Toronto is losing one very unique store, but it's transforming into something new, and just as creative.

Elephant in the Attic owner Caitlin Brubacher has been curating gallery walls as a form of "healing through art" for people in Toronto for years, but the time has come for her to alter her way of doing things.

Unlike many other small business owners, Brubacher tells blogTO she "was sort of relieved" about the changes that COVID has brought. She's been doing exclusively virtual appointments, since she hasn't been able to see clients in person.

Brubacher "had an inkling before COVID hit that the shop was not emotionally sustainable" and she "felt over-worked and in search of more reciprocal relationships in the making of inclusive and affordable art."

Elephant in the Attic owner Caitlin Brubacher in her shop. Photo by Angel Wu Photography.

Elephant in the Attic is leaving their Toronto location on June 30, but they'll still be serving Toronto clients.

They're leaving Toronto to start up an exciting new "place for people to come together and share art experiences" that will continue to encompass Elephant in the Attic.

The "hub for art experiences of many shades and incubator for innovation around social and environmental justice issues" in Portage-du-Fort in Quebec just across the Ottawa River from Ontario.

"I'd like to take the best parts of Elephant in the Attic, the combining of images to make new meaning, the shared experiences of art making and radical vulnerability that can happen in the shop, and develop them into something even more magical," says Brubacher.