Paul Ramírez Jonas: Public Trust

Experience Paul Ramírez Jonas’ Public Trust in its Canadian debut and join the acclaimed artist for a conversation about the ideas behind the work on September 15 at Toronto Public Library’s Fort York Branch.

Paul Ramírez Jonas, Public Trust, 2016, commissioned by Boston Public Art Triennial.

Paul Ramírez Jonas: Public Trust

On view across four Toronto locations, September 15 – October 4, 2026

Artist Talk with Paul Ramírez Jonas: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, 6:00pm
Toronto Public Library, Fort York Branch (190 Fort York Blvd)
Free, registration required

This fall, The Bentway brings acclaimed artist Paul Ramírez Jonas’ Public Trust to Toronto for its Canadian debut, inviting people across the city to consider the promises we make—to ourselves, to one another, and to the communities we share. The participatory artwork will travel to four downtown locations from September 15 to October 4, transforming each site into a space for conversation, participation and reflection. The tour kicks off with a one-day presentation at Toronto Public Library’s Fort York Branch on September 15, and will feature an Artist Talk, where Ramírez Jonas will join The Bentway’s Director of Programming Anna Gallagher-Ross to discuss the ideas behind Public Trust and what the work asks of us today.

Public Trust asks participants to consider the value of their word. Participants are invited to make a promise of their own choosing and declare it in a way that reflects their beliefs, such as swearing on a sacred text or an object significant to their city. A facilitator records their words in a drawing they can take home, while the promise is shared anonymously on a large-scale marquee alongside promises made by politicians, scientists, economists, companies, and weather forecasters, drawn daily from the news.

Photo: Ryan C. McMahon

First presented in Boston in 2016, and still as relevant a decade later, Public Trust asks: how serious are the promises we make to one another, the vows we take, or the pledges made by our civic leaders? As the marquee changes with each new promise, the work brings private words into a shared public space, inviting us to consider who gets to speak publicly, whose words are given authority, and what it means to make a promise in public.

The timing of this Toronto presentation is particularly resonant: as the city approaches its municipal election, Public Trust creates a welcoming, non-partisan space to reflect on how democracy, trust, civic participation, and the everyday choices, commitments and conversations that shape our city.

Across four Toronto locations, Public Trust will create opportunities for people to gather, listen and participate in public space—and to see their own words become part of a changing public artwork.

Learn more

Experience Public Trust Across Toronto:

Toronto Public Library, Fort York Branch
September 15, 2026 | 10:30am – 5:30pm
Artist Talk with Paul Ramírez Jonas, 6:00pm (registration required)

Marina Quay West
September 17–20, 2026
September 17 & 20 | 1:00pm – 7:00pm
September 18 & 19 | 1:00pm – 11:00pm

Harbourfront Centre
September 24–27, 2026 | 1:00pm – 6:00pm

The Bentway
October 1–4, 2026 | 1:00pm – 7:00pm
Nuit Blanche, October 3 extended hours, 1:00pm – 7:00am

Public Trust is free and open to the public. No registration is required to experience the artwork or make a promise.

Paul Ramírez Jonas, Public Trust, 2016, commissioned by Boston Public Art Triennial.

About the Artist

Paul Ramírez Jonas was born in CA in 1965 and raised in Honduras. Has a BA from Brown University ’87, and MFA from RISD ‘89. For over 30 years PRJ has sought to challenge the definitions of art and the public and to engineer active audience participation. He is the Art Department Chair at the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell. Let Freedom Ring, his large-scale participatory monument, was installed in the National Mall in Washington DC in the summer of 2023 and will be installed in Philadelphia in 2026. Public Trust (2016) continues to be presented every year.

About The Bentway

Anchored under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway and guiding its complex future, The Bentway transforms an overlooked stretch of infrastructure into dynamic public spaces and an innovative platform for year-round public art experiences, recreational activities, and educational programming. The Bentway is a non-profit organization dedicated to igniting urban imagination, using the city as site, subject, and canvas.

The Bentway
250 Fork York Blvd, Toronto
thebentway.ca
hello@thebentway.ca
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Image Descriptions:
1. A public plaza with people gathered around a large marquee board for Public Trust. The board displays promises from members of the public alongside promises from news headlines. A person on a ladder changes lettering on the board, while others sit, walk, and watch nearby.
2. A person sits at a table, carefully signing a large sheet of paper with a tracing of their promise made in Public Trust. The table is covered with white typeset lettering, printed words, sacred texts and other significant objects used when swearing an oath.
3. A person standing on a raised platform places black letters that make up promises on the white Public Trust marquee board. The partially completed text includes the phrase “I PROMISE TO RIDE.”