest, the TTC was demonstrating not only a sensitivity to the small aesthetic details that can brighten our day, but giving Torontonians the opportunity to actively engage with the transit system on which they are most often merely passive riders. Maybe, we even dared think, Valentine Makhouleen's nifty designs might actually be put to use.
Er, not so fast.
According to the Request for Interest (RFI) issued yesterday [PDF], in order to be eligible to participate in this program you must: be an organization (not an individual); be a public sector or not-for-profit entity; and own and display art publicly, but not primarily be in the business of selling art. Who exactly, we started wondering, would meet this set of criteria? Puzzled, we turned to Brad Ross, the TTC's director of corporate communications (and sometimes contributor to our Rocket Talk column), who told us in an email that "I don’t want to limit an organization from not participating by omitting them as an example, but institutions like the ROM, OCAD, AGO are just some possibilities."
In short, this initiative is not about the little guy.
Now, to be clear, there are several aspects of this program that we heartily endorse. Prettier Metropasses? Ones which are reflective of the city? Soliciting outside interest at all? Excellent notions, all. But why, we can't help but wonder, must the TTC turn only to extremely well-established, well-appreciated institutions to accomplish these goals? Why limit submissions to organizations and exclude individual artists and designers? Ross's answer, in full, to this question:
The primary purpose for the Metropass is, of course, unlimited access to the system. Making the pass more aesthetically pleasing is the goal here. As the RFI states, the art needs to come from not-for-profit organizations and cannot be sold for 12 months after the art is featured on a pass. Limiting submissions to organizations or institutions helps ensure control over this important aspect of the program. Art on the Metropass cannot be used a marketing tool. Furthermore, there will be no compensation for its use.Herein lies the problem. It's fair enough to keep this whole program non-commercial (in fact, we're big fans of that), but it's simply false to think that the only way to do this is to keep individuals out of the game entirely. In taking this overly anxious approach, the TTC is radically underestimating the goodwill of Torontonians, many of whom would be delighted to design Metropass art for no other reason than it would be pretty damn fun. Keep the clauses that ensure submitters won't profit from participating in this program, but let the eager, TTC-loving individuals into the sandbox to play.
And what of the organizations that are eligible? We contacted the three that Ross cited explicitly, curious as to whether they were excited at the opportunity with which they, if not the rest of us, had been presented. All expressed significant interest in the program, and told us they were already in the process of studying the RFI. Francisco Alvarez, managing director of the ROM's Institute for Contemporary Culture, wrote us to say that "I think it is quite likely that we will apply, but we want to consider all our upcoming special exhibitions for the best fit. We think it's a wonderful opportunity that will benefit many local arts organizations over time, and make the Metropass itself more fun to use and collect." Sarah Mulholland, media and communications officer at OCAD, gave us an even more definitive response, writing to us that "OCAD will respond with interest."
We're glad that they will. Anything that these and similarly eligible institutions submit is likely to be more appealing than the current Metropass designs, and it is surely preferable if only in that it brings other Toronto-based organizations into the TTC fold—we certainly don't want to squelch this kind of interaction. Nonetheless, we can't help but hope that next time around, the TTC considers, just considers, that private citizens as well are eager to contribute. Prejudging that this interest will likely be mercenary isn't doing those citizens any kind of justice.
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"We think it's a wonderful opportunity that will benefit many local arts organizations over time, and make the Metropass itself more fun to use and collect."
Collecting metropasses would be great, except we have to ship them off when we want to get our tax refund
I believe you can still claim the tax refund if you photocopy the front and back of the pass.
If you file electronically you need only retain the passes in case of an audit.
Revenue Canada says it doesn't want your transit passes:
This is really disappointing. The TTC represents the transportation of the people, I'd like to see both the design process and resulting passes be more community-oriented (as opposed to just sexier). That doesn't have to mean cool young designers from Queen and Dundas West -- what about a year's worth of designs submitted by kids, or underprivileged high-schoolers, or independent artists from various Toronto neighbourhoods, or local poets or photographers or whatever? I mean, does the ROM ride the rocket? Does OCAD run to catch the blue night bus? Does the AGO give up their seat to elderly community members? I think not...
I agree 110%. The TTC is transportation for the public and so the public should be involved in creating the design of the metropass. Although instead of making the metropass prettier...why don't they start by making the metropass cheaper. I personally feel that more people would take public transit if it didn't cost so much each month.
Lu Galasso
"Francisco Alvarez, Managing Director of the ROM's Institute for Contemporary Culture, wrote us to say that "I think it is quite likely that we will apply, but we want to consider all our upcoming special exhibitions for the best fit."
That's straight up marketing - something Ross says he doesn't want. Big organzations will use this as a marketing tool even more than an independent artist, because they'll use the same elements from the pass in their other marketing materials.
This is a no-brainer. Have an open call for submissions, pick 12, and have each participant sign a contract with strict limits. Or does the TTC think the general public is incapable of adhering to a contract?
Soooo disappointing. I would have loved to have submitted something.
I take it the next step is to stick for profit advertising on it, as done elsewhere to generate revenue.
Did the Ken Danby do any paintings of streetcars? Or did a Ken Danby paint any streetcars?
This should be open to individuals AND they should get paid for their work, even if it's only in metropasses.
"Art on the Metropass cannot be used a marketing tool."
This is just a guess, but to me it sounds like the TTC is afraid that, if any of the Metropass art is interpreted as advertising (especially for a private business or individual artist), they might be in violation of their existing advertising contracts. Brad Ross isn't just saying that the TTC doesn't want the Metropass to become a vehicle for ads, he's saying that they cannot allow that to happen.
Advertising wouldn't be so bad, so long as the ads were carefully chosen. You could use the passes to promote tourist destinations (like the ROM, AGO, etc) or events (Caribana, Pride, Nuit Blanche, etc) every now and then, which is how I suspect the ROM/AGO people will approach this.
In cities with modern transit systems you can pay by swiping your cell phone over the turnstile. Kind of makes fretting over the artwork seem ridiculous.
we are but humble villagepeople, given to shiny baubles and festive adornment
Yeah, and then you probably get a big bite of a phone bill in the mail at the end of the month.
A big phone bill or a big metropass bill, what's the difference?
Call me immature, but the "WTF" looks pretty funny alongside the artwork.
Hamutal, why can’t you smell a rat here? I assure you there is one.
Start with a few concepts: “compensation,” “artist,” “copyright,” “moral rights.” Now try to fit those into the RFI. You can’t.
@joeclark and to think you criticised CBC for 100Gs on the Hockey Song and sign away your rights - TTC have gone one better, sign away your rights and get nothing!
Hamutal Dotan:
Because Christ forbid that an artist should eat?