Public Trust
Sep 15 to Oct 4, 2026
Torontonians are invited to make promises to themselves and their community—not just as inhabitants of the city, but as co-authors of its future. In a welcoming, non-partisan space, Public Trust reimagines civic engagement as something personal, accessible, and joyful.
The Bentway Launches a City-Wide Invitation to Give Your Word with Public Trust
August 11, 2026
Canadian premiere of Paul Ramírez Jonas’ Public Trust transforms thousands of personal promises into a city-wide public artwork exploring trust, democracy and civic participation ahead of the 2026 municipal election
Beacons
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Inspired by her own experience as a newcomer to Canada, Shellie Zhang’s Beacons glows with the dusk and dawn-time colours of Toronto’s skyline in winter, a reminder of the passage of time, and the warmth we draw from our community during these dark, frozen months.
Directions to Nowhere in Particular
Summer 2021
Directions to Nowhere in Particular is a game of chance that alters the ways you sense, make, and navigate public space. Anyone can play. Simply go outside, pick a random prompt, and follow the directions for interacting with your surroundings.
A Collective Sensemaking Session
Join The Bentway, From Later, and residents for the launch of the Field Guide to Digital and/as Public Space!
A Settler’s Land Acknowledge-ment: Public Space is Colonized Space
As a responsive creator investigating the power of Touch, choreographer Karen Kaeja is curious about what we can touch and cannot touch, and what is seen and unseen in public territory. In a raw live-stream performance that is intimate and up close, the presence and harmony of three womxn of different identities address public safety.
To Be Safe in our Skin
November 2020
As a responsive creator investigating the power of Touch, choreographer Karen Kaeja is curious about what we can touch and cannot touch, and what is seen and unseen in public territory. In a raw live-stream performance that is intimate and up close, the presence and harmony of three womxn of different identities address public safety.
Safe in Public Space: A Photo Essay
Summer 2020
Ebti Nabag travels beyond The Bentway to examine how ideas of safety manifest and are communicated in public space through borders and boundaries, signs and symbols, public space architectures, and delineations.
The Bentway as Hostile Architecture
Summer 2020
A call to reinvest the work’s production budget into community initiatives by establishing aid networks to disseminate resources to local affinity groups.
Receipts
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A multimodal interface that receives, anonymizes, archives, and performs testimonies to anti-Asian aggression in public space. Viewable on The Bentway site from October 16 – November 11, 2020.
Gardiner Gateways
On view as of May 21, 2026
New lighting at Dan Leckie Way and Bathurst Street brightens key crossings, improves walkability, and illuminates a pedestrian-friendly future under the Gardiner.
Transform the Trail Returns: Odudu Umoessien to reimagine Winter at The Bentway
June 29, 2026
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.
Digital and/as Public Space
June 2, 2026
COVID has produced the greatest big tech experiment of our time, driving everything – from education to cultural programming, health and wellness to social interaction – online. It seems likely that this newfound dependence on the digital realm is here to stay, and that public life post-COVID will continue to move back and forth between digital and […]
Radical Love: A Digital Exhibition
Summer 2020
A multimedia installation that centres Black and Afro-Indigenous Trans women and non-binary people, creating monuments to Trans lives and their survival.
Textiles: Bag Charms
Join the World Cup fever and make a leather tassel bag charm to represent your your favourite team in this workshop. No matter what country you’re rooting for, we’ve got you covered. Wear them to the stadium, put them on your bag, or rub them for good luck while you watch from home.
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.
Printmaking: Letterpress Type Flags & Banners
For sports fans and creatives alike! Get ready for World Cup game days or create new artwork for your home through this fun and traditional printmaking technique. Design and print your own pennant flag from antique wood type on a printing press. While your flag dries, experiment with banner making with cut-out letters from previously printed alphabets and assemble a unique text-based artwork.
Sculpture: Miniature Polymer Clay Fruit, Pride Edition!
Come make an adorable one-of-a-kind miniature fruit charm bracelet to celebrate Pride month! In this 2-hour workshop, you will learn some of the basics of creating miniature fruits from polymer clay. Together we will mix clay to achieve realistic colours, shape the pieces and add details using clay and clay tools. We will make a series of fruit beads, bake them together, and assemble your very own fruit charm bracelets using string and other fun beads provided in the workshop.
Still Life Painting: BYOO – Bring Your Own Object!
BYOO – Bring Your Own Object from home and learn to paint a still life! This is a beginner friendly workshop where Mason will guide you through the creation process and help you discover just how fun and relaxing painting can be. Suggested objects: things that are nostalgic or sentimental. Bring something that you enjoy looking at and have good memories associated with! Mason will also bring his collection of interesting nostalgic objects in case you prefer to paint something new.
Printmaking: Toronto Trading Cards
Whether it’s cheering on your favourite Toronto sports teams this summer, grabbing a TTC transfer on the first day of a new year, spotting the elusive white squirrel of Trinity Bellwoods park, or grabbing a beef patty on your way home from school, this workshop is about commemorating the things that make Toronto a special place to you. You will learn how to create your own image on styrofoam blocks and then print a series of 5 “Toronto trading cards”. At the end of the workshop, you are invited to trade some of your cards with your fellow civic superfans and take home your own collection of uniquely Toronto experiences.
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.
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.