ArtworxTO: Strange Fruit | We CAN Do It | A New Kind of Community | A Longer Story | and more

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:

STRANGE FRUIT (QUEEN) by the SugaCayne Collective on view until Sept 4th at the ArtworxTO Pop Up Hub: Carnival Portal at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (3401 Dufferin St., Toronto)

Strange Fruit (Queen) by SugaCayne Collective Now on View at Yorkdale
The Queen Showcase by SugaCayne Collective is now on display at the ArtworxTO Pop Up Hub: Carnival Portal at Yorkdale Shopping Centre (3401 Dufferin St., Toronto) until September 4th.

The King and Queen show has traditionally kicked off the Toronto Caribbean Carnival every year. The event is a spectacular display of creativity and pageantry featuring over fifty elaborate, enormous costumes centred on different themes.

Learn more about the Queen Showcase

We CAN Do It by Juan Cajiao On View
The community interactive art installation, We CAN Do It by Juan Cajiao (2022) in partnership with North York Arts is now on view at ArtworxTO Hub NORTH: Downsview (70 Canuck Ave, North York). Participants are invited to paint empty spray cans with the theme of environment, culminating in an exhibition at the Downsview Hub.

North York Arts is still collecting empty spray cans to be upcycled in this art installation.

Learn more about We CAN Do It

A Longer Story, installed at Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Rd, Toronto until August 31, 2022.

Last Chance to See A Longer Story
Don’t miss the opportunity to see A Longer Story by Lauren Piriem, Emma Chorostecki, P.A. Pax and Natalie Bousteadis on view at Todmorden Mills (67 Pottery Rd, Toronto) until August 31st.

A Longer Story is a collaborative installation, incorporating a sculptural planter structure with illuminated soft sculptural elements. A Longer Story seeks to illuminate inherent interconnectedness—between human and human and to our shared environment—and at the same time, a yearning for connection.

Learn more about A Longer Story

A New Kind of Community Poetry Series
Presented by Lakeshore Arts, A New Kind of Community is a collection of 20 poems by Farrah Miranda that navigates the anger, loss, absurdity and greed at the heart of a widespread housing crisis; along with the complexities and contradictions of art-making in an increasingly unliveable city.

Read A New Kind of Community Poetry Series

Intangible Adorations Caravan – Sept 7 & 14th
An immersive, travelling theatrical & film experience co-produced by OtherHearts, Tangled Art + Disability and Mighty Brave Productions, based on the works of Canadian artist Lisa Anita Wegner.

Intangible Adorations Caravan East York:
Stan Wadlow Park
September 7th at 7:30 PM

Intangible Adorations Brickworks:
September 14th at 7:30 PM

Learn more about Intangible Adorations Caravan

Mural titled, pi’tawita’iek: we go up river by Jordan Bennett located at OCAD University (100 McCaul Street, Toronto)

pi’tawita’iek: we go up river by Jordan Bennett
Located at OCAD University (100 McCaul Street, Toronto), pi’tawita’iek: we go up river by Jordan Bennett (2022) is rooted in Bennett’s relationships with Mi’kmaq porcupine quillwork. He brings forward and reimagines their graphic patterns, bright colours and inspiring stories.

Learn more about pi’tawita’iek

ArtBuzz QR code installed infront of Dreamwork of the Whales by various carvers (1981) located at Little Norway Park (659 Queens Quay W, Toronto)

Learn About Dreamwork of the Whales Via ArtBuzz Audio Art Stories
Pass through Little Norway Park (659 Queens Quay W, Toronto) and look for the scannable QR code installed at Dreamwork of the Whales (1981).

Hear directly from one of the carvers of Dreamwork of the Whales, Julian Brown using your smartphone with ArtBuzz. In this two-part ArtBuzz segment, Brown shares intricate details about the various sections of the sculpture.

ArtBuzz is a project led by documentarian David Tarnow. The digital program explores the real stories behind Public Art and Monuments within the City of Toronto. Through the integration of the ArtworxTO Interactive Map, users can access audio recordings of detailed information of over 75 artworks.

Explore the clips in the ArtworxTO On Demand media library

New ArtworxTO Blog Post
Read the recent ArtworxTO Blog post titled “Threads Converging into Wholeness” authored by Tkaronto-based multi-media artist, Kalina Nedelcheva. This blog post discusses the vibrant skein mural project by PA System (Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson) and STEPS Public Art. This “placemaking” project showed residents what can be achieved by bringing the creative minds of community members together.

In collaboration with emerging OCADU writers and documentations, the ArtworxTO Blog highlights public art and explores what public art means in the eyes of Torontonians and visitors. Blog posts are published on a bi-weekly basis.

Read the latest ArtworxTO Blog post

Help Shape the Future of Public Art in Toronto!
Have your say on Toronto public art and help shape the future! Share your experience with ArtworxTO public art, programming, and events by taking this quick feedback survey below and have a chance to receive a free ArtworxTO T-shirt. The results of this survey will be analyzed at the group level and will be used towards the evaluation of the overall ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-2022 program. This survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Take the ArtworxTO Program Evaluation Survey

Each week ArtworxTO offers several new programs, exhibits, performances, talks, workshops and more. Bookmark artworxTO.ca and check back often!

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