CANADA: “Of all the projects I have been involved in, the Men of Cannabis calendar is the most important one I’ve been involved with so far,” says Reverend Kelly Addison, founder of Orono’s Kelly’s Green Lounge, “I am pretty sure it was some divine intervention that helped this all come together so perfectly,” she says of the soon-to-be-released cannabis-friendly calendar that Kelly hopes will grace the walls of cannabis professionals and consumers alike for the 2021 calendar year.
Reverend Kelly Addison is the founder and managing director at Kelly’s Green Lounge, a cannabis-friendly establishment. Located in Orono, Ontario, Kelly’s Green Lounge is a centre for community, education, and celebration of the cannabis plant. While the Ontario legislation does not yet permit indoor consumption in “cannabis lounges”, the smoke-free lounge offers a number of on-site and online programming for personal development, cultivation, and building of community in cannabis. The calendar is a celebration of the community that has been built around Kelly’s Green Lounge.
Shot over the summer months, and artistically designed and photographed by Jeff Buchanan and his partner Black Gypsy, the Men of Cannabis calendar is not just a timepiece, but a piece of art. Some of Canada’s most influential men of cannabis have come together to share their passions, and their visual aesthetics to the Canadian cannabis community.
“Every single one of these men are beautiful,” Kelly remarks, “The men in this calendar show that cannabis doesn’t discriminate. We have men from their twenties up to their sixties, we have men of different sexual orientations, men of different cannabis career paths, and men of all backgrounds, religion, and ethnicities representing the greater contributions of the men of the industry in this one piece of art.”The calendar is styled after the iconic “Last Supper” painting by Leonardo DaVinci, with Reverend Kelly at the centre, surrounded by twelve men in poses that imitate the famous tableau. The choice of this spiritual spread was intentional, as Kelly’s approach embraces the spirituality of the plant, cannabis as our goddess, believing that cannabis is the embodiment of what anyone’s chosen deity wants for the world. Having Kelly at the centre of this photo, surrounded by the men of cannabis is a representation of the divine and central place the female has in the cannabis world.
The calendar is available for pre-order at www.kellysgreenlounge.ca, with full online sales beginning October 17, 2020
Each month of the 2021 year will feature a different man of cannabis, each chosen to represent their chosen path in the industry. From “Mister January”, Rich Prince who embodies Jamaican/Rhastafarian culture; to “Mister June”, Count Klassy, the charting LGBTQ musical artist proudly wearing the pride flag; to healer and “Cannawitch” Sean Black as “Mister October”; to ending the year with a surprise “tasty treat” from Baker John, also known as Baked on High Guy, this calendar represents all men, and all paths taken in the name of the mighty flower.We asked Kelly why she chose to feature the men of cannabis as her first iteration of the annual calendar project.
“We’re lucky to be able to say that cannabis in Canada is quickly being conquered by females,” says Kelly, “The plant herself is female, the numbers of female CEOs and leaders in cannabis is increasing, and that equals a lot of female energy within our industry, and rightfully so,” she goes on, “We didn’t want to lose sight on the beautiful men of this industry who are both advocates for the plant, and true exemplars of humans, who are fighting for equity for all people within the growing industry.”
The calendar had it’s “soft launch” on October 2, with a safe and socially-distanced celebration of “Danksgiving” at Kelly’s Green Lounge. To Pre-Order : lisamarie@kellysgreenlounge.ca