The Cafe for Contemporary Art

Yesterday, we painted the tires for our tire garden and thank you everyone who made it out and participated.  I've dedicated this blog piece as a thank you to Tyler Russell owner of the Cafe for Contemporary Art for providing his garage space in the alleyway for us to work in.  There were a couple other amazing organizations who helped us put the event together and they will be thank in a subsequent blog post that is specific for the tire garden.

The Cafe for Contemporary Art (CAFCA) is an organization dedicated to excellence whether its providing some of the best coffee on the North Shore (49th Parallel need I say more) or serving healthy and delicious tacos (I'd argue some of the best tacos on the North Shore, and I'd be happy to debt anyone about it) and all the staff are dedicated at providing a friendly atmosphere for customers to enjoy their meals.

CAFCA also features an art gallery which is adjacent to the cafe's entrance and is free for viewing during the cafe's hours.  Exhibits are regularly shown within the galley space, and currently an amazing artist Dirk Fleischmann is being featured in the space, you can follow the link to learn more or better yet come by in person to check it out http://cafeforcontemporaryart.com/myconceptstore-dirk-fleischmann/.

Ever since CAFCA's inception, Tyler Russell has worked tirelessly to making the cafe a facilitator for community and cultural activities, and without his help and dedication the More Fun Alley Association and the tire garden wouldn't have been possible.  Thank you Tyler.

Two Daughters Bakeshop

This Sunday July 28th, the More Fun Alley Association is having its very first event, which is painting our tires for the tire garden we're working on constructing in the alley space.
I wanted to try and provide participants with some kind of snack while they are painting the tires, and Two Daughters Bakeshop is located in the same alleyway and when I asked Lisa Reichelt if she would provide a in-kind donation of some baked goods for participants, she didn't even hesitate to say yes.  All Lisa needed to know where the date, time and expected number of participants.

Lisa Reichelt is the founder and owner of the Two Daughters Bakeshop, which opened back in October 2012, and has been serving gluten free baked goods to people from all over North Vancouver and beyond (I personally enjoy those delicious mini doughnuts).

Lisa opened Two Daughters Bakeshop upon her daughter being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and people who are diagnosed with Celiac Disease have to go on a life long gluten-free diet.  Lisa wanted to provide a safe environment where her daughter can enjoy delicious gluten free food made from organic ingredients.

Lisa wants to support other small business that are opening in alleyways, and feels that alleyways have huge potential to improve neighbourhoods in a variety of creative ways.  Therefore, when I put out the sign up sheet for the More Fun Alley Association, Lisa was one of the first people to sign up and support the association.

Moving forward Lisa would like to be more involved with the community, and see other entrepreneurs taking a risk and opening up small businesses in alleyways.  Lisa would also like to beautify the outside of her bakeshop by including more plants and flowers.  One of Lisa's dreams is to open up another location in an alleyway somewhere in BC, like Victoria.

Every Journey Starts with one Step

It is with great pleasure that I present to all my readers the More Fun Alley Association (MFA for short).  The MFA is dedicated to turning alley spaces into places that encourage community and cultural activities and events.

Alley spaces generally have negative connotations as places people don't associate with because they are unclean and dangerous.  We dare to change that perceptions and open alley spaces to more positive activities that bring people together and encourage them to contribute to the space in some meaningful way.

To start with, the Cafe for Contemporary Art http://cafeforcontemporaryart.com/ has agreed to allow us to use their alley space for small scale community projects like building tire gardens.

We hope to get the tire gardens off the ground this month, July 2013, and we will keep all of you posted to the state of their progress.

Throughout the MFA's duration, I will update you on our progress and share our stories and experiences as we embark on this incredible journey.

Here is our first ever alley space :)