Murals on bridges, poems on library walls, exhibits at the mall: 2021 will be the Year of Public Art in Toronto – Toronto Star

One of the brightest spots in this bleakest of years has been the proliferation of public art in Toronto, from vast murals on walls, streets and rooftops across the city to temporary projection artwork to head-turning new sculptural commissions. Even road furniture, like concrete bike lane barriers and grey metal traffic signal boxes, have been transformed by teams of artists hired by the city.

But that was just a warm-up act.

Next year, 2021, is Toronto’s official Year of Public Art, a four-season celebration intended to beautify the city, engage all 25 wards with artistic activations, and kick off a decade-long transformation that will give public art and artists the recognition they deserve for their role in making the place we call home more livable, enticing and vibrant.

Imagine: mural-covered bridges. Poetry on the walls of local libraries. Messages of hope broadcast from rooftops. Shopping malls from Scarborough to Etobicoke reimagined as beacons of culture for the community, with art on the walls, films in the parking lots, live performances, talks and free events throughout the year.

It’s all happening in 2021. Not even a pandemic will stand in its way.

“We’re going to make it happen no matter what,” says Joe Sellors, the city’s project lead for ArtworxTO, the official title for the yearlong event.

“Being locked down … has definitely thrown a bit of a wrench in planning,” he adds with a hint of irritation. “We can’t even get the mayor in front of a podium to do a press conference.”

There’s urgency in Sellors’ voice because some of the work is time-sensitive — for instance, a Toronto Archives spotlight on Black female artists in time for Black History Month in February. Also, importantly, “the culture sector really needs it. And I think to delay would hurt it even more.”

So the kickoff date is now delayed until sometime in late January. A number of showpieces are being held over until spring. And the team is planning for virtual versions of every event and artwork, so those who are unable to attend in person can enjoy it safely from home.

But the show is determined to go on. A reboot of the fall’s BigArtTO program of monumental video projections is still planned for January. Soon you may start seeing oversized QR codes that you scan with your phone in ornate picture frames, for an initiative called “Project Reframed.”

Even now, you might spot words of poetry popping up in public places, a project called “Poems for Your Path.”

Originally, says Kate Nankervis, a dancer and co-curator of the Poems program, “I proposed a kind of pop-up dance situation that would happen in a parking lot, along a path.

“But then due to (COVID-19) restrictions, none of that could take place. And so the team invited me to think about my proposal a little bit differently.”

Since public dancing in January was out of the question, Nankervis invited several of her collaborators to imagine “the poem that would come out of their dancing.”

The result is a series of photographs of dancers in midperformance alongside the poem that each one produced.

“It’s really like a message of hope and resilience,” Nankervis says.

When the Year of Public Art goes live in January, so too will its website, ArtworxTO.ca, a robust home for all public art installations and events, including established ones like the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. It will have an interactive map encompassing thousands of works from the city’s various initiatives, including the StreetARToronto program, the Public Art & Monuments Collection, the Percent for Public Art program and the BIA Streetscape Improvement Program. Currently these all compete for attention on multiple websites and sub-pages.

“It’s also time based. So when the Toronto Biennial of Art pops up for the last part of the year, then that will also be populated on the map,” says Sellors.

“So no matter where you are, when you’re visiting the website and the map, you’ll know what’s going on a particular day or week.”

While art programs are planned across the city, many of the ArtworxTO activities and installations will be focused at four regional hubs: Cloverdale Mall in the west, Downsview Park to the north, Scarborough Town Centre in the east and Union Station downtown. There will also be three pop-up hubs, at Collision Gallery in Commerce Court and two other malls: Bayview Village and Yorkdale.

“It really feels like we’re opening seven galleries in one year,” says Nankervis, who is working with the city as a liaison for the curators at these hubs.

If you love art, expect to spend a lot of time at the mall in 2021.

The intention, in part, is to bring art to the people, in places that are already community hubs. Outside the downtown core, too many parts of the city are “art deserts,” Sellors says, and ArtworxTO aims to address that — in addition to giving gallery space (or mall space) to emerging artists, with a BIPOC focus.

“I hope to support artists from a wide range of backgrounds, who haven’t had access to these platforms and who can really benefit from this kind of support and visibility,” affirms Claudia Arana, curator of the Cloverdale hub.

At the other end of the city, “the Scarborough hub will be an opportunity to reflect the rich diversity and history of Scarborough, while at the same time highlighting the fact that this part of Toronto, which is so often overlooked and negatively reported on, has actually significantly contributed to Toronto arts and culture,” says Paulina O’Kieffe, curating the Scarborough hub along with her partners in the SpokenSoulTO Collective, Dwayne Morgan and Randell Adjei.

The hub’s signature event is “Let Your Backbone Slide,” a multimedia installation celebrating the career of Maestro Fresh Wes and his seminal hit single, which kick-started Canadian hip hop in the 1980s.

“Scarborough is the backbone of Canadian hip hop as the single was the bestselling hip-hop single for 20 years, until it was dethroned by another Scarborough artist, Kardinal Offishall,” O’Kieffe points out.

The needle drops on that event in October, timed to Nuit Blanche. By then, one hopes, public gatherings will be a thing again.

Must-See Exhibits in 2021

The Star asked the curators of the four cultural hubs of ArtworxTO, Toronto’s Year of Public Art, to name one or two exhibits or events in 2021 that you won’t want to miss. Here are their answers.

North hub: Downsview Park

“One of the featured projects you will have to check out is a vibrant large-scale mural production (over 300 feet long) that will bring together incredible BIPOC artists.” — Danilo Deluxo McCallum

South hub: Union Station

“Part of my project during the summer will be about the connection between land and history. It’ll include several gardens throughout downtown made by different artists. These gardens will be a great opportunity for community collaboration and communal learning.” — Maya Wilson-Sanchez

West hub: Cloverdale Common

“‘Bloody Boats 2.0,” an interactive and community-engaged experiential installation by Akshata Naik (India), ‘Variations on Broken Lines,’ a multimedia project by Nava Waxman, and ‘Souls on Hold,’ an immersive new media installation by Mirna Chacin.” — Claudia Arana

East hub: Scarborough Town Centre

“Our signature event is ‘Let Your Backbone Slide,’ a multimedia arts installation that celebrates the career of Scarborough artist Maestro Fresh Wes. Other key exhibits will be the SpokenSoul East Festival, which will be a showcase of soul music and spoken word poetry taking place outside in Albert Campbell Square, and the Carnival Arts exhibit, which will highlight the massive role that Scarborough plays in getting everything ready for Toronto’s Carnival parade downtown.” — Paulina O’Kieffe, Dwayne Morgan, Randell Adjei

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