ArtworxTO Highlights: Project Reframed | House of Bâby | Monument Lab | Live @ 5 | Citywide Exhibition Hubs

ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-2022 is a celebration of Toronto’s incredible collection of public art and the artists behind it, creating more opportunities for the public to connect and engage with artwork in their everyday lives. Working closely with artists and Toronto’s arts institutions, ArtworxTO is working to address gaps in the collection, such as the under-representation of equity-deserving communities and their histories, as well as geographic areas of the city where there are fewer public art works. From fall 2021 to fall 2022 the City of Toronto is helping to deliver more than 350 new murals, installations, exhibitions, art events, performances and productions, citywide. This year, explore your city and discover creativity and community–everywhere.

This week’s ArtworxTO Highlights:

Untitled by Jorian Charlton as part of Project Reframed on view at 330 Bay Street.

Project Reframed at 330 Bay St.
A 70-foot-tall art piece, “Untitled”, by portrait photographer Jorian Charlton has been unveiled, stretching 3,000 square feet across scaffold’s netting at 330 Bay St. ArtworxTO’s most extensive installation yet will inspire and spark wonder in the city, as well as highlight and empower local, emerging BIPOC artists.

A creative approach to hosting and viewing art in the city, Project Reframed seeks to provide visibility for emerging artists of colour, and to challenge notions of belonging in traditional art spaces. Taking shape as a versatile multi-platform experience spanning print, digital, web and social platforms, the initiative creates avenues for culture and connection – especially significant during this time. The portrait was mounted in collaboration with Dream Unlimited Corp.

Learn more about Project Reframed

House of Baby 2021 on view at Union Station

See House of Bâby at Union Station
House of Bâby is a portrait of eighteen Black and Indigenous people who were enslaved by the Bâby family of Toronto, Windsor and Detroit. Although their unpaid labour produced great wealth for the family, they were recognized only as property and were unacknowledged in official historical narratives. This artwork imagines the group in our contemporary moment, no longer constrained by the past as property nor languishing in the obscurity of the archive.

Camal Pirbhai and Camille Turner brought this group to life by representing them amongst the everyday bustling crowd of this country’s busiest hub. Union Station’s majestic architecture symbolizes stability and civic pride but it is the people who are responsible for its strength.

Learn more about House of Bâby

ArtworxTO Talk: Live @ 5 – November 10
The second ArtworxTO Talks, Live @ 5 will be taking place virtually on Wednesday November 10 at 5 pm. No registration required. This talk will focus on art and emerging from the pandemic, featuring speakers George Pimentel, Akshata Naik, Nicole Balm, and Mitchell Chan.

Live @ 5 is a 10-part ArtworxTO-led Talks Series held on the second Wednesday of every month. Artists, experts and community leaders will discuss their recent projects and answer questions from viewers. The series will focus on how art improves and betters our lives.

Learn more about ArtworxTO Talk: Live @ 5

Carolina Caycedo, The Collapsing of a Model (2019) on view at ArtworxTO Hub SOUTH, located at Union Station.

Visit One of Six ArtworxTO Exhibition Hubs, Citywide!
The City of Toronto has opened six exhibition hubs across the city. ArtworxTO Hubs are spaces for artistic and community activity led by the next generation of curators, collectives and artists. Through exhibitions, activations, workshops and experiences, the hubs are amplifying local artistic identities, recognizing their global vibrancy, and empowering creative communities. Hubs are currently located in the north, south, east, west and downtown. Visit one of the six hubs near you at: Downsview Park, Union Station, Scarborough Town Centre, Cloverdale Common, Bayview Village and Collision Gallery.

Learn more about the hub exhibits, free programing and events

MonumentMobile: What’s Next for Toronto?
As part of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art, Monument Lab is in Toronto for a week of participatory programs around the city until November 3, 2021. The Philadelphia-based public art and history studio, co-founded by Ken Lum and Paul Farber, are working with Toronto artist and Monument Lab fellow Quentin VerCetty, on a series of public activations at various civic sites of memory through the mobile A Monument For The Inquisitive and Critical – a truck with a flatbed gallery space outfitted with 3D digital sculptures, collages, and maps that summon the past, present, and future of Toronto’s monuments landscape.

For a week, the mobile monument will make daily stops across the city. At each location researchers will be conducting an open engagement process with participants and passerby around a guiding question: What’s Next for Toronto? The reflections from the week of public engagement and research will inform a final report to the City of Toronto’s Arts and Culture Services next year regarding civic commemorative policies within the Public Art and Monuments Collection.

Engage with MonumentMobile at one of the following locations between 12 pm and 3 pm:

• Nov 2 – Wexford BIA (2072 Lawrence Ave)
• Nov 3 – Mel Lastman Square

Learn more about Monument Mobile: What’s Next for Toronto

Self-Guided Tours
ArtworxTO has partnered with local community artists, arts organizations, the TTC and Driftscape, a mobile-friendly website and app that allows users to identify public artworks, to curate public art tours across each of Toronto’s 25 wards. Explore your neighbourhood or hop on the subway and explore six tours that specifically guide the user through the TTC’s extensive public art offerings.

Learn more about the ArtworxTO Tours

Each week ArtworxTO has several new programs, exhibits, performances, talks, works and more, on offer. Bookmark artworxTO.ca and check back often!

Social Handles:
Twitter: @Culture_TO
Facebook: @TOCulture
Instagram: @Culture_TO

Contact Information:
Sue Holland
sue.holland@artworxto.ca