John Faichney is a Canadian dancer, television producer and software analyst born in Montreal in 1952. He graduated from Oberlin College where he developed an interest in choreography and dance improvisation. In May 1976 he performed at the Centre for Experimental Art & Communication (CEAC) in Toronto and was invited to join the Centre’s staff. Amongst other activities, he designed printed matter, maintained exchange programs with other artists’ groups, curated an exhibition of artists’ books and managed distribution of mailings and periodicals (including Strike, a quasi monthly newspaper.) John Faichney lives in Kitchener, Ontario, and remains involved with Contact Improvisation.
Factory 77, initially known as Galerie Scollard, was a Toronto artist-run gallery focused on art education which operated between 1976 and 1982. Galerie Scollard was established in Toronto in 1976 as a nonprofit charitable organization by Dushka Arezina, a Yugoslavian emigrée, artist, and art historian. It was coined a “centre for education in vision” and was located on Scollard Street in Toronto. The gallery was operated by a Board of Directors of which Harvey Cowan was the chairperson and Kenneth Lund the president. Dushka Arezina sat on the Board of Directors as treasurer and was also the gallery’s executive director. Galerie Scollard ceased operations under that name in 1978 and was re-established
as Factory 77 in November 1978 upon moving into a former carpet factory at 77 Mowat Ave. in Toronto’s Parkdale area. Factory 77’s operations were overseen by Arezina and a Board of Directors chaired by Lund, a Toronto lawyer. It aimed to present a broad view of contemporary visual arts by exhibiting established artists together with emerging ones. In the years between 1978 and 1982, the gallery mounted more than 13 exhibitions per year, featuring prominent Canadian artists such as Mary and Christopher Pratt, Lynn Donoghue, and Ken Danby. The gallery also placed significant emphasis on exhibitions by Eastern European artists such as Jiri Ladocha. The gallery aimed to foster student participation through exhibits of student and youth work, and placed significant focus on art education and appreciation outreach programs in elementary and secondary schools in the Toronto area. Due to financial and administrative difficulties, Factory 77 ceased operations permanently in February 1982.
Art Rental Exhibition
Originator: Extension. Curator: Katharine Lochnan. Curated by Andrea Joyce. Catalogue written by James A. Leith and Andrea Joyce. Exhibition held at the AGO July 14-Sept. 10, 1989, and circulated to Quebec City and Winnipeg.
Festival Ontario: Cobalt Miners' Festival - July 31 - Aug 8, 1976 ; Kirkland Lake Arts Festival - Aug ?-31, 1976.
Exhibition organised and circulated by the Art Institute of Ontario 1963-65. See AIO Annual Meeting: June 13, 1963; May 21, 1964; Oct. 29, 1964; Oct. 28, 1965
Originator: Gale/AGO.