Author: Richelle Sibolboro

Discovering Ontario – Travel tips for going up North

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As a Hamiltonian Native who has explored South Western Ontario pretty extensively, I’ve never traveled North of Lake Superior. What sprung this travel to the North, real estate. It is no longer affordable here and when I Googled “Homes for under 50K” an article by Narcity popped up and listed this little town called Manitouwadge with some cute affordable homes. Manitouwadge is about 4 hours north of The Soo (Sault Saint Marie). It a mining town like many towns up north are. It is currently undergoing a housing boom and some urban revitalization. I saw this as a great opportunity, adventure, and way to experience something new. I’ve never done a long drive in Ontario, so I took some time off, invited some family members to join me and we headed north to look at properties. Now, it was risky traveling during November as snow is inevitable, but I was lucky that we had an uncharacteristic mini-heatwave. I also thought that I could just Google my questions about traveling this route and get clear answers. …

Behaviour Design is all about Tiny Habits

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What seemed like a lifetime ago when I went to Indigo to find some inspiration from my daily routine. What a luxury now thinking back on it. I came across this book that had a bright yellow sleeve that said “This book will change your life (happy face). I bought it instantly. It was a book about Behaviour Design. As a design strategist, this was right up my alley. I have studied, interior, urban, systems, and service design but behaviour design was a new concept.

Don’t Waste a Good Crisis

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The pandemic has made it possible for art media which would traditionally be seen in the context of a gallery or museum to be streamed online from the comfort of your home. It allows the viewer the freedom and flexibility to search and find content that resonates with them. And for someone like myself that loved to be inspired by new and provoking ideas the excitement of exploring and discovery is now endless. So, don’t waste a good crisis.  My searching led me to DIS. A streaming visual media platform that re-imagines society’s relationship to videos and streaming channels, making intellectual theory accessible when it would typically be presented in an academic thesis.

Toronto Art Biennial: The Shoreline Dilemma

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As Ontario and many other provinces call for a state of emergency in an attempt to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, it is leaving its citizens cooped up in self-isolation subject to hours of binge-watching on Netflix. As an avid lover of the arts, and a board member to a local media arts centre, I too had made the decision to temporarily close our doors as many other institutions are forced to reduce social gathering and the spread of the virus. This has resulted in any museums offering virtual tours of their exhibitions in an attempt to continually engage with their members.  Several months ago before the pandemic hit our shores, Toronto hosted its first Art Biennial, 72 days of free art. Did you get a chance to catch one of over 20 programs scattered across the city of Toronto and Mississauga? Taking a very academic and political topic, “The Shoreline Dilemma”. On an autumn weekend, I bring my friends, who “like” art, to the Small Arms Inspection Building in Mississauga located on the Lakeshore. I …

The Museum Is Not Enough

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In recent years the museum as an institution has been going through an identity crisis. Questions surrounding its programming offer as well as the audience it is servicing have been at the helm of discussion. Are they here to engage, educate and create experiences? Are they here to serve artists, academics and the greater community.

St. Isaac’s Cathedral

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If you ever visit St. Petersburg, Russia, one of the most dominant building piercing the city’s skyline is the gold dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, it is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint.

The Master – Mackintosh

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I remember, way back in first year interior design, I was sitting in our art history class and our TA who was Scottish had a very thick accent. In one of his lectures he was talking about Glasgow quite a bit. One reason was because he was from there, and loved to talk about his studies, the second reason was because of who we were studying at the time. Which was Charles Mackintosh. He told us, if we were ever in Glasgow this is where you would find all his greatest works. Fast forward, about 20 years later, I had the opportunity to hunt him down and experience some of the best collections of modern design in the country.

Guinness Storehouse Tour

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One of the must-see things to do when you are in Dublin is visiting the Guinness Museum. It was one of the best museum experiences I have ever done. Unlike most traditional museums which present a collection of artifacts, the Storehouse takes you through the brewing process of how this famous beer is made. The layout, the graphic design, the sensory elements, the overall presentation etc. really make this museum exemplary in terms of cohesive and immersive storytelling.

V&A Dundee by Kengo Kuma

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When I was thinking of traveling to Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow were at the top of my list. But when I heard of the opening of a new V&A museum in Dundee, designed by Kengo Kuma really solidified my decision to go there. It’s quite a distance from Edinburgh, a couple of hours at least. On your way to Dundee you can see rolling hills and the occasional herd of sheep passing you by. The most majestic part of the journey is traveling across the river and seeing this jagged little site at the edge of the water.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery

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The Kelvingrove Art Gallery is one of the most recognizable buildings in Glasgow. Designed by John W. Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen in 1901, it was originally titled the Palace of Fine Arts. As a designer walking through the space, I’m the type of person who is looking at the context and not necessarily the content. I’m looking at how things are presented not necessarily the thing on display. As I entered the wing with all the busts, for me it’s not the sculptures that compel me closer, its the way they engage the viewer with the full spectrum of space. Busts hanging from the ceiling draws me more in than a bust of Queen Victoria.