Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 01/09/2025

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11 1111111111111111$ 1 MV 111111YW 11111111111 111111 1= Public art should provide opportunities for residents to engage with the city's diversity and creativity on an everyday basis, no matter where they live.The Toronto Public Art Strategy sets out a plan to activate communities across Toronto with a range of creative public art projects over the next ten years, with a focus on increasing access to public art in underserved areas. Permanent public art in Toronto tends to follow the pattern of development, and as such is most concentrated in the downtown core, and other major hubs of development activity.As development intensity spreads beyond these areas, deliberate efforts will be required to activate public art opportunities city-wide. Many secondary and other plans exist that will guide future public art project development outside the core—but the City can also explore creative solutions to activate public art in underserved areas in the near term. There is also an opportunity to broaden the range and types of public art work that are installed outside of major development hubs. StreetARTbronto has maintained a focus on producing murals and graffiti art both within and outside the core, and was widely praised in the consul- tation process for its success in animating neighbourhoods within and beyond downtown. The City can build on this success to expand other public art programs on a city-wide basis. ACTIONS 3.1 Develop City-wide standards to consistently apply the "Percent for Public Art" policy to municipal capital projects The City's Official Plan (Section 3.1.4, Public Art)calls for"dedicating one percent of the capital budget of all major and municipal buildings and structures to public art". While considerable success has been achieved to date in securing public art work as part of private developments,there remains a gap in the appli- cation of this policy for municipal capital projects. Currently, the City identifies public art opportunities for municipal capital works on a project-by-project basis. Developing clear, City-wide guidelines to consistently applythis Official Plan policywill unlock new resources for public art, allowing for more municipally-commissioned projects in all corners of Toronto. This represents the City's best opportunity to improve the geographic distribution of public art. Such guidelines will need to be created by an interdivisional working group with representation from City divisions and agencies that contribute to major, public- Toronto Public Art Strategy 2020/2030 41