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

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The strategy further prioritizes advancing the work of artists and developing creative talent, by championing the next generation of public artists, and building new skills development opportunities for Indigenous artists, curators and art consultants.Through this strategy, the City will partner with artists to push the boundaries of public art, and produce high-quality projects of all sizes and types that reimagine the experience of the public realm. ACTIONS 1.1 Issue open calls to artists and curators for project ideas An open call for project ideas would invite artists to use Toronto as their canvas, and craft a concept for an innovative public art work in any scale, scope or medium. In an open call, artists are free to experiment with different concepts and media, and consider any and all options for creative place-making.Typically, artists would be provided with guidelines to propose project sites either on City-owned land, or on private property with permission from the land owner and would confirm the feasibility of the site in consultation with City staff prior to developing a detailed concept. Open call projects are selected through a competitive process,with one or more winning ideas being chosen for commission, with all shortlisted artists receiving a fee for concepts developed as part of the competition process.. 1.2 Animate Toronto with temporary publilc art Public spaces across Toronto are brought to life with temporary public art. Street and graffiti artists supported by StreetARToronto have transformed countless laneways, walls, underpasses, utility boxes and more with their imaginative and inspirational works.And, since its inception in 2005, Nuit Blanche has grown to become North America's largest celebration of art in public space, reaching an audience of tens of thousands each year. Building on this success, there is an opportunity to do more to encourage the continued creation of temporary and ephemeral art in Toronto, in a broad range of media and locations. This could include commissioning more temporary projects in the public realm, continuing and expanding the extension of Nuit Blanche projects, deploying public art to enhance long-term construction sites, and by partnering on artist-and community- led projects. There is also an opportunity for additional temporary public art programming in City parks, to further animate these spaces and bring in new visitors while reducing long-term maintenance costs of permanent capital works. There is also an opportunity to create and maintain dedicated exhibition spaces within the city for temporary public art. One example of this is the Toronto Sculp- ture Garden,which is frequently cited as a successful model for temporary public Toronto Public Art Strategy 2020/2030 29