Bata Shoe Museum

The Pre-History of Feet
2022-07-11 10:00 - 2022-07-15 15:00 (America/Toronto) | Bata Shoe Museum, 327 Bloor St. W., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1W7, Canada
Due to unforeseen circumstances, our Tippy Toes Time Travelling event has been postponed and will begin starting July 11. Please email info@batashoemuseum.ca for any questions or concerns.

Tippy Toes Time Travelling
Travel back in time with our drop-in activities every weekday at Toronto’s favourite shoebox! With over 14,000 shoes in our collection, we have a lot of shoes (and other shoe-related items) to show you, one shoe at a time. Check out our drop-activities every weekday from 10am to 3pm. Whether you decide to listen to an amusing story, interactive activities, or make a cool craft – there’s always something new to see and learn for everyone! We will also have colouring pages available for any kid who does not feel comfortable participating in our interactive activities. The summer drop-in program makes learning fun by incorporating a curriculum element into the activities that revolve around educating our drop-in participants on the history and the future of shoes in a global context! Perfect for children 4-13.
The Pre-History of Feet
Start your summer by taking a trip back in time! The best way to learn about the past is to travel to it! That is why during The Pre-History of Feet week, kids get to create their own shoebox time machine in order to travel to the past. Kids also get to become archaeologists themselves as they search for undiscovered artefacts and learn more about how the shoes we wear today came to be!

June Salon Series
2022-06-29 19:00 - 20:00
A Conversation with Mr. Bailey

In celebration of our new exhibition Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks, join us for our next Salon with independent footwear designer Mr. Bailey. In this fascinating conversation, our Director & Senior Curator Elizabeth will talk about Mr. Bailey’s journey in the footwear world, how he started Concept Kicks, and more!
RSVP HERE

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Mr. Bailey (full name, Daniel Bailey), is a London-based product designer focused primarily on footwear innovation. Having studied product design near the greater New York area, he uses the “Mr. Bailey” moniker as a vessel to explore design and art projects, whether that be through his own personal projects or through collaborations with brands, designers, or artists that embody principles he admires.

May Salon Series
2022-05-29 15:00 - 16:00
A Conversation with Father/Daughter Duo Chris + Jade Dixon

In anticipation of our upcoming exhibition Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks, opening May 26, 2022, join us for a fascinating conversation as we sit down with Cnstnt:Dvlpmnt LLC Chris Dixon, Founder + Creative Director and daughter Jade, Colour Specialist to talk about the exciting world of sneaker design!
Missed the event? Watch the recording below:

ABOUT CHRIS DIXON:

Chris Dixon, aka CD, is from Fayetteville, NC and an Alumni of Harding University & PENSOLE Academy. In addition to being the Founder and Creative Director of Cnstnt:Dvlpmnt LLC, Chris is also a Footwear Designer with Timberland- Advanced Concepts Energy. He moved to Oregon from North Carolina after winning the World Sneaker Championship in 2017 and has been on a mission to create with a purpose. With faith, optimistic vision, perseverance, and a strong support system, he is able to see multiple dreams and goals come to life. Creating tools that will help people get a head start in the creative space is a balance with him creating new products for the world. He is here for positivity. Hanging with his family traveling the world, hooping, sketching, coffee sippin’, and sharing a good laugh are some of his favorite things in life.

ABOUT JADE DIXON:

Jade Dixon is a Colour Specialist at Cnstnt:Dvlpmnt LLC who loves to learn new, creative things and hang out with her family! Jade is currently in 6th grade and was the 2021 Merrill Future Colour Design Winner. She is very optimistic and excited for what the future has in store for her!

Future Now Community Weekend
2022-05-28 10:00 - 2022-05-29 17:00
Save-the-date! We’re celebrating the opening of our newest exhibition FUTURE NOW with a FREE community weekend on Saturday May 28 (10am to 5pm) and Sunday May 29 (12pm to 5pm).
Join us for a fun weekend where you can see the exhibition, enjoy sneaker-themed kids crafts, try on some funky footwear, play our new ISPY game, watch a livestream of our May Salon conversation (May 29) and more!
We’re also hosting a sneaker drive with community partner The Kickback all weekend long! Donate a new or gently used pair of sneakers and receive a complimentary $25 Annual Pass to the museum. And don’t forget to check out our new window outside, QR codes and all ~ scan one or scan them all to learn more about what’s happening at the museum!

We hope you can join us! Book your tickets now.
Book Tickets

April Salon Series
2022-04-20 19:00 - 20:00
A Conversation with Legendary Designer Jeff Staple

In anticipation of our upcoming exhibition Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks, opening in May 2022, Elizabeth spoke with creative visionary, graphic/fashion/footwear designer & founder of iconic streetwear brand STAPLE, Jeff Staple. They talked about the future of footwear, state-of-the-art technologies being used and the highly collectible world of NFT sneakers.
If you missed it, watch the recording below.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

JEFF STAPLE (born Jeffrey Ng) is a creative visionary whose work encompasses graphic, fashion, and footwear design, as well as brand marketing. He is the founder of REED ART DEPARTMENT (f.k.a. Staple Design) where he has worked on countless creative projects for clients ranging from startup brands to Fortune 100 companies. 2022 year marks the 25th anniversary since Jeff founded STAPLE in 1997, the NY-based pioneering streetwear brand with the now infamous “Pigeon” logo, and later experiential lifestyle boutique, REED SPACE in 2002. Today, Jeff continues to traverse new territory as the creator and host of the Coinbase podcast “Do Process” (the spiritual heir of his renowned “Business of Hype” podcast on HYPEBEAST). He shares professional advice as one of the top teachers on SKILLSHARE (the leading online learning platform), and he is a pioneer in the web3 space as founder of STAPLEVERSE, a new digital world based on everything he’s learned in the past quarter century as a cultural leader. In addition to his work as a creative, Jeff is a trusted voice in the business world, where he is a frequent moderator, lecturer, and keynote speaker at industry panels and conferences. Jeff Staple continues to expand his “Positive Social Contagion” worldwide, going on over two decades and counting. Keep up to date with everything Jeff is up to on his website, Instagram and Twitter.

March Salon Series
2022-03-20 15:00 - 16:00
Inspired by our exhibition The Great Divide: Footwear in the Age of Enlightenment, Elizabeth had a fascinating conversation with Lauren Stowell, historical costumer, footwear designer and co-founder of American Duchess Historical Footwear. They spoke about what inspired her to start her reproduction shoe company, how she became interested in historical footwear, what projects are coming up for her and more!
If you missed it, watch the recording below.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Lauren Stowell is an entrepreneur and author. She started sewing and costuming in 2003 and became particularly interested in the 18th century. By 2009, Lauren started the blog American Duchess to chronicle her historical costuming adventures – the good, the bad, and the ugly. In 2011, Lauren launched her first 18th century shoe design, which quickly snowballed into a broad collection of Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, and vintage shoes and accessories under the “American Duchess” label. Along with a range of Simplicity historical costume patterns, Lauren co-authored and published, The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking in 2017 and The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty in 2019. Lauren lives in Reno, Nevada, with her husband Chris, and a lot of dogs. She loves historical dress, watercolor painting, travel, the stock market, and racing cars.

Art & Innovation Virtual Tour
2021-11-28 11:00 - 12:00
Experience the BSM with VIRTUAL TOURS of the Exhibits this fall!
Art & Innovation: Traditional Arctic Footwear from the Bata Shoe Museum Collection– Learn more about the exhibition here
Register Now
We love bringing you engaging and thoughtful content each month for free. We currently have a fundraising goal and we hope you’ll consider helping us share the museum experience with school groups right across the country. With our goal of $5000, 50 classes will be able to join us virtually for free to learn all about the fascinating history of footwear. If you are in a position to support this initiative, click on the donation link here. Thank you so much!

BSM programming events have been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

2021 Founder's Lecture
2021-11-16 19:00 - 20:30
Reimagining the Future Design of Museums: A Conversation with Kulapat Yantrasast, PhD, Architect, Creative Director and Founder, wHY
Director & Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack sat down with award-winning architect Kulapat Yantrasast to discuss his inspiring projects, including his current redesign of The Met’s Rockefeller Wing, how he reimagines spaces and where he sees museum design going in the future.
If you missed it, watch the recording below.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

All Dolled Up Virtual Tour
2021-10-31 11:00 - 12:00
Experience the BSM with VIRTUAL TOURS of the Exhibits this fall!
All Dolled Up: Fashioning Cultural Expectations – Stay tuned for more information on this new exhibition!
Register Now
We love bringing you engaging and thoughtful content each month for free. We currently have a fundraising goal and we hope you’ll consider helping us share the museum experience with school groups right across the country. With our goal of $5000, 50 classes will be able to join us virtually for free to learn all about the fascinating history of footwear. If you are in a position to support this initiative, click on the donation link here. Thank you so much!

BSM programming events have been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

A Conversation with Derek McCormack
2021-10-27 19:00 - 20:30
Inspired by our latest exhibition All Dolled Up: Fashioning Cultural Expectations, join us for our Salon Series where we explore the world of dolls. On October 27 at 7pm EST, we invite Canadian novelist and short story writer Derek McCormack for a virtual conversation with our Director & Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack to talk about dolls and horror in popular culture.
RSVP here
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Derek McCormack’s most recent novels are Castle Faggot and The Well-Dressed Wound, both published by Semiotext(e). A collection of his essays on fashion is forthcoming from Pilot Press in 2022. He writes about art and fashion for Artforum and other publications. He lives in Toronto.

Culture Days 2021: All About Shoes + Behind the Scenes Gallery
2021-10-24 11:00 - 12:00
Take a fascinating journey and experience the many facets of footwear: its evolution and symbolism through the ages, the methods and materials of its manufacture and its place in our imaginations.
The BSM’s flagship exhibition, All About Shoes: Footwear Through the Ages, is a voyage through four and a half millennia of shoes. As well as presenting an engaging overview of the history of footwear, All About Shoes also explores the wider context of our fascinating collection.
The Bata Shoe Museum currently holds over 13,000 shoes and related artefacts, spanning 4,500 years of footwear history. This extraordinary collection is central to the museum’s mission and enables us to mount dynamic and changing exhibitions. With only four percent of the collection typically on view at any given time, the rest of our artifacts are maintained in two specially-designed subterranean vaults, which keep the collection safe and secure while facilitating research and conservation by staff and visiting scholars. This section of the All About Shoes gives you a visitors a peek into this seldom-seen aspect of the museum’s work.
Register Now

Culture Days 2021: Art & Innovation + Sneak Peek of All Dolled Up
2021-10-10 11:00 - 12:00
Drawing from the BSM’s extensive circumpolar holdings, and building upon information gathered from extensive, museum-sponsored fieldwork, Art and Innovation showcases a vast variety of footwear, garments and tools. These highlight the artistry and ingenuity of the makers and reveal different cultural identities, crafting techniques and spiritual meanings.
This virtual tour will also give participants a sneak peek of our new exhibition, All Dolled Up: Fashioning Cultural Expectations which opens to the public on October 2, 2021.
Register Now

Fall 2021 Series
2021-09-29 19:00 - 20:30
We are so excited to launch the Fall 2021 edition of our Salon Series! This time, we’re inspired by our upcoming exhibition All Dolled Up: Fashioning Cultural Expectations. Exploring how dolls and the clothes they wear have historically promoted complex cultural ideas about gender, body image, social status and fashion consumption in the West, the exhibition also focuses on how these ideas are being challenged today. Join us on September 29 at 7pm EST, as we invite our first guest Tonya Ruiz, creator of the viral sensation Quarantine Barbies for a virtual conversation with our director and senior curator Elizabeth Semmelhack. An exclusive peek at this newest exhibition included!
RSVP here
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Tonya Ruiz, also known as Grandma Gets Real is the creator of the viral sensation, Quarantine Barbies. She is a former teenage fashion model from the 80s who was featured in many magazines and advertisements throughout the years like Teen Magazine and Christian Dior. Ruiz turned her Barbie obsession and created an account to show us what Barbie would look like in real-life scenarios. During the pandemic, she started to create “Quarantine Barbies” to reflect her experience during quarantine. Learn more about Quarantine Barbies here.
To find out more about our guest, please visit check out her website here.

All About Shoes Virtual Tour
2021-09-19 11:00 - 12:00
Experience the BSM with VIRTUAL TOURS of the Exhibits this fall!
All About Shoes: Footwear Through the Ages – Learn more about the exhibition here
Register Now
We love bringing you engaging and thoughtful content each month for free. We currently have a fundraising goal and we hope you’ll consider helping us share the museum experience with school groups right across the country. With our goal of $5000, 50 classes will be able to join us virtually for free to learn all about the fascinating history of footwear. If you are in a position to support this initiative, click on the donation link here. Thank you so much!

BSM programming events have been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

The Gold Standard virtual tour
2021-08-22 11:00 - 12:00
Experience the BSM with VIRTUAL TOURS of the Exhibits this July & August!
The Gold Standard: Glittering Footwear From Around the Globe – Learn more about the exhibition here
Register Now
We love bringing you engaging and thoughtful content each month for free. We currently have a fundraising goal and we hope you’ll consider helping us share the museum experience with school groups right across the country. With our goal of $5000, 50 classes will be able to join us virtually for free to learn all about the fascinating history of footwear. If you are in a position to support this initiative, click on the donation link here. Thank you so much!

BSM programming events have been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Art & Innovation virtual tour
2021-08-08 11:00 - 12:00
Experience the BSM with VIRTUAL TOURS of the Exhibits this July & August!
Art & Innovation: Traditional Arctic Footwear from the Bata Shoe Museum Collection – Learn more about the exhibition here
Register Now
We love bringing you engaging and thoughtful content each month for free. We currently have a fundraising goal and we hope you’ll consider helping us share the museum experience with school groups right across the country. With our goal of $5000, 50 classes will be able to join us virtually for free to learn all about the fascinating history of footwear. If you are in a position to support this initiative, click on the donation link here. Thank you so much!

BSM programming events have been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

The Great Divide virtual tour
2021-07-25 11:00 - 12:00
Experience the BSM with VIRTUAL TOURS of the Exhibits this July & August!
The Great Divide: Footwear in The Age Of Enlightenment – Learn more about the exhibition here
Register Now
We love bringing you engaging and thoughtful content each month for free. We currently have a fundraising goal and we hope you’ll consider helping us share the museum experience with school groups right across the country. With our goal of $5000, 50 classes will be able to join us virtually for free to learn all about the fascinating history of footwear. If you are in a position to support this initiative, click on the donation link here. Thank you so much!

BSM programming events have been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Salon Series IX
2021-05-19 19:00 - 20:30
Exploring the impact of 18th century issues today and beyond.
We are so excited to announce our next Salon Series guest ~ Sonia Krause.
Queens of Fashion: A Conversation about 18th Century Dolls with Sonia Krause
Join us for a fascinating conversation with historical doll-maker Sonia Krause. Creative Director & Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack will chat with Sonia about the role of fashion dolls in the 18th century and her incredible work reproducing them. You’ll also get a sneak peek at a doll that Sonia created for the museum for an upcoming fall exhibition – be sure to register to find out more!
RSVP here
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Sonia Krause is an American Doll Artist and Textile Collector. She is renowned for her wooden sculpture dolls, also known as Queen Anne, and for her Izannah Walker cloth dolls. Since childhood her innate artistry was remarkably influenced by the environment in which she grew up in. Born in the historic center of Lima city (Perú), she was surrounded by young artists and a fascinating multicultural town that is also home to splendid 16th and 17th century architectural buildings, museums, art galleries and some of the best and most eye-catching street art. After moving to the United States, Sonia started as a self-taught artist. Her doll making journey began in her early thirties; this is when she also began collecting antique textiles. Her art consists of wooden and cloth sculpture dolls using a variety of multiple media to create each of them. She designs, fabricates and dresses her dolls in period appropriate clothing so as to resemble, learn from and admire the history behind each of them.
To find out more about our guest, please visit her website here.

The Art of Singing
2021-05-15 10:00 - 12:00
Cost: $20/per person
Friends of the BSM: $15/per person
In this special masterclass, students will have the opportunity to explore their musical prowess and artistic talent. The class will be a customized and highly flexible workshop offering vocal technique instruction from New York Vocal Coaching’s Associate Director, David McCall. The session will include a group presentation and a Q&A session. In this intimate and comfortable environment, four participants will also have the opportunity to perform in front of the virtual class and receive personalized instructions from David. If you are interested in performing during the virtual workshop, please email Adrienne upon registration at adrienne@batashoemuseum.ca.
This workshop will take place via Zoom. All participants are required to source their own equipment needed for this workshop. Please see below for details. This workshop will be recorded and may be used by the Bata Shoe Museum for internal purposes only. If there are any questions or concerns, please email adrienne@batashoemuseum.ca.
PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE:

Workshop Tools

Water Bottles
Comfortable Clothes
Laptop with either internal or external microphone
Strong wifi connection
PDF copies for the one to two songs you wish to perform in class. (This can be emailed to Mr. McCall in advance. Mr. McCall will accompany all students on piano.)
*Optional – Pre Recorded tracks of chosen songs as accompaniment.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

David McCall is a Voice Teacher Associate at New York Vocal Coaching. David has become one of the leading instructors of Contemporary Voice in New York City, with clients ranging from Broadway singers (Billy Elliot, Matilda), Classical and sacred music singers, to cantors in New York City Synagogues, to Professional Rock and Pop artists, some of which have toured and been signed to record contracts, appeared on shows like The Voice and American Idol, and performed at venues such as SXSW. Additionally, David has taught as a Master Teacher of Contemporary Voice for the NYSTA Comparative Vocal Pedagogy series.
David holds a BA in Music: Vocal Performance from Murray State University, where he studied classical vocal technique with veterans of the Operatic and Broadway stage. He also completed the NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification program in New York City.
To learn more about David, visit New York’s Vocal Coaching’s website here.
ABOUT NEW YORK VOCAL COACHING INC:
New York Vocal Coaching Inc. offers voice lessons, vocal coaching, voice teacher training, vocal evaluations, and more, both in-person and online via Skype/virtual lessons. Through their sister companies, they offer speech coaching, acting & monologue coaching, audition prep, guitar/bass and piano lessons, recording & videography services, and much more.

All Things Shoes ~ A Mother's Day Virtual Tour
2021-05-09 11:00 - 12:30
Pour yourself a cup of tea and join us for an exclusive Mother’s Day tour of the Bata Shoe Museum with Director & Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack! Elizabeth will personally take you through our four galleries, including our newest exhibition The Great Divide: Footwear in the Age of Enlightenment and answer all of your questions. Space is limited, so be sure to secure a spot for you and your mum by registering here.

The Salon Series VIII
2021-04-21 19:00 - 20:30
Exploring the impact of 18th century issues today and beyond.
We are so excited to announce our next Salon Series guest ~ Dr. Charmaine A. Nelson.
Black Body Politics and Self-Care: Slave Dress as Resistance in Caribbean and Canadian Slavery
In the early nineteenth century, John Colthurst, an Anglo-Irish special magistrate in St. Vincent, described the public humiliation of an enslaved black woman named Dutchess in his journal. Ordered to report to the local courthouse for the alleged crime of stealing money, Dutchess was ridiculed for the nature of the fine “wearing apparel” which she had purchased including “two pairs of pink satin shoes”, clothing which the local whites deemed to be incongruous with her racial, sex, and gender identity.
Please join us as Dr. Charmaine Nelson explores slave dress, cultural preservation and self-determination in Canada and British Caribbean islands like Jamaica and St. Vincent. Recuperating the histories of three enslaved black women named Dutchess, Florimell, and Cash, and one enslaved black man named Andrew, Nelson will look at how they acquired the means and materials to adorn, protect and beautify their bodies in the midst of endemic material deprivation, cultural prohibitions, economic disenfranchisement and pervasive physical violence. Drawing upon Rebecca Earle’s concept of “clothing acts,” the lecture will examine genre studies, portraiture, and fugitive slave advertisements to explore the spaces between the imposition of cloth rations in tropical planation regimes like Jamaica, the use of European second-hand clothing in Canada and the preservation of African cultural dress practices like headwrapping across the Americas.
Agostino Brunias, Linen Market, Dominica (1780), oil on canvas, 49.8 x 68.6 cm., B1981.25.76, Paul Mellon Collection, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.
ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKER
Dr. Charmaine A. Nelson is a Professor of Art History and a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Transatlantic Black Diasporic Art and Community Engagement at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University in Halifax, CANADA where she is also the founding director of the first-ever institute focused on the study of Canadian Slavery. Prior to this appointment she worked at McGill University (Montreal) for seventeen years. Nelson has made ground-breaking contributions to the fields of the Visual Culture of Slavery, Race and Representation, and Black Canadian Studies. She has published seven books including The Color of Stone: Sculpting the Black Female Subject in Nineteenth-Century America (2007), Slavery, Geography, and Empire in Nineteenth-Century Marine Landscapes of Montreal and Jamaica (2016), and Towards an African Canadian Art History: Art, Memory, and Resistance (2018). She is actively engaged with lay audiences through her media work including ABC, CBC, CTV, and City TV News, The Boston Globe, BBC One “Fake or Fortune,” and PBS “Finding your Roots”. She blogs for the Huffington Post Canada and writes for The Walrus. In 2017, she was the William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies at Harvard University.
Register Now

The Art of Embroidery
2021-04-17 10:00 - 12:00
Cost: $20/per person
Friends of the BSM: $15/per person

SOLD OUT
Thank you so much for your interest in the BSM’s Virtual Workshop Series! Due to the overwhelming amount of participants, our The Art of Embroidery.. Stay tuned on our social media and website for new workshops every month!

This 2 hour virtual workshop will introduce students to some basic embroidery techniques to create an image of a whimsical 18th century shoe. Stitches taught will be stem, chain, French knot, back stitch, satin, closed herringbone, fly. We will include instructions on how to finish the embroidered piece into a pocket front for a shoe bag.
This workshop will take place via Zoom. All participants are required to source their own equipment needed for this workshop. Please see below for details.This workshop will be recorded and may be used by the Bata Shoe Museum for internal purposes only. If there are any questions or concerns, please email adrienne@batashoemuseum.ca.
PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE:

Workshop Tools & Materials

White or light neutral cotton fabric, approximately 10″ X 9″
Optional – factory cotton/muslin piece approximately 1″ larger than main for backing fabric
Floss in following colours (Colour choices are a guideline only. Students are encouraged to use their own stash.):

dark grey (DMC 413)
medium pink (DMC 3716); dark pink (DMC 3806)
light green (DMC 472); medium green (DMC 471); dark green (DMC 469)
light blue (DMC 3765); medium blue (DMC 598)

Embroidery needle, scissors, 4″ hoop (strongly recommended)
Small, decorative button, 5mm or bead
45″ of cord or ribbon for drawstring
0.4m each of 2 fabrics for lining and exterior of the shoe bag (i.e two pieces 12″ X width of the fabric)

FAQ
Will a template be provided?
Upon registration, you will receive an email confirmation which will give you access to the template. If you did not receive it, please email Adrienne at adrienne@batashoemuseum.ca
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Diane Scott has been a member of EAC since 1997 when she was introduced to the threaded needle and all its possibilities while living in Nova Scotia, and joined the Marigold Guild of Needle Arts. She joined the Toronto Guild of Stitchery in 2011 and has served as Program Director, Vice President and then President of the organization. She is currently Past President. Diane has also served as Course Manager and Treasurer for EAC.
Diane is an accomplished stitcher in various techniques, but she especially likes canvaswork. She has had a variety of teaching opportunities in Canada. She has taught several original projects at the Marigold Guild’s annual retreat, and has taught several in-house workshops there. She has also taught at the Creativ Festival in Toronto and at Fibre Potpourri in Olds, Alberta. She was able to step in to teach an EAC Seminar class in Calgary 2015 to pinch hit for a health emergency. She has taught at Rock, Needle, Scissors, EAC Seminar 2017, and will be teaching at EAC virtual Seminar 2021.
Her approach to communication is factual and logical. She believes you don’t need to speak often if you speak with purpose. She is a quick thinker and a great listener. The East Coast lifestyle is something the family has learned to value. Learning is a lifelong activity, and life has so much to appreciate.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER:

Pat has stitched since childhood, expanding her horizons after discovering EAC and the Toronto Guild of Stitchery. She is an active member at the guild and creates many designs for the guild’s benefit. She enjoys stretching herself and her class participants to explore new interpretations of traditional techniques. Nature and history remain strong design influences. She has been fortunate enough to share these with classes at Seminars and individual guilds.
Passion can be truly infectious and she hopes to share her passion with others.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:
The Toronto Guild of Stitchery was formed in 1975 to encourage and promote the practice of embroidery in all its forms. Our members enjoy a variety of techniques, including cross stitch, crewel, needlepoint, blackwork, whitework, Schwalm, Hardanger, pulled thread, drawn thread, stumpwork, goldwork, smocking, canvas work, mixed media, Japanese embroidery, and machine embroidery, among others. We welcome stitchers of all skill levels, from beginners to experts.
The Guild meets two days a month from September to June to share our knowledge and our love of stitching with each other. Our meetings have moved to virtual format until we can meet in person once again.
From its beginning, the Toronto guild has been a chapter guild of the Embroiderers’ Association of Canada / l’Association canadienne de broderie (EAC). EAC is a national organization that focusses to preserve traditional embroidery techniques and to promote new challenges in the art of needlework.

The Salon Series VII
2021-03-24 19:00 - 20:30
Exploring the impact of 18th century issues today and beyond.
We are so excited to announce our next Salon Series guest ~ Richard Thompson Ford.
A Conversation with Richard Thompson Ford, Author of Dress Codes
Dress codes are as old as clothing itself. For centuries, clothing has been a wearable status symbol; fashion, a weapon in struggles for social change; and dress codes, a way to maintain political control. Even in today’s more informal world, dress codes still determine what we wear, when we wear it—and what our clothing means. Join us on March 24 at 7 pm EST as we welcome Law Professor and Author Richard Thompson Ford for an insightful and fascinating discussion on the history of the laws of fashion from the 18th century to today.
ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKER

Richard Thompson Ford is a Professor at Stanford Law School. He has written about law, social and cultural issues and race relations for The New York Times, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Slate, and has appeared on The Colbert Report and The Rachel Maddow Show. He is the author of the New York Times notable books The Race Card and Rights Gone Wrong: How Law Corrupts the Struggle for Equality. He lives in San Francisco.
Register Now

The Art of Drawing
2021-03-20 10:00 - 12:00
Cost: $20/per person
Friends of the BSM: $15/per person
In this drawing workshop, participants will first learn how to draw “lines”; they will learn what a line is, how to create it using a variety of tools (pencil, ink on paper) and also how to manipulate the quality of the lines. Based on observation, next will come contour drawing, as well as shapes and values. The session will end with participants putting this all together to create a delightful drawing panel. All skill levels welcome.
This workshop will take place via Zoom. All participants are required to source their own equipment needed for this workshop. Please see below for details.This workshop will be recorded and may be used by the Bata Shoe Museum for internal purposes only. If there are any questions or concerns, please email adrienne@batashoemuseum.ca.

ABOUT THE HOST:

Faez Alidoosti is a 2D animation, visual artist and cartoonist based in Toronto, Canada. He has been working in the North American animation industry since 2007 as an animator, designer and storyboard artist. Alidoosti is also experienced in painting and drawing and teaches these techniques as well. He believes in a daily dose of drawing much like a daily workout which is essential for any athlete.
Workshop Tools & Materials

Papers
Pencils (B2, B4, B6)
Inkpen
India Ink
Watercolor brush (no. 6 or 8)
Watercolor paper 150lb
A jar of water
Paper towels

The Salon Series VI
2021-02-24 19:00 - 20:00
Exploring the impact of 18th century issues today and beyond.
We are so excited to announce our next Salon Series guest ~ Dr. Danielle Kinsey.
Diamonds and “Exotic” Goods Consumption in Britain, 1750-1830
If we think about a quintessentially British upper-class tea party at the turn of the nineteenth century, we find that it is composed of goods from away: tea, obviously, but also things like china, sugary items, chocolate, spices, silver, mahogany, ivory, silks, cottons, maybe snuff, and jewelry with precious gemstones. Scholars of this period continue to explore how “exotic” goods came to be appropriated into British society and moved from luxury status to everyday items. In this talk, Kinsey will focus on diamonds and show how it wasn’t a simple case of a product associated with “the East” becoming Westernized but a more complicated dynamic where diamonds could be understood to be foreign, exotic, domestic, modern, traditional, scientific, romantic, good and evil all at once. In other words, the process of appropriation didn’t completely strip diamonds, and many other goods from away, of associations with exoticism or knowledge about where they came from and how they came to be in Britain. The worlds of colonialism and global capitalism were very much alive in what could be understood as British consumer culture in this time.
ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKER

Danielle Kinsey is an assistant professor in the department of history at Carleton University in Ottawa where she teaches courses on consumption and material culture, British history, global and imperial history, and the history of the body. She is completing a book manuscript for McGill-Queen’s University Press about the diamond trade and the meaning of diamonds in Britain and empire in the long nineteenth century.
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Flat Stitch: Embroidery Beadwork
2021-02-20 10:00 - 12:00
Cost: $20/per person
Friends of the BSM: $15/per person
Facilitated by Métis designer Justine Woods, this workshop will introduce participants to the historical and contemporary use of Indigenous beadwork in Canada. The hands-on portion of this workshop will offer participants the chance to learn beginner techniques of flat stitch, an embroidery beadwork technique commonly used to adorn moccasins and other pieces of clothing.
This workshop will take place via Zoom. All participants are required to source their own equipment needed for this workshop. Please see below for details. This workshop will be recorded for internal purposes at the Bata Shoe Museum. If there are any questions or concerns, please email adrienne@batashoemuseum.ca.

Sold Out
Thank you so much for your interest in the BSM’s Virtual Workshop Series! Due to the overwhelming amount of participants, our Flat Stitch: Embroidery Beadwork workshop is sold out. If you’d like to learn more about Justine Woods and her upcoming workshops, please visit her website. Stay tuned on our social media and website for new workshops every month!

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE:

ABOUT THE HOST

Justine Woods is a Métis interdisciplinary designer based in Tkaronto in what is known as Canada, and is from the Georgian Bay Métis Community. She is a current Master of Design Candidate at OCAD University and holds a Bachelor of Design in Fashion Design from Ryerson University where she specialized in bespoke tailoring and garment construction. Justine has showcased her work both locally and internationally at Graduate Fashion Week in London, England and is a Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards nominee.
Justine’s design practice involves garment-based work with focus on Indigenous clothing adornment practices. Her research and design work investigates the ways Fashion can facilitate, activate and mobilize cultural resurgence, specifically positioned through an Indigenous feminist lens. Her work is greatly informed by her identity as a Métis woman and the deeply rooted relationships she has to her ancestral land.
Workshop Tools/Materials Needed

Your choice of clothing/footwear to bead
Size 10 Czech seed beads (Recommended: Assortment of 3-4 colours per kit)
No. 11 gold eye (shorter and more durable) or No. 13 silver eye (longer and easier to string on beads) beading needles
Nymo ‘D’ beading thread
Stiffened beading felt (preferably white, but any colour will do)

A beading mat (Optional – they can be easily found at any craft store or on Amazon)

Some online beading/craft retailers:

Beaded Dreams, Ottawa, ON, CAN
ArtOn Beads, Toronto, ON, CAN (PayPal payments accepted only)
BeadFX, Toronto, ON, CAN
John Bead, Toronto, ON, CAN
ShipWreck Beads, Lacey, WA, USA
Beads and Pow Wow Supply, Michigan, US
iBead Canada, Sudbury, ON, CAN

FAQ
Will Justine be providing a template for us to use?
Yes! You can access the template here but we do not want to limit your creativity and you are more than welcome to use your own design.
Do you have any recommendations on what kind of clothing/footwear to use?
We would suggest espadrilles or moccasins, or a piece of clothing that is made out of a medium-weight or heavy-weight fabric.

The Salon Series V
2021-01-20 19:00 - 20:00
Exploring the impact of 18th century issues today and beyond.
We are so excited to announce our next Salon Series guest ~ Hilary Davidson.
Kicking Off Their Heels: The Revolution in Regency Footwear
Great changes in politics and culture at the end of the eighteenth century also extended to fashion. While waists rose and stiff gowns gave way to soft cotton simplicity, shoes also kicked off their heels to usher in the flat sole with the turn of the nineteenth century. This talk explores the world of footwear in the extraordinary transitional period between 1790-1820, and how new ideas were expressed through fashionable feet.
ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKER
Hilary Davidson trained as a bespoke shoemaker before becoming a dress historian and curator, and is now based between Sydney and London. She was curator of fashion and decorative arts at the Museum of London between 2007-2012 and has lectured and taught extensively across fashion history and theory, archaeology and curation. Her MA History of Textiles and Dress thesis was on the cultural power of red shoes and developed into work on magical footwear, including for the V&A exhibition catalogue of Shoes: Pleasure and Pain (2015). Hilary is an honorary associate at the University of Sydney, on the editorial board of Fashion Studies, and in 2019 published Dress in the Age of Jane Austen (Yale University Press).
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Uplifted: Art of Crochet Shoes
2021-01-16 10:00 - 14:00
Cost: $20/person
Friends of the BSM: $15/person
Learn how to crochet for the first time or refresh your skills, while discovering innovative ways to create. We will explore the effectiveness of patience & wellness while learning new modalities from a place of silence and stillness in order to increase awareness of the mind, body & soul. Engage in dialogue to strengthen knowledge of upcycling and sourcing materials, in order to reduce waste and become more eco-friendly.
Legin Knits will take the time to discuss “the shoe” and gain a bit of knowledge about the history, the evolution and the Bata Shoe Museum. In this workshop, participants will learn how to crochet as well as techniques on how to customize their shoes with decorative crochet pieces using a 3-step customization process. No skills needed. All levels accepted from beginner to advanced.
This workshop will take place via Zoom. All participants are required to source their own equipment needed for this workshop. Please see below for details.

ABOUT THE HOST

Nigel “Legin” John learned crochet from a Rasta man in San Fernando, Trinidad. His passion has allowed him to continue to grow, innovate, and expand his artistry through Legin Knits and Art Of Crochet. The focus on fashion is to make “Original” one of a kind pieces for collections and for personalized custom orders. He also adds crochet to already made items to renew into “Uplifted”(upcycled) pieces, giving them new life! Legin started teaching crochet to his friends and youth in his community immediately after learning. He felt the connection to passing this art form on, while building a business to open up opportunities for himself and others. When encountering individuals he taught, they always express their gratitude and strong belief that learning crochet gave them values that apply to their lives.

Workshop Tools/Materials Needed
1 pair of shoes where the crochet will be applied

Crochet Tools:

1 x crochet hook (Preferably sizes 3.50, 3.75, 4 or bigger)
1 or 2 balls of yarn (You have the more color options with more yarn)
Scissors

Hand Sewing Tools:

1 or more sewing needles (Always good to have a few extra, just in case)
1 x or more colors of All Purpose Sewing Thread
1 x Thimble (not rubber)
1 x Long nose pliers

Where to get your items:
We would like you to support local business! Our Partners at Romni Wools have made it easy for you.

Go to leginknits.com “Shop” page and select our “AOC Kit” to get all of the essential Crochet tools and Hand
sewing tools.
You may already have most of the tools needed at home already! So for a variety of yarn options and crochet hooks contact: Rachel @romniwools. You can DM on Instagram, email info@romniwools.com or call (416) 703 – 0202.

Delivery/Pick Up Options

You can arrange curbside pick up
Delivered to your doorstep! (For delivery please order well in advance. Give yourself at least 5 business days)
Tell them Legin sent you and receive 10% off.

Ask a Curator
2020-11-10 12:30 - 13:00
Join us every Tuesday on our IGTV channel as our Creative Director and Senior Curator, Elizabeth Semmelhack answers your questions!

Storytime with the BSM
2020-10-17 19:00 - 19:30
Tune in every Saturday night on our Youtube channel as some of our staff members read stories that cover topics like diversity, inclusion, identity and more.
