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

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The City can be most flexible with the pooling of funds derived from municipal capital projects. Funds from private developments already designated for public art can be pooled and directed to a Council-endorsed public initiative, though the use of such funds is restricted to projects occurring in close proximity to the development to ensure a benefit to the surrounding neighbourhood, as per the Percent for Public Art Program Guidelines. By contrast, the City can exercise greater discretion to use municipal funds across Toronto, and should consider using this tool to benefit underserved areas and to pursue those projects as part of public art master plans.Where possible and appropriate, City funds could be supplemented by contributions from philanthropic partners. 3.4 Advance Indigenous place-making city-wide through public art The legacy of colonialism has left a deficit of visible markers of Indigenous presence in Toronto's urban landscape. Indigenous place-making sets out to restore this presence by creating public places that celebrate Indigenous cultures, and that are designed with Indigenous communities based on their values and knowledge. In Toronto, Indigenous place-making is underpinning the design of new City parks, community centres, and other public realm improvements with much more to come in the future. Public art is an important tool for improving the visibility of Indigenous cultural representation city-wide. Combined with other place-making strategies such as wayfinding and naming, public art is an evocative way of reaffirming Indigenous cultural presence in a city, and should be leveraged to advance City-wide efforts towards Indigenous place-making. 3.5 Integrate public artin a variety of media into a broader range of public realm improvements Typically, most permanent public art projects in Toronto have been connected to major capital projects such as new large development sites, community centres, or parks. More recently, StreetARTbronto has seen considerable success in integrating mural, street and graffiti art into smaller scale public realm improve- ments. New interactive design installations along the King Street Transit Priority Corridor, and public art projects led by Business Improvement Areas are also examples of animating the broader public realm through creative art. There is an opportunity to build on this success to continue to integrate a wider variety of types of public art beyond mural, street and graffiti art into a broad range of public realm improvements, such as cycling infrastructure, pedestrian projects, playgrounds, and pools, among others.With such public realm improve- Toronto Public Art Strategy 2020/2030 43