Toronto’s New Public Art Trail Announces First Commissions and Cultural Partnerships

Ookwemin Minising island and Art Trail by Norm Li AG+I

Lassonde Art Trail: A New Open-Air Cultural Experience

On pace to open in summer 2026, the Lassonde Art Trail (LAT) will feature a program of extraordinary outdoor artworks by artists across Canada and around the world. The open-air cultural experience will unfold over 4.2km of walking paths within a new public waterfront park system overlooking Lake Ontario in Toronto’s Port Lands. Situated on the new Ookwemin Minising island in Toronto’s harbour archipelago, it is at the heart of a massive $1.25 billion project that reroutes the mouth of the Don River and builds flood protection for downtown Toronto. The art trail will be unique in Canada and free to the public.

To sign up for the Lassonde Art Trail’s newsletter and stay updated on exciting programming and major announcements please visit LAT’s website: www.latfoundation.org

Kent Monkman overlooking the Lassonde Art Trail site on Toronto’s waterfront. Photo by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker.

Kent Monkman is the first artist to contribute a major permanent artwork to the Lassonde Art Trail

Internationally renowned artist Kent Monkman will contribute a permanent sculpture for the Lassonde Art Trail, adding a shot of cultural adrenaline to Toronto’s ambitious waterfront development plan.

“I’m honoured to have been asked to be part of this project. Given the importance of water to us as Cree people, all Indigenous people—really everyone—it means a great deal to me to create an artwork that will live on the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto, where I have lived and worked for over three decades,” said Kent Monkman. “I want to create an artwork that sends a message to this city—which is home to people from many diverse backgrounds from all over the world—referencing, in a playful way, the many layers of Indigenous presence here.”

“We believe public art builds a great city, enhances wellbeing, and helps guide respectful cultural dialogue,” said Chloë Catán, Executive Director of the Lassonde Art Trail Foundation. “We’re thrilled that Kent Monkman will be contributing an outdoor artwork for this new cultural destination and are currently ensuring that the necessary infrastructure is created to support this extraordinary program of works by artists across Canada and around the world. We’re excited to share this unique experience with the public.”

Images (left to right): Monira Al Qadiri, photo by Miro Kuzmanovic. Kara Hamilton, photo by lfdocumentation.

LAT Announces Major Partnerships and Permanent Art Competition Shortlist

A major cultural partnership between Public Art Fund and LAT will connect New York’s storied Central Park to the Lassonde Art Trail through a co-commissioned public artwork by artist Monira Al Qadiri.

LAT has also established a partnership with the York University L.L. Odette Sculptor in Residence Program, selecting Toronto-based artist Kara Hamilton to research and fabricate a sculpture in collaboration with York students, which will be exhibited on the art trail.

“Partnerships are fundamental for the Lassonde Art Trail as we build out an exceptional program that intentionally creates meaningful relationships across Canada and abroad,” said LAT Board Chair Julie Lassonde. “These collaborations will help create access to public art for everyone who visits the art trail, and support opportunities for artworks to be shown in multiple locations in the future.”

The landmark partnership with Public Art Fund marks the first time the U.S.-based organization has co-commissioned an artwork with a Canadian organization. The two organizations worked together to select artist Al Qadiri and develop a project that will be unveiled in summer 2025 at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, at the southeast entrance of Central Park. It will then come to Toronto’s waterfront to be exhibited at a major entrance plaza on the Lassonde Art Trail in September 2026.

LAT is also honoured to have established a partnership with York University to commission artist Kara Hamilton. The LAT-York University partnership gives Hamilton time, space and support to delve into exciting research with York students, and explore ecological materials for public art with the aim to create a work that is empathetic to natural ecosystems on the future art trail. The final artwork will be exhibited as part of LAT’s opening program in 2026.

“We are honoured to have established a partnership with York University this early in LAT’s development and to be working together with artist Kara Hamilton,” said LAT Chief Curator November Paynter. “It is energizing to be able to work on an environmentally thoughtful project with Kara that also allows students to develop new skill sets and an enhanced understanding of sculpture techniques with innovative organic materials.”

Shortlisted artists (anticlockwise from top left): Shezad Dawood, photo by Jonathon Glyn Smith; Nicole Eisenman, photo by Brigitte Lacombe; Joana Vasconcelos, photo by Arlindo Camacho; Yinka Shonibare, photo by Tom Jamieson; Shilpa Gupta, photo by Belen de Benito.

Five artists have been shortlisted to create a proposal for a second permanent artwork on the Lassonde Art Trail. They are Shezad Dawood, Nicole Eisenman, Joana Vasconcelos, Yinka Shonibare and Shilpa Gupta. All artists/studios have visited the site in Toronto and are now working on a site-responsive sculptural proposal for a major artwork.

The external selection committee for the competition comprises five esteemed arts professionals, both Canadian and from around the world, all of whom have wide experience working on public art programming. They are: Tairone Bastien, Independent Curator and Assistant Professor, Criticism & Curatorial Practice, Faculty of Art & Science, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada; Daisy Desrosiers, Director and Chief Curator, Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Gambier, US; Cliff Lauson, Director of Exhibitions Somerset House, London, UK; Melanie Kress, Senior Curator, Public Art Fund, New York, US and Clare Lilley, Director, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK. To read their full bios, please visit the Art Competition page on LAT’s website.

The awarded artist will be announced in spring 2025.

Learn more about these incredible artists and the selection committee on LAT’s website and social platforms.

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Questions? Please contact: lat@latfoundation.org