{"id":4134,"date":"2018-07-04T11:30:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-04T15:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/?p=4134"},"modified":"2018-07-04T11:32:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-04T15:32:11","slug":"different-by-design-volume-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/2018\/07\/04\/different-by-design-volume-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Different By Design – Volume 6 – Public Art in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1\"<\/p>\n

In this edition of Different By Design, we turn our focus to public art in Toronto.\u00a0 The City of Toronto owns over 200 pieces while privately owned, publicly displayed pieces number over 500.\u00a0 The latter comes from the City\u2019s Percent for Public Art initiative which recommends that one per cent of gross construction costs of significant developments in the city be contributed by developers to public art.<\/p>\n

Featured above is perhaps the most prominent and recognizable piece in the City\u2019s collection.\u00a0 The Toronto sign was installed at Nathan Phillips Square to celebrate the 2015 Pan Am Games and quickly became a favourite of both locals and tourists.<\/p>\n

Below is Michael Snow\u2019s \u201cFlight Stop\u201d (1979) which features a skein of 60 life size Canadian geese in flight at the south entrance of the Eaton Centre at Queen Street.<\/p>\n

\"2<\/p>\n

We at Context have also been involved in several public art projects over the years.\u00a0 One of our first was \u201cRadioville\u201d (2005) by Roland Brener which occupies the plaza that at our Radio City Condominium shares with the National Ballet School of Canada.\u00a0 Prior to being redeveloped, the site was the original home of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and its original radio studios.<\/p>\n

\"Capture\"<\/p>\n

Another Context piece is \u201cWavelengths\u201d (2008) by Paul Raff Studio which features over 100 fibreglass panels moulded as rippling waves and fixed to the ceiling of the public vehicular and bike parking area.\u00a0 The piece evokes the site\u2019s history which was once the waterfront of Toronto and featured a wharf for the adjacent St. Lawrence Market.<\/p>\n

\"4<\/p>\n

One of the most valuable pieces is Richard Serra\u2019s \u201cTitled Spheres\u201d (2002-2004, installed 2007) which is housed in Terminal 1 at Pearson airport.\u00a0 The piece consists of 4 enormous steel fins that are so big that the airport walls and ceiling had to be built around them!<\/p>\n

\"5<\/p>\n

Lastly, we look at one of the most dramatic and newest pieces of public art in the downtown core.\u00a0 Featured prominently on University Avenue at the base of the Shangri-La Hotel is Shanghai-based artist Zhang Huan\u2019s \u201cRising\u201d (2010-2012).\u00a0 The polished stainless-steel sculpture is comprised of countless doves, the international symbol of world peace, and a twisted tree branch that resembles the body of a dragon. The sculpture draws an analogy to the fragile conditions facing our planet. \u00a0\u00a0Zhang Huan says that “through the monster-shaped tree, I would like to advocate the protection of ecology, and the harmonious relationship between humans and nature. The doves in the tree symbolize the peace of the world and my wish is for beautiful city life to be shared by mankind and nature.”<\/p>\n

\"7<\/p>\n

For more information on Public Art in the City of Toronto, visit: https:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/explore-enjoy\/history-art-culture\/public-art\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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In this edition of Different By Design, we turn our focus to public art in Toronto.\u00a0 The City of Toronto owns over 200 pieces while privately owned, publicly displayed pieces number over 500.\u00a0 The latter comes from the City\u2019s Percent for Public Art initiative which recommends that one per cent of gross construction costs of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4134"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4134"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4144,"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4134\/revisions\/4144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.context.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}