An open-air public art trail is on track to open in 2026 on the newly named Ookwemin Minising Island (formerly known as the Villiers Island precinct), as part of the Toronto Port Lands urban redevelopment project.
The Lassonde Art Trail (LAT) will be free to visit and open throughout the year. Picture a series of 15 interconnected public art sites weaving through 4.2 km of expansive waterfront parkland.
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Themes and relationships will acknowledge the site’s layered histories, geographies, and changing social dynamics, so visitors can expect curations that explore everything from Indigenous contexts, civic society, waterways, and industrial histories to native plantings, local ecosystems, the environment, and more.
There’ll be a slate of permanent and rotating artworks by national and international artists — so far, we know of at least three artists who’ll contribute major artworks to the trail.
Internationally renowned artist Kent Monkman will contribute a new permanent sculpture to be unveiled in the summer of 2026. The Cree visual artist is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory (Manitoba), although he splits his time between New York City and Toronto.
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“I’m honoured to have been asked to be part of this project. Given the importance of water to us as Cree people, all Indigenous people—really everyone—it means a great deal to me to create an artwork that will live on the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto, where | have lived and worked for over three decades,” Monkman said in a statement to the LAT. No hints on what will be unveiled, but the artist said that he wants to create artwork that sends a message to this city, one that is “home to people from many diverse backgrounds from all over the world—referencing, in a playful way, the many layers of Indigenous presence here.”
LAT organizers selected Toronto-based artist Kara Hamilton to create a sculpture in collaboration with York University students (as part of a partnership with the York U L.L. Odette Sculptor in Residence program).
Hamilton has backgrounds in visual art, design, and architecture but works in a variety of mediums, including sculptures, two- and three-dimensional drawings, and jewelry. Her sculpture on the trail, set to be exhibited in the summer of 2026, is expected to be “empathetic to natural ecosystems” occurring on the future art trail.
Finally, we have internationally renowned visual artist Monira Al Qadiri. A major cultural partnership between LAT and the Public Art Fund (a New York-based non-profit dedicated to bringing free public art exhibitions to a broad audience), will bring “storied Central Park” to the trail in the form of an outdoor sculpture by Al Qadiri.
This is the first time that the Public Art Fund has co-commissioned artwork with a Canadian cultural organization. As such, the sculpture will debut in Manhattan during the summer of 2025 — patrons can look out for it at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza, at the southeast entrance of Central Park. It’ll be displayed for one year before heading to the public art trail in Toronto, exhibiting in Sept. 2026.
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Al Qadiri has a broad background. The Kuwaiti artist was born in Senegal, educated in Japan, and is currently based in Berlin. A lot of her work is based on research into the cultural legacies of fossil fuels, although she’s expanding toward examining ancient mythologies and their interpretations of natural ecosystems.
Five other artists have been shortlisted to submit proposals for creating a second permanent artwork along the trail (the selection committee should be reviewing their proposals before the year is out). In the meantime, you can find out more about the artists and trail by visiting the LAT website or by signing up for their newsletter.
This public artwork concept was first announced two years ago after the city received a $25 million donation from the Pierre Lassonde Family Foundation to create the trail. It’s expected to be a significant staple on the new island, tracing from The Keating Channel to the north, Toronto’s Inner Harbour to the West, Polson Slip to the south, and the Don Roadway to the east.
Transformation of Ookwemin Minising
“Ookwemin Minising,” which literally translates to the “place of the black cherry trees” in Anishinaabemowin, is being developed as part of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, which involves reconnecting the Don River to Lake Ontario by creating a naturalized river mouth. Once complete, it will consist of 25 hectares of publicly accessible space and beautiful new parks.
According to Waterfront Toronto, the island will be a “climate-positive, mixed-use community” designed to house approximately 16,000 people and 3,000 jobs. In the last few months, the City opened two new park spaces with some cool structures at Bathurst Quay Common and Leslie Lookout Park, in addition to the opening of community and childcare centres and Love Park in 2023, which has since become a cherished public space.
The area was formerly known as Villiers Island (or, at times, Cousins Quay) when Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, alongside members of the Indigenous Advisory Circle, announced the site’s name change last month as part of the significant history of the lands.
About 200 years ago, the Port Lands area was one of the largest freshwater marshes on Lake Ontario. According to the Indigenous Advisory Circle, this area had an abundance of Ookwemin “black cherry” trees that grew throughout the waterfront area, so the island’s new name honours the natural history of the land and highlights the future care of Indigenous plant communities.
By Martin Short — Actor, comedian
