SPOTTED BY: edk7 WHERE: Toronto Sculpture Garden, 115 King Street East WHEN: October 9 WHAT: The Toronto Sculpture Garden celebrated three decades of exhibiting amazing art last month with the installation of Jed Lind’s Gold, Silver & Lead, an imposing stack of bone-coloured Honda Civics that becomes increasingly skeletal, seeming to disintegrate, as it rises. [...]

Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness or are inspired by their surroundings; others are installed when developers want to exceed the height or density for which their building is zoned—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a site-specific change in the rules. [...]

Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness or are inspired by their surroundings; others are installed when developers want to exceed the height or density for which their building is zoned—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a site-specific change in the rules. [...]

Normally a sofa is inviting, but this one is an exploration of contradictions. First off, it's in fancy Yorkville which, while it doesn't cost you anything to walk around, isn't necessarily the most inviting. Second, it's hidden, tucked away in a condo property's inner courtyard (38 Avenue Road, to be precise), visible mostly when you're crossing the intersection and should be watching the road instead of the art. It's like an officially sanctioned secret swing. Third, it's hard. While couch says "sit on me!" everything else about the situation says "don't!"

Sundials are technically out of date, but there are still several of them around the city. Located at Elm and McCaul, this one was installed to mark the opening of the Michener Institute. It's an interesting comment on the perseverance of time, despite our changing ways of counting it.

Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual's greatness or are inspired by their surroundings; others are installed when developers want to exceed the height or density for which their building is zoned—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a site-specific change in the rules. In each installment of Conversation Pieces we'll look at several artworks devoted to the same theme, and consider what makes public art succeed or fail. Today: keys.

Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness or are inspired by their surroundings; others are installed when developers want to exceed the height or density for which their building is zoned—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a site-specific change in the rules. [...]

Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness or are inspired by their surroundings; others are installed when developers want to exceed the height or density for which their building is zoned—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a site-specific change in the rules. [...]

Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness or are inspired by their surroundings; others are installed when developers want to exceed standard density or circumvent other zoning regulations—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a variance from the rules. In each installment of [...]

Illustration by Brian McLachlan/Torontoist. Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness; others are installed when developers want to exceed standard density or circumvent other zoning regulations—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a variance from the rules. Often, we don’t pay this art [...]

Illustration by Brian McLachlan/Torontoist. Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness; others are installed when developers want to exceed standard density or circumvent other zoning regulations—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a variance from the rules. Often, we don’t pay this art [...]

Illustration by Brian McLachlan/Torontoist. Toronto is home to a cornucopia of public art. Some of the pieces acknowledge an individual’s greatness; others are installed when developers want to exceed standard density or circumvent other zoning regulations—the public art is a trade-off for being allowed a variance from the rules. Often, we don’t pay this art [...]