check this out
-
Toronto’s Playground Keeps Going as The Bentway Launches Late-Summer Programming
With roller skating, family programming, art socials and a new after school series, The Bentway keeps Toronto’s summer momentum going into fall.
-
Transform the Trail Returns: Odudu Umoessien to reimagine Winter at The Bentway
This Winter, The Bentway’s Skate Trail will be transformed by a new installation by designer and artist Odudu Umoessien. Inspired by West African textile traditions, the commission brings pattern, movement, and cultural storytelling beneath the Gardiner Expressway. Following a successful Call for Expressions of Interest and adjudication process earlier this year, The Bentway is pleased to announce the selection of artist and designer Odudu Umoessien to lead…
-
$37,400 OTF grant from the Province supports Bentway After School program
The Bentway is grateful to the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) for supporting Bentway After School, its new youth education initiative, through a $37,400 Seed grant. On Wednesday, MPP Chris Glover stopped in at The Bentway’s Board of Directors meeting to formally congratulate the group on the work it’s doing thanks to this year-long…
-
An After School Adventure in City-Making for Young Urbanists
The Bentway invites curious and creative urban explorers ages 8-14 ( grades 3–8) to learn about their city through play, creativity, and outdoor discovery!
what’s on
Collage: ReExpressway Edition
This summer, Collage Grad is inspired by The Bentway’s vibrant public space under the Gardiner Expressway! This monthly session explores art, urbanism, and placemaking through collage. Work with a curated mix of archival photos of Toronto, urban planning publications, and vintage magazines to express your own take on citybuilding and create your own reimagined built environment.
Exploring Nature Beyond Sight
Experience urban nature through a guided sensory walk designed to engage with touch, smell, and sound. This interactive program and hands-on planting activity invites participants to slow down, connect, and explore public space in new ways.
Textiles: Felted & Embroidered Pins
Learn how to “draw” with textiles this summer! Using needle felting, stitching, and other creative embellishments, design your own unique, wearable button. You’ll learn how to work with wool roving, and some simple embroidery stitches that are useful for adding lines, dimension, and artistic expression.
Watercolour Painting: Toronto Skies
Capture all the colours of our city’s beautiful summer skies in this 2-hour watercolour painting workshop.
You’ll learn an essential watercolour technique and then practice by painting a sunrise or sunset, completing it with a skyline of your favourite Toronto neighbourhood or public space.
Roller Skate Party
Glide and groove to the music of local DJ’s and celebrate the dog days of summer. Whether you’re still learning at our weekly lessons or have some superfly moves to show off, it’s an open invitation to move your own way!
Roller Skate Rentals
Fridays 5:00pm–8:00pm, Saturdays & Sundays 1:00pm–7:00pm. From August 7–September 27, 2026.
The Bentway Skate Trail continues to be the best place to rock and roll in the summer, visit our Skate Rental Container on site to rent your roller skates and protective gear from Fridays-Sundays in August and September!
Roller Skate Lessons: August 7
Learn how to roll with us! This summer, we’re offering weekly roller skate lessons for those who are looking to gain basic skills. Our expert instructors will help novice skaters build confidence on wheels and navigate our figure-eight trail.
In Bloom: A Flower Market + Workshop
Explore offerings from local growers and take part in a drop-in arranging workshop as West Block blooms into a summer flower market. Guided by the new Step-Up Series mural’s floral imagery and striking colour palette, these sessions connect contemporary practice with cultural traditions and invite visitors into a shared moment of creativity.
Printmaking: Letterpress Postcards from Toronto
This workshop will be something to write home about! Print your own letterpress postcards using two antique platen presses set up with an image and text. Learn about traditional typesetting from wood and metal type, how it was used historically and how it can still be used today. Add colour to your image and write on your postcard to share your favourite memory of your Toronto summer with a friend or loved one.
Roller Skate Lessons: August 14
Learn how to roll with us! This summer, we’re offering weekly roller skate lessons for those who are looking to gain basic skills. Our expert instructors will help novice skaters build confidence on wheels and navigate our figure-eight trail.
Hosted Event RentalOn the Way Festival
Collage: ReExpressway Edition
This summer, Collage Grad is inspired by The Bentway’s vibrant public space under the Gardiner Expressway! This monthly session explores art, urbanism, and placemaking through collage. Work with a curated mix of archival photos of Toronto, urban planning publications, and vintage magazines to express your own take on citybuilding and create your own reimagined built environment.
Roller Skate Lessons: August 21
Learn how to roll with us! This summer, we’re offering weekly roller skate lessons for those who are looking to gain basic skills. Our expert instructors will help novice skaters build confidence on wheels and navigate our figure-eight trail.
ongoing
Petal and Stone
October 2025 through to 2027
A 10,000 square-foot mural project inaugurates the Gardiner Wallworks series, transforming this concrete expanse into a poetic tableau of site memory, native flora, and symbolic passage. Inspired by the architecture and ecological communities bridging The Bentway and Exhibition Place, it offers commuters and residents an evocative new lens on their urban landscape.
A Persistent Crossing
May 9, 2026 to Spring 2027
Bentway Staging Grounds hosts the final chapter of its immersive installations, where human silhouettes, native vegetation, and Ontario pollinators invite visitors to reflect on their place within the city. The work blurs boundaries between people, place, and the natural world, revealing the interconnected rhythms of built and living environments.
Roller Skate Lessons
Fridays from Aug 7 to Sep 25, 2026. Two sessions: 6:30pm-7:30pm or 7:30pm-8:30pm.
Learn how to roll with us! This summer, we’re offering weekly roller skate lessons for those who are looking to gain basic skills. Our expert instructors will help novice skaters build confidence on wheels and navigate our figure-eight trail.
visit
The Bentway is active at multiple sites under and near the Gardiner Expressway:
Getting there
250 Fort York Blvd, under the Gardiner
The Bentway Skate Trail is situated on the lands of Fort York National Historic Site, running from just east of the Fort York Visitors Centre to Bastion St.
Find at: bents 83-89
By TTC
511 Bathurst (at Fort York Blvd)
509 Harbourfront (at Fleet St)
Parking
Paid parking available @ Green P lots, located at 250 Fort York Blvd and 800 Fleet Street.
Accessibility
This space is fully accessible to mobility devices, with flat paved and wooden decked surfaces.
Free wifi
Free wifi is provided by Beanfield. Sign onto “Beanfield1hfree” and get one free hour of wifi at The Bentway.
Washroom Hours
The Bentway Skate Trail and our public washroom will reopen to the public starting August 7.
We will update this section when we have new operating hours.
Getting there
250 Fort York Blvd, under the Gardiner
The Bentway Strachan Gate is situated on the lands of Fort York National Historic Site, at Strachan Ave.
Find at: bents 46-50
By TTC
509 Harbourfront (at Fleet St)
63 Ossington (at East Liberty St)
511 Bathurst (at Fort York Blvd)
Parking
Paid parking available @ Green P lots, located at 250 Fort York Blvd and 800 Fleet Street.
Accessibility
This space is partially accessible to mobility devices. In addition to flat and sloped paved surfaces, a large surface is covered in compacted gravel. Washrooms are accessible to mobility devices. Recommended entry to the site: from the east or the south.
Free wifi
Free wifi is provided by Beanfield. Sign onto “Beanfield1hfree” and get one free hour of wifi at The Bentway.
Getting there
55 Fort York Blvd
The Bentway Studio is a mixed indoor/outdoor facility that faces into Canoe Landing Park, just west of Spadina Ave.
Find at: north of bent 116
By TTC
510 Spadina (at Bremner Blvd / Fort York Blvd)
Parking
Paid parking available at local InPark and Green P lots, and on local streets (including Dan Leckie Way and Housey St).
Accessibility
This space is fully accessible to mobility devices, with flat surfaces.
Off-Site Projects
In addition to operating permanent public spaces, The Bentway is testing out new ideas for the Gardiner Expressway through a series of temporary shorter-term projects.
Explore these off-site projects here:
