Case Study
Mount Dennis BIA
The Mount Dennis BIA is one of the smallest in the City, with a contained business strip that caters primarily to the local community. But that’s all about to change in 2023. Mount Dennis is about to become the third largest transit hub in the city with the imminent opening of Mount Dennis Station, where the Eglinton Crosstown, GO Transit’s Kitchener Line and the UP Express will all connect.
As a community in transition, the Mount Dennis BIA needed to establish and extend its brand, preparing for increased activity, attention and foot traffic to the neighbourhood. They require ongoing planning support to undertake projects and programming that unifies and builds on the existing neighbourhood. As the pace of redevelopment accelerates, the goal is to build with intention, shaping a vibrant, sustainable community to be proud of.
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Metrolinx
Robert Burley
Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
DesignTO Festival
The Knot Group
Scotty Graham, artist
Penguin Books
Akin
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TRANSITioning Mount Dennis
DesignTO 2020 and 2023
Robert Burley, The Last Day of Work, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival 2023
Community Outreach
Digital Campaign 2022
Media Relations 2022
Influencer Campaign 2022 #mountdenniseats
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9 May 2023 | toronto.com
New exhibit being displayed at Mount Dennis Library20 Apr 2023 | torontomu.ca
by Olivia Wong
Kodak Canada Archives at the 2023 Scotiabank CONTACT Photo Fest
11 May 2023 | British Journal of Photography
by Naomi Skwarna
‘To have impact, you have to get through all this visual noise’: How CONTACT’s outdoor installations keep Toronto guessing -
Community Portraits and Neighbourhood Photography
Digital Profiles and Articles
Social Media Assets
Community Signage
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Creative Strategy
Art Direction
Content Creation
Web Development
Photography and Video Production
Illustration
Community Outreach
Event Planning
Media Outreach
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Influencer Campaign 2022, #mountdenniseats: total reach on Instagram 330,000+
Mount Dennis is a burgeoning creative, entrepreneurial and artistic community undergoing significant transition.
Branding & Outreach
Our first priority for the Mount Dennis BIA was a brand development project, building a strong foundation by setting new pillars and refreshing all brand assets.
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We began by reskinning the current BIA website with new brand visuals, featuring refreshed graphics by local artist Scotty Graham.
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Created a bank of 130 diverse images showcasing the residents and businesses of Mount Dennis, for use on the BIA website, and in social feeds, media kits, press releases, etc.
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We launched social media accounts for the Mount Dennis BIA on Facebook and Instagram, gradually increasing and optimising our post frequency. Refreshed content includes community profiles, a local contest and featuring local influencers with a reach of over 300,000.
Community Awareness
Once foundations were set, we expanded to build awareness and extend the BIA’s reach within — and beyond — the local community
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For exposure, we displayed our refreshed BIA branded graphics as outdoor art and signage throughout the neighbourhood to engage locals and pique their interest.
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To prepare for increased media attention. We engaged The Knot Group, a public relations consultant to manage media relations and develop a digital media kit.
Arts Programming
Next, we turned our attention to arts projects that bring people together and cultivate a sense of pride about Mount Dennis, past, present and future.
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To coincide with DesignTO Festival, we hosted the neighbourhood’s first major art event, TRANSITioning Mount Dennis, that showcased work by local artists. A public reception gathered politicians, representatives of the city of Toronto, artists and community members for an evening of celebration.
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Outdoor Installation, Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, May 1-31, 2023
During the festival, acclaimed Canadian artist Robert Burley’s photographic installation entitled The Last Day of Work on the exterior of the Mount Dennis Branch of the Toronto Public Library.
Between 2005 and 2010, Burley travelled the globe, documenting the demise of film-based photography institutions in the digital age, marking a significant cultural change in how we make images and see the world. He began this body of work, entitled The Disappearance of Darkness, in Mount Dennis in 2005 when he discovered the century-old Eastman Kodak Company complex was being shut down.
The Last Day of Work documents the closing of the Eastman Kodak Company and the abandoned buildings left behind. It captures a significant event in Mount Dennis history that changed the community forever.
This installation not only documents history, it will also rejuvenate the neighbourhood with art to inspire this burgeoning creative and entrepreneurial community. An outdoor reception to celebrate the opening will raise awareness for Mount Dennis, drawing visitors from across Toronto and garnering media attention as part of the CONTACT festival.
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To celebrate the neighbourhood’s first Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival installation, the Mount Dennis BIA hosted a virtual presentation on the DesignTO website to launch the theme of Photography in Mount Dennis. The BIA shared a preview of Burley’s images of the Kodak Factory and related urban spaces.
Educational Outreach
Investing in arts education means investing in the creative future of Mount Dennis. These (proposed) programs also forge strong community bonds between business owners and residents. Note: Programming is in concept phase and not confirmed.
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(Proposal Concept Only) To celebrate The Last Day photographic installation in Mount Dennis, we would facilitate arts programming with local youth and schools in the area.
Sessions, hosted at the Mount Dennis branch of the Toronto Public Library will offer high school students from the area including George Harvey Collegiate Institute/York Memorial Collegiate Institute, facilitated by professional photographer with guest lecture by Robert Burley, relating to the Mount Dennis exhibition.
The photography workshops aim to culminate in student exhibitions held in businesses throughout the neighbourhood, and printed works featured in street-level signage. We plan to build a digital gallery of selected works on the Mount Dennis BIA website.
Students will also learn about Robert Burley’s artistic process and the subject matter of his work, including his images of the former Kodak Canada plant — an important part of history that took place in Mount Dennis. These sessions will build on the area’s rich heritage, inspiring a new generation of residents to consider photography as an artistic medium and tool for social expression.
Fostering creative thinking is an essential part of establishing Mount Dennis as a burgeoning artistic community where ideas matter and enrichment is a priority.
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(Proposal Concept Only) To expand our community outreach efforts, we’ll create student mentorship opportunities with members of the Mount Dennis BIA. Students from George Harvey Collegiate Institute and York Memorial Collegiate Institute will be invited to connect with a local business owner to ask questions and learn about job skills, role descriptions, areas of focus and more.
We want to provide tools for students to help them build a path to the career they want and forge relationships with people in their chosen field. Pairing students with local entrepreneurs creates strong bonds within the community that foster empathy and encourage growth.
