Each year, during the holiday season, Riverside shops and retailers host the “Window Wonderland” contest, displaying festive imagery and getting in the holiday spirit! This year is an extravaganza with 20+ participating storefronts with many designs by local artists! It’s a fun way to get into the spirit whilst supporting local business and artists.
SPECIAL THIS YEAR…
This year’s Riverside Window Wonderland is a special collaboration coming out of the STEPS Initiative and RBC iheART Main Street Art Challenge! As the winner of the Community-Engaged winner, Riverside BIA hasexpanded our placemaking initiatives. We are proud to collaborate with the STEPS initiative, local artists and local businesses to get through this pandemic together in holiday style.
Artists Ailsa Craigen (@pentopapier), Asli Alin (@aslialin), Enna Kim (@fongkikid), and Vivian Rosas @vivianrosas) have each created five window displays with hand-drawn illustrations and decorative lights, totalling twenty storefront windows as part of this festive project!
MEET THE ARTISTS…
Ailsa Craigen
Ailsa Craigen at Riverside Burgers, Riverside Window Wonderland 2020 (Photo Credit: Selina McCallum)
Ailsa Craigen is an interdisciplinary illustrator and designer residing and working in Toronto, Canada. Specializing in line drawings, Ailsa’s work has been featured in spaces across Toronto including Mallo, Goldstruck and Lovt Studio. She is the illustrator behind Pen to Papier.
Check out her website and Instagram
View her Riverside Window Wonderland creations and VOTE for your faves until Dec 14!!
Asli Alin
Alsi Alin at Tabule Middle Eastern Cuisine, Riverside Window Wonderland 2020 (Photo Credit: Sharon Mendonca)
Asli Alin was born in Istanbul and immigrated to Canada in 2002. Alin formally studied Landscape Architecture and Photography and worked as a Landscape Architect for 15 years. While Alin always considered herself an artist, her professional career began when she was commissioned by the City of Burlington to create five public art benches. Her art has been featured in a number of galleries throughout Toronto and abroad. Alin lives and works in Toronto.
Learn more about the motivation behind her art by reading her overall artistic statement
View her Riverside Window Wonderland creations and VOTE for your faves until Dec 14!!
Enna Kim
Enna Kim at Eastbound Brewing Co, Riverside Window Wonderland 2020 (Photo Credit: Selina McCallum)
Enna Kim is an experimental, interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto. Studying Digital Futures at OCAD University, Kim relies on digital spaces to find ways of navigating her cultural past, carefully extending her online world into her offline identity.
Learn more about the motivation behind her art by reading her overall artistic statement
View her Riverside Window Wonderland creations and VOTE for your faves until Dec 14!!
Vivian Rosas
Vivian Photos at Tertulia Espresso, Riverside Window Wonderland 2020 (Photo Credit: Sharon Mendonca)
Vivian Rosas is a Toronto-based Latinx illustrator and designer. Since graduating from OCADU, her primary work has been in editorial illustration, as well as in the animated video sphere. Her work is created in a variety of mediums including digital and screen-printing. She seeks to explore themes of feminism, empowerment, and diversity. Play and discovery are key to her practice, especially when she gets a chance to work on a mural.
Learn more about the motivation behind her art by reading her artistic statement
View her Riverside Window Wonderland creations and VOTE for your faves until Dec 14!!