We HEART Gore Park

News broke earlier today that the developers who own most of the buildings on the south side of King St. between James and Hughson are going back on a promise to delay any actions and instead are readying the site for swift demolition.

There have been a flurry of emails calling on Hamilton councillors and provincial ministers to step in and designate the 19th century buildings. Mixed Media firmly believes that a renewed and prosperous Hamilton will require a mix of heritage, culture, arts and new economic ideas to make this place hum again. This includes adaptive reuse of buildings like the ones threatened in The Gore.

Here’s some local links to get you caught up on what is happening:

– Raise the Hammer

– Sean Burak’s amazing video interview with developer David Blanchard

– Love It A Lot (some great pics of The Gore)

– The Spec

Here’s our ever-growing image collection of The Gore. As a city we once felt so proud of this place it appeared on postcards and figured prominently during celebrations. These historical buildings have been a part of Hamilton for a long time – let’s keep it that way!

1930s

1915

1918

1945

the City of Hamilton on 30 October 1958 by Raymond Biesinger

 

Mixed Media is happy to announce the release of Montreal-based artist, Raymond Biesinger’s newest city print: the City of Hamilton on 30 October 1958.

We’ll let Raymond describe it:

“This is a two-colour silkscreened print, grey and black on a white 24″ square sheet. What is it of? Hamilton on 30 Oct. 1958, the day the Burlington Bay Skyway opened to the public, and it’s one of a series of prints made since April of 2012 showing my recently-ish adopted home city of Montreal and its regional neighbours (Quebec, Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto). Silkscreened in an edition of 207 in July 2013 by Séripop, signed and numbered on back.”

Local buildings and landmarks featured in the print include: the Royal Botanical Gardens, High Level Bridge, Burlington forests, the East Plains Church, the West Plains Church, the Burlington Bay Skyway and Beach Boulevard, the Rheem building, the HHC Marine Dock Building, North End homes, Cataract Power Co., Dofasco, Stelco Hilton Works, the old Studebaker Factory, Pump House, Imperial Cotton Co. building, the Firestone factory, Ivor Wynne Stadium, Custom House, row houses on John St. North, the old CN Station, Christ’s Church Cathedral, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Armoury, old City Hall, old farmers’ market immediately west of old City Hall, Lister Block, Balfour Block, the Pigott Building, the Sun Life Building, the Landed Banking & Loan Co. building, the Bank of Montreal on James South, St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, James Street Baptist Church, the Medical Arts Building, the Hamilton Library, Dundurn Castle, the Dundurn Park cockpit, the Dundurn Park gate, Hamilton Cemetary, Christ’s the King Cathedral, McMaster University Hall, McMaster Edwards Hall, the Staircase, Hess Village, the Tuckett Mansion, Centenary United Church, Gore Park, 60 King Street East, the Dominion Public Building, Treble Hall, the Tivoli Theatre, the Century Theatre, 169 King East, the Royal Connaught Hotel, Ballinahinch, Whitehern, Sandyford Place, 229 Hess St. South, 91 Chedoke Avenue, Auchmar, Central School, the TH&B Railway station on Hunter Street, etc.

– – –

As many already know – we are big fans of Hamilton and the history and culture that exists here. It was very rewarding working with Raymond to bring this view of Hamilton to life. We are big fans of his graphic work and we feel his city-series style fits in with the gritty and elegant esthetic of the city. We think this art piece will be well received here and look forward to seeing it on the walls of local homes.

The print is now available locally to purchase for $55 (which comes with a copy of Rayond Biesinger’s recently released book of illustrations, B+W) or in a frame for $135.

– – –
Raymond Biesinger is a self-taught illustrator based in Montreal. He likes concepts, making
music, progressive politics and a curious mix of minimalism and maximalism. He deploys physical things, electronic means, and a BA in European and North American political history to make his images, and has done so since the year 2000 in over 1200 projects on four continents. His images have appeared in the Financial Times, Spin Magazine, the New York Times, Monocle, the New Yorker, Dwell, Walrus, the Globe & Mail and others. See his work at: www.fifteen.ca

Raymond Biesinger’s view of Hamilton

 

We are currently taking $25 deposits to secure one of the first Hamilton city prints by Montreal-based artist, Raymond Biesinger when it is released in August/September 2013. They will sell for $50 each and we’ll also be offering them in a beautiful black frame for $120.

Mixed Media is excited to be a part of this limited edition art piece and can’t wait to see what it will look like. See more of Raymond’s work at www.fifteen.ca

Summer Hours

Starting on June 30th, we’re adjusting our hours for the first time in a while to enjoy some of this amazing summer weather.

Wed: 10am – 5pm
Thur: 10am – 7pm
Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 10am – 5pm

We’ll be closed Sunday – Tuesday. Please note the extended hours on Thursday evening. Have a great summer and see you on the street!

Some new art on the walls for the April 2013 James North Art Crawl

This overhead view of James Street North by Amanda Farquharson is currently in our window display and getting lots of people’s attention as they walk by.

After seeing his work at the Christmas and spring One of A Kind shows in Toronto – we knew we had to have these beautiful woodcuts by Graham Blair on our walls.

Some of our favourite prints from last year are finally restocked. Raymond Biesinger’s city series and 1919 maps sold out quickly at Christmas. We don’t expect this new batch to last long.

We’re open late for the James North Art Crawl on the evening of Friday, April 12. Swing by and see all our new stock and get a close-up look at all our great art too.

We’re saying NO to a Downtown Hamilton Casino!

We’re well into January 2013 and many of us are back into a regular routine after a busy December holiday season. We are thankful and appreciative to all our customers who chose to shop locally in search of something unique and creative. Not only was our store busy, but many of our neighbours on James North saw an increase in pedestrian traffic as more and more people rediscover our historic stretch of storefronts.

While Christmas was a top priority for many – the other big topic of conversation in the shop was whether or not we all should be worried that a Casino would locate in the downtown core. I was encouraged by the fact that everyone who we talked to felt the same way we did. That a casino in the downtown core will only harm the many positive developments that are taking place on James Street North and in downtown Hamilton.

I still can’t believe we’re entering our 8th year in business. To think, when we opened in 2005 most of our friends and family thought we were nuts to locate on James Street North. We heard it all. That the “downtown was dead”, “no one shops downtown anymore” and “you’ll be lucky to last one year”. We’re proud to say that along with our hardworking friends and neighbours, we helped to change what was once an unloved and forgotten neighbourhood into a lively and exciting destination. What continues to happen on James North goes against decades of the same-old downtown large-scale renewal thinking. One has to just look at Jackson Square, Copps Coliseum and the Hamilton Convention Centre to see that that the guarantees of a renewed core through mega projects will never achieve the vitality or economics as promised. The idea of James North wasn’t brainstormed around a boardroom table or made possible by millions of dollars in civic grants and loans. The reason James North happened is that Hamiltonians wanted it to happen. Whether it is the thousands of people who frequent the monthly Art Crawl, the regular shoppers in search of a good coffee and unique finds or the Saturday night crowds enjoying live music at This Ain’t Hollywood and The Brain. The James North that is being written about in national media is what makes Hamilton special and different. Clearly we are being seen as something other the “armpit of Canada” and that is something we can all be proud of.

For the first time in a long time, there is a buzz about the city that is loud and positive. A downtown casino does nothing to enhance that. It creates a blackhole of economic stagnation and creates short-term gains for the operators and long-term pains for the community that hosts it.

This will hurt Hamilton. As life-long Hamiltonians and passionate supporters of this city, we ask you to say NO to a Downtown Hamilton casino!

 

Merry Christmas!

Escarpment Greetings photo courtesy of Hamilton Artists Inc.

Many thanks to all for shopping local and unique this holiday season! We continue to be amazed by your support and enthusiasm for our little shop. See you all in 2013!

Holiday Hours:
Dec. 24: 10am – 4pm
Dec. 25-27: Closed
Dec. 28-29: 12 Noon – 4pm
Dec. 30-Jan.1: Closed
Jan. 2: 10am – 6pm

Last-minute gift ideas part 2

The countdown is on and while we should have had pretty much all our boxes by now – a nice little package surprised us today. Inside I was happy to find beautiful little magnets ($14.95 each) from iPop featuring a selection of fun designs including Hamilton’s own illustration husband/wife superduo, Sorry You’re Happy.

We always got asked about carrying cool magnets and only in the last few months have we’ve been able to find ones we liked and that we felt suited the shop. The other line we are carrying, Badge Bomb features some of the best indie illustrators and designers around. We still have a few packs of these super-strong magnets left ($11.95 each).

Another last-minute arrival is this gem from Chronicle Books. The Little Book of Lettering ($28.95 each) is chock full of amazing type design including some stellar work from another local artist and designer, Jamie Lawson.

While we’re talking books – we still have a few of the ultra-cute board books from BabyLit. Jane Eyre, Alice in Wonderland and Dracula are in-stock ($10.95 each).

Other great gift ideas include: Quo Vadis Habana Journals, No Brow graphic novels and comics, Anthology Magazine, Stillman & Birn sketchbooks, Ecojot journals and cahiers, Stabilo Point 88 fineliners and Lamy Safari fountain pens.

More gifts ideas on Friday!

 

 

Last-minute gift ideas part 1

We are now just 5 days away until Christmas Eve and the shop has been bustling with customers in search of unique gifts. We’ve been hustling to make sure there are interesting things to still find on the shelves.

Leading up to last week’s Art Crawl we had sold our last copies of Keri Smith activity books. We are happy to report we got a new shipment of her amazingly creative books and these are always a fun gift idea.

A few other things we restocked up on: Rookie Yearbook Vol. 1, Owlkids Beastly Activity Series, Cuppow mason jar tops, Slingshot 2013 planners and Vapur water bottles.

Another fantastic idea and one of our holiday best sellers has been Matt Jelly‘s neighbourhood maps. We currently have the downtown and west-end ‘hoods framed up and ready to go ($30-$35 each).

2013 Calendars are going quick – but we still have these ones left: Paper Source Watercolour Art, Jacob Rolfe Wall Art, Studio Hinrich Typography Calendar and Smudge Ink Year-at-a-glance Fox Art.

More ideas tomorrow!