The Bentway Launches a City-Wide Invitation to Give Your Word with Public Trust

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

What does it mean to give your word. To one another and to the city we share?

This fall, The Bentway invites thousands of Torontonians to answer that question through Public Trust, the Canadian premiere of internationally acclaimed artist Paul Ramírez Jonas’ participatory artwork that transforms personal promises into a living public portrait of the city. 

Opening on International Day of Democracy and unfolding over three weeks from September 15 to October 4 across The Bentway and Toronto’s Waterfront neighbourhoods, the installation arrives as Toronto prepares for its municipal election, creating a welcoming, non-partisan space where civic participation begins not with politics, but with people. Rather than asking visitors who they support, the work asks them to make a promise, to themselves, another person or the city, and affirm it in a manner consistent with their own beliefs. 

“The Bentway believes public space can strengthen the connections between people and the city they share. At a time when trust can feel fragile, Public Trust invites reflection on our role in civic life and the idea that we are not only inhabitants of our city, but also authors of its future. By exploring democracy and public trust as everyday practices, the work reminds us that these conversations belong in public space, where strangers become neighbours, participation becomes visible, and our shared future is shaped together.”

– Anna Gallagher-Ross, Director of Programming at The Bentway

Each promise made is transformed into a unique drawing participants take home, while the anonymous commitment becomes part of an evolving large-scale public marquee displayed alongside promises gathered daily from headline news, including those made by politicians, scientists, economists, corporations and weather forecasters. Participants are encouraged to snap a selfie with their promise once it appears on the marquee and share it on social media, connecting individual acts of commitment to a broader conversationabout what promises mean in our lives and communities. 

“We live in a moment when our agreements, our treaties, our alliances –what we thought was guaranteed– seems less than enduring. While we feel this uncertainty at a societal, national and international level, how do we feel about our word? Is it still good? Are we still able to keep our promises? Do we trust others to be true to their word? I still do.”

– Paul Ramírez Jonas

First presented in 2016, Public Trust remains strikingly relevant a decade later. As civic participation declines and polarization grows around the world, the artwork offers an alternative: a space where listening, reflection and shared responsibility become acts of public participation. 

Known internationally for creating participatory public artworks that invite audiences to become collaborators, Paul Ramírez Jonas has spent more than three decades exploring ideas of citizenship, trust, and civic exchange. For its Toronto presentation, Public Trust will be shaped by local artists, volunteers and community members who facilitate conversations, record promises, and help the artwork evolve through each interaction, making every presentation unique to the city in which it appears. 

The artwork will travel across four locations over the course of its run, beginning on International Day of Democracy at Toronto Public Library’s Fort York branch before moving to Marina Quay West and Harbourfront Centre, followed by the finale at The Bentway, expanding opportunities for residents and visitors alike to participate in the growing civic conversation. The final presentation at The Bentway coincides with Nuit Blanche Toronto, bringing the project to one of the city’s largest celebrations of contemporary art.

Together, thousands of individual promises become something larger: a collective portrait of Toronto and a reminder that trust is built one conversation, one commitment and one person at a time.