You can explore free public art across the city at ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art: 2021-2022. Over the next month, free exhibitions are opening year-long at hubs located at Union Station, Scarborough Town Centre, Downsview Park, and Cloverdale Common, and will feature contemporary art from local and international artists.
As part of the City of Toronto’s 10-year Public Arts Strategy, ArtworxTO hopes to create more opportunities for Torontonians to take art appreciation to the next level and meaningfully engage with art in their everyday lives.
“ArtworxTO is a reflection of Toronto’s diversity and focuses on improving accessibility and engagement with public art right across the city,” said Mayor John Tory in a statement on the ArtworxTO website. “From Etobicoke to Scarborough, downtown to North York, the program will provide artists and institutions with a platform to create more ground-breaking work for all to enjoy.”
Over the next year, attendees can also visit several pop-up hubs, self-guided, mobile public art tours, and events and programming across the city. A full list of exhibitions and events can be found on their website, as well as an interactive map where you can create a custom route to your favourite artwork.
Artwork featured at the various art hubs include HOME(LAND) at Cloverdale Common, a series of three multimedia exhibitions that examines how the idea of land is connected to one’s sense of identity, belonging, and home; Scarborough: The Backbone, will transform Scarborough Town Centre into a canvas to celebrate visual and performing arts through interactive activities; and I am Land, is a three-part exhibition series set to open at Union Station on March 2, that will feature large-scale artwork and investigate how shared memories are made.
Hub north at Downsview Park will feature, IMAGInuity, a dialogue of past and future Black ingenuity, curated by Queen Kukoyi and Nico Taylor of Black Speculative Art Movement Canada. The park will also host a series of new murals, multimedia works, virtual tours and artist talks.
Various art galleries and museums around Toronto will also have works on display including The Power Plant located in the Harbourfront Centre, and the Gardiner Museum located on Queens Park, which will feature an installation entitled Talking Earth, by Santee Smith.
