Bask in Halifax | Soft-Spoken Reflections from the East Coast

In this episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker are joined by special guest Becka Barker from Halifax for a gentle conversation inspired by the charm and quiet beauty of Canada’s East Coast. This calming podcast episode drifts through thoughtful reflections on Halifax and nearby Dartmouth, inviting listeners into a relaxing conversation about favourite places, hidden corners, and everyday discoveries. Becka shares her love of libraries, describing the cozy nooks and peaceful spaces that make them such comforting community hubs, while Marco and Amanda reflect on their own memorable library moments. The conversation moves slowly and naturally, making it perfect for background listening while you unwind, quiet racing thoughts, or settle in to fall asleep.
Along the way, the trio wander into other soothing topics, including the rich flavour and history of amaro, fascinating animals that inspire curiosity, and the distinctive blue arts building in Halifax’s North End, a colourful symbol of creativity and community. Becka also highlights a few favourite spots around Halifax and Dartmouth, offering gentle travel inspiration for anyone who enjoys discovering new cities at an unhurried pace. As always, the easy rhythm of the conversation keeps things calm and lightly curious, creating a peaceful listening experience designed to help ease anxiety and guide you toward rest.

​Bask in Halifax:
(Original airdate: May 25, 2023)

 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, folks, relax, enjoy a sip of something, and hopefully this episode will just take you where you want to go and maybe even help you find sleep. Thank you for joining us today. I'm your host, Marco Timpano, and Amanda is not not joining me today. In fact, this episode's coming a little bit later than it usually does. Amanda had to have some surgery. She's fine. Um, so. But she wasn't feeling up to recording an episode. But as luck would have it, a special guest is in town from Halifax and so I implored them if they would like to join me on the podcast episode. And they said yes, of course, because they're so gracious and lovely. You might remember some episodes way back. Welcome back in our history on New to Bronx. I'm welcoming Becka Barker, Amanda's sister, back to the podcast. Welcome, Becka.

Becka Barker Thanks for having me back, Marco.

Marco:  Thank you for jumping in and just being gracious and lovely, as you always are.

Becka Barker Oh, I, you know, it doesn't feel like a gracious move. It just feels like, yeah, I want to talk into a microphone for a few minutes.

Marco:  Uh, you were just mentioning how you used, uh, to be on the radio back in Halifax at university. Right?

Becka Barker Yeah. Um, not really when I was a student, or not where I was a student anyway. But, um, a lot of cities have community or campus community sort of radio stations. And so CKDU is located at Dalhousie University. Um, but I was not a Dal student, so general community members can come in and volunteer. And that was the thing I used to love doing back in the 90s.

Marco:  What was the name of your radio show? Um, if you can. If you can mention it or feel comfortable mentioning it.

Becka Barker Yes, I totally can. Ah. So I helped out on a show called Cod is my co pilot. I see cod as in the fish, because Maritimes.

Marco:  Sure, yeah.

Becka Barker Um, and it wasn't initially my show. It was my friend's show.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker And, uh, uh, he'd been doing it for a few years and he was pretty well known at the time, um, correspondent for Brave New Waves and did a lot of writing about, like, the Halifax scene in the 90s and stuff.

Marco:  So can we send a shout out to him? Absolutely, if you're listening.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  We're actually going to raise a class of amato.

Becka Barker See, that's all nice.

Marco:  That's the sound of. So one thing. Well, first we should say yes.

Becka Barker So, uh, this is a shout out to James Covey. Um, the former host of Cod is my copilot.

Marco:  There you go. From us here in Toronto on this podcast. That's my other podcast on the Insomnia Project. So one thing I delight when you're in town, Becca, is that Becca loves amato. I love amato. My wife doesn't like amato. So when you're in town, you and I indulge and enjoy amatos.

Becka Barker Yes.

Marco:  Tonight we're drinking. So if you hear the sound of clinking, uh, ice, that's the sound of us drinking. Uh, we're drinking amato Nonino, which is one of my favorite. It's a more subtle amato.

Becka Barker What do you think of it, um, I'm liking it. I can't remember if I tried this one when I was here before, when you took me on that, like, you put out a map of Italy, and then you took all your different bottles of amato and you place them on the parts of the map where they were from. Right. Which was, like, totally delightful. And I can't remember where this one was from. I think I did taste it, but I don't remember.

Marco:  Okay. This one here happens to be from my mom's part of Italy, which is Friuli, the northern part. For our listeners who aren't familiar. Familiar with what a nemato is. A nemato is an Italian word that means bitter. And in this case, we are drinking a bitter liquor or digestive. And it's made by infusing a mix of herbs, spices, roots, and other botanical ingredients into a base alcohol. The combination of these ingredients gives amato its distinct bitter taste. And the reason I sort of gave you this sort of map flight of amatos is that each region of Italy will have different botanicals that they'll infuse into their amato. So you'll have different flavors. As you go further south in Italy, you'll get more citrus flavors, because citrus trees, uh, tend to do very well in the southern parts of Italy. So they have some orange or lemon flavored, uh, our essences in those amatos. Anyways, we're drinking an amato, and we're happy to be here. You just flew in. How was your flight today?

Becka Barker It was, um, totally uneventful. Which is what you want. Yeah.

Marco:  And how are things in Halifax?

Becka Barker Um, uh, Halifax seems to be doing all right. Uh, there's a lot going on. Um, what area or what subtopic of Halifax are you interested in learning about?

Marco:  Okay, so here's what I'd love to. I love for our listeners. Okay, so if you were to recommend something for a visitor to Halifax who's never been there before, walk me through what you would recommend they do.

Becka Barker Okay, so if they were somebody who, you know, I didn't really know very well, or I wasn't sure what kinds of things they were into or why they were visiting, I think the first thing I would do would actually be to take them to our public library in downtown Halifax, which is the Halifax Central Library. Um, we are all very, very proud of, um, was built about. Not quite 10 years ago. And, uh, when it was first built, it won all these sort of architecture awards and stuff. Um, but it's really lovely because for years and years and years we had a very, um, it was an older building, um, so it had a lot of older building problems. Ah, for our downtown library. Um, and this was a new build and there's a lot of new builds that I just don't really like. But this is a beautiful, well thought out, very open sort of space. It just feels very light. It doesn't feel very stressful, it doesn't feel heavy. Tons of books in there. Obviously it's a library. Um, there's a beautiful. Along one wall there's original artwork by um, Canadian artist Cliff Eland, who for many, many years made part of his subject matter, um, three by five tiny paintings. Um, like library card, like um, ah, old card catalog cards.

Marco:  I see. Okay.

Becka Barker Yeah, but they're actually tiny canvases and they're just so. There's like a wall full of them, hundreds of them, all spaced out, um, just really beautifully laid out. Um, the new library is five stories and when you go up to the very top, there's just this really nice, airy, open reading room and you have a beautiful view of the Halifax harbor to the south, Citadel Hill to the and downtown to the east.

Marco:  Are there any comfy nooks in this library?

Becka Barker Yes, oh, many, many, many. And of varying kinds too.

Marco:  I love a good library nook.

Becka Barker Yeah, yeah. And you wouldn't necessarily think so because it's so open concept when you first walk in. So you're just like, oh, everything's out in the open. Um, yes, but there are also these like, they almost remind me of like canopy beds almost. They have sort of four posts and a little roof, but it's like a little, almost like a restaurant table kind of within that. So they have a bunch of those that you can park yourself at. Um, there are lots of rooms that um, are either dedicated to certain, uh, kinds of activities that one in the old fashioned library days might not have associated with libraries.

Marco:  Like what?

Becka Barker Well for example there is the Lou Duggan Creative Studio. And it's um, sort of a multifunctional kind of creative workspace. Like they have 3D printers you can use. They have a kitchen with an. So you can have like cooking classes or cooking meetups. They do like um, crocheting nights and things like that. And the staff person who runs it is actually uh, not unlike myself, an independent, uh, animator, animation artist. And so, uh, her name is Sarah Jinyak. And um, we actually a couple times now have done these sort of animation drop ins where uh, people will draw different little animated sequences and we'll film Them, and we'll kind of put them together and have little screenings and stuff. So there's another. So that's a really great room.

Marco:  Um, how delightful. That's so wonderful. I also appreciate how you and. I'm sorry, I didn't catch the name of the person.

Becka Barker Sarah.

Marco:  Sarah.

Becka Barker Ah, yeah.

Marco:  Share your artistic mastery with other people and allow them to take joy in what you. You create.

Becka Barker As an artist, it's the thing I love the most about animation because there's always that. Even when it's, you know, not done on film, even when it's digital, if you're working frame by frame, there's always that moment of astonishment and magic where you play it back and you're like, oh, I made a thing move. And my favoritest. Favoritest thing sure is watching people have that moment. Like, I love having that moment, and so I know what it feels like. And when people, uh, you know, any and anybody can do it. Right. Right. Like, it's so. It's. It's such a joy.

Marco:  Do you still have those moments or are you kind of like, oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay.

Becka Barker I think if you really love doing that kind of work, you're never over that kind of moment. Wow. It's the best.

Marco:  It's almost like bringing something to life. Like, you know, that's really cool.

Becka Barker I mean, the word animate means to give life.

Marco:  So there you go. There you go. I've never been to that library, so. I've been to Halifax many times.

Becka Barker What?

Marco:  And I love libraries. No.

Becka Barker Oh, I am a terrible sister.

Marco:  No, you're not. No, you're not. Here's the thing, you know, we're taking you next time. I'm definitely going next time.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  I think most of the times that I was. I was there, it wasn't completed yet.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  And then when it was completed, I was going for different reasons, like to see my new nephew and to hang out and. And a wedding and whatnot. So you don't always have the time,

Becka Barker but next time have to take you.

Marco:  I love a library. I love a library that has nooks. And you brought up something very lovely about many libraries, is that it's also a place where you can see artwork. And I don't think people realize that. And I think we need more artwork in libraries. We need more libraries in general, in my opinion.

Becka Barker Oh, yeah. They're, uh, one of the very few, like, truly public spaces.

Marco:  Yeah. And it's the great. It's a library. And, uh, my listeners know this about me. I have such a Passion for libraries. It's one of the great equalizers because a library is, you know, will lend books to anyone, no matter, you know, who you are, what you have, what baggage you have or don't have. The library doesn't care.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  And I kind of love that. So. Okay, so you take us to the library, this cool library. What's the name again?

Becka Barker The, uh, Halifax Central Library.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  Right. Where would you take us next?

Becka Barker Oh, after the library. Yeah. Oh, gosh. Um, well, if the weather is like it is now and over the next few months, um, that's the reason why people bother living in Halifax is the summer and the fall are absolutely beautiful. Winter and spring, total crap. But, um, it makes you appreciate the summer and the fall even more.

Marco:  Sure.

Becka Barker So assuming it's this kind of, you know, this time of year, uh, I would likely want to take you down to Point Pleasant Park.

Marco:  Nice.

Becka Barker Which is, um, for those who may not know, the city of Halifax, uh, which is also known by its original name in Mi', Kmaqbuktuk, um, is actually a peninsula. Um, and so on one side, and it sort of faces the southernmost, like, fringes of Nova Scotia or Mikmaki. Um, um, and that's sort of like we're on the eastern edge of the continent. Right. And so the very bottom, southernmost shore, is like a lot of little coves and inlets. It almost looks like little fingers or fringes coming out. And so Halifax is one of these. It's a little peninsula. And so one side you have the Bedford Basin, which is sort of the main harbor. And then on the other side, you have a skinny little arm called the Northwest Arm, and that's its own little, tiny, um, sort of inlet or basin. So, um, Point Pleasant park is the very tip of the peninsula. So it's the very southernmost point of the city. And it's, um, you know, acres and acres of, um, fairly untouched, fairly natural, still, um, forest and a few sort of grassy areas, but mostly forest, um, but lots of, like, walking trails. A lot of people like to walk their dogs there. Um, but some of the trails sort of, of course, go around the very edge of it. So you get all these beautiful, uh, harbor views. Um. Yeah. And so I would. I would definitely want to take people to Point Pleasant because you get this great, um, sort of, you know, view of the ocean and sort of perspective of, um, you know, where the. Where the city sort of interfaces with, um, the surrounding areas, like Dartmouth or Spryfield on the other side.

Marco:  That's really neat. I've Never been to this place either. Just when you think you know a city, you talk to a haligonian like yourself and you find out there's so much more to see.

Becka Barker I am a terrible person because I can't believe we've never taken you there.

Marco:  Listen, you've taken me to some great place.

Becka Barker This is like.

Marco:  We tend to go to the.

Becka Barker Where. Where do you. Where do you remember going?

Marco:  Well, we went to the Fairview Arms a few times, which is a local, uh, eatery. Um, That's a great question. Thank you for asking me this. Where else do I remember going? You know, I know I could visualize walking from Sobeys to your house without a problem. I feel like I know we took you to Sobeys, which is a grocery store.

Becka Barker Such a great host.

Marco:  No, I'm trying to think like I could walk that in my mind's eye. Uh, but we've also been to. You know, I've. The fascinating thing is I've done a lot of Halifax before I came into your family.

Becka Barker That's true.

Marco:  So I saw a lot of it prior to that. And so some of the stuff that you would take a new person visiting the city to, I've already seen and indulged in.

Becka Barker Maybe I assumed those things, but I

Marco:  also feel like we tend to go and share experiences of food and drink, which is something we both love, and hence the amato that we're having this evening. So I feel like you take me to some interesting spots like that, where it's like, I'm going to take you to this really cool. Like, you've taken me to brunch many times because, you know, I love brunch. So I've seen a lot of brunch places with you.

Becka Barker Yes. Yeah.

Marco:  And along with amato, you and I love a good coffee. So you've taken me to a bunch of different coffee places, but you know what?

Becka Barker This. And I'm glad you enjoyed that, because obviously I enjoy that, too. Um. Uh, I still haven't taken you to my very favorite coffee place, which is a tiny little spot in a tiny little warehouse market called Espresso 46.

Marco:  Okay, um, Mark that down, folks.

Becka Barker Yes. Uh, it's run by a lovely couple, Federico and his, uh, partner, Emily. And, um, two of the people who work there as baristas. Uh, one of them is named Palmer, another one is named Laura, and when they work together, I love calling them Laura Palmer. And apparently, nobody else had ever made that Twin Peaks joke before I did, which is bizarre. But, um. Yeah, so. But Amanda Went there with me last time she was there.

Marco:  And did she enjoy it?

Becka Barker Yes, she did. Yeah. So we still have to take you,

Marco:  Marco, but stay tuned to next week's episode where I ask Amanda if she really, indeed enjoyed that place.

Becka Barker So I feel confident she's. I'm sure she will.

Marco:  I'm sure she did. But here's my thing. If we mention your name when we're there, will we get our first espresso free?

Becka Barker I could probably ensure that that would happen.

Marco:  Okay, you heard it here, folks. If you're in Halifax putting it out there, go to, uh, espresso 46.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  And mention Becka Barkerr's name.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  And your first espresso.

Becka Barker Wait, wait, no. I said you would get one. I didn't say. Oh, no, no. Our listeners.

Marco:  No, you've opened. Listeners. Did you. I thought she said our listeners, whoever went would get their first espresso free, so.

Becka Barker I did not say that. Well, you're the one who can do the editing, I guess.

Marco:  Listen, it's gonna happen. You'll see. Listen, what do you care? They'll just say. They'll say it at that place, and they'll be like, becca, did you say that? They're kidding.

Becka Barker Halifax. Here's the other thing about Halifax. It's a small town. My name will be mud if you do that.

Marco:  I see, I see.

Becka Barker Let's see if I can't afford to be run out of town.

Marco:  If we can sully Becca's name by ordering espressos on her. Okay, so when you say it's a small town.

Becka Barker Yes.

Marco:  What is the population of Halifax?

Becka Barker Oh, gosh, I think, um, it has actually grown a lot in the last few years. Okay. Um, but last, uh, time I paid attention, which was several years ago. Sure. Um, the population of the city proper was about 150,000, I think. And the Greater Halifax Municipality is more like 300,000.

Marco:  I see, I see, I see.

Becka Barker But it's probably more than that.

Marco:  Okay, fair enough.

Becka Barker I haven't been paying attention. You know where else I would take you?

Marco:  Yeah, it's cool.

Becka Barker And this is new to me.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker Is actually Dartmouth.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker Which is the other side of Halifax. Um, I am in what I jokingly call a bicoastal relationship.

Marco:  Oh.

Becka Barker My partner lives in Dartmouth.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker I was always a peninsular Halifax snob.

Marco:  Yes, I can see that about you.

Becka Barker Totally. Yeah. Right. And I don't own a car, so I don't really get out. I don't get off the peninsula a whole lot. Um, but now that I have more reason to, uh, Go over to Dartmouth. Um, and my partner has lived in Dartmouth for almost 25 years.

Marco:  Is he a Dartmarthian?

Becka Barker I, uh, guess he is now.

Marco:  Is that what you call them?

Becka Barker I think so. Dartmouthian. Um, he's originally from Spryfield, so he's actually from the other side.

Marco:  Oh, he was a Sprygolian.

Becka Barker You know what, I'm gonna have to ask him what we call them. Um, that's a very different place. But, uh, yeah, so for a lot of.

Marco:  Probably Spryton, that sounds more like, you know, Spartan.

Becka Barker I'm totally. Yeah. Um, but yes. So he's been a Dartmouth human for like 25 years.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker And, um, he seems to have this agenda to make me warm up to Dartmouth. Cause I was like, ugh. Ah, Dartmouth. I don't know those malls and stuff. Right.

Marco:  And it is the Dartmouth Mall.

Becka Barker It's to the. So there's the Micmac Mall.

Marco:  Yes, that's the one.

Becka Barker And there's Dartmouth Crossing, which is like, you know, that concept they had a few years ago where like, let's take a mall, but let's explode it out and make it try to feel like an old timey town square, but really it's not. And you still have to drive to all the parks, parking lots, and it's actually worse than a mall.

Marco:  And those places work great in warm places like California.

Becka Barker You know where is not warm? Halifax.

Marco:  You know what's even less warm? Dartmouth.

Becka Barker Exactly. You think Halifax is cool, wait till I take you to Dartmouth. But here's a couple things I love about Dartmouth. One, um, you get a great view of Halifax.

Marco:  Just when you think she's going to be kind to Dartmouth, she takes a left hand turn. I love it.

Becka Barker But it, but it's true. You have the most beautiful view of the skyline. And, um, and the ferry ride to go back and forth between Halifax and Dartmouth is like the cheapest harbor cruise you can get.

Marco:  Oh, that's great.

Becka Barker It's like a couple bucks and you know, or 225 or 250. So it. And it's, it's quite lovely. Um, but the other thing that I'm really coming to appreciate about Dartmouth is there are a lot of really nice walking trails, walking and running trails, um, many of which skirt along, yes, the highway, but also on the other side, um, these parks and lakes. And Dartmouth is known as the City of Lakes.

Marco:  I didn't know that.

Becka Barker Yeah, tons of lakes. And so you'll get on this trail and you'll be like next to a highway and you'll Be like, well, okay, I guess. And then just within a few steps, you're just like in the trees on the trail, you can hear the highway, but you can barely see it. And there are these beautiful lakes and you start to hear all these birds and see woodland creatures and you're just like. It seems so hidden, but they're just beautiful, beautiful walking trails and they can take you all over, around the lakes and all over Dartmouth.

Marco:  That's fantastic.

Becka Barker It really is. Yeah.

Marco:  The thing I appreciate about Dartmouth is that when you're there, you often send me photos of beautiful cocktails you're enjoying in Dartmouth. And it's funny because of course I do a podcast about food and drink. And I've noticed on my Instagram feeds that I follow there's a lot of great bars and things in Dartmouth that have just appeared in a lot of great cocktail bars too.

Becka Barker Yeah, yeah. I mean, a few years ago people would sort of jokingly call Dartmouth the, like the Brooklyn of Halifax, which is ridiculous. Cause, you know, it's such a tiny city.

Marco:  Sure, sure.

Becka Barker But it is like, you know, a bedroom community whose downtown has sort of flourished as, you know, housing prices are too expensive in Halifax. She moved to Dartmouth. And then more artists move out there and it kind of gets hit. Get hipstered up a little bit or

Marco:  there's a trendy aspect to places like that, which I love.

Becka Barker Yeah, yeah. Dartmouth is kind of trendy in parts now. But yeah, there's some really, really great, uh, little, little nooks, little bars, um, that make fantastic cocktails. Um, and some of them are in Dartmouth. Yeah, there you go.

Marco:  So you've mentioned nature a couple of times. I'm curious. What is some of the nature that you see in your city, in your province that always wows you when you see it?

Becka Barker Oh gosh.

Marco:  While you're thinking, I'll tell you about a couple that, that always impress me when I see them.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  Here. Just to give you a second to think. So whenever I see a blue jay.

Becka Barker I was gonna say a blue jay.

Marco:  There's something about blue jays that are impressive when you see them because that flash of blue that you don't expect to see flitter by or fly by.

Becka Barker Mhm.

Marco:  And they're mean. They're not nice birds. So blue jays are ones. Cardinals, another.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  Possums. If I ever see a possum, they're always, uh, you know, they're, they're not the, the prettiest or most lovely looking creature, but they're very beneficial because they eat a lot of ticks. And so I love to see a good possum because I always feel like a good possum is taking care of business. So those are three animals, I guess. I love seeing bees, big, big bumblebees in flowers. That's another thing I'm always. I don't like squirrels because they're very.

Becka Barker I know how you feel about squirrels.

Marco:  They just tear up my. My world.

Becka Barker That's why. That's why your. Your nephew. My kid and I tried to make a play structure for them that time. You had something to do so they wouldn't hurt your plants.

Marco:  Too welcoming to the squirrels.

Becka Barker Maybe. We were. But we. We. We were kind of into the squirrels that summer.

Marco:  Fair enough.

Becka Barker Yeah. And I'm not normally big on squirrels, although when they do run across the power lines, as my kid and I walk to school, like, we joke that that's the squirrel highway.

Marco:  Right.

Becka Barker This is pretty cute. Um, I think in terms of wildlife or nature, um, some of the things we, uh, I tend to appreciate, uh, will be in the harbor. Like, sometimes we get otters and seals. Right. In Halifax harbor, which is kind of fun. Um, and of course, we have a lot of whale watching tours.

Marco:  Um, but do you ever spot a whale when you're walking by the water and you're like, oh, there's a whale.

Becka Barker Not in Halifax, but on the south shore, which I know you also love.

Marco:  Love the south shore.

Becka Barker Yeah, yeah. Queensland beach. Uh, we saw a whale. Sort of like, um. I'm not sure what the right term is, but when they sort of. They're not breaching, but they're sort of like wee, you know, in the sun.

Marco:  Basking, maybe.

Becka Barker Basking? Is that the right word?

Marco:  I'm not sure what we. Um, just to. To visualize it. Becca said we, and she kind of leaned her head back. Back with a bit of a smile on her face. So I'm gonna say basking.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  Enjoying the moment.

Becka Barker If it were me, yes, I would say I was basking, Sure. I don't know if a whale would call it that.

Marco:  When was the last time you basked?

Becka Barker Uh.

Marco:  And where were you?

Becka Barker Um. Good question. You know what? Is it a good question?

Marco:  When was the last time you basked? I'm gonna put that on Twitter, see if anyone.

Becka Barker It's a terrible question, but I'm gonna answer it.

Marco:  Okay. I love it.

Becka Barker Um, and I believe we've kind of come full circle in my answer, because, truly, the last time I backed was in that reading room in the library. It was a really sunny day, and it was like floor to ceiling windows and I was in a really comfy chair and I was kind of just. I just kind of leaned back and enjoyed the sun on my face.

Marco:  Oh, that's wonderful.

Becka Barker There you go.

Marco:  Wow.

Becka Barker I actually. That is the true answer.

Marco:  I love it. Well, thank you for taking us to the library, then to Dartmouth, and then back to the library. Oh, yes.

Becka Barker Can I take you one more place?

Marco:  Please, please. Let's end with. With the last place you take us.

Becka Barker Okay, well, this isn't the last place I would take you.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker Because that would probably be like a garbage dump or something.

Marco:  Sure. Fair enough.

Becka Barker But another must see would be, um, a little place in the north end called, um, the Blue Building. And it's literally a blue building.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker It used to be a kind of industrial sort of building. Um, it is now owned by the fabulous and curator Emily Felenki. Okay. And that building houses, um, not only Emily's gallery, the Blue Building Gallery.

Marco:  Is this on Argyll?

Becka Barker No.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker It is on Maynard street in the north end.

Marco:  Argyle's not the north end.

Becka Barker No, Argyle is downtown.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker Yeah, you might be thinking of Agricola Street.

Marco:  Agricola street, is that the north end?

Becka Barker Agricola is North End.

Marco:  That's what I was thinking, but it's

Becka Barker not the street that this building is on.

Marco:  That's exactly what I was pretty close to. Okay, thank you. Thank you. I'm so glad that you knew where I was trying to go with that.

Becka Barker 2A Street.

Marco:  Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, you were saying. So, so in this blue building.

Becka Barker Yeah, so the Blue building has, uh, Emily's gallery, uh, which is a commercial gallery, but for contemporary art features. Um, a lot of local artists too. Um, but they are local yet internationally known artists, so they're kind of a big deal.

Marco:  I love it.

Becka Barker Yeah, it's fantastic. But also, um, there are several, um, artist studios that are rentable, which is kind of a big deal in our city. For such a small city, we kind of punch above our weight in terms of artistic production.

Marco:  Sure.

Becka Barker Um, and finding a decent, affordable studio space is always really difficult because of that. And, uh, so this building has tons of studio spaces that, um, are active every day with working artists of all kinds. Um, of. But the most special thing about this building, I'm going to say, is one of the main, uh, open spaces, which is called, uh, which belongs to an organization called Wonderneath. Wonderneath is a community arts based organization run by, uh, professional artists, um, who are also educators and very invested in just art being accessible to everybody. And they do this amazing thing every Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon called Open Studio. And that is literally what it is. They open their doors. Anybody of any age can come in and do whatever they want basically in terms of art making.

Marco:  Sure.

Becka Barker And so you walk in and you see just walls of very well organized, like colored pencils and paints. And not only those kind of traditional art materials, but also things like needle, uh, felting, uh, woodworking, sewing machines. Um, they have screen printing and we

Marco:  can just the general. So if I'm free so I could screen print, which is something I've always wanted to do and would there be somebody there to assist me or.

Becka Barker Well, they don't really. The facilitators at Open Studio don't really do like how to's so much, but they do, you know, they offer guidance when it's requested.

Marco:  I see.

Becka Barker And certainly with a couple of things like woodworking gear, let's say there's, you know, safety concerns sometimes.

Marco:  Of course, of course.

Becka Barker But that's generally the idea is they're there to help you if you need the help, if you want the help. And it's a great way to, in a very low stakes, very low stress way. Just try different, try different ways of making art. And so we have lots of kids come in. Absolutely. But you know, kids will come in with a caregiver or a parent and they'll just sit and make stuff together. It can be whatever you want. Um, they do. Once in a while you walk in and you might feel a bit like there's too much choice and you can't decide what to do. So they do have like a featured project each week. Like if you just want to walk in and do a thing and you need help sort of focusing, they do a featured project. And sometimes we do animation drop ins there too.

Marco:  Oh, so wonderful. I really think that's awesome.

Becka Barker It's, it's so great. And the vibe is that kind of, well, kind of like I was describing with the, like the animation earlier, you get that moment of like, oh, I made a thing move. You can get that feeling from like screen printing the first time you like, you know, successfully make a print or you learn how to needle felt or. And the people there are always lovely. There's always like, you know, snacks on hand.

Marco:  Sure. Um, I need to ask you this as we end this episode.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  So it's a blue building you said, right?

Becka Barker Yes.

Marco:  You're an artist sometimes.

Becka Barker Yeah.

Marco:  No, you are an artist. Okay, I will confirm that. Uh, what shade of blue is this building?

Becka Barker Oh yeah, it's like. It's not. It's like a light, um, cobalt. It's like a colder blue. It's not like cerulean.

Marco:  I was thinking cerulean, but now. Okay, so it's a colder blue. Like a cobalt.

Becka Barker It's like a more cobalt, um, royal, ish blue, but not like, super deep.

Marco:  Sure.

Becka Barker It's. Yeah, I mean, it's. It's. It's what I think of when I think of, like, a standard blue.

Marco:  Okay.

Becka Barker Which is not helpful. Well, listen, not the best artist description

Marco:  of blue, Becca, but it's beautiful. I. I bet it is. Thank you for sharing all this. You. Listen, Amanda's resting upstairs, and I appreciate you jumping into the studio with me here in Toronto to bask in Halifax on today's episode.

Becka Barker Thanks for having me.

Marco:  And, folks, I hope you enjoy this episode. We always love having you, Becca. You're always welcome on the podcast. Until next time. I hope you were able to listen and sleep.