Event Details

The Lassonde Art Trail (LAT) is at the heart of a massive $1.4b project to reroute the mouth of the Don River and build flood protection for downtown Toronto. This feat of civil and bioengineering has created a new island in the city harbour called Ookwemin Minising. The project will establish a new river valley with functional wetlands and deliver 62 acres of publicly accessible open space along the riverbanks and inner harbour. It will clean and restore soils contaminated from past industrialization, and naturally accommodate the effects of flooding and erosion. In the process it will re-establish aquatic and terrestrial habitat where Indigenous species of plants and animals can thrive.

This application is for “Public Launch of the Lassonde Art Trail”, taking place June 1 to October 31, 2026. The Lassonde Art Trail (LAT) will be Canada’s first destination public art trail integrating world-class contemporary art with environmental sustainability and Indigenous perspectives. Situated within Biidaasige Park on Ookwemin Minising, a new 62-acre island on Toronto’s waterfront, it spans 4.2 kilometers and includes fifteen art sites. The art trail experience will be free, outdoors, and year-round, integrating art, landscape, and ecology. The permanent sculptures will be unveiled in 2026 alongside a rotating cycle of contemporary installations from local, national and international artists in collaboration with a range of donors, supporters, city-builders and partners both near and far. Programming will include:

(1) Mix of permanent and rotating works by outstanding Canadian (Kent Monkman, Oluseye and Lisa Hirmer) and international (Alexandre Arrechea, Hank Wilis Thomas and Monira al Qadiri) artists;

(2) Tours of the art trail (beginning June 2026);

(3) Artist and curator talks (including Art Toronto, October 2026);

(4) Interdisciplinary events that respond to the artworks and site (dance, music, performance); and

(5) Lectures and symposia (UofT lecture series fall 2025, Symposium sept 2026)