The City of Toronto's StreetARToronto (StART) program has announced that it has been selected by volunteer-based not-for-profit group of contemporary art supporters named 'Partners In Art' to receive funding support to help create the city's first large-scale photographic mural. With assistance from the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, this joint partnership will provide a rare opportunity to commission a site-specific photographic artwork in the heart of the city's central waterfront.

Aerial view of 11 Bay Street, image from Apple Maps

Thanks to a $50,000 donation by Partners In Art (PIA), the StART program and CONTACT will commission Canadian artist Sarah Anne Johnson to create a large-scale, site-specific photographic mural, to be installed on the west-facing wall of the Westin Harbour Castle Convention Centre at 11 Bay St. The Westin has granted permission to the City to use the 12-metre-tall by 44-metre-wide wall for this commissioned artwork, construction of which is scheduled to be completed by May 1, 2015, in time for the opening of the CONTACT festival and in advance of the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. 

Looking south on Bay St from Harbour, 11 Bay Street's blank west facade is visible on the left, image from Google Street View

Considered by many UrbanToronto readers to be one of the ugliest buildings in Toronto owing to its block-long windowless facade on Bay Street, the wall is a perfect candidate for improvement through the installation of an artwork. Toronto's Harbourfront neighbourhood has been transformed in the time since the conference centre was constructed. Built when architectural and planning controls were more lax, at the time the area was predominantly surface parking lots south of the Gardiner Expressway, the building is now surrounded by office towers and condos and feels like an extension of Downtown. Expectations of the quality of our public realm have risen accordingly for the area.

Looking north on Bay St, 11 Bay Street's blank west facade is visible on the right, image from Google Street View


“Contact is grateful for this exceptional opportunity to commission a massive photographic image by the acclaimed Canadian artist Sarah Anne Johnson, whose innovative and arresting works reflect her personal perspective on environmental issues and engage people from all walks of life,” said Bonnie Rubenstein, Artistic Director of Contact. “Beginning with Lake Ontario and Toronto Island as her subject, Johnson’s site-specific new work will transform this grey city block into a magical place”.

UrbanToronto will return with additional information as more details emerge. In the meantime, you can join in the conversation by leaving a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.