Open Studio x StreetARToronto Partnership

Detail of traffic signal control cabinets by (left to right): Pudy Tong, Meggan Winsley and Brenda Joy Lem.


Offsite & Online
Open Studio x StreetARToronto Partnership
Group Exhibition
December 1, 2020 – January 1, 2025

A Celebration of 50 Years of Print and Artist-Run Centres in Toronto

Participating artists: Saimaiyu Akesuk, Shuvinai Ashoona, Sally Ayre, Philippe Blanchard, Yael Brotman, Laura Bydlowska, Agata Derda, Eric Euler, Arwen Giel, Ted Howorth, Brenda Joy Lem, Ooloosie Saila, Ningeokuluk Teevee, Alex R.M. Thompson, Pudy Tong, and Meggan Winsley.

In the fall, Open Studio and the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto (StART) program partnered in an exciting public art project to celebrate Open Studio’s 50th anniversary and connect printmaking with selected sites throughout Toronto.

This collaborative project aims to bring printmaking out of the studio’s private realm and into the public context of the streets, pushing analogue print media beyond the usual bounds of works on paper and into new and unexpected contexts.

The artists featured in this project include twelve from Open Studio’s current artist membership and four artists from Kinngait Studios / WBEC in Kinngait (Cape Dorset, NU), building upon an ongoing partnership forged in a printmaking exchange between the North and South. Open Studio partnered with Dorset Fine Arts (DFA) in Toronto to select the four artists. DFA serves as the marketing division of the WBEC Co-operative.

The selected artists’ analogue prints have been digitally reproduced on vinyl wraps and installed on traffic signal control cabinets located at various city intersections. These sixteen adapted printmaking interventions form a route that highlights past and present artist-run centres’ geographic locations, mapping the general migration of Toronto’s artist-run scene from the city’s downtown core, north-west to the Junction. Viewers are encouraged to participate in this cultural narrative by actively following the mapped route, in addition to discovering the boxes by chance as they navigate the city.

We have also released a short video documenting the project:

You can also view the video on our YouTube channel here. Directed and Produced by Cassandra Rudolph of Lucky One Projects, commissioned by the City of Toronto.

About StreetARToronto:

StreetARToronto (StART) comprises a suite of innovative programs specifically designed for streets and public spaces. StART programs encourage active transportation (walking and cycling), make our streets more inviting and safe, reduce overall infrastructure maintenance costs, showcase local artists, mentor emerging talent, and create positive engagement opportunities among residents, business owners and operators, artists, and arts organizations. Individually and collectively, StART murals are designed to celebrate the City of Toronto motto “Diversity Our Strength” and foster a greater sense of belonging among all. StART welcomes and actively seeks out partners for initiatives that support program objectives and works closely with partnership staff in other City divisions and agencies, and supports City partnership activities.

Media Coverage:

  • Coverage by theartoronto focusing on four designs by Arwen Giel, Brenda Joy Lem, Pudy Tong and Meggan Winsley.
  • Interview by theartoronto with our Technical Director, Anna Gaby-Trotz and Sales and Archive Manager, Rebecca Travis.
  • Interview in The Haliburton County Echo about the project with Artist Member Meggan Winsley (page 17).

Artwork Intersection Locations

Pudy Tong
Queen Street West and Peter Street

Brenda Joy Lem
Queen Street West and August Avenue

Meggan Winsley
Queen Street West and Portland Street

Arwen Giel
King Street West and Portland Street

Ningeokuluk Teevee
King Street West and Niagara Street

Alex R.M. Thompson
King Street West and Stanley Avenue

Eric Euler
Queen Street West and Shaw Street

Saimaiyu Akesuk
Queen Street West and Dovercourt Road

Philippe Blanchard
Queen Street West and Gladstone Avenue

Shuvinai Ashoona
Dundas Street West and Dufferin Street

Laura Bydlowska
Dundas Street West and Lansdowne Avenue

Agata Derda
Dundas Street West and Sorauren Avenue

Yael Brotman
Dundas Street West and Chelsea Avenue

Ted Howorth
Dupont Street and Lansdowne Avenue

Ooloosie Saila
Dupont Street and Symington Avenue

Sally Ayre
Dundas Street West and High Park Avenue

In partnership with the City of Toronto and Dorset Fine Arts.

StreetARToronto is made possible thanks to our partnership with the City of Toronto and Dorset Fine Arts.