Doors Open Waterloo Region 2017 has come and gone. I don’t know about total numbers and attendance and all that, but every site I went to had more than a handful of attendees. We were pretty lucky with the weather this year as Saturday felt like summer and not mid-September (side note: I’m waiting for hoodie and pants and thick socks wearing weather) and more importantly it didn’t rain like the last two years (high five, mother nature!).
Originally I had planned on hitting a few more spots than I ended up getting to—I made it to 10 sites total—but in reality it’s tough to get to a lot, especially when they’re spread over such a large area. My eyes were bigger than my stomach in a sense, but I’m happy with my haul of visits.
I started with a number of sites in downtown Kitchener, which conveniently started only a few blocks from my house. First stop was the Holy Transfiguration Ukranian Greco-Catholic Church followed by the Communitech Hub (they have a slide!) and then the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy. From here I moved onto the renovated office of MartinSimmons Architects, the Waterloo County Gaol and Governor’s House (yes, the staircase freaked me out a bit), and finished at Polocorp on Queen Street (they had cookies!). After a break for lunch I had to make some executive decisions and cut out a chunk of what I still wanted to see. Time wasn’t on my side since I still wanted to hit a few places in Waterloo then drive all the way to Galt to see a bunch more. I made my way to the University of Waterloo to see the new Science Teaching Complex and once I finished I realized Galt was either now or never (sorry, CIGI!).
The 401 was the 401 but I did arrive in Galt eventually. Along with Doors Open, Galt was also featuring a few other events, one of which was some sort of air show that, I won’t lie, startled me. Anyway, I found some decent parking and made my way to both Knox’s Presbyterian Church and the Galt Carnegie Library.
I finished off my day at Pioneer Tower. I had 20 minutes to spare so I was lucky to be able to actually walk up (read: nervously climb a wooden ladder with a death grip on my camera) to the top of the tower which I had never done before.
As mentioned previously, I was posting to the Doors Open Waterloo Region Instagram feed along with Brian Douglas and Nick Stanley throughout the day. We’ll be posting more photos in the coming days and weeks.
All in all, a pretty great day.
It’s not Christmas, but it’s close. This Saturday is Waterloo Region’s turn for Doors Open, the province-wide event that runs from April to October that showcases some of the participating city’s heritage buildings that are typically never open to the public. It’s an event that I never miss, even with the rain we’ve had over the last two years.
This year I was able to make a few pre-visit stops; the first was Lazaridis Hall on the Laurier campus in Waterloo and the others being the two mausoleums at Kitchener’s Woodland Cemetery.
The first four images in the gallery are from Lazaridis Hall while the next eight are from the mausoleums. I’ve also included some exterior shots of some other sites that will be open and totally worth the visit: The Science Teaching Complex and the Dana Porter Library at the University of Waterloo, the Perimeter Institute (you needed to book tour tickets for this one so you might be out of luck), CIGI, the Communitech Hub in downtown Kitchener, the Button Factory in Uptown Waterloo, the spectacular Google building, the School of Pharmacy (right down the now-open road from Google), SRM Architects, and 44 Gaukel, the final two also being in downtown Kitchener.
The entire list can be found on this ultra handy Google Map, so there’s no shortage of sites to visit. Last year I made it to about 15 places so I’m hoping to match that this year if I can.
Once again I’ll be helping run the Doors Open Waterloo Region Instagram feed during the day with Brian Douglas and Nick Stanley so if you’re one of the cool kids with a fancy phone be sure to follow along!
I’ve got a few exhibitions all coming up at once over the next week or so. Here’s some details!
Friday evening is “Filling the Palette” which is put on by the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. A number of local artists will have their work up for sale during the event and a portion of anything sold will go to The Food Bank. It’s a free event and runs from 7-10 so you can totally come and support The Food Bank and hang out with me. I’ll have three framed pieces available.
Walter Fedy in Kitchener has often lent their office space for art shows and have once again offered their walls for some local artists to display their work. This show is called “We Just Clicked” and runs from May 9 to August 26. If you happen to be in the Walter Fedy office during that time you can check it out. There will be an opening reception you can attend on Wednesday, May 17 from 6-8. Many, if not all, of the artists should be there as well. I’m excited for this one because the three big shots I have look pretty sharp in their white frames. Come see for yourself!
And finally I’m doing a solo show at Public Kitchen & Bar. It’s something that came about pretty quickly, but am really excited for. The show is called “COK Architecture” and is solely architectural photos shot in Kitchener. I’m hanging everything this Sunday with the opening reception the following night, May 8, from 5-10. That show runs until June 19.
