New works by Toronto artists Anahita Akhavan and Stanzie Tooth transform spaces beneath the Gardiner into sites of gathering, reflection, and exchange.
The Bentway unveils two new public art installations by Toronto artists, Anahita Akhavan and Stanzie Tooth, beneath the Gardiner Expressway in CityPlace, inviting residents and visitors to experience how everyday infrastructure can become a site for creativity and connection. Activating an exciting new canvas at Choice Properties’ West Block and Bentway Staging Grounds, the installations invite residents and visitors to gather, reflect, and connect in the heart of downtown Toronto.
Opening May 9, the projects include مجلس Majles / Sitting Room by Anahita Akhavan, the inaugural commission of The Bentway’s new Step-Up Series, a three-year program presented in partnership with Choice Properties, and A Persistent Crossing by Stanzie Tooth, the final public art installation at Bentway Staging Grounds before the site’s next phase of transformation. To mark the occasion, both artists will lead a free public tour on May 9, offering audiences a first look at the installations and the ideas behind them.
Launching a new multi-year partnership between The Bentway and Choice Properties, the Step-Up Series transforms the monumental staircases below the Gardiner at West Block into a platform for public art and community gathering. Akhavan’s inaugural mural draws on Persian rug motifs, archival textiles, and the luminous blue of lapis lazuli to create a bold urban “sitting room”, a place designed to invite conversation and connection across generations and cultures.
Presented in partnership with Choice Properties, and curated by The Bentway, the 3D mural will serve as the backdrop for a summer of free, monthly community programs, including live music, textile-based workshops, and other public activations designed to bring people together in the space.
“Our work with The Bentway reflects our commitment to creating great places where people can thrive. This project goes beyond public art. It’s about building community and creating opportunities for people to come together and connect. The Step-Up Series transforms our West Block property into a vibrant gathering place that brings people together through culture, creativity, and shared experiences under the Gardiner. This project is a catalyst to help us reimagine outdoor gathering spaces across our portfolio.”
– Orit Sarfaty, VP, Placemaking & Social Impact, Choice Properties
A short walk east, at Bentway Staging Grounds, Stanzie Tooth’s artwork A Persistent Crossing explores the relationships between humans and the urban natural environment. Large-scale imagery transforms scaffolding towers bordering Lake Shore Blvd. into thresholds where human silhouettes overlap with native vegetation, pollinators, and shifting skies, emphasizing the interconnection between built form and the new ecologies the site is designed to foster.
The work marks the final commission in a series of rotating public artworks presented at Bentway Staging Grounds from 2023 to the present. Staging Grounds is a public space pilot project that reimagined a previously vacant area beneath the Gardiner Expressway as a temporary “living laboratory” featuring experimental gardens. The site will be decommissioned ahead of the City of Toronto’s Gardiner Rehabilitation work in this area, and prior to its transformation into a permanent future hub for The Bentway.
Together, these public artworks reveal these unique sites underneath The Gardiner Expressway in CityPlace as urban commons, where natural, cultural, and social connections converge. Both artworks highlight how overlooked urban infrastructure can become living, participatory spaces that foster everyday encounters, cultural exchange, and civic imagination.
“These two public artworks by Toronto artists transform unique sites beneath the Gardiner Expressway into living, participatory spaces for residents and visitors alike. We’re so pleased to partner with our neighbours at Choice Properties on the inaugural Step-Up Series, and to return to Staging Grounds for a final public art presentation—together revealing the potential of the unique spaces underneath the Expressway’s, both today and in the future.”
– Anna Gallagher-Ross, Director, Programming, The Bentway
public programs
The season of free public programs invites the community to experience the artwork in interactive ways:
Opening – Artist Talk & Neighbourhood Walk
Saturday, May 9, 2:00–3:30pm
Guided by the exhibiting artists and The Bentway curators, this tour explores both the West Block Step-Up Series mural and the Staging Grounds installation, highlighting how each work engages with CityPlace’s histories and connections between people and the environment.
Shared Rhythms: Music at West Block
Saturday, June 6, 3:00–5:00pm
Live performances curated by Small World Music creates a shared listening space, set against the Step-Up Series mural, celebrating cultural exchange and community connection.
Social Fabric: Community Textile Activation
Sunday, July 12, 2:00–4:00pm
Visitors of all ages are invited to co-create a temporary communal textile, guided by SHEEEP Studio, extending the mural’s visual language into a participatory artwork.
In Bloom: A Flower Market + Workshop
Saturday, August 8, 11:00am–3:00pm
West Block transforms into a summer flower market with local growers from the Toronto Flower Market and a drop-in flower arranging workshop by Waard Ward, inspired by the mural’s floral imagery and vivid palette.
Self-guided activities for youth and families, including colouring sheets inspired by A Persistent Crossing and the Understories Listening Experience, will be available online to enhance visitor experiences of Bentway Staging Grounds.
about the artworks
مجلس Majles / Sitting Room by Anahita Akhavan
May 9 – October 4, 2026
Curated by The Bentway and presented in partnership with Choice Properties, this mural is the first commission of the new Step-Up Series. It transforms the West Block staircases into a shared urban “sitting room,” threading archival Persian rug imagery, color, and pattern into the architecture to invite lingering, conversation, and social connection.
A Persistent Crossing by Stanzie Tooth
May 9 – Spring 2027
Located at Bentway Staging Grounds, Tooth’s work overlays human silhouettes with native vegetation and pollinators to reveal the interconnected ecologies of CityPlace, inviting viewers to see themselves as part of an urban, multispecies network.
