The Magic Starts Tonight

IT'S TODAY!

Get out your finest sparkles and feathers!  Magic Boxes is tonight!  We are going to transform the Cube Gallery into a sexy circus spectacular, the likes of which Ottawa has never seen before.

We've got appetizers warming up and drinks being mixed.  We're putting on our fake eyelashes and napkin dresses.  There's still a few tickets left.  (If you are planning to buy at the door, it will be cheque or cash only.)

Our friends over at Venus Envy are in the spirit!  Check out this amazing box.

It lights up!

 

 

I wanted to be sure to show off Markia Jemma's beautiful Goddess #14.

What a beautiful thing to gift us with!  In person, this is a detailed, vibrant piece-- you can feel life and warmth and celebration just radiating from it.

Planned Parenthood Ottawa's own celebration of life and healthy sexuality starts tonight.  See you soon!

Just One Day More!

Where does the time go?  There's just one day left before Magic Boxes, and we couldn't be more excited!  Did you get your ticket yet?

Tomorrow, we transform the Cube Gallery into a breathtaking, wild circus!  Complete with a tent, a fire spinner, clowns and a red carpet.  How awesome is that-- sexual and reproductive health, rolled out with a red carpet!

"Round Lake Cubed" is by our lovely host at Cube Gallery, Don Monet.

I suspect the PPO staff is going to want a day in that idyll following the magic and mayhem of Magic Boxes!  To me it is like sitting on the dock, looking out over that scene early in the morning with a cup of coffee.  I feel refreshed.

And hopefully, on the dock of that lake we will run into this amazing creature.

 

Vera Greenwood's "Magic Box" is made with flocking: it's fuzzy.  It's also gorgeous, very detailed and vibrant.

The stag seems to be caught in that moment when you come across each other on a trail, closer then either of your expected, and you just stare.  And then the deer runs away.  Those moments are always a little dreamlike and precious.

And continuing down the trail, Bozica Radjenovic seems to have drawn her inspiration for the earth itself.  To me, her Black Box looks like earthworm trails, and I can almost smell the wet earth and fallen leaves.

The words on the top are "All Mothers", "Living Things..." and "Matter."


Will you be there tomorrow, to show how much PPO matters to you?  And have an amazing time in the bargain!

Whoa! Big News!

Rick Mercer has finished his Magic Box to be auctioned at Planned Parenthood Ottawa's Magic Boxes gala...AND...the winner of his Magic Box gets:

2 Return tickets to Toronto to see Rick Mercer Report
2 Tickets for the Season Finale of Rick Mercer Report on Friday, March 19, 2010
Meet and Greet with Rick Mercer after the Show
1 Nights Hotel Accommodation for 2 after the Show

If you don't have tickets, you won't be able to win this fabulous box!!! Click here for ticket purchasing information!

 

Riches

There's now about 42 boxes in the office, perched on top of book shelves and cabinets.  The office is going to feel so empty when they are gone!

Where will we be without Anna Funnekotter's cheerful box, "Follow Your Heart", to brighten our day?  We love our work, but seeing all the amazing art that has been contributed to Planned Parenthood Ottawa can't help but humble and warm us.

(The colours are even brighter in person.)

Herman Ruhland's "Art for a Cause" makes it feel like summer in here, even though its starting to get cold outside.

You really have to see this one in person, the texture is engaging.

I'm not going to lie, I keep hoarding boxes in my office!  You know, for the blog.

 

Shanna Steals' "Reliquary" features beautifully detailed carvings of leaves.  To me, it speaks of the connection between the past and the present, and how we choose to safeguard precious memories.

Like, for example, throwing an amazing gala on Thursday!

Just One Week Left!

There's just one week left to be part of Ottawa's most Magical night!   (Information about buying tickets can be found here.)

For 45 years, Planned Parenthood Ottawa has been the place to come for sexual and reproductive health!  We not only talk about sex without blushing, we've taught generations of men and women to do the same.  And for one night only we are letting it all hang out.

Like Annette Hegel's amazing triptych.  Two of the pieces hang on the wall, with a third box designed to rest on a surface.

From left to right: The Henry James Box, The Arundhati Roy Box and The John Berger Box

Here is the John Berger Box open:  pretty cool!

 

For Magic Boxes, we're going to be all dolled up in feathers and sequins!

Catherine Clark made this amazing box with her 9-year old daughter.  It's like she read our minds!

And if you want to see a magic trick:

KAZAM!

The Birds and the Bees

Looking at our boxes, it seems like some of our artists had something on their minds...

I think they were thinking about how awesome PPO is!

The gathering of birds on Daniel Martelock's box is so engaging, we can't help but make up little dialogues for them.  With the twigs on top, its like we're eavesdropping on a party in the treetops.

 It looks to me like that owl is really tired of the loud little finches.

Jennifer Gibb's tells us that a Bee Box is where bee-keepers keep their hives.  Check out these industrious little guys!

 

The photo doesn't really do justice to the rich, beautiful honey gold inside the box.  Makes you just want to melt into it.

These beautiful birds are from "Magic is Believing in Yourself" by Laura Daub.The patterns are really rich and beautiful.

 And of course, PPO knows all about the outcome of the birds and the bees...

Funny and beautiful

It's astonishing how artists can use such a basic shape, a simple cube, to evoke so many emotions.

For example, how hilarious is this box by Cathy Jones from 22 Minutes!

(It's full of fun 22 Minutes swag too!)

Lenny Kuiper's "Paper Box" is hypnotic, with its beautiful detailed hand-made paper pattern.  So elegant.

 

Tell us about how excited you are about Magic Boxes, below!

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry, Step Right Up!

If you can't wait to get to one of our fabulous Box Offices to buy your tickets, now you don't have to!

You can purchase them online through EventBrite.  Just go to www.magicboxes.eventbrite.com  and you can pay with credit card or Paypal!

Don't delay, space is very limited and tickets are really moving!

One is for silver

It can be magical to have something special that you just keep away for you, for the quiet moments.  Or the loud moments.  Or whenever you need it.  They can be joyful or they can be melancholy.  Peaceful or emotional.

What better place to store your private magic, than in a Magic Box?

Su Roger's box is based on the crow counting rhyme of her native Nova Scotia.  There are lots of variations, but it usually ends "... seven for a secret, never to be told."

Of course, crows don't necessarily have a lot to say, secret or not.



Sometimes its good to leave the key to your special moments in plain sight.

Not that there is anything plain about Ariane Beauchamp's gorgeous box.

But sometimes the best moments are the ones you aren't expecting.  

  

 

 

"Memory Box" by Tanis Dennis is an opportunity to create some new charished memories, for the quiet times (or the loud times) to come.

Over 45 years, PPO has racked up a lot of memories!  Help us celebrate our history of being the place in Ottawa for confidential, reliable and empowering sexual health support.

The Magic Boxes are coming in!

Big News!  There's 3 new places around town to buy your tickets or you can do it online!  We can call them Box Offices.  Check out the post here for more details.  Space is very limited, so don't delay!


Slowly but surely we are starting to see a trickle in our our magical boxes returning to the office.  It is so exciting to see all the wonderful things the artists did with their box.  Just think: everyone started out with the same box, but what each did with it is wildly different!

Here's some of the first couple to come into the office:

"Flower Box" is by Helen Kuiper.  The colour is amazingly vivid in person.  And we love all the graceful vines.



 Simon Brascoupé's box is beautiful: we love the way the rich colours contrast with the natural wood grain.  We can't wait to see the top of the box!

Check back everyday for more sneak-peaks at PPO's boxes.  And you'll be able to see all the boxes we've shown off so far in our slideshow gallery in the sidebar.

PPO Reflects: Growing up with Maureen McTeer

 Maureen McTeer's Magic Box

And some thoughts by our director Jeanette...

Full disclosure – I’m pushing 40. When I was a little girl growing up in Acadian Cape Breton, there wasn’t much talk about women’s equality. The girls at our elementary school were made to clean and wash the tables and sweep the floor once lunch was over. The boys were free to play. In grade ten, our English teacher showed us the short anti-choice film, The Silent Scream, and we never questioned his right to launch what I’ve come to realize was such an assault on the young psyches with which he was entrusted.

Yet throughout these formative years, I would occasionally read Chatelaine magazine. Throughout these years, there was Maureen McTeer. She had a regular column in the magazine and often wrote on themes of gender equality that, admittedly, I was barely able to grasp. Yet, there was Maureen McTeer. I could have sworn that she was the woman who was married to Joe Clark, our prime minister. It couldn’t be she, her name was different then his.

There was Maureen McTeer.

Throughout my formative years, although only peripherally aware of Ms McTeer, I knew that she was a feminist, although I wasn’t sure what a feminist was. What I did know for sure, was that she stood for something important…that she was important. Looking back, I understand just how important she was.

Today, I sit here a proud feminist. Many of the younger women I speak with don’t know who Maureen McTeer is and what she represents for women my age. Yes, for those of us who grew amid the neon shirts and big hair of the 80s, the name Maureen McTeer stands for gender equality in a time when our rights as women were far less entrenched than they are today.

And now we get to celebrate Planned Parenthood Ottawa’s birthday with her! How incredibly cool is that?

Tell us about who inspired you to support sexual and reproductive health in the comments!